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Cheshire County Council provides a number of children’s homes in the County through its Children’s Services Department. These homes offer a range of services from short break care and emergency accommodation, to longer term provision. The service is informed by the five outcomes of ‘Every Child Matters’.

Each home has to meet National Minimum Standards for Children’s Homes - which can be viewed on the Department of Health website. Homes are run to meet the needs of children placed, working in partnership with families, children, social workers and other involved agencies and departments. Homes are registered with and inspected by the Commission for Social Care Inspection.

Each child has a plan which is agreed with everyone and subject to review. All children have access to an advocacy service and an independent visitor where needed. All staff undertake NVQ III or IV in Caring for Children, a nationally recognised qualification. The Registered Managers in addition are qualified social workers with management qualifications.

Each home has a Statement of Purpose outlining their aims and objectives and how they are managed. There is also a Children’s Guide to each home available to residents. Copies can be obtained through the main contact point – Paul Biancardi, Senior Manager, email paul.biancardi@cheshire.gov.uk.

Our Children’s Homes

Cheshire has three homes offering shared care for children with disabilities. These are based in Great Sutton and Winsford (homes which offer six placements) and Macclesfield (which offers seven placements). Each home is able to help children with profound disabilities or challenging behaviour.

The homes offer an enriching experience for children, in particular helping them to ‘enjoy and achieve’ as well as ‘stay safe’ and ‘be healthy’. Plans are formed with children and parents following assessment, and a programme of short stays is arranged. This can be from daytime care to overnight stays.

The services runs in conjunction with the Foster Care Service which offers shared care in families. The shared care service is also complementary to the shared care offered through the Family Placement Services. In all, over one hundred children have shared care in these homes.

Longer Term Residential Care

The County offers longer term residential care to children on three sites in the County, in Little Sutton, Macclesfield, and Crewe. These homes offer services to children who do not have a disability but are unable to live in a family.

• The home in Little Sutton offers long-term care to young people age 12 to 18 years who can stay as long as needed. These placements are planned.
• The home in Macclesfield offers a six placement long-term home for young people 12 to 18 years and has the facility for some young people to live far more independently.
• The home in Crewe, at Redsands, offers up to 12 placements on-site in two self-contained units of up to 6 placements each. In addition Redsands offers education on-site for young people who cannot access mainstream or alternative education. The home also takes young people from other local authorities on a fee paying basis.
• There are also two emergency beds on this site which act as ‘crash pads’ for young people who need emergency overnight accommodation while their home situation is resolved or an appropriate placement is found in a family or children’s home. In Macclesfield there is also a unit that offers shared care for foster placements to help maintain young people in families.
  

Young people placed in the Little Sutton and Macclesfield homes access mainstream or alternative curriculum education. Cheshire has a specific service to support Looked After Children in Education.

The County also has a partnership arrangement with Together Trust who manages a home in Sandbach for 6 children age 8 to 13 years who need a focussed programme of support to help them live in a family.

The Future

The whole of residential care in Cheshire is currently under review. There is a commitment to moving the service at Redsands into small units in the community. This model will be replicated across the country. Services to children with a disability are also under review with the setting up of a Trust for children with disabilities in West Cheshire and the development of direct payments.

A new long-term home for 3 children with disabilities, 2 Clifton Drive, opened in Chester in September 2006.

About 2 Clifton Drive

2 Clifton Drive is a is an adapted residential home close to Chester providing long term care for young people who have learning difficulties. It can accommodate a maximum of 3 young people aged from 8 to 18. The overall aim of 2 Clifton Drive is to promote the young people’s welfare by following their agreed care plan; treating all in a positive, friendly manner and enabling them to meet their full potential. Staff believe in helping the young people living at 2 Clifton Drive to experience and enjoy being within a family style setting .The aim is to make young people feel welcome and take time to find the positives about everyone. Staff will not judge some individuals to be more deserving of support than others, regardless of any perceptions or influences relating to behaviour, educational attainment or communication skills.

Our aims are :

• To enable vulnerable people and their families to achieve their full potential.
• Support those who need longer term services.
• Protect children and young people from harm
• To aim to work in partnership with all people involved in the young person’s life. 
• To provide care and support to young people with differing individual needs as part of their care plan. 
• Assist the young people to maintain links with their own family if possible, or to create/maintain links with friends - or foster families, if this is part of the young person’s care plan. 
• To provide a family like environment in order to help young people learn to manage sharing with others and in preparation for their future.