Final preparations to open two homes for children

A council hopes to start identifying children this month to move into two new houses for children in care.

City of Wolverhampton Council said in 2022 it was encouraged by the government to set up its own homes, rather than rely on private provision, and after buying two properties it has been working to refurbish them.

It has also been recruiting staff to run the homes, but had to overcome concerns raised by nearby residents and Ofsted.

The authority said it was in the position to complete its recruitment and hoped to have them registered in July.

It added it had been able to get match funding from the Department of Education to help with the purchasing of the two houses.

Each will provide "high quality care" for up to two young people and it had been training staff to work in them.

As well as cutting the cost of paying out-of-city private providers to run the homes, the council said they would "increase stability" for the children.

It said it hoped this would mean the children would move around less and enable them to continue accessing local support services.

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