Corporate Parenting Strategy for Looked After Children 2012 - 2015 Childrens Services Contents Introductions & Objectives 4 Principles 6 Context 5 Objective 1 Supporting families to stay together 21 Objective 2 Managing risk efficiently and providing support at the edge of care 24 Objective 3 Providing & commissioning a flexible and affordable mix of high quality placements 27 2 Objective 4 Ensuring all children in care get a good education 29 Objective 5 Improve the health and well-being of children in care 31 Objective 6 Looked after children get access to cultural and leisure opportunities 33 Objective 7 Giving children clearly planned journeys through care 35 Objective 8 Looked after children participate in decision making 37 Conclusion and Next Steps 39 Tameside’s Corporate Pledge (Promise) to Looked After Children 40 Corporate Parenting Strategy Year 1 (2012 – 13) Action Plan 41 3 Introduction and Purpose Children and young people who are looked after by their local authority, rather than their parents, are amongst the most vulnerable groups in our society. As corporate parents, it is our responsibility to keep them safe, make sure their experiences in care are positive, and improve their on-going life chances. We must approach this parenting role with as much passion and commitment as any family would and ensure that our looked after children have the opportunity to reach their full potential. This strategy describes how we will develop our current arrangements to improve the lives of the children in our care. The intention is to bring together the range of activity across the council and children’s partnership at all stages of the care journey, including a clear focus on supporting families to stay together, wherever it is safe to do so, and minimising the need for children to become looked after. This is the first time Tameside has attempted a ‘whole system’ approach to supporting looked after children and keeping families together. Throughout, the focus is on describing what will change in relation to our work with looked after children, and children on the edge of care. The document is, therefore, an action plan for the future rather than an attempt to cover every detail of our current services and support. This strategy has been consulted upon extensively with our looked after children, partners, stakeholders and parents between March and May 2012. The final draft was agreed by the Corporate Parenting Strategic leads in July 2012. Objectives and Structure The scope of this strategy covers eight key objectives, these are; 1. To support families to stay together and reduce the need for children to be looked after by ensuring a focus on early intervention and prevention. 2. To manage risk confidently and provide support at the edge of care to make sure that children who need to come into care at the right time. 3. To provide and commission a flexible and affordable mix of high quality placements to support all children to have positive experiences in care, whatever their needs. 4. To ensure all looked after children get a good education, whether this is in mainstream, specialist schools or in alternative arrangements. 5. To ensure the health needs of looked after children are provided for, that their health needs are understood through a good quality health assessment and plan. 6. To ensure that looked after children get access to cultural and leisure opportunities 7. To give children clearly planned journeys through care which enable them to be reunited with family and friends where possible, have stable placements and exit the care system positively. 8. To enable Looked after children to participate fully in decision making and service design The context and underlying principles which form the starting point for the strategy are on the next two pages. The rest of the document is structured around delivering these eight objectives with each section describing what we will do in that area and concluding with a summary of the identified actions. 4 5 Principles The development and delivery of this strategy is also underpinned by the following key principles. The relevant principles are reproduced at the beginning of each section. 4. Where children cannot be supported within their immediate family, connected person care arrangements will be explored as the preferred alternative arrangement. 1. The responsibility for meeting the needs of looked after children or children at risk of coming into care rests across all areas of Childrens Services, and our partner agencies who are key stakeholders for looked after children. 5. If children do require alternative care provision outside their family or kinship network the majority will have their needs best met in a substitute family provided by inhouse services wherever possible and if not, with Independent Foster Agency carers within the borough of Tameside. 2. The vast majority of children are most likely to thrive and achieve good outcomes if they are cared for within their own families. 6. Residential placements should only be made where the complexity of a child’s needs mean that they cannot live in a family setting, or where a child expressly does not want an alternative family, and this is assessed to be in their best interests. 3. Preventative services and early intervention to support children in need and their families should be provided to give them every chance to stay together. 7. Placements should be sufficiently local to enable looked after children to remain in their communities, maintain their networks and minimise disruption in their lives. Out of authority foster placements or residential homes will only be considered in exceptional circumstances when all options inborough have been explored. 8. Placement requests should be defined in terms of a child’s needs – it is the role of the Children’s Accommodation and Resource Panel to define the placement to meet these needs with due consideration being given to the available resources. 9. All looked after children of statutory school age should receive appropriate education provision regardless of their placement and ability to access school. Finding an appropriate education setting is just as important as finding suitable carers for looked after children. 10. Central to all children’s ability to fulfil their potential as they develop from childhood and through to teenage years is the need to be well – both physically and emotionally. Good health is a priority for our looked after children. Good physical and emotional health and well-being are key contributors to broader outcomes such as improved learning and achievement and to the long-term prospects of young people as they move into adulthood. 11. Looked after children should not feel different to other children and young people, particularly in relation to their access to culture and leisure activities. 12. Placements should provide stability and permanency for children and young people within their families or alternative care arrangements. 13. Placements should support positive transitions to adulthood, education, employment and training enabling looked after children to positively contribute to their local community and wider economy and succeed in independence. 14. Children’s rights include the right to participation in decisions made about them and their lives 15. Looked after children should have the opportunity to make their views known at every stage, and to ensure that those views influence both their individual plans and also the shape and design of current and future services. 6 7 Context – Looked After Children As outlined above looked after children numbers have been increasing nationally over this period, and indeed within Tameside’s comparator statistical neighbour group of local authorities. However the data below shows that Tameside has consistently had above average numbers of looked after children when compared to national and statistical neighbours each year since 2007. 1. The National Context There were 65,520 looked after children at 31st March 2011 in England, an increase of 2% from 2010 and an increase of 9% since 2007. • 27,310 children started to be looked after during the year ending 31st March 2011. This is a decrease of 3% from the previous year but an increase of 14% from 2007. • 3050 looked after children were adopted during the year ending 31st March 2011, a decrease of 5% from 2010 and a decrease of 8% since 2007. Similarly there has been a decrease in the number of looked after children placed for adoption. This figure has fallen from 2,720 in 2007 to 2,500 in 2010 with a further fall to 2,450 in 2011. • 26,830 children ceased to be looked after during the year ending 31st March 2011, an increase of 6% from 2010 and an increase of 7% from 2007. • 74% of children who were looked after at 31st March 2011 were in foster placement. 2. Numbers of Looked After Children in Tameside Between December 2007 and December 2011 the number of looked after children in Tameside increased by 21.6 % ( 71 children). Number of LAC December 2007 328 December 2008 332 December 2009 344 December 2010 359 December 2011 399 8 9 3. Number of Children Becoming Looked After 4. Ceased to be Looked After The number of Children becoming looked after since 2007 has risen. In 2007 105 children became looked after, in 2011 185 children became looked after which means 79.6% more children became looked after in 2011 than 2007. Children ceasing to be looked after each year have ranged from 101 in 2009 at the lowest to 151 in 2011 at the highest. Year Number of children becoming looked after Year Number of children ceasing to be looked after 2007 105 2007 107 2008 130 2009 101 2010 146 2011 151 2008 134 2009 122 162 188 2010 2011 10 Between 2007 and 2011, 711 children became looked after, with 635 ceasing to be looked after during the same period. 