New £1m high-security care home for two children

A new high-security care home costing almost £1 million is to be created to host two children with severe mental illness.

The specialist home in Bristol will be designed for children with multiple complex needs connected to trauma.

Their freedom has been restricted by a judge, using what is called a deprivation of liberty order, in a bid to keep them safe.

Charlotte MacDiarmid, a city council commissioning manager, said the plans for the new home "came from growing concern" about the number of children in care placed under this order.

Deprivation of liberty orders are only temporary. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, latest figures show there were nine children from Bristol with the restriction.

Currently, Bristol City Council is paying care homes an average of £13,000 per week to look after each a young person, and up to £25,000 a week, which is £1.3 million a year for one child.

MacDiarmid added the children needing this facility are currently in unsuitable placements or they are "being sent out of the area for often quite costly placements, because there is no appropriate, specialist provision in Bristol".

Every year the council expects to spend between £800,000 to £950,000 running the new home, looking after one or two children at a time.

These figures are still lower than how much the council pays private companies to provide similar care.

A deprivation of liberty order is made for a child with "extremely challenging behaviours", such as self-harming or running away.

Staff apply to the High Court for permission to take away some of their freedom, by locking them in or taking away their phones, to keep them safe.

Labour councillor Katja Hornchen said young girls who have been sexual exploited, don't necessarily recognise that they are being abused.

She added: "To keep them safe, you sometimes have to have a deprivation of liberty order, which is incredibly tragic."

The Department for Education would pay more than £400,000 to help set up the home, which could open late next year, with the council providing a similar amount.

The plans were approved by councillors on the children and young people policy committee on 22 January.

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