The various stages of out-of-home care and their regulation by the Social Care Standards Authority Act

Abstract

The Social Care Standards Authority (SCSA) was created through the SCSA Act and the Act provides the Authority with duties and powers which are legally enforceable. The Authority then published the Social Regulatory Standards for Residential Services for Children in Alternative Care in 2019. Prior to the establishment of the Authority, there was the Department for Social Welfare Standards, which however, had no means of legal enforcement, while the National Standards of Out-of-Home Care of 2009 were also not legally binding. This dissertation will analyse the way in which the services are regulated by the SCSA Act. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to compare the situation before and after the publication of the new law and the creation of the new Standards. Qualitative data was collected through five interviews. Three interviewees were from the Authority, one was a service provider, and two were professionals in the field. The aim of the interviews was to compare and contrast the point of view of the Authority with that of the social welfare service provider. Therefore, interviewees were chosen specifically to be able to obtain this. The interviews brought out the benefits of the Authority, which were provided through the law, and the updated Standards aid the service provider in carrying out their work. The benefits of having an Authority has created a form of support for the service providers. Also, having legally binding Standards makes sure that service providers are providing a quality service. The Standards however lack detail on aftercare, which is very important for a child who leaves the care home at eighteen years. In addition, the inclusion of therapeutic units in children’s homes would be beneficial. This study concludes that the Standards published are very effective and the introduction of the law has benefitted in many ways.