11 208 151 December 2011 234 165 Information not yet obtained December 2010 Any other ethnic group 142 Chinese 202 Any other black background December 2009 African 133 Caribbean 199 Any other Asian background December 2008 Bangladeshi 136 Pakistani 192 Indian December 2007 Any other mixed background Female White and Asian Male White and black African Month End White and black Caribbean The vast majority of Looked after Children in Tameside are white/British Gypsy/Roma Between December 2007 and December 2011 the number of males who were looked after in Tameside increased from 192 to 234 an increase of 21.7%. For the same period the numbers of females who were looked after in Tameside increased from 136 to 165, an increase of 21.3%. Any other white background 6. Ethnicity of Looked After Children White Irish 5. Gender of Looked After Children in Tameside December 2007 1 1 0 2 2 5 2 0 5 6 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 December 2008 1 0 0 3 2 4 2 1 4 2 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 December 2009 1 1 0 3 2 3 3 2 4 1 1 0 0 5 0 1 2 December 2010 1 5 0 3 3 3 2 2 8 1 1 0 1 6 0 1 1 December 2011 2 3 0 5 4 4 2 2 8 4 0 0 0 2 0 3 3 12 13 7. Age of Looked After Children in Tameside The largest number of looked after children has consistently been in the age range of 10 to 15 years old. This group represented the largest increase in numbers between December 2007 and December 2011, increasing from 130 to 164, however it should be noted that numbers in this age range decreased between December 2007 and December 2009, meaning the actual increase took place between December 2009 and December 2011. Month End Under 1 1 – 4 yrs 5 – 9 yrs 10 – 15 yrs 16 – 18 yrs December 2007 22 59 67 130 50 December 2008 9 70 69 127 57 December 2009 30 69 64 129 52 December 2010 17 82 60 145 55 December 2011 26 91 71 164 47 14 15 8. Placement type for Looked After Children in Tameside 9. Adoption / Special Guardianship rates in Tameside A major concern for the service is the increase of external placements being made. The number of children adopted between 2007-2011 has ranged from 14 to 26 each year. There has been a focus on increasing the number of Special Guardianship Orders; however, whilst these have increased, numbers still remain low. Other Independent Residential LA Residential IFA Fostering Agency LA Foster Carers Connected person (Kinship) Placed with parents Tameside has a high number of looked after children placed at home with their parents. Analysis of this data indicates that there are a number of children placed with parents where it would be viable and appropriate to discharge a number of these care orders, which would be significant in reducing the numbers of looked after children within the borough. December 2007 44 40 178 16 12 10 28 December 2008 37 39 179 23 18 6 30 December 2009 45 56 165 20 19 8 31 December 2010 41 61 178 21 21 13 24 December 2011 38 72 193 23 19 18 36 Year Number of children adopted Number of children made subject to SGO 2007 14 3 2008 19 3 2009 23 1 2010 26 5 2011 17 8 16 17 Average Cost of Placements The table below shows the average unit cost by placement provision type, on an annual, weekly and daily basis in any one calendar year; Placed with parents (P1) Connected person (Kinship (F1 and F4) In-house foster care External Foster Care (IFA) In-house residential children’s homes External Residential Total Spend Tameside Council has spent £38,164,526 on Looked after Children’s placements between January 2008 and December 2011. This represents the cost of placement provision only, and does not include associated costs, such as social worker support to placement. 2008 30,715 275,492 2,206,955 465,960 697,981 167,534 5,331,048 2009 43,881 480,333 2,649,513 1,092,760 1,173,284 1,906,866 7,346,637 2010 65,329 572,146 2,716,806 1,080,138 1,262,743 3,034,282 8,731,445 2011 91,069 657,845 3,011,708 1,329,451 1,310,802 3,229,722 9,630,597 38,164,526 a) Annually In-house foster care External Foster Care (IFA) In-house residential children’s homes External Residential Jan 08 - Dec 08 spend 17,542.85 39,947.38 57,019.13 304,225.25 Jan 09 - Dec 09 spend 17,204.63 54,638.00 106,662.17 119,179.11 Jan 10 - Dec 10 spend 15,981.21 51,435.16 114,794.84 131,925.32 Jan 11 - Dec 11 spend 15,685.98 57,802.23 119,163.84 124,220.09 In-house foster care External Foster Care (IFA) In-house residential children’s homes External Residential Jan 08 - Dec 08 spend 337.36 768.22 1,096.52 5,850.49 Jan 09 - Dec 09 spend 330.86 1,050.73 2,051.20 2,291.91 Jan 10 - Dec 10 spend 307.33 989.14 2,207.59 2,537.03 Jan 11 - Dec 11 spend 301.65 1,111.58 2,291.61 2,388.85 In-house foster care External Foster Care (IFA) In-house residential children’s homes External Residential Jan 08 - Dec 08 spend 48.19 109.75 156.65 835.78 Jan 09 - Dec 09 spend 47.27 150.10 293.03 327.42 Jan 10 - Dec 10 spend 43.90 141.31 315.37 362.43 Jan 11 - Dec 11 spend 43.09 158.80 327.37 341.26 b) Weekly In terms of average spend on each looked after child, this equates to the following; No of children Average Daily Average Weekly Average Annual 332 58.80 412.70 21,460.24 344 58.51 410.70 21,356.50 359 66.63 467.72 24,321.57 399 66.13 464.17 24,136.84 18 c) Daily 19 The Strategy Objective 1: Support families to stay together Savings Targets This combination of a higher number of looked after children and a high level of spend occurs at a time when Specialist Services and Safeguarding is seeking to deliver over £750,000 of savings between 2012 and 2013, with further savings targets in the subsequent years of this strategy yet to be set. Projected Future Service Need National patterns within England and the North West reflect the experiences in Tameside of increasing numbers of looked after children. The local high birth rate, with the population of Tameside set to increase by 7.5% to 230,000 by 2029 coupled with the current economic challenges facing the borough is likely to mean the recent increase in underlying demand for placements is set to continue for the coming years. Summary The rise in the number of looked after children means it is timely to consider the services we provide and commission to meet their needs. The challenge for the service is to meet the savings targets to achieve a sustainable financial position whilst simultaneously meeting this projected on-going demand for services. In order to achieve this we are going to need a focussed strategy to prevent children becoming looked after and to provide the most cost effective, best value care for those children who do become looked after, alongside ensuring that those children who are looked after achieve the best possible outcomes. Children’s needs are best served in their own families if this can be safely supported. Principle 1: The responsibility for meeting the needs of looked after children or children at risk of coming into care rests across all of Childrens Services. Helping families stay together must therefore be a key focus for all of Children’s Services and begins with early identification of need and effective early intervention. Principle 2: The vast majority of children are most likely to thrive and achieve good outcomes if they are cared for within their own families. Preventative and early support services can reduce the number of children and young people reaching the threshold for care proceedings and needing to become looked after. Five key areas have been identified to achieve this; Principle 3: Prevention Services and early intervention to support children in need and their families should be provided to give them every chance to stay together 1. Support Parents and Parenting We need to build the resilience of parents and families and give them the skills and confidence to provide a family environment in which children and young people can thrive. This includes direct support when families are struggling, as well as developing and building capacity in families to manage change and difficulty on their own once professionals withdraw. The Children’s hub and early identification of support needs aims to develop a coherent parenting support offer at all levels of need. This work will include realigning the current workforce to create a staff group who are able to respond flexibly to the particular needs of different families, alongside specialist and intensive interventions from Specialist Services and Safeguarding for families with specific or more complex needs. It is necessary to develop parenting programmes to give parents the skills and confidence to help their children thrive at the early intervention stage. Universal health services play a significant role in early support to children and their families, being a key agency providing services from birth through to adulthood. Early identification of need will generally be identified through midwifery, health visiting services, school nursing and so on. Early help and intervention needs to develop close links with health services to ensure that robust measures are in place to identify and respond to such early identification of need. 2. Invest in Early Intervention As part of the commitment to prioritising work to keep families together, there will be a focus in early intervention services in 2012/13 within Children’s Services. To guide early intervention work we will establish the children’s hub, a central contact and access point for all of Children’s Services. The hub will be a multi-agency entity and will ensure that concerns about children will be directed to the most appropriate services for targeted intervention. It is envisaged that the hub will address the current shortfall in provision for children at stages 3 of the Children’s Needs Framework by realigning early intervention services. By doing this we should move to a system where only the most complex of situations at levels 4 and 5 of the Children’s Needs Framework are identified for Specialist Services and Safeguarding intervention, which in turn should lead to a more seamless service provision, with increased capacity to respond more effectively to children on the edge of care to prevent a further increase in our looked after child population. 