Council struggling to find children suitable homes
Bruce Mewett/PixabayA rise in the number of children in its care means a local authority is struggling to find them all suitable placements, officials have said.
Since the 2020-2021 financial year, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council said the number of children in its care had risen by 40% to 429 as of September 2024.
In a report, the council said it had the second highest rate of looked-after children in north-east England. Hartlepool saw the highest in 2024, according to latest Department for Education (DfE) figures.
The rise in demand was reflective of the "poverty" and "deprivation" faced by some of its communities, as well as the impact of organised crime, the council said.
The report said: "Our families are struggling and we are seeing the manifestation of trauma and adverse childhood experiences."
The local authority said the number of its in-house fostering placements had not changed over the the last 18 months and so did not meet current demand, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
It was therefore relying on independent fostering agencies who themselves were struggling to recruit foster carers.
This meant children were having to spend more time in residential placements rather than in foster families.
The local authority said external placements were inconsistent in quality and "significantly more expensive" than in-house offerings - of which it currently only had one.
It said it had established a group to develop its in-house placements.
"This is a priority in 2025," the report said.