Placement & Homes Strategy for Children and Young People 2026 to 2030

In response to our identified challenges, evolving local need, and national imperatives, this strategy is underpinned by five strategic objectives. These represent our core commitments to children and young people in Buckinghamshire and will drive delivery through to 2029.

We will continue our capital programme to develop up to 10 new Ofsted-registered children’s homes in Buckinghamshire, providing 32 beds across a mix of emergency, medium-term, and long-term provision. Homes will be trauma-informed, co-designed with young people, and strategically located to support local connection. A strong in-house residential offer will reduce our reliance on costly, distant placements and support better outcomes for complex young people.

Currently the 10 homes are split into 2 phases, with Phase 1 delivering 4 smaller homes and an assessment Centre, phase 2 delivering 5 larger homes.

At present 8 homes have been acquired, renovation completed on 3 homes, (4 depending on publication date of strategy) and Ofsted applications are under way.

An expansion of the scope of the programme is under consideration, if approved this will increase the scope to include an additional 3 properties that are already owned by Buckinghamshire council. The potential use of these are to be confirmed when the scope is defined however this could include additional residential capacity, in addition to the 32 beds to be delivered by the 10 homes detailed above.

Leadership of the Children’s Home Programme transferred to the Service Director for Provider Services who commenced in post in January 2025. Ensuring dedicated senior oversight and alignment with the wider sufficiency strategy. The programme is supported by the newly appointed Head of Residential Services and the Service Improvement Team, providing a stable operational foundation as the programme moves into its second phase of delivery.

As the programme has matured, the original plan to use phase one homes for highly complex children transitioning from unregulated placements has evolved. Due to the successful early eradication of unregulated provision and Ofsted’s increasingly robust stance on unregulated care, these homes will initially be used to bring children placed out of county back into Buckinghamshire. While the long-term aim remains to flexibly use this capacity for children with complex needs, placements in these homes will be phased to align with workforce readiness and to maintain a low-risk regulatory position.

Internal projections confirm that the planned 36 bed wave one residential capacity (with a further 13 beds under review) aligns with the projected demand through to 2030, Including for children placed furthest from home and those with complex needs.

As of September 2025, 6 Ofsted-registered in-house homes are operational, providing up to 20 residential placements, 17 of which are currently filled. A further four homes are scheduled to open by year end, delivering a total of 16 new placements in 2025 for children previously placed out of county. Once the full programme is delivered, including the 10 new homes and the three council owned properties under consideration, the in-house estate will consist of 17 homes providing up to 49 placements. This will re balance the current 85:15 external to in-house residential placement split to a projected 55:45 by 2029, significantly increasing local control and reducing reliance on the volatile private market.

Key Actions:

• Complete Phase 1 (emergency and step-down homes) and begin Phase 2 (longer-term care, including for children with neurodiverse needs).
• Align capital development with workforce strategy to ensure therapeutic staffing models and sustainable recruitment.
• Embed in-home CAMHS integration and clinical oversight to support placement stability.

Fostering is the backbone of our strategy. We aim to expand our pool of local carers, particularly for teenagers, large sibling groups, and children with complex needs. Building on Phase 2 of our fostering improvement programme, we will develop a tiered offer with stronger support and clearer progression.

Key Actions:

• Launch a new recruitment campaign, co-produced with current foster carers, focusing on teenagers and children with specialist needs. Our goal is to achieve 25 new placements, including 5 complex step-down or residential avoidance placements, by increasing the enquiry-to-application conversion rate from 5.7% to 7% and achieving application-to-panel decisions within 8 weeks.
• To continue to support the retention of foster carers through regular engagement, positive feedback mechanisms (targeting a 50% survey response rate), and a reduction in deregistration (with only 8 carers deregistering due to retirement in 2024–25).
• Develop and implement the tools, training, and payment structures required for specialist foster placements, enabling children with complex needs and higher risk to access foster homes. This will support step-down from residential or avoidance of high-cost placements where fostering is in the child’s best interests.
• Implement the ACE fostering model to embed wraparound, traumainformed support for therapeutic fostering households.
• Expand our Mockingbird constellations, increasing peer support and reducing placement breakdowns. Our aim is to grow from 3 to 5 hubs by 2027, supporting complex and long-term matches.
• Develop targeted family finding for children with a care plan of long-term fostering, ensuring every child has a route to permanence with carers best matched to their needs. We will track the number of children matched to long-term carers within 6 months of permanence planning.
• Introduce a new KPI to measure placement stability and long-term matching with 65% of children matched to long-term foster placements who remain with the same carer for 12+ months – aspirational target: ≥ 85% by 2028.
• Develop strategic community outreach partnerships with an EDI focus, aiming to recruit at least 5 new carers from global majority backgrounds, to better match children’s heritage and support identity needs.

