Agenda and minutes

Corporate Parenting Board - Tuesday, 4th April, 2023

Venue: Civic Centre, Redcar

Contact: Natasha Luxford 

Items
No. Item

23.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 February and to note the attendance matrix from the last meeting pdf icon PDF 55 KB

24.

Declarations of Interest

25.

HYS/Care Leavers Update

Minutes:

Z Shaw from our Care Leavers forum attended to provide an update on the recent work being done with the forum.

 

Care leavers forum is held once a month (last Wednesday of the month) at the Target office. The forum supports Care experienced Young people to have their voices heard within the group, by sharing on behalf of the forum the views and voices at any relevant meetings.

Care Leaver’s forum gives our care experienced young people the opportunities to have their voice heard, to influence decision- making and bring about positive changes to the services we at Redcar and Cleveland Council provide.

 

In Redcar and Cleveland the motion for Protected characteristics for care experienced young people was passed by council on 13th October 2022, Care Leavers have spent time with forum members to understand their experiences of discrimination and stigma due to their care experienced status. Some of the examples provided from young people’s personal experiences were as follows:

 

1.Discrimination around housing – in particular sharing, ‘why someone  has a number of addresses as child/ young person

2. When applying for jobs, training education.

3. Becoming a parent and telling professional usually in health care    that your care experienced often results in referrals being made for your ‘unborn baby‘

 

The discriminations/stigma highlighted by our care leavers have been shared within R&C covenant steering group to help our stakeholders understand the impact and what can be done remove such discriminations.

 

In February the forum covered what would our Care experienced people want to take forward as our priorities in R&C by the covenant group- the 6 areas are

1.         Better Housing Options – More affordable, safe, suitable homes and in preferred locations

2.         Better Travel Support – Access to public transport, this enables – freedom to travel in the local authority for social and EET, Wi-Fi, charging phones etc.

3.         Mental Health Support as important i.e., Counselling, Therapy etc both internal access within service and external without wating list

4.         More EET opportunities in R&C i.e., East Cleveland, Redcar, Eston etc not just apprenticeships

5.         Digital Poverty – Discussion around the benefits of having internet access – Social interaction, access to entertainment via websites etc.

6.         Health – prescription costs – glasses– dental etc

 

Our care experienced people would also like to have a residential event in September 2023, to give them an opportunity to spend time with friends, people with similar experiences and our PA’s (Target family) The Care Leavers forum would like to ask the LA to support them by part funding the residential event and they would be prepared as group / team to raise funds for the other half.

26.

Data Set

Minutes:

The Assistant Director for Social Care and Early Help presented up to date statistics for children in our care and explained what the department felt was being done right and where there needs to be improvement which shown by the indicators on the data. The information was circulated to members.

27.

CioC Health Update

Minutes:

Item Deferred

28.

Social Care Review

Minutes:

Children and Families have published their strategy for Children’s social care reform on February 2nd 2023 there are currently 3 documents for consultation.

 

The Assistant Director for Social Care and Early Help explained the Authorities vision and 6 pillars of the strategy. A long term plan has been set out for the reform with phase one taking place over the spending review period. The intention is that all partners start to move towards the authorities vision for the future system now and many are on the journey already.

 

Over the next 18 months there will be multiple opportunities for local authorities to shape the reforms and be involved in activities addressing urgent system issues.

29.

Case Study

The Assistant Director for Social Care and Early Help presented a case study which has been undertaken by the service regarding the No Wrong Door Framework.

 

NWD is not just an operating model, it requires a shift in culture, systems, relationships and ways of working together. Adopting and sustaining the approach is as much about creating the outcomes the authority want for young people in the future as it is about supporting those currently in our care. To support this, the service have built a ‘NWD’ Framework. This will inform how the service implement and sustain the NWD innovation. It contains the key principles and elements that are essential to the culture that the NWD approach requires.

 

In the Redcar and Cleveland NWD service the data shows that Children and Families Services worked with a total of 54 young people across the latest quarter (quarter 3) who were deemed to be at imminent risk of entering care at the point of referral. Within this quarter 18 young people were supported to closure. Of these 18, 13 young people were diverted away from care safely and remained with their family, 1 young person (who was already a child in our care) safely returned home and the remaining 4 young people were either children in our care at the point of referral or had to enter care during our intervention for safety.

 

The NWD team aspire to enable all young people to develop, build and sustain relationships with their family and loved ones, and ultimately want them to have lasting relationships that stay with them throughout their life. To ensure that this work continues the service must show that not only is working in this way best for our children and families, but that it is financially viable. The below figures are cumulative.

 

           In Q2 74.5% of young people deemed to be on the edge of care were supported to remain out of care, with an estimated cost avoidance of £2.3 million.

           In Q3 83.3% of young people deemed to be on the edge of care were supported to remain out of care, with an estimated cost avoidance of £3.2 million.

 

The Assistant Director for Social Care and Early Help told Robert’s story who is a young person who has utilised the No Wrong Door facilities which has given him a positive outcome. 

Minutes:

The Assistant Director for Social Care and Early Help presented a case study which has been undertaken by the service regarding the No Wrong Door Framework.

 

NWD is not just an operating model, it requires a shift in culture, systems, relationships and ways of working together. Adopting and sustaining the approach is as much about creating the outcomes the authority want for young people in the future as it is about supporting those currently in our care. To support this, the service have built a ‘NWD’ Framework. This will inform how the service implement and sustain the NWD innovation. It contains the key principles and elements that are essential to the culture that the NWD approach requires.

 

In the Redcar and Cleveland NWD service the data shows that Children and Families Services worked with a total of 54 young people across the latest quarter (quarter 3) who were deemed to be at imminent risk of entering care at the point of referral. Within this quarter 18 young people were supported to closure. Of these 18, 13 young people were diverted away from care safely and remained with their family, 1 young person (who was already a child in our care) safely returned home and the remaining 4 young people were either children in our care at the point of referral or had to enter care during our intervention for safety.

 

The NWD team aspire to enable all young people to develop, build and sustain relationships with their family and loved ones, and ultimately want them to have lasting relationships that stay with them throughout their life. To ensure that this work continues the service must show that not only is working in this way best for our children and families, but that it is financially viable. The below figures are cumulative.

 

           In Q2 74.5% of young people deemed to be on the edge of care were supported to remain out of care, with an estimated cost avoidance of £2.3 million.

           In Q3 83.3% of young people deemed to be on the edge of care were supported to remain out of care, with an estimated cost avoidance of £3.2 million.

 

The Assistant Director for Social Care and Early Help told Robert’s story who is a young person who has utilised the No Wrong Door facilities which has given him a positive outcome. 

30.

Rota Visit/Reg44

Regulation 44 is part of the Children's Homes (2015) Regulations. It requires an independent person to visit at least once a month to make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. This is essential in ensuring that all the proper conditions are met and ensuring that we are working within the regulations whilst also preparing the authority well for an Ofsted inspection when they arrive

Minutes:

 

Regulation 44 is part of the Children's Homes (2015) Regulations. It requires