Two children’s care homes for Bristol as demand rises

Councillors have approved the children's care homes as demand for accommodation rises

Two children's care homes are to open in Bristol to meet rising demand for accommodation.

The facilities will provide care for teenage boys with criminal records and those with complex mental health needs.

Costing just over £900,000, the city council hopes the homes will help cut the number of out-of-city placements for children and save money.

Placements outside the city can cost the council up to £830,000 a year, as it is "at the mercy of the market".

Funded by the Department for Education, the council will refurbish two buildings it owns and then commission a provider to run them.

The council has struggled to find care placements for children with very complex needs, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

'Care population growing'

At the moment 17 young people, aged over 15, are in residential care outside Bristol, each costing the council between £300,000 and £830,000 a year.

Councillor Asher Craig, Labour cabinet member for education, said: "The care population in Bristol is growing. It's likely to rise by 5% in the next year, and we are already struggling to find placements to meet the needs of our most complex children.

"The [first home] will enable medically fit children who require clinical and social care to be discharged from hospital settings within suitable timescales. The second is a home for adolescent boys aged 15 to 17 with challenging and aggressive behaviour.

"We need to develop more in-house provision in Bristol because we are currently at the mercy of the market — and the market is killing us financially. It's so expensive to send some of our children outside of the city."

Marvin Rees, mayor of Bristol, said: "We have a growing population, our young people have been under phenomenal pressure, and families have been under phenomenal pressure.

"We anticipate more need coming through the system, so we have to begin to increase our ability to support people."