20 21 3. Focus Children’s Centres on helping families in need Children’s Centres will be a crucial part of any strategy to support families with young children (ages 0-5) to stay together. Young parents, children with disabilities, children of disabled parents, children in workless households and also Children in Need or with a child protection plan will all be specifically targeted to receive support through the work of Children’s Centres and this should make a big impact on our efforts to reduce the number of children reaching the threshold for care. Children’s Centres will continue to provide a variety of universal services, as well as resources and activities specifically targeted at the most vulnerable children and their families. Children’s Centres will support families with a looked after child where this is considered beneficial within the Care Plan, with a view to working towards the child being able to return home if appropriate. Where suitable, supervised contact may be available at a Children’s Centre and access to training and group activity, where beneficial to a parent, would be encouraged and facilitated. Children’s Centres will have an active part in planning for children in need and will work closely with Specialist Services and Safeguarding practitioners to support families where there is a risk of children coming into care. Robust arrangements for information sharing and joint working arrangements are needed to ensure that Children’s Centres help Specialist Services and Safeguarding to identify families and children in need of support or intervention. 4. Keep Children in School: Exclusion and Attendance Keeping children in school is a major determining factor in preventing them coming into care. Very often an exclusion from school can be the final trigger for a breakdown of home life and can quickly result in a request for accommodation. It is vital therefore that we share information with schools and support them to understand their role in prevention. It is also important to help and challenge Head Teachers to keep children in school and manage higher levels of need successfully. Where a child or young person who is identified as a child in need is at risk of exclusion we need to develop an integrated response from Education Welfare and Specialist Services and Safeguarding which looks at the potential implications of exclusions for that child or young person and works to find solutions. Tackling exclusions as a trigger for children coming into care is especially important in light of the recent Education White Paper which gives schools more freedom and also more responsibility for ensuring on going education provision for children who are excluded. We need to work with schools to develop a model which supports them to manage exclusions and keep children in school wherever possible. Similarly absence from school can be a contributory factor. Children’s Services will engage with schools to ensure that the focus on driving up attendance remains and that our attendance and absence monitoring systems help us identify children at risk and can inform the involvement of support services before problems escalate. We need to establish a ‘whole-family’ approach whereby all professionals working with any member of the family operate as a single coherent team rather than individual services and share information and work together on that basis. Development of this whole-family approach will be through the on-going implementation of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF). All nonspecialist services across the children’s workforce will use the Common Assessment Framework to assess needs with the full participation of the child and family. By having one common assessment, information sharing between agencies will be supported by a single integrated plan and by one lead professional, reducing duplication of work and providing more seamless responses between agencies to the child and family. Support families to stay together Summary of Actions We will: • Develop a children’s hub to identify appropriate response levels and intervention. • Ensure targeted parenting support is provided as appropriate at an early intervention stage, through the Youth and Family Teams, Specialist Services and Safeguarding and commissioned services in response to children on the edge of care. • Target the work of Children’s Centres to families in need and develop the relationship between Children’s Centres and Specialist Services and Safeguarding so that they can help build resilience and work effectively together before children and young people reach the edge of care. • Support and challenge schools to reduce exclusions, promote attendance and keep children in school. • Ensure effective information sharing about children and families with additional needs through the continued role of the Common Assessment Framework and development of a team around the Child and Family model. 5. Engage children and young people at risk of disaffection from school Disaffection and disengagement in school can be key factors linked to escalating poor behaviour which can eventually lead to children being excluded from school. The work of schools and learning providers to engage children and young people at risk of disaffection through excellent teaching and learning and an engaging curriculum are therefore crucial elements of any model of prevention to reduce the number of children reaching the care threshold. 6. Share information and work together as a team around the child and family Supporting families to stay together is easier if we think about the needs of the child within the context of their family, their school and their community. Children’s needs always come first for Children’s Services but often these cannot be removed from the needs of the parents and the wider family. 22 23 The Strategy Objective 2: Manage risk confidently and support families at the edge of care We need to ensure the children who need to come into care do so at the right time. Principle 4: The vast majority of children are most likely to thrive and achieve good outcomes if they are cared for within their own families. To do this we need to be able to manage risk successfully with families that are approaching the threshold for care; providing effective interventions which support families to make changes whilst always ensuring that children and young people are kept safe. Principle 5: Prevention Services and early intervention to support children in need and their families should be provided to give them every chance to stay together. 1. Social Work – Working for Families Specialist Services and Safeguarding has recently undergone a restructure with the aim of developing a way of working that gives Social Workers more time to spend on direct intervention with children and families in a preventative way and has a strong emphasis on professional development to support confident risk management. The focus is on putting practice first, and gives social workers and support workers dedicated time to be an active part of finding and implementing solutions which can help keep families together. Principle 6: Where children cannot be supported within their immediate family, kinship care arrangements will be explored as a preferred alternative arrangement. 3. Provide shared care and short breaks to give families a chance to get back on track Sometimes families need a break which gives them the time and space to work their way out of stressful, chaotic situations and turn things around. Offering short breaks and shared care arrangements can help minimise the need for children to come into long-term or permanent care. For those families where they have children with severe disabilities the need for a break is longer term. The range of support for this group of children has increased to enable families and disabled children to receive more natural breaks which acts as a preventative measure and secures the child remaining with their family. For some disabled children with more complex needs there is a need for away from home short breaks and shared care arrangements. The current level of provision has capacity however as the needs of children vary which impacts upon the type of provision needed. Matching provision to need is monitored through the Integrated Service’s for Children with Additional Needs Resources Panel which is attended by representatives from residential and family placement. We will seek to expand our shared care arrangements and our respite offer for children as a means of avoiding all children, not just those with a disability, requiring more long term or permanent care. 4. Provide good challenge and wide input at the gateway to care and reduce the number of placements made in an emergency or at very short notice We need to ensure that children who need to come into care do so at the right time and are placed appropriately. We will introduce a Children’s Allocation and Resource Panel (CARP) which will be the forum where decisions to accommodate a child are made. To ensure the CARP makes the best possible choices, in future: In 2012 we will roll out a joint venture with Oldham MBC supported by the Department of Health, introducing a Multi-Systemic Therapy Team. • Social workers will attend panel to present the case in person in the first instance rather than relying on paperwork. This will facilitate direct discussion and challenge of the individual needs in each case and will provide learning for social work practitioners. This team will consist of 1 Practice Manager and 4 Therapists and will focus on the most complex children at the very edge of care and custody. • The membership of the panel will include representatives from other services and agencies to ensure that each case is considered holistically and that there is challenge and creative problem solving. 2. Engage the extended family and kinship networks prior to entry into care Where a family is struggling to cope or has reached the point of crisis we will explore whether there is capacity within the extended family or kinship network to provide care for the child or young person. By facilitating an open and impartial discussion, Family Group Conferences can help to achieve reconciliation between family members to support them to stay together or identify members of the extended family or kinship network who have capacity to provide care. At present the Family Group Conference Service operates mainly with families where children are identified as children in need or subject to a child protection plan. We want to ensure that extended family and kinship networks are also engaged in other situations including families struggling to cope with severe disability, young people below the age of 18 who present as homeless, families where children are already in care and also families where problems are just beginning to emerge, but where Specialist Services and Safeguarding is not yet involved. For all these groups we will look at how Family Group Conferences and other services focussed in engaging the wider family, at an earlier stage, could help to identify capacity which would make the family more resilient and reduce the need for Statutory Services to intervene. 24 It is difficult to provide well-matched and value for money placements in emergency situations or where requests for care are made at very short notice. We need to minimise the placements made through the emergency route to only those which are genuine emergencies, which were unforeseeable and unpreventable. We will challenge requests made for care within a 24-hour period so that all options are explored before the request goes through to CARP panel. The threshold for emergency accommodation will be made more explicit and widely understood. Similarly, the multidisciplinary involvement in CARP will support a reduction in the number of emergency placements as quite often these cases were already known to other agencies. 5. Establish a community model which uses volunteers to support struggling families Alongside the work of professionals, volunteers in the community can help play an important, distinct and complementary role in helping families through difficult situations and preventing the need for children coming into care. We want to build on the existing volunteer scheme in the Youth Offending Team to establish a scheme which matches families with children on the edge of care, usually those on child protection plans, with volunteers who offer advice and practical help to turn chaotic homes into safe and stable environments. As well as practical parenting support and guidance, volunteers can offer friendly, neutral advice and 25 The Strategy establish trust and openness with families. In this way, the scheme could complement professional social work by offering something which is different and less intrusive. Volunteers are seen as distinct from social workers and are there to listen, not judge, while decisions about children coming into care remain with social work professionals. Objective 3: Provide and commission a flexible and affordable range of high quality placements 6. Create short term accommodation for homeless 16 and 17 year olds For looked after children and young people we need to make sure we have the right range of placements which promote positive experiences whatever their needs. Another key group on the edge of care are 16 or 17 year olds who present to Specialist Services and Safeguarding or Housing Departments as homeless. In the majority of cases, with good social work, these young people can be supported to return home. It should be those young people who genuinely do not have a suitable place to live that should become looked after by the local authority. If we are to succeed in supporting this group of young people we need to provide specific capacity for 16 and 17 year olds reporting as homeless to allow us to assess their needs and work out the best plan for them. This capacity would allow us to avoid making more expensive shortterm arrangements which create false expectations and hamper the efforts of social workers to help young people return home. To this end we will continue with the dedicated social work input at our housing office and joint assessment of needs. Manage risk confidently and support families at the edge of care Summary of Actions We will: • Support social workers and support workers to manage risk successfully at the edge of care by ensuring dedicated time is available to this group of young people. • Introduce a Multi-Systemic Therapy Team on a joint basis with Oldham MBC. • Expand the use of Family Group Conference and other strategies to make sure we always explore capacity within the extended family before children enter the care system. • Test the business case for expanding the provision of short breaks to families that might benefit from time-limited foster placements to prevent children having to come into care permanently. • Provide increased challenge and wide multiagency input at gateway to care (introduce a Children’s Accommodation and Resource Panel). • Reduce the number of requests for accommodation made through emergency procedures so that care decisions can be properly planned. • Establish a scheme which uses volunteers to complement the work of professionals to support families in need. • Continue short term assessment provision for homeless 16 and 17 year olds. At present we do not have sufficient placements available in Tameside to meet all types of need, which means that too many children have placements with external providers. Principle 7: If children do require alternative provision outside their family or kinship network the majority will have their needs met best in a substitute family. Principle 8: Residential placements should only be made where the complexity of a child’s needs mean they cannot live in a family setting, or where a child expressly does not want an alternative family, and this is assessed to be in their best interests. We also need our range of placements to be good value for money and affordable within the budget available. 1. Continue to increase the number and capacity of in-house fostering and adopting families Principle 9: Placement should be sufficiently local to enable looked after children to remain in their communities, maintain their networks, and minimise disruption to their lives. A priority is to continue to focus our effort and resources on recruiting and retaining new foster carers to ensure we have enough families with the right combination of skills and support to meet the needs of the higher number of looked after children we now have. We are particularly in need of foster carers who can manage very challenging behaviour, placements for disabled children and emergency or short term placements. The Fostering Team will work to a specific recruitment strategy and will commit to increase the capacity of the service for children aged ten and over over the next four years. We will also explore regional and sub-regional collaboration options as a way of increasing the capacity of the service. 2. Reduce our dependence on Independent Fostering Agencies and clearly specify their role In the longterm , a successful recruitment strategy for the in-house service will mean a reduced reliance on Independent Fostering Agencies. These agencies will continue to play an important role which complements our in-house provision, but in future they will be commissioned to provide a specific type of placement for a smaller cohort rather than being a fall back when an in-house placement is not available. 3. Make residential placements for fewer children and make them closer to home For some looked after children a residential children’s home will be the best environment to meet their needs and help them succeed. Where this is the case there should be a positive choice for this type of provision. Being with a larger staff group and alongside their peers in a residential placement offers children and young people a greater variety of relationships and allows 24 hour support to be provided for the highest levels of need and most challenging types of behaviour. The long term vision is to reduce reliance on residential placements and move from a comparatively large cohort, spread across a number of external and in house providers to a smaller cohort receiving higher quality and more consistent provision mainly provided in-house and always within Tameside. Reducing the number of children in residential placements will be supported by the increase in the capacity of our 26 27 The Strategy Fostering Service (see above) as well as the efforts of preventative and edge of care services to reduce the total number of looked after children. 4. Establish new provision for Looked After Children with Disabilities We need more placements in Tameside with the appropriate facilities and staff to meet the needs of disabled children where alternative support for their families has been exhausted. For those children where family placement is the identified need it will reduce the reliance on residential care as the only option. Where looked after children have a disability we will work with health services to ensure appropriate training and equipment is provided through therapy and nursing staff. 5. Jointly commission accommodation for children between the ages of 16 and 18 that provides a pathway between care and independence We need to transform our placements for young people in care between the ages of 16 and 18 to create a flexible range of different types of accommodation which supports different levels of independence and transitions to adulthood. At present we do not have enough independent or semi-independent living placements, such as supported housing, training flats and foyers, so we will enter a joint arrangement with Supporting People and District Housing Teams to commission a new extended and more flexible portfolio of placements from social landlords and other third sector providers. This new range of placements will be commissioned to meet the needs of children who have come through the care system and are moving towards independence and also those children who come into care as 16 or 17 year olds as a result of their homelessness. Objective 4: Ensure all looked after children get a good education If looked after children are to thrive, finding the right education setting is just as important as providing a suitable home environment. Principle 10: All looked after children of statutory school age should receive appropriate education provision regardless of their placement and ability to access school. Coming into care means a dramatic change in the home life of a child or young person. If it results in a change of school at the same time that means a break from all previous routines, friendship groups and support networks simultaneously. For children already in care, a breakdown of a school placement is very often a trigger for the breakdown of their home placement and, similarly, problems at home very often manifest themselves at school. This dynamic relationship between home and school life makes providing and maintaining the right education a crucial element of our strategy for looked after children. 1. Find the right educational setting We will ensure that the education of a child coming into care is given due consideration when making a care placement and that this is considered to be of equal importance as identifying a suitable family. The Virtual Head Teacher for looked after children will lead on any transfer which becomes necessary between educational providers to ensure smooth transition. Provide and commission a flexible and affordable range of high quality placements Summary of Actions We will: • Continue our recruitment strategy for new in-house foster carers to increase the number of fostering households supported by the in-house service and therefore reduce the reliance on independent fostering agencies and residential placements. • Explore regional collaboration options as a way of increasing the capacity of the Fostering Service. • Explore the viability of recruiting and employing retained emergency foster carers to provide a response to requests for placements made by the Out of Hours Team at very short notice. • Create a virtual multi-disciplinary team which can work with, and up skill, in-house residential homes to allow them to support a greater level of need. This team would include professionals from health, mental health, education and others. • Consider expanding shared care provision for looked after children with disabilities. • Jointly commission accommodation for young people between the ages of 16 and 18 that provides a pathway between care and independence. 28 29 The Strategy 2. Improve joint working between Specialist Services and Safeguarding in mainstream education Where possible we need to keep looked after children in school and ideally in the school they were already attending prior to coming into care. To make this work, schools, social workers and carers need to plan, share information and work together. We will develop a more effective approach to working with schools to support a looked after child’s education. The Personal Education Plan (PEP) which exists for all looked after children is an integral part of the care planning process. The PEP must feed into the looked after child reviewing process to ensure all information is available and discussed together. Similarly approaches to behaviour management and tackling other issues should be the same in the two settings so that children have a consistent set of boundaries, routines and norms in which to find security and stability. Furthermore, there needs to be good communication between schools, social workers and carers so that when issues do arise they can be tackled jointly, or if things are more serious, plans can be put into place early for a move of placement or a change of school. The Virtual Head Teacher will lead on this process to ensure continuity. We will work through the Behaviour Partnerships and Head Teacher Groups to establish working protocols to support better collaborative working with schools. 3. Support care leavers into education, employment and training The future life-chances of care leavers are dramatically improved if they can be supported to move into education, employment or training and we recognise that young people within the care system are often at the disadvantage of a poor start and require assistance to catch up. We therefore commit to develop a ‘From Care to Work’ programme and to encourage ambition and achievement from as early an age as possible. Ensure all children and young people in care get a good education Objective 5: Improve the Health and Well-being of Looked After Children Many children who become looked after have had their health needs neglected. Causal factors for poor physical and emotional health in looked after children relate to; Principle 11: Central to any child’s ability to fulfil their potential as they develop from childhood and through the teenage years is the need to be well – both physically and emotionally. Good health is a priority for our looked after children. Good physical and emotional health and wellbeing are key contributors to broader outcomes such as improved learning and achievement and to the long-term prospects of young people as they move into adulthood. • Their experiences before becoming looked after: low socio-economic status, chaotic parenting, abuse and neglect, the impacts of poor parental mental health, substance misuse or domestic violence. • Poor levels of routine health care, for example, immunisations (twice as likely to have missed Meningitis C vaccination) and missing out on preventive messages delivered through schools, for example sex and relationships education or healthy eating or basic alcohol and drugs awareness. • Negative experiences in care, for example poor placement stability or disrupted education, can result in continued disruption to health care (e.g. access to dental care) unless health services are wrapped around the child. • Young people living independently are at risk of poor levels of routine health care • Looked after children are at much higher risk of early conception and teenage parenthood. • Nationally looked after children have higher levels of obesity The physical and mental health and emotional well-being of looked after children and young people needs to be addressed promptly as they enter the care system, and continue their journey through care so that they build their self-esteem and resilience and ensure that attachment difficulties and emotional / behavioural difficulties are addressed, and they become physically healthy. For many looked after children the emotional demands and the reasons for becoming looked after are deep-seated , therefore it is important to ensure that children and young people who remain looked after have their needs routinely assessed and their needs responded to as they arise. Summary of Actions We will: • Ensure the educational needs of newly accommodated children are robustly considered when planning placement arrangements for them so their continued educational needs are met, wherever possible within the same educational provision. • Improve joint working between Specialist Services and Safeguarding and schools so that children in all schools have consistent, coordinated support. • Develop a ‘from care to work’ initiative for all looked after children which ensures clear access routes to impartial advice, information and guidance and targeted youth support to enable young people leaving care to remain in education, training or employment and to engage in positive activities. 1. Ensure each looked after child has an up to date statutory health assessment and clear plan that outlines how their health needs are to be met Each looked after child will have an up to date statutory health assessment, which will be reviewed regularly. The named nurse for looked after children will work closely with the social worker to ensure that the health plan is an integral part of the child’s wider care plan, and that the plan is SMART. We will ensure there is a central co-ordination role for the referral to health for looked after children’s health assessments and collation of completed health assessments to ensure these are all completed in a timely manner. We will roll out the BAAF assessment form which provides a holistic overview of looked after children’s health. 2. Ensure support is provided to improve the long term and future health of the current looked after children’s population We will ensure that the child’s health plan and wider care plan enables looked after children to understand how they can promote their health in future years by promoting healthy lifestyles – diet, substance misuse, risk taking behaviours and emotional well-being, pregnancy, keep safe work, sexual health. 30 31 The Strategy 3. Develop complete personal and family health histories for our looked after children in order to enhance the value of health assessments and facilitate better awareness of health needs, including when children return home We will work to involve parents more in health assessments, ensuring a complete family health history is known when securing permanence for a child. We will seek to increase the levels of parental consent to gather further necessary data from GPs, consultants and hospitals to ensure a full picture of the child’s birth family health history is known. Having a complete personal and family health history will considerably enhance the value of all health assessments and facilitate better awareness of health needs when children return home or are placed for permanence. 4. Promote attachment, resilience and self-esteem for looked after children by promoting access to a range of services linked to improving health outcomes. We will seek to provide consistent, stable, placements for looked after children that promote their resilience and attachment to care givers. We will ensure all looked after children have a regular assessment of their mental health and well-being through use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire prior to every health assessment. The findings of this assessment will be analysed and services provided in a co-ordinated way to meet any unmet need. We will ensure CAMHS provide targeted support to looked after children whose needs in this area are having an adverse effect on their mental health and well-being. Objective 6: Ensure all looked after children get access to cultural and leisure opportunities Access to culture, leisure and sporting opportunities is important for all young people and has many benefits for overall life chances and opportunities. We know that looked after children can be excluded from culture and leisure opportunities due to the fact that they can move frequently and tend to have more unsettled lifestyles. Access to culture and leisure opportunities can enable looked after children to express themselves, improving their social participation, relationship with their peers, self-esteem and identity and their understanding of societal expectations and cultural values. Principle 12: Central to all children’s ability to fulfil their potential as they develop from childhood and through the teenage years is the need to be well – both physically and emotionally. Good health is a priority for our looked after children. Good physical and emotional health and well-being are key contributors to broader outcomes such as improved learning and achievement and to the long-term prospects of young people as they move into adulthood. Principle 13: Looked after children should not feel different to other children and young people, particularly in relation to access to culture and leisure activities. 5. We will raise awareness of what ‘good health’ is, and the importance of this for children and young people, their carers and professionals. We need to build on our ‘Cultural Offer to Looked After Children’ to create accessible social, leisure, sport and cultural opportunities for looked after children and care leavers. We will promote healthy, active lifestyles for our looked after children and care leavers, ensuring they have opportunities to engage in sport and recreational activities. 1. Encourage looked after children to engage in cultural and sporting opportunities We will improve the dialogue with young people and their carers over health issues, and identify what they see as important in terms of health. We will support our looked after children by encouraging them to take part in activities that are positive, by continuing and developing hobbies, and activities to enhance their interests and talents and overall quality of life. Improve the Health and Well-being of Children in Care Summary of Actions We will encourage looked after children to take part in culture and leisure activities and groups to help them become healthy, gain confidence, promote self-esteem and enjoy a positive social experience, building friendships and peer networks. 2. Recognise and act on our responsibilities to looked after children and young people in relation to access to leisure and cultural activities We will celebrate and acknowledge the achievements of our looked after children, individually and collectively. We will: • Ensure each looked after child has an up to date statutory health assessment and clear plan that outlines how their health needs are to be met • Ensure support is provided to improve the long term and future health of the current looked after children’s population • Promote attachment, resilience and self-esteem for looked after children by promoting access to a range of services linked to improving health outcomes. • Develop complete health chronologies for our looked after children in order to enhance the value of health assessments and facilitate better awareness of health needs, including when children return home. • We will raise awareness of what ‘good health’ is, and the importance of this for children and young people, their carers and professionals. 32 Through the ‘Cultural Offer’ to looked after children we will work with the sports trust to support looked after children and their carers to access council owned sporting and leisure facilities. This includes sports centres, swimming, gym membership, holiday clubs, library facilities, youth work provision and theatre experiences. We will ensure looked after children have access to a computer and the Internet (where appropriate) in their placements. All looked after children aged 14 and above will be provided with a lap top. 33 The Strategy 3. Support care leavers to continue positive engagement in leisure and cultural opportunities We will work jointly with other agencies to create more accessible social, leisure, sport and cultural opportunities for care leavers, to equip them to enjoy living independently. Care leavers aged 16 – 18 will be supported to access council owned sporting and leisure facilities. Ensure all looked after children get access to cultural and leisure opportunities Summary of Actions We will: • Encourage looked after children to engage in cultural and sporting opportunities • Recognise and act on our responsibilities to looked after children and young people in relation to access to leisure and cultural activities • Support care leavers to continue positive engagement in leisure and cultural opportunities Objective 7: Give children and young people clearly planned journeys through care For looked after children and young people having a clear care plan or pathway plan is essential. A good plan ensures that children enter and exit care at the right times and that throughout they have the security and confidence of knowing what the future holds for them. We need to ensure that children do not ‘drift’ through care, but have clearly-planned journeys which allow them to be reunited with family and friends where possible, have stable placements with alternative carers and exit the care system positively at whatever age this happens. 1. Find the right placements We need to ensure that the processes for making a referral for a placement are rigorously complied with and detailed information is provided to support placement finding. We need a wide range of high quality independent providers and placements to complement our in-house provision, although inhouse provision will always be the preferred option. All placement decisions should be supported by integrated assessment and planning. Principle 14: Placement requests should be defined in terms of a child’s needs – it is the role of the Placement Panel, to define the placement to meet these needs. Principle 15: All looked after children of statutory school age should receive appropriate education provision regardless of their placement and ability to access school. Principle 16: Looked after children should not feel different to other children and young people, particularly in relation to access to culture and leisure activities. Principle 17: Placements should provide stability and permanency for children and young people within their families or alternative substitute care. Principle 18: Placements should support positive transitions to adulthood, enabling looked after children to be part of their community and succeed in independence. 2. Give children stability and permanence as quickly as possible Giving looked after children and young people a sense of security, continuity and commitment is crucial to their experience of care. This sense of ‘permanence’ includes emotional, physical and legal stability and, as corporate parents, we must commit to providing a plan to achieve permanence for all looked after children. This can be achieved through: 1. Reunification with the birth family 2. Living with other family and friends 3. Placed with permanent foster carers until adulthood 4. Adoption We will embed in practice the principle to ensure we achieve plans for permanence in one of the ways described above for all looked after children in Tameside by the time of their second looked after review. 3. Monitor drift in care planning through improving our tracking systems for all looked after children The Children’s Accommodation and Resource Panel will regularly monitor our activity with looked after children, and will review care planning for the existing looked after children population in a systematic way, focussing on children with complex needs who are often in the highest cost provisions. 34 35 The Strategy We will undertake audits of our cohort of looked after children with a view to identifying any cases where the child or young person could be supported to return home. We will track and monitor looked after children accommodated under Section 20 arrangements, but not in permanent placements, in order to ensure timely reunification. We have a high number of looked after children placed with parents, which may increase due to recent changes to court timetabling. Such children must therefore be placed high on the agenda and we must develop systems to ensure timely discharge of care orders on these children when possible. 4. Help young people prepare for adulthood and make staged increases in their independence A vital part of our role as corporate parents is to prepare the children and young people we look after for their independent adult lives. We need to give these young people the necessary life-skills, experience and confidence for them to thrive when they leave care. A part of our 16+ strategy will be the establishment of a coherent ‘moving on’ structure which supports young people to make staged increases in their independence. This structure for young people 16 years or older will be complemented by the roll-out of an independence training strategy which will help young people and their foster carers to learn the skills young people need in preparation for coping on their own or with less direct supervision towards the end of their time in care. We will work in collaboration with Adult Services in planning the placements and transitions for looked after young people with disabilities age 17 plus. 5. We will equip young people who are leaving care with a knowledge of their health history and empower them to manage their own health need The last statutory health assessment before a child leaves care will include a discussion between the looked after children’s nurse and the young person about their overall health needs and future health prognosis, based on assessment of their health chronology and assessments that have been undertaken to that point. Give children and young people clearly planned journeys through care Summary of Actions We will: • Embed a Permanency Framework to ensure all looked after children have a plan for permanence by the time of their second review. • Track looked after children to ensure entry and exit strategies are in place that children who need to come