Norfolk children's services 'some of the best in the country'
- By Elaine Bird
- 28 October 2019
- North-West Norfolk
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Norfolk’s care for vulnerable children is performing well and is better than the national average in key areas, new reports reveal.
The news comes as the county council’s cabinet considers three reports on how adoption, fostering and children’s homes are performing.
Councillor John Fisher, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “We want to make a real, positive difference to the lives of our most vulnerable children and these reports show there is much to celebrate.
“Our adoption and fostering services and our children’s homes are some of the best in the country. We’re ambitious to make further improvements and I’m confident that we’re well-placed to do this.”
The adoption service – rated as outstanding by Ofsted last year – continues to perform well and placed 67 children with adoptive families last year:
- A better than average performance for moving children from care into adoptive families (337 days, compared to a national average of 420)
- More children are moved from care and into adoption within six months than the national average (60 per cent in Norfolk, 56 per cent nationally)
The fostering service is also performing well – highlights include:
- The service is supporting 385 children in our care - a greater proportion of those who are looked after
- There are 321 approved foster carers, exceeding recruitment targets
- 25 fostering ambassadors are boosting recruitment
The council runs nine children’s homes – highlights include:
- Eight homes are classed as good or outstanding by Ofsted – a higher proportion than the national average (89 per cent, compared to 80 per cent nationally)
- This has been instrumental in securing significant additional DfE funding, to implement the No Wrong Door Model of support
- The council also runs self-contained supported flats, to help 16 and 17-year-olds prepare for independent living
The reports will be considered when cabinet meets at 10am on Monday, 4 November. The meeting will be webcast live and a recording available on the same channel afterwards.