23 JuLY 2008

NO 1325

Statement of Purpose

Providing written evidence of the aims and objectives of children's homes is a legal requirement and, in view of this, we expected little difficulty in obtaining the necessary information. The guidance on residential care which accompanies the Children Act 1989 makes clear that each children's home should have a Statement of Purpose and Function (Department of Health 1991). In making this requirement the guidance acknowledges the increased specialisation of children's homes, and notes that the provision of Statements of Purpose should aid those with responsibility for making placement decisions and in the development of good practice. The Statement of Purpose should include a range of information, including some indication of the ethos or guiding principles of the home, a description of what the home does and the manner in which care is provided. Aims and objectives should be, 'as concrete as possible, clearly attainable and capable of being measured' (p.5). Statements, therefore, have an important role in setting out what a home is trying to achieve and also in defining the characteristics of the resident group.

Rather to our dismay, however, this documentation proved to be somewhat elusive, and only 5 of the 12 homes had completed Statements of Purpose. To reiterate, this was three years after the legislation required them. Even where Statements existed, we were told on four occasions that this was being revised or was not up to date. The situation in North was better than in South, with four of the five homes able to produce some form of written material. Preparation of this had sometimes taken the form of a staff group exercise, with different individuals delegated to write sections of the Statement, and this had often been considered valuable by the team. The situation varied in private homes but where there was no Statement of Purpose we were referred to publicity information. This was usually quite comprehensive and glossily presented, even replete with crest and Latin motto. Such symbols in themselves suggested a stronger conception of the identity, nature and purpose of the home. However, the publicity of private agencies could also be misleading. In one home the material presented an image of a highly therapeutic environment: on talking to the head of the home it emerged that this was the emphasis of a previous manager and bore little, if any, resemblance to the current work.

The existence of a Statement of Purpose was, however, no guarantee of clarity of aims and objectives. Overall we found Statements in local authority homes to be somewhat bland, lacking guiding principles and with little information regarding methods of work and links with other agencies or the community. Consequently they provided very limited information about the specific populations with which homes envisaged they would be working. It was also often unclear from this documentation how one home differed from another and difficult to compare the exact services that young people would receive. The information we found in the Statements of adolescent homes typically referred to the age group and number of young people catered for, whether stays were intended to be short- or longer term, with some reference made to the reasons why a young person might be looked after in the unit. These homes aimed to provide care and support for the young person, to help enable a return home where appropriate, and to encourage the development of independent living skills. Reference was also made to the need to work in partnership with families and other agencies. This was all rather general and it would seem difficult for the head of any children's home to disagree.

Heads of homes were mostly in agreement with their stated aims but frequently qualified their assent by remarking that they did not match the reality of the current situation. Thus one head of home, while accepting that the unit was intended to operate as a short-term crisis intervention unit for 11-15-year-olds, pointed out that children were often older or younger, had lengthy care histories and spent much more than a short stay at the home. In another facility, undergoing considerable stress, the head of home was even less optimistic, stating that the only current aim was to `contain and survive'. This hardly augured well for the future development of the home.

The remit for homes for younger children seemed more coherent, though in one of the two units there was again no written Statement. However, the heads of both homes were clear that the units aimed to provide care for children who had experienced considerable disruption in both their family lives and care experience, and to prepare them for new foster carers or rehabilitation with families. One head of home nevertheless noted that while this aim was acceptable, the children now being admitted to the unit presented much more difficult behaviour and in the past would have been directed towards more intensively therapeutic provision. Both homes managed to maintain their boundaries regarding residents' age.

It would not be too much of an exaggeration to conclude that probably only one home fulfilled the criteria of the official guidance regarding the content of its Statement of Purpose. This was the local authority home (I) providing short-term breaks for children with severe learning disabilities. Here the Statement contained a detailed list of aims and objectives, together with information on the methods which would be used to fulfil those aims; including, for example, structured care plans dealing with children's needs regarding feeding routines, physiotherapy and medication. Details of the ways in which staff would engage in social work activities and work with other agencies were also included. This contrasted sharply with the vagueness surrounding methods of work already noted in other local authority homes. Two of the private homes (L and J) were also exceptional in this respect, with both heads of homes and written information making clear that children would have access to counselling and therapy from trained specialists.

Overall, then, the situation regarding Statements of Purpose and Function was disquieting. Yet, as we shall see, the degree to which staff were aware of specific aims and objectives as well as methods of work were important preconditions for homes to operate effectively.

DAVID BERRIDGE AND ISABELLE BRODIE

Berridge, D. and Brodie, I. (1998). Children's Homes Revisited. London. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. pp. 85-87.

REFERENCE

Department of Health. (1991). The Children Act 1989. Guidance and Regulations: Vol. 4 – Residential Care. London. HMSO.

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