As we're developing our network of not-for-profit, high-quality homes for children and young people across the Liverpool City Region, we often get asked certain questions about our homes, our service model and the children that we'll be caring for.
Here are some of those frequently asked questions and our responses. If you have any further questions, please always feel free to reach out to us at hello@wearejuno.org
Why are children taken into care?
There are currently 82,170 Children Looked After (CLA) in England. Children are typically taken into care because they are experiencing abuse, neglect, family breakdown or because of a parent or child's illness or disability. There is a lot of mythology around children being taken into care, with a common assumption that it is due to some fault of their own. This is simply false, and as highlighted in the 2022 Independent Care Review, far too many children in England have a poor experience when they become looked after. Rather than receiving the love and support they need, many children are sent away from their communities, placed in care environments that can't meet their needs and suffer further relationship breakdowns, all of which negatively affect their mental wellbeing, sense of worth and belonging. We're committed to changing that in LCR.
What kind of properties do we look for?
When designing Juno, care experienced young people gave us really detailed feedback about what our homes should look and feel like - normal family homes, which don't look or feel like institutions, in communities where they will feel safe, proud and able to enjoy lots of local activities and amenities.
With that in mind, we are typically looking for 4-6 bed properties, with a garden, in parts of LCR where there are great opportunities for children and low crime rates. Being our neighbour shouldn't feel any different to living next to a family with children.
How will you manage challenges that could arise if a child is upset or angry?
Our care homes are staffed 24/7, with at least two highly trained social care practitioners present in the home at all times. Our staff are trained to take a trauma-informed approach to their practice and to build supportive, loving relationships with young people in our care, supporting children to recover from difficult experiences.
Young people in care are far more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators, so identifying potential threats to our children’s safety is a key part of our staff training. Addressing risks such as unfamiliar people around the premises, and any antisocial behaviour is a key part of their job.
Will it be noisy, if I am your neighbour?
Like any family home, we can’t guarantee complete silence at all times! We’ll be encouraging children in our care to play in the garden, to have friends over and to enjoy themselves just as we would our own children or grandchildren.
Some properties will require renovation work when we first move in to make them beautiful family homes, but we’ll make sure this work happens during sociable hours and as quickly as possible.
We can have acoustic surveys conducted to inform any soundproofing measures that may be useful, and where possible, when planning the building layout, we’re minimising the number of bedrooms with shared walls.
Concerns about parking
When looking for potential properties, we try to ensure that plenty of off-road parking is available to avoid street parking. In addition to this, we aim to recruit people from the local area and encourage our staff to walk or take public transport.
Concerns about property value
There is no proven negative effect on the value of property around new children’s residential care homes; external economic factors are significantly more impactful. Moreover, we will do work to upgrade the property and keep it well maintained, so it should positively contribute to the overall image of the neighbourhood.
Other general concerns
Juno doesn’t operate for profit, and our vision sets us apart from poorly run care homes that may have formed a negative image of residential care in many people’s minds. It’s important to us that children and young people feel at home and safe in our care.
We want to be a good neighbour to you, so we are always happy to have a conversation with you and see how we can address your concerns, please reach out at hello@wearejuno.org.
Should you have any complaints or concerns when we are in operation, there are many people who can address these. We have a Director of Care overseeing the operation and are monitored by OFSTED, so you will always be able to reach out to someone if needed.