The Children’s Minister Robert Goodwill, who's also the MP for Scarborough and Whitby, visited a North Yorkshire County Council centre in Scarborough last Friday that is leading the way nationally in improving the lives of young people.
The minister talked to young people and staff at the No Wrong Door centre in Stepney Road about the impact of the service on their lives.
No Wrong Door, which has been rated outstanding by Ofsted, replaces traditional council-run care homes with hubs which combine residential care with fostering along with on-site support from clinical psychologists who act as life coaches, speech and language therapists and a supportive police role.
The service is proving highly effective in breaking the traditional cycle of young people who enter the care system and who go on to engage in offending and high risk-taking behaviour.
Young people supported by No Wrong Door told the minister that the service had changed their lives and that they trusted staff to help them out and point them in the right direction whatever their difficulties; that it was like being part of a big family.
A recent evaluation of the service for the Department for Education recommended that it should inform national policy and practice.
Robert Goodwill, Minister for Children and Families, said:
“I am determined that all young people growing up in care should have access to the best possible advice and support, and initiatives like this help them to make the good choices that set them up for a happy and successful adult life.
The dedication and ambition of staff at No Wrong Door is making a big difference to the lives of young people in Scarborough, helping them to realise their potential. We will look at how this could inform policy and practice across the country.”
North Yorkshire, which has been made a DfE Partner in Practice, sharing and leading on good practice with other authorities, has secured funding to extend the No Wrong Door model.
Its integrated approach will be used on a wider scale to work with vulnerable young people with social, emotional and mental health needs in residential schools and pupil referral units across North Yorkshire. The No Wrong Door model will also be used to support care leavers during their transition to adulthood.
County Councillor Janet Sanderson, North Yorkshire’s Executive Member for Children’s Services, said:
“We are very proud of No Wrong Door, and we are delighted that Mr Goodwill has visited the service and seen first-hand the way it is changing young lives.”