Children’s care homes rely on committed people | Letter

I congratulate the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism for exposing the disgraceful state of residential childcare and the use of illegal children’s homes (Councils pay more than £125m a year placing vulnerable children in illegal care homes in England, 8 September). However, this is a symptom not a cause.

While there are good private children’s homes (I’ve worked with some), they are defined by personal and family commitment, not profit. The same relationships are required whoever runs a children’s home, whether a charitable organisation or local authority. Without the personal, unflinching commitment of councillors, managers, social workers and, crucially, the grownups who work in the home, it can’t be a loving home.

We have been led to believe that regulation and inspection ensure good care. Do they? No. A reliance on such “quality” standards and monitoring has in part led us to this absurd situation. These profit generators are a result of our reluctance to accept the responsibility and risks of giving children love and real care. Things will go wrong, they do in any home, and often it’s putting things right again that produces the greatest therapeutic effect.

Homes are not created by rules and regulations, but by families and communities, ie people. No good home exists without direct, personal commitment and relationships, and the internal and external organisation that enables and supports such relationships.
John Burton
Author, Leading Good Care