into care do so at the right time, and then exit care at the right time • Establish a ‘moving on’ structure which supports transitions to independence as children reach the end of their care journey. • Ensure looked after children have clear health histories and an awareness of their current and future health needs 36 Objective 8: Looked after children participate fully in decision making and service design Children have the right to participate in decisions made about them. For looked after children, this right is enshrined in the Children Act, 1989 and also in Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Principle 19: Children’s rights include the right to participation in decisions made about them The ‘Corporate Pledge to Looked After Children’ makes consultation and participation of looked after children a priority for the Council and partner agencies. This means that participation has become a mainstream activity and there are many opportunities for children and young people. Principle 20: Looked after children should have the opportunity to make their views known at every stage, and to ensure that those views influence both their individual plans and also the shape and design of current and future services Participation with children and young people and the Council benefits all. Involving children and young people in planning the developments of the services helps to promote their resilience and develops selfesteem. This also means the development of services is improved from the insight and ideas provided by children and young people. Being able to participate does not come easily to all children and young people. Tameside has an effective Children in Care Council (CICC) that was launched in 2008 as a result of the recommendations from Care Matters. This is complemented by our participation group (the ‘Definite Hopefuls’) a forum for our looked after children to ensure their continued active involvement in service planning and delivery. 1. Promote advocacy and children’s rights to all looked after children When a child has difficulty in expressing their views about any decisions being made, they are offered an advocate. An advocate supports children and young people to voice their views and be involved and we commission advocacy from an independent provider. We will ensure looked after children are routinely informed of their right to be supported by the children’s rights service at any time they feel necessary whilst they are looked after by Tameside. 2. Support the work of the Children in Care Council and the participation group the ‘Definite Hopefuls’ The Children in Care Council meets regularly and includes members of the Definite Hopefuls, Elected Members, including the Lead Member for Children’s Services, the Chief Executive, Director of Children’s Service and Head of Children’s Social Work with the lead on Looked after Children. We will ensure through the CICC that communication remains a priority and that looked after children have direct access and influence to senior politicians and officers from Tameside. Members of the CICC attend national and regional events on behalf of looked after children in Tameside, and are members of the North West regional Care Council which regularly reports to central government and the Department for Education. 3. Develop new ways of communicating with looked after children Children and young people tend to be technologically advanced of adults, and enjoy new ways of communicating such as social networking. 37 Conclusion and Next Steps We will develop a new website for looked after children and will promote the use of Viewpoint, a web based pre Review consultation tool, for our looked after children. This strategy sets out how we will deliver our commitment to looked after children and to supporting families to stay together in children’s interests. 4. Ensuring looked after children influence service provision and future service design However its creation marks only the start of the journey, it will be the delivery over the next three years that will make the difference, and this will require coordinated and sustained effort across Children’s Services and its partners. We take seriously looked after children’s opinions and feedback regarding the quality of their placements. Children in foster care are consulted prior to their foster carer’s annual review and young people in residential care or agency placements are consulted about the quality of their care once they have settled in placement and following any placement move. Experience of care interviews are undertaken with care leavers aged 16, 18 & 21. Messages from these consultations are delivered to the CICC by the Definite Hopefuls. It is envisaged that Viewpoint will be used to extract information about young people’s experiences in the future The Corporate Parenting Strategy Group alongside the Children’s Management Team will oversee the delivery of this strategy monitoring the impact on children and families and drive forward the focus on looked after children. This strategy and the associated action plan will continue to be live documents, regularly updated as we move forward however our commitment to looked after children, to the principles in this strategy and to working together to provide the best possible services will remain constant. Young people are included in the training for foster carers, staff and Elected Members. Looked after children and care leavers are trained to recruit staff. Looked after children and care leavers are routinely included in interview panels for all staff with full voting rights in terms of recruitment to key posts. 5. Developing a culture that embraces looked after children’s participation Elected Members receive advice and training about the issues facing children and young people when they become looked after. This is to aid consultation and communication. Young people who are care experienced provide specific training events for Elected Members and staff. All front line staff, managers and Elected Members engage in the young person led ‘Total Respect’ training. Looked after children participate fully in decision making and service design Summary of Actions We will: • Commission an effective Children’s Rights advocacy service • Ensure looked after children are routinely informed of their right to be supported by children’s rights • Support the Children in Care Council to ensure communication and participation remains a priority • Develop a new website for looked after children • Promote the use of Viewpoint, a web based pre-Review tool • Seek regular feedback on placements through quality placement monitoring and Care Exit interviews • Ensure looked after children are involved in all recruitment to key posts, including senior manager posts • Ensure Elected Members and officers engage in training to raise awareness of our Corporate Parenting responsibility 38 39 Tameside’s Corporate Pledge (Promise) to Looked After Children ‘The Definite Hopefuls’ ‘Make us Count’ This Pledge is taken from a combination of key messages received via consultations with Looked After Children; and the priorities that ‘The Definite Hopefuls’ have identified from Care Matters. Tameside Corporate Parents promise to: Corporate Parenting Strategy Year 1 (2012 – 13) Action Plan Objective 1 - To support families to stay together and reduce the need for children to be looked after by ensuring a focus on early intervention and preventative action across Children Learning and Economic Services. Action Expected outcome Date for Designated completion Lead Develop a children’s hub to identify appropriate response levels and intervention. Appropriate interventions provided to support children, and address need for children on the edge of care, reducing numbers of looked after children October 2012 Jane Forrest / Tony Tony Griffin Griffin March 2013 Tony Griffin Tony Griffin Target the work of Children’s Centres to families in need and develop the relationship between Children’s Centres and Specialist Services and Safeguarding so that they can help build resilience and work effectively together before children and young people reach the edge of care. Reduce numbers of March 2013 looked after children, establish arrangements for providing services for looked after children, and those on the edge of care in their localities Tony Griffin Tony Griffin Support and challenge schools to reduce exclusions, promote attendance and keep children in school. Promote academic attainment/outcomes and experiences of school March 2013 Alan Bailey Alan Bailey Ensure effective information sharing about children and families with additional needs through the continued role out of the Common Assessment Framework and development of a team around the Child and Family model. Appropriate interventions provided to support children, and address need for children on the edge of care, reducing numbers of looked after children October 2012 Tony Griffin / Jane Forrest Tony Griffin • Make sure that Children & Young People have a good quality of life in their placements where they feel safe, comfortable and secure; and where their needs are fully met. • Keep plans ‘live’. Check out with children & young people that they agree with plans and support their understanding and attendance at meetings • Commit to supporting Tameside’s Care Council ‘The Definite Hopefuls’ and the full participation of Looked After Children in making decisions about their lives and the services that they need to support them into a better future • Fully support Looked After Children in their education from Early Years to Further Education • Hold age appropriate annual events to celebrate Looked After Children’s achievements • Provide all Looked After Children with free access to all sports development initiatives including high quality sports provision outside schools hours and encourage membership of community sports clubs • Track and record all the momentous life achievements and day to day activities that every child should have memories of; and provide all Looked After Children with photo I.D’s for use in later life • Help young people to have better and regular contact with their families and friends as this is an important part of who they are and the support they could have when they leave care • Improve the support to Looked After Children to equip them with the skills they need to live independently • Improve Housing options for Care Leavers and provide more transitional housing for 16 & 17 year olds, to prepare young people for moving on positively • Fully support all Looked After Children aged 16+ to apply for employment, training and further education opportunities and advocate on their behalf with employers and training providers to secure their recruitment 40 Ensure targeted parenting support Reduce numbers of is provided as appropriate at an looked after children early intervention stage, through the Youth and Family Teams, Specialist Services and Safeguarding and commissioned services in response to children on the edge of care. 41 CPG link person Objective 2 - To manage risk confidently and provide support at the edge of care to make sure the right children come into care at the right time. Objective 3 - To provide and commission a flexible and affordable mix of high quality placements to support all children to have positive experiences in care, whatever their needs. Action Date for Designated completion Lead CPG link person Action Expected outcome Date for Designated completion Lead CPG link person Support social workers and Reduce numbers of looked after children support workers to manage risk successfully at the edge of care by ensuring dedicated time is available to this group of young people. March 2012 Amanda Amesbury Amanda Amesbury Joy Dunbavin Joy Dunbavin August 2012 Amanda Amesbury Amanda Amesbury Increase numbers of children placed in house, reduce costly external provision whilst ensuring children’s needs are met March 2013 Introduce a Multi-Systemic Therapy Reduce numbers of Team on a joint basis with Oldham looked after children MBC. Continue our recruitment strategy for new in-house foster carers to increase the number of fostering households supported by the in-house service and therefore reduce the reliance on independent fostering agencies and residential placements. Explore regional collaboration options as a way of increasing the capacity of the Fostering Service. Increase numbers of children placed in house, reduce costly external provision whilst ensuring children’s needs are met March 2013 Joy Dunbavin Joy Dunbavin Consider expanding shared care provision for with disabilities. Reduce numbers of looked after children March 2013 Joy Dunbavin Joy Dunbavin March 2013 Joy Dunbavin Joy Dunbavin Expand the use of Family Group Meetings and other strategies to make sure we always explore capacity within the extended family before children come into care. Expected outcome Reduce numbers of looked after children March 2012 Joy Dunbavin Joy / Amanda Dunbavin Amesbury / Amanda Amesbury Test the business case for Reduce numbers of expanding the provision of short looked after children breaks to families that might benefit from time-limited foster placements to prevent children having to come into care permanently. March 2012 Joy Dunbavin Provide increased challenge and wide multi agency input at gateway to care (introduce a Children’s Accommodation and Resource Panel). June 2012 Amanda Amesbury Amanda Amesbury Establish a scheme which uses Reduce numbers of volunteers to complement the work looked after children of professionals to support families in need. March 2013 Pat Jennings Amanda Amesbury Continue short term assessment provision for homeless 16 and 17 year olds. March 2013 Joy Dunbavin Joy Dunbavin Reduce numbers of looked after children Ensure sufficiency of placements within the legislative framework 42 Joy Dunbavin Jointly commission accommodation Ensure sufficiency of for young people between the placements within the ages of 16 and 18 that provides legislative framework a pathway between care and independence. 43 Objective 4 - To ensure all looked after children get a good education, whether this is in mainstream schools or in alternative arrangements. Action Expected outcome Improve joint working between Specialist Services and Safeguarding and schools so that children in all schools have consistent, coordinated support. Increase stability of education placements and care placements Ensure the educational needs of newly accommodated children are robustly considered when planning placement arrangements for them so their continued educational needs are met, wherever possible within the same educational provision. Children’s education is not disrupted Develop a ‘from care to work’ initiative for all looked after children and ensure clear access routes to impartial advice, information and guidance and targeted youth support to enable young people leaving care to remain in education, training or employment and to engage in positive activities. Increase numbers of looked after children engaged in education, employment and training 44 Date for Designated completion Lead CPG link person March 2013 Kim Brooks March 2013 March 2013 Kim Brooks Kim Brooks Joy Dunbavin Kim Brooks Joy Dunbavin Objective 5 – Improve the Health and Well-being of Looked After Children Action Expected outcome Date for Designated completion Lead CPG link person Ensure each looked after child has an up to date health assessment and clear plan that outlines how their health needs are to be met. Health needs are known and responded to March 2013 Gill Gibson Gill Gibson Ensure support is provided to improve the long term and future health of the current looked after children’s population. Looked after children enjoy life long good health March 2013 Gill Gibson Gill Gibson Promote attachment, resilience and Looked after children March 2013 self-esteem for looked after children enjoy good mental and by promoting access to a range of physical health services linked to improving health outcomes. Gill Gibson Gill Gibson Develop complete health chronologies for our looked after children in order to enhance the value of health assessments and facilitate better awareness of health needs, including when children return home. Future health needs are identified and provided for March 2013 Gill Gibson Gill Gibson We will raise awareness of what ‘good health’ is, and the importance of this for children and young people, their carers and professionals. Looked after children lead healthy lifestyles March 2013 Gill Gibson Gill Gibson 45 Objective 6 – Ensure all looked after children get access to cultural and leisure activities Objective 8 – Looked after children participate fully in decision making and service design Action Expected outcome CPG link person Action Expected outcome Date for Designated completion Lead CPG link person Encourage looked after children to engage in cultural and sporting opportunities. Improve the fitness March 2013 and general wellbeing of looked after children and care leavers Toby Wood / Jane Taylor Toby Wood Ensure looked after children are routinely informed of their right to be supported by children’s rights Increase in % of children known to and supported by Children’s Rights September 2013 Amanda Amesbury Amanda Amesbury Recognise and act on our responsibilities to looked after children and young people in relation to access to leisure and cultural activities Increased numbers of looked after children engage in leisure and cultural activities (libraries, events and so on) March 2013 Jane Taylor Toby Wood Support the Children in Care Council to ensure communication and participation remains a priority Increased membership March 2013 of the Children in Care Council and Definite Hopefuls, active engagement at CICC meetings Debbie Allott Debbie Allott Support care leavers to continue positive engagement in leisure and cultural opportunities Improve the fitness and general wellbeing of looked after care leavers March 2013 Joy Dunbavin Toby / Toby Wood Wood Develop a new website for looked after children Increase engagement by new technology, increase awareness of rights March 2013 Debbie Allott Debbie Allott Promote the use of Viewpoint, a web based pre-Review tool Increase in pre review consultation and participation March 2013 Debbie Allott Debbie Allott Seek regular feedback on placements through quality placement monitoring and Care Exit interviews Better quality of carers due to constructive feedback from our looked after children March 2013 Debbie Allott Debbie Allott Ensure looked after children are involved in all recruitment to key posts, including senior manager posts Better quality of staff who are more child centred. March 2013 All senior managers Tony Griffin Ensure Elected Members and officers engage in training to raise awareness of our Corporate Parenting responsibility Elected Members have March 2013 full understanding of their corporate parenting duties Debbie Allott Debbie Allott Date for Designated completion Lead Objective 7 – To give children clearly planned journeys through care which enable them to be reunited with family and friends where possible, have stable placements and exit the care system positively. Action Expected outcome Date for Designated completion Lead CPG link person Embed a Permanency Framework to ensure all looked after children have a plan for permanence by the time of their second review. Ensure effective care planning for looked after children October 2012 Amanda Amesbury Track looked after children to ensure entry and exit strategies are in place so the right children enter care, and in turn exit care, at the right time. Reduce numbers of looked after children Looked after children will achieve good outcomes October 2012 Establish a ‘moving on’ structure which supports transitions to independence as children reach the end of their care journey. Care leavers are supported through the transition to adulthood and independence March 2013 46 Amanda Amesbury Amanda Amanda Amesbury / Amesbury Joy Dunbavin Joy Dunbavin Amanda Amesbury *many actions are on-going and continual, these are identified as March 2013 completion dates and will be reviewed as we roll into the second year of this strategy 47
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