Young people approaching adulthood need placement options that promote independence while ensuring safety and emotional support. We will expand our supported accommodation provision, prioritising quality, regulation, and readiness for adulthood.

Key Actions:

• Refurbish and register three new council-owned properties to create supported living homes.
• Develop a 16+ parent-and-child step-down model to prevent unnecessary residential stays.
• Embed the Staying Close model across our residential estate.
• Of the 527 looked after children, 64 are placed in supported accommodation. 45 of these young people are placed within the local authority boundary. Having inhouse supported accommodation could save approximately £2million per year.

Where it is safe and appropriate to do so, we will support families to stay together and extend family-based options as an alternative to care. This will include greater use of Special Guardianship Orders, Family Network support, and reunification plans.

Key Actions:

• Expand early intervention and reunification services through Family Support Hubs.
• Increase support and oversight for kinship carers, including training and financial advice.
• Embed practice guidance and panel oversight to ensure robust use of SGO and
• Development of our peer support offer for Kinship carers.

Buckinghamshire’s Edge of Care Service, established in 2023, provides a cohesive and trauma-informed approach to supporting families where children are either at risk of entering care or can safely return home. The service combines intensive Edge of Care Coordinators with a team of trained Family Group Conference (FGC) facilitators and mediators, all working flexibly with families to prevent breakdown and promote reunification.

Edge of Care Coordinators provide bespoke support for adolescents, offering crisis response, mentoring, mediation, and 1:1 direct work with children and families. Their work often includes evening and weekend outreach, parenting coaching (especially for those supporting children with neurodivergence), and holistic support such as benefit advice, EHCP applications, and behaviour regulation strategies. The team uses trauma-informed, neuro-affirming approaches and draws on community partnerships to source mentoring, counselling, and respite opportunities.

Alongside this, our FGC and mediation service facilitates restorative family-led planning processes, helping families create sustainable plans that address safeguarding concerns. Coordinators are independently trained and accredited, skilled in conflict resolution, and strongly advocate for children’s voices to be central in planning. These approaches have helped Buckinghamshire safely divert children from care, reduce placement pressure, and build longer-term family resilience and sustainability.

Effective sufficiency requires strong commissioning governance and the intelligent use of data. We will embed an integrated model of strategic commissioning, placements brokerage, and service planning aligned to live demand.

Key Actions:

• Refresh our commissioning structure and accountability pathways to ensure sufficiency is embedded cross-directorate. The new Commissioning and Procurement HUB provide opportunity to develop a more seamless pathway into 18+ provision and a collaborative response to transition into wraparound services.
• Use live forecasting tools and demand dashboards to anticipate future placement needs. We will collaborate with our national partners to manage demand and track capacity in the market to reduce time in sourcing appropriate placements. We will use data to review our commissioning frameworks and block contracts to meet future demand balancing long term sufficiency and value for money.
• Strengthen our provider market engagement plan, informed by regular feedback from children, carers, and partners. We will implement a framework of engagement to include Young Commissioners and collaboration with providers in strategic market development across our commissioning activity. Feedback will inform continuous improvement and aid market management and ensure the voice of children and young people is embedded through the commissioning cycle.

Each of these objectives will be supported by a detailed operational delivery plan, performance framework, and aligned funding profile. The following sections set out how we will deliver, measure, and sustain this ambition.