The Isle of Anglesey Council’s Cartrefi Clyd initiative provides relationship-focused care to looked after children. Cartrefi Clyd or ‘cosy homes’, have the feel of traditional family homes and are embedded within communities in close proximity to other family homes. They were set up in response to a lack of suitable local placements, which meant that children were often placed miles away from home, often outside of Anglesey and across England. Children sometimes did not know where they were and felt isolated from their friends, family and local Welsh-speaking community.
Anglesey County Council developed its in-house capacity through a mixture of obtaining existing local authority property and purchasing new properties, funded by Welsh government grants. The Council worked closely with colleagues within the Council and the regulatory body to make sure the model complied with regulatory standards, whilst also ensuring it reflected the council’s trauma-informed approach and that the properties felt like homes, rather than feeling institutional.
There are now four Cartrefi Clyd homes, ranging between one, two and three bedroomed provision. They are available to children aged between nine and eighteen, with careful matching taking place to ensure a suitable mix of children in each home. Staffed 24-hours a day by a small team of residential child care workers, the homes focus on providing a continuity of care for children and ensuring each child receives dedicated time and attention. Staff operate a small rota and an attempt is made to ensure staff members work on the same day every week, to give consistency and reduce stigma children may feel, for example as a result of having different people accompanying them to different activities throughout their week.
The benefits of this initiative have been wide-ranging. Children have been supported to develop healthy relationships with trusted adults, build important links and find stability within their local community. They have been empowered to input into the decoration of the home, choosing the layout and colour schemes of their bedrooms, for example, and having pets. Older children have been able to build their skills for independent living through a close collaboration between the residential workers and their social workers. The council has also been able to generate cost savings, with children returning from external private placements and moving into Cartrefi Clyd homes. There are examples where the cost to the council of one high cost external placement has been the same as two children placed in Cartrefi Clyd. Having previously had to travel across to England for visits, social work staff have been able to spend more time working directly with children on Anglesey, as a result of significantly reduced travel time. In addition, residential workers have been encouraged to progress through social work pathways and pursue their interest in and capacity to move into other roles across children and families services.