Number of looked after children rising significantly

More than 100 Rochdale children were placed in care outside of the borough during the first eight months of the current financial year.

Figures obtained from Rochdale Council reveal it was unable to look after some 105 youngsters within the borough between April and November 2018 – significantly more than during whole of 2017/18 (91) and 2016/17 (77).

If the trend continues, the number of vulnerable youngsters for whom there is no place in Rochdale will be more than double that in 2016/17.

Council bosses are unable to say exactly where children have been placed for safeguarding reasons.

The growing problem is however one of the main reasons for the predicted £4.8m budget shortfall forecast for children’s services this year.

The average cost of external foster placements is around £41,000 per year, while residential costs come in close to £165,000 over the same period.

Councillor Kieran Heakin, Rochdale Council’s children’s services cabinet member, says town halls all over the country are having to find care places for increasing numbers of youngsters – and that there is no single underlying cause.

“There are many different reasons children come into care,” he said. “It can be relationship breakdown and, in some cases, families going through stressful times – it can be austerity measures having an effect on households.

“Sometimes it is parents committing offences and being put in prison, there are many different causes for it, everyone seems to have their theory, but there is no simple explanation for it really.

“But every one is a child, at the end of the day, and every one is a victim. We do our best to keep family units together, but it is just the way it seems to be going.”

Councillor Heakin added that one-parent-families can be particularly vulnerable in a harsh economic climate.

“In some cases, it only takes a redundancy or someone losing their job and it will affect them quite significantly. These are troubled times unfortunately.”

Some children have to be placed outside of Greater Manchester and the North West altogether – but Councillor Heakin says children’s services keep a close eye on how they are faring.

“I am a corporate parent, I want the best deal for children in our care, I want the same for them as I do for my three children and my grandchildren. As far as I am concerned, whatever they need should be delivered,” said Councillor Heakin.

Work is ongoing to reduce the number of children going into care through early interventions aimed at keeping families together.

There is also a drive underway to recruit more people to become foster carers after it was revealed the drop-out rate for those that had shown an initial interest is higher in Rochdale than anywhere in Greater Manchester.

But Councillor Heakin says there are other ways of tackling the problem.

“I think we need to try and involve families a bit more,” he said. “Children can be looked after by a Special Relationship Order – where a child can be looked after by a grandparent or family relative – it is good when a child is known to them.

“If we can get more that is a better way of dealing with it, keeping it in the family.”

But while finding placements for the borough’s most vulnerable children remains a challenge, Rochdale also has positive stories to tell.

There are currently 19 previously looked-after Rochdale children studying at university – one of the highest rates in the country.

And one of these students last month gave a presentation to the corporate parents committee on her experiences.

“She had been to 14 different schools, but still managed to go on to attend university. It was a real feel good story,” said Councillor Heakin.

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter