More children and young people in Powys are being cared for closer to their home communities as the council expands its own fostering and residential provision.

Powys County Council has been working to reduce its reliance on placements outside the county, which can mean children living significant distances from their families, schools and existing support networks.

The authority says increasing local care capacity is allowing more children who need to enter care to remain in Powys. Its wider “closer to home” approach includes expanding the pool of council foster carers and developing more in-house residential accommodation.

Powys Children’s Services currently operates residential units for children requiring additional support, while the council and Powys Teaching Health Board have also developed a therapeutic children’s home near Llanbrynmair. The three-bedroom home is designed to support up to three young people aged between 11 and 18 with complex emotional and behavioural needs.

The council says keeping children nearer their existing communities can help preserve relationships with relatives, friends, schools and other services. It also forms part of efforts to reduce dependence on external and commercial placements, which can be considerably more expensive for local authorities. Powys has previously highlighted the importance of recruiting more local foster carers as part of the strategy.

Foster Wales Powys said earlier this year that its carers are central to enabling children in care to remain within their communities, schools and support networks wherever possible.

The council’s children’s services strategy states that residential care should generally be used where a child’s needs cannot safely or appropriately be met through foster, kinship or other family-based care.

Powys continues to seek additional foster carers as it develops its local provision.

The council says the aim is to ensure that, wherever it is appropriate and in a child’s best interests, entering care does not also mean having to leave their community behind.