Description:The children's home known as St Johns was opened in 1976. The building, situated next to St Mary’s and St John’s church, was originally a voluntary approved (Roman Catholic) school for girls and was run by the Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.
The original three storey building had been supplemented with a newer two-storey building, a detached hall and a school block.
The home was bought in 1976 as a regional resource (managed by Birmingham Social Services on behalf of the Regional Planning Committee) to create a community home with education. These were different from children’s homes in that children did not leave the premises as a matter of course – their schooling was on site. They were aged between 11 and 16 and required ‘a high degree of personal help and supervision and control’.
Initially it was planned that 35 children would be accommodated in St Johns.
In 1977, work began on a four-bed secure unit within the St Johns complex. This was funded by the Department of Health and Social Security nationally. The secure unit was for those children thought to be a risk to themselves or to others. The unit opened in 1979.
In 1987, with the closure of Forhill – the young people on remand were to be accommodated in a new unit at Johns called Woodsong. This new unit had 9 beds and opened in January 1988.
Additionally, a new secure unit was built – in a partnership between West Midlands local authorities, the Department of Health and Social Security and Birmingham Social Services. This new unit was a six-bed unit to replace the initial four-bed unit and took in children from all over the region.
By 1991, St Johns had five units – the most secure of which was Pentlands. At the other end of the security spectrum was a minimal care unit – a transitional unit where children stayed in preparation for leaving care.
The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a series of public scandals at St Johns. In 1989, a child died in the home. In 1993, a resident died driving a stolen car as did another child in 1997. Accusations of past abuse were investigated in the 2000s and led to two workers being convicted.
In 1992 a new secure unit, Earlswood, was opened. The first manager was Juliet Orridge who remained in post there until at least 2002.
Following the second death in a stolen car, St John’s remand unit closed in 1997 and reopened as Kingsmere Remand Unit in 2000. Kingsmere closed in 2010.
----------
Image: A newspaper article about St Johns in the Birmingham Evening Mail 28th August 1991.
----------
Source: This history was compiled by the Birmingham Children's Homes Project, an initiative to explore Birmingham City Council-run children’s homes between 1949 and 1990.