10 November 2006
Social service leaders are giving their cautious co-operation to a scheme to send vulnerable children to boarding school but are warning that the project runs counter to the rest of the child protection agenda.
Ten local authorities are to join with 51 schools in a 'pathfinder' project to run over two years and aimed at evaluating how boarding provision might be used to improve the life chances of children and young people.
But Paul Fallon, co-chair of the Association of Directors of Social Services' children and family committee said the policy seemed to run counter to the Every Child Matters agenda, which was focused on establishing a continuity of peer group and extended family for vulnerable children.
'We know that if we can keep children close to home there tend to be better outcomes for them,' he told Public Finance.
Fallon added that the scheme had originally been heralded as for looked-after children only, but now was being talked about as for all vulnerable children, whether they were in care or not.
'This net widening would end up with more children living apart from their families and runs counter to the 1989 Children Act [which promotes family-based care for children],' he said.
However, Fallon said he did not want to 'pour cold water' all over the project and added that the ADSS would be very interested to see how the pilot progresses.
Launching the programme on November 6, children's minister Beverley Hughes said a community-based approach was not always the best way to meet a child's needs.
'There is evidence to show that attending a boarding school may be an appropriate way to help some of these children and prevent family breakdown or a move into the care system,' she said.
'This type of provision won't be right for every vulnerable child so we will look carefully at when it is appropriate, what the benefits for the young person might be and how we can ensure that is being used consistently across local authorities.'
Councils involved in the pilot include Dudley, Suffolk, Surrey and Westminster. Participating schools include Fettes College Preparatory School in Edinburgh, Lancaster Grammar School and Sedbergh School in Cumbria.
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