Improve relationships with providers to make Devon the authority of choice for providers and keep Devon’s children and young people local. In doing this the Council needs to address identified cultural and practice issues which impact relationships with reputation with providers.

Work with providers to address identified gaps in the system relating to children and young people with complex or diverse presentations as a priority. This should include a focus on the therapeutic and health related inputs required into care planning.

Review and evaluate the local offer, available on the ‘Stand Up Speak Up’ website, for children in care and care experience young people to ensure information they need is available and accessible.

Develop the early help offer across Devon as a pathway which helps prevent children and young people from coming into the care of the Local Authority and acknowledging that, in most cases, strengthening families for children to remain and thrive is better for the long-term outcomes of the child. This should include the development of community support for children with SEND.

Develop the market and increase the skills of staff across the system to support assessed plans to return and reintegrate children and young people back into the family.

Increase the capacity within the fostering and residential markets to offer crisis/emergency support for short periods whilst a longer-term plan is implemented for the child. This should include the sort breaks offer for children with disabilities.

There is a need to ensure that the young person’s educational needs are accurately reflected in any home finding activity and that educational disruption is minimised.

There is a need to increase both the number and availably of fostering beds across Devon. This requires targeted recruitment and foster carer development (across both the in house and independent market) to enable more flexibility and access to this resource for our most complex children, as well as those needing to step across from residential care.

Foster care recruitment should be targeted towards younger households with the promotion of a more flexible offer.

Increase the support available to special guardianship orders arrangements to increase stability.

Increase the number of residential beds in Devon for our most complex young people through in house and provider development.

Prioritise children and young people placed at a distance from Devon to bring them back into the county, or as close as possible, through encouraging providers to think of ‘Devon children for Devon beds’.

Controlling the cost of care is essential. The Authority should explore training of relevant staff and tools available to support the Homes for Children’s Team to understand cost breakdowns submitted and where to appropriately challenge.

Procurement strategies should be reviewed to ensure solutions work for the market. Review and improve the mechanism for procuring independent residential care to encourage provider engagement and to manage cost.

There is a need to explore how to support providers by effectively underwriting insurance for those who take young people with specific risks in relation to damage and fire setting and work with providers to upskill staff in order to avoid these occurrences.

Too many children and young people are in residential care despite their permanence plans indicating that they need long term fostering, or for them to return to their family. Increasing the availability of foster care and support to return home should be a priority.

The data indicates the need to increase the number of adopters available for children in Devon.

Reduce to zero the number of children placed in unregistered provision.

Reduce any time spent in unregistered provision.

Efforts to increase homes for our most complex young people should focus on eliminating the use to these arrangements.

Increase the multi-disciplinary support available to placements where young people are in registered provision to promote stability. Address the cultural and practice issues which prevent collaborative working between social work teams and providers.

Prioritise step across initiatives for those under the age of 12 and, following increases in the availability for more carers able to manage more complex needs, identify and agree very strict criteria for when using residential accommodation for this cohort is unavoidable.

Review the provision of homes for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and child and parent places to ensure this meets the current and projected need.

Review and improve the permanence planning process to enable stability and ensure children have the right plan to meet their needs.

Increase the number of post-16 providers who are able to offer placements to our most complex and vulnerable young people.

Work with providers to increase the number of residential and 16+ supported accommodation provision in Exeter, West Devon, Torridge, Teignbridge and North Devon with a focus on managing young people with complex needs, ensuring links to education, training and employment opportunities.

Explore the provision of suitable accommodation for young male care experienced young people.

Reduce the need for reliance on homes prevention services through a timely and stronger focus on the transition to independence within all service areas (foster care, supported accommodation and residential care)

Implement systematic forecasting, information sharing and planning for housing needs with district and city councils of young people, especially those in 16+ supported accommodation.

Review the provision of suitable accommodation available to young people to ensure it is able to adequately meet identified needs to support into independence and increase the availability of move on or independent accommodation in partnership with the district councils

Review and improve the transitions pathway for young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Increasing the use of foster care will enable increases in the number of young people in staying put arrangements. Future sufficiency reviews will need to monitor this to ensure district councils can support with move on when required.