Young people and families from Aberdeen have highlighted the growing crisis in residential care by calling on the Scottish Government and Cosla to deliver on one of their key pledges.
Both hope that by next year, no one with a learning disability in Scotland will be kept needlessly in hospital or forced to live away from their communities and Camphill School (CSA) in Aberdeen hope to be part of the solution.
CSA is a charity supporting children and young people – many with additional support needs – to reach their full potential, and was the first shared-living community in the UK for children with learning disabilities.
Last year, CSA launched a campaign to raise £10 million to build residential accommodation and provide life transforming opportunities for an additional 54 young people with learning disabilities and very complex additional support needs.
At an event at the school yesterday, CSA executive director Alex Busch said it had to be part of the solution, with its Our Building Futures, Transforming Lives, Together campaign, saying that there has been a 250% rise in inquiries since 2020.
‘Campaign is direct response to growing crisis in residential care’
Mr Busch urged Scottish Government ministers to provide funding to help the school build new residential places, saying that the school already has a waiting list of young people requiring care.
He said: “The rate of inquiries and a sharp increase in referrals from local authorities for both residential and day services, together with an acute shortage of local and national residential services for young people, means a growing number of young people are either being sent miles away from their families or living in hospital units as they wait for other care options to become available.
“Our Building Futures, Transforming Lives, Together campaign is in direct response to this growing crisis in residential care, with a 33% rise in the number of young people with complex and multiple additional support needs in the past 10 years.
‘We will have to turn many young people away’
“Without developing new provision, we will have to turn many young people and their families away as we are now at full capacity.
“That is why our campaign needs government support – it is critical to our future and the futures of so many young people and their families.”
The new development will lead to capacity across the site increasing by over 55% with the construction of three new residential houses, as well as extending workshop provision, creation of an awards centre and development of a social enterprise, Murtle Market.
Phase one will focus on the first home for young people in crisis to help relieve local and national critical placement shortages.
Established in 1940, CSA started the Worldwide Camphill movement that now consists of more than 120 independent charities globally.
The Scottish Government’s mental wellbeing minister, Kevin Stewart said: “People with learning disabilities and complex care needs should receive high-quality care and support to live in their home communities.
“The Scottish Government has distributed £20million under the Community Living Change Fund to significantly reduce delayed discharge and inappropriate out-of-area placements for adults with learning disabilities and complex care needs.”
Conversation