New children's home being opened by council

The council said the finishing touches are now being put to the building, and young people have been involved in decisions from interior design to choosing a new name for the home.

It will be the fourth new children’s home the council has opened since 2020, and it now operates seven in total.

In the long term the aim is to help children in the home move on to foster care or reunification with family members.

By developing its own children’s homes and employing its own residential care workers to look after the children who live there, the council said it can reduce the need to use private care providers, making it easier for young people to stay in Shropshire, close to the communities that are familiar to them.

Shropshire Council’s children’s homes are rated “Good” or “Outstanding” by the Government’s Ofsted inspectors in their most recent annual inspections.

The development is part of the council’s plans to transform social care for children in Shropshire, giving better opportunities to the most vulnerable young people in the county, whilst reducing its spending with third party providers at a time when it must make significant savings.

Social care for children is a growing demand for councils all over the country, and in Shropshire the number of children in council-funded care has doubled since 2018.

Kirstie Hurst-Knight, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for children and education, said: “Our new children’s home has been an outstanding effort by the children’s services teams and our partners, who have kept to a tight deadline so that it will be ready to welcome its new residents very soon. The home is comfortable, inviting and secure; the perfect environment to give children the foundations for a brighter future.

“Providing this facility ourselves, within Shropshire, keeps children closer to their families and to the professionals involved in their care.”