News
NCA denounces ‘Price-Tagged Children’s Care’ databases
21/01/2010
An in-depth survey by National Care Association to determine the confidence of the Care Sector in care commissioning practices, particularly the price-tagging by care commissioners of child placements in care homes has revealed some worrying findings.
The National Care Association report reveals a total lack of confidence in current care commissioning practice and that official decisions being made are often financially led, and not in the best interests of children. This view has been reinforced by the emphasis given to the fee level recorded by local government on Regional Children's Databases. NCA members believe that decisions about placements should first focus on the child's individual needs, with the cost a secondary consideration.
'Quality of care must come first. Price is secondary. If the cost is on the database then the first decision will always be cost driven,' insists NCA Chairman Nadra Ahmed. 'Government and society have a very particular responsibility for the children that the state decides to take into care. Once the local authority becomes the child's corporate parent that authority has an absolute responsibility to act in the child's best interests. Children who come into care are very vulnerable and often have complex and challenging needs. National Care Association concedes the pressures on the public purse but children must never be treated as a commodity.'
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