Young people help decide who will run their children’s homes

Young people in Birmingham have helped decide who will run their children’s homes.

Priory Group, a leading provider of behavioural care in the UK, has been awarded a contract from Birmingham City Council to run five residential children’s homes in Birmingham following a competitive bid process.    

The contract is for the provision of 30 beds across 5 homes and will commence in April 2016. It will involve Priory providing all aspects of care for looked after children from Birmingham for a period of up to 10 years across 5 children’s homes.

Today’s announcement builds on the work Priory is already doing in Birmingham, including the innovative Forward Thinking Birmingham partnership, led by Birmingham Children’s Hospital, which aims to transform the provision of mental healthcare in the city for children and young adults up to the age of 25.

Councillor Brigid Jones, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “Young people at children’s homes in the city were involved in the process of deciding who would run their homes and they did a fantastic job, asking difficult questions of potential providers. Priory Education Services was their choice, and one we agree with. Our absolute priority is that our young people have the best possible childhood which is why we made the decision to bring in a specialist agency to run our homes.”

Tom Riall, chief executive of the Priory Group, said: “Priory is unique in offering the largest network of mental health and specialist education services for young people in need of expert care and support across the UK. This new contract will allow us to better support young people in Birmingham, building on our existing partnership with local hospitals, to transform the lives of young people across the city.”

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Notes to editors
For enquiries, please contact James Isola on 020 7379 5151 or jisola@maitland.co.uk.

About Priory Group
Priory is a leading provider of behavioral healthcare services in the U.K. Priory’s purpose is to make a real and lasting difference for everyone it supports. Priory consists of four divisions - Healthcare, Education and Children’s Services, Adult Care and Older People Services – supporting more than 30,000 people per year in over 300 facilities across the U.K.

For more information about Priory Group’s commitment to child & adolescent services please visit the website: http://www.priorygroup.com/child-adolescent-services