Response to government workforce review: “Residential care must not be defined by those who want to end it”
The Children’s Homes Association has responded to the Department for Education’s announcement of a review of professional development for the children’s homes workforce, warning that the purpose of residential care must not be defined by government alone.
The review’s terms of reference state that it will “define the purpose of residential care” and that its outcomes will directly inform the practice of new DfE-funded children’s homes and any future changes to standards. The review will report to ministers in September 2026.
CHA welcomes serious attention to the children’s homes workforce, but says the announcement raises profound concerns about the direction of government policy.
The Children’s Minister has publicly signalled his desire to end the used of residential care and has described children as being placed in residential care when they “could — and should — be living in family-based homes”. He has also taken the sector back decades by using language such as “institutional setting” and “institutions” in relation to children’s care.
CHA says this language is outdated, stigmatising and risks defining children’s homes through ideology rather than evidence.
Dr Mark Kerr, Chief Executive of The Children’s Homes Association, said:
“The children’s homes workforce deserves proper recognition, investment and professional development. But we are deeply concerned that the government has commissioned a review that will define the purpose of residential care within a policy agenda that has already made clear its desire to reduce its use.”
“Residential care must not be defined by those who want to end it.
“The Children’s Minister has publicly stated his view that too many children are in residential care and has used language that takes us back decades, referring to ‘institutional settings’ and ‘institutions’. That is not neutral language. It stigmatises children’s homes, the children who live in them and the skilled professionals who care for them.”
“Children’s homes are not institutions. They are homes. Some children need residential care because it provides safety, stability, relationships, skilled care, belonging, and the chance to recover and grow. For some children, residential care is not a last resort. It is the right care at the right time.”
“We support efforts to strengthen family support, kinship care and fostering. No child should be in residential care because another part of the system failed. But that is very different from treating residential care itself as the failure.”
“The purpose of residential care should be defined by children’s needs and rights, the evidence base, and the expertise of care-experienced people, residential practitioners, providers, commissioners, regulators, and researchers. It should not be imposed by government alone.”
CHA has also criticised the government’s failure to support sector-led workforce development in recent years.
For more than five years, CHA has called for support to develop a robust workforce strategy for children’s residential care, led by the sector and grounded in the realities of the work. Those requests have repeatedly been refused or left unsupported.
Dr Kerr said:
“CHA has been asking the government for years to support sector-led workforce development in children’s residential care. We have consistently argued that the workforce needs investment, status, progression, training and a professional framework that reflects the complexity of caring for children with significant trauma, loss and need, but, crucially, not through a social work lens. The professions are fundamentally different.”
“Those requests were not taken forward.
“Now, after years of refusing to support sector-led development, the government has commissioned its own review, within terms set by a Minister who has already made his direction of travel on residential care clear.”
“That creates an obvious risk. This cannot become policy-based evidence rather than evidence-based policy. It cannot be another review that starts with a preferred answer and then works backwards.”
“We saw that danger in the Care Review, and we are determined not to let it be repeated here.”
“If this review is to have credibility, it must not merely reflect the government’s existing policy preference. It must listen properly to the residential care sector, registered managers, frontline practitioners, providers, commissioners, academics, and, above all, to children and young people who live in children’s homes.”
“The children’s homes workforce deserves better than being reviewed through a lens of suspicion about the very care they provide.”
CHA also warned that the review risks repeating mistakes observed after the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, when some academics, researchers and experts who had contributed to the process later raised concerns about the evidence base, assumptions and the implementation of the final reform package.
Dr Kerr said:
“We have seen this pattern before. The Care Review involved academics, researchers, experts by experience and sector voices, yet participation in the process was later treated as endorsement of the conclusions. After publication, some of those involved felt the need to qualify the evidence base and warn against reforming in haste.”
“That must not happen again.
“If the government has already decided that residential care is to be reduced, any review risks becoming a mechanism for justifying that decision. That is policy-based evidence, not evidence-based policy.”
“CHA will engage constructively with any serious review. But we will not allow the expertise of the residential sector or the voices of children and young people to be used as decoration for a predetermined conclusion.”
CHA is now launching a sector-led consensus process with members and stakeholders to define the purpose of children’s residential care.
The work will bring together providers, registered managers, practitioners, care-experienced people, commissioners, academics and wider partners to produce an evidence-informed statement on what residential care is for, what it is not, and what the government must change.
Dr Kerr added:
“We will not allow children’s homes to be reduced to a caricature. Residential care is diverse and includes emergency protection, assessment, stabilisation, short-term support, longer-term care and upbringing, specialist therapeutic care, and transition support.”
“The government is right to ask what skills the workforce needs. But workforce development must be guided by purpose. If the government defines the purpose incorrectly, it will train the workforce for the wrong mission.”
“CHA will work with members and stakeholders to produce a clear, authoritative statement on the purpose of residential care. We will submit it to the DfE review and use it to challenge outdated, ideological and damaging language wherever it appears.”
CHA is calling on the government to:
- stop using “institutional” language as shorthand for children’s homes;
- reject “last resort” as a definition of residential care;
- recognise residential care as a legitimate and necessary part of the children’s social care continuum;
- develop a national sufficiency strategy that includes high-quality residential care;
- ensure future standards, training and qualifications are evidence-based, not stigma-based.
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Media enquiries:
- Media contact: Sophie Crewdson | Media@the-cha.org.uk | 07974 081 549
- Dr Mark Kerr’s Personal Assistant - Naomi Bowler - Naomi.bowler@the-cha.org.uk | 07498 959 731
ABOUT THE CHILDREN’S HOMES ASSOCIATION
The Children’s Homes Association is the voice of registered providers of residential child care services across England and Wales. We are a Not-for-Profit Limited Company.
The Children’s Homes Association represents both large and small providers with membership drawn from the public, private and voluntary sectors. Some members have just one home whilst others have many homes across a wide geographic area.
Our membership criteria excludes providers who are not ultimately owned in the UK, who do not pay tax in the UK or who receive loans or investments originating from a tax haven.
WHAT WE DO
We provide knowledge, expert guidance, resources and day-to-day support to our members as we work together to deliver exemplary residential child care.
We work directly with local and national government, regulators and allied public services, consulting on policy and changes within the sector.
We ensure that the voices of our members are heard, through consultations, government responses and liaison with the media.
We actively develop partnerships, collaborations and professional communities to share best practice – for the benefit of our members, the sector and all those cared for within it.
Our leadership and associates bring together vast expertise across the many aspects of providing and managing residential child care, with a fearlessly child-centred approach.