Higher Aspirations, Brighter Futures: NRCCI commissioning report. Glasgow: SIRCC/University of Strathclyde.

The National Residential Child Care Initiative (NRCCI) was set up in
the summer of 2008 when the Scottish Government and COSLA
jointly commissioned the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care
(SIRCC) to undertake a review of the context of residential child
care services and make recommendations for change. The aim was
to make residential care the first and best placement of choice for
those children whose needs it serves.
Three working groups were established to undertake work with
respect to ‘matching resources to needs’, ‘workforce skills’, and
‘commissioning services’. This report represents the key results of
the working group on commissioning services. The report draws
on:
• The experience and knowledge of working group members,
• Relevant literature and policy documents,
• The results of the NRCCI’s stakeholder consultations with young
people and professionals and comments submitted to the NRCCI
web-site.