BOSSES at a children’s home near Helensburgh have been praised for steering the centre through a “challenging” period.

In July, West Dunbartonshire Council said it was determined to address concerns over alleged anti-social behaviour linked to some youngsters staying at Blairvadach Residential Children’s House, in Shandon.

And a report of a Care Inspectorate assessment of the centre, presented to the West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership Audit Committee last week, highlighted progress.

The report, by Jackie Irvine, head of children’s health care and criminal justice services, read: “Despite the recent challenges the inspector reported the service continued to evidence positive leadership and found many examples of how young people were supported, nurtured and guided by staff to achieve their goals and aspirations.

“These positive experiences encouraged the young people to lead active lives which promoted a positive sense of wellbeing.”

Although the inspectorate downgraded the facility from previous quality indicators, going from 'very good' to 'good', it took into account an “unsettled period” in the months leading up to the inspection.

The report read: “The behavioural presentation of some young people had impacted upon the lives of other young people and similarly on the staff team, who had been managing the evolving circumstances resulting from such behaviours.

"The absence of key staff had contributed to the circumstances experienced by young people and staff.

“As a result of this a variety of additional supports were provided to Blairvadach to enable staff to build resilience as individuals and as a team and to ensure the young people continued to receive consistent, high level of care and support.”