In the months leading up to the setup of Cedars, we heard numerous stories of children, all under the age of eight, entering residential care.
Every one of them was appropriate for fostering or adoption, yet the national shortage of foster carers and adoptive parents left their Local Authorities with little choice but to find a place in residential care.
On several occasions, the resultant setting was less than ideal. Children were placed in group homes where physical environments and behavioural management approaches were designed for teenagers. These children had been presented with new homes that were not right for their age, or their life experience to date.
We found this alarming. Once a child is placed in a children’s home, how do we go back? How can we remove that exposure to other children’s trauma and the informal labelling packaged up in the word ‘residential’?
Research tells us that fostering and adoption are rarely an option once a child has care experience in such a setting. So, we decided to think about what we could do to prevent younger children entering mainstream residential homes and becoming ‘lost in care’.
Once a child is placed in a children’s home, how do we go back? How can we remove that exposure to other children’s trauma and the informal labelling packaged up in the word ‘residential’?
A service designed for children under twelve, including sibling groups.
Cedars is a service designed specifically for those children where permanence is a real, yet delayed option, including sibling groups.
Once placed with us our teams work with a child's Local Authority and Independent Fostering and Adoption Agencies to find the best match for them, ideally working with them from the outset - completing targeted recruitment, upskilling and then building the relationship between the foster carers/adoptive parents and the child.
When a child moves on from Cedars, our tightknit approach ensures they, and their permanent carers benefit from ongoing support to promote stability and progress in their new home.
Aside from the social benefits, this model makes significant savings to the system. A child entering care at age six is estimated to cost children’s services around £3 million, this is before the involvement of CAMHS, specialist education and other parts of the public sector are even considered. This is without a doubt, a cost worth saving.
Generating up to £3million savings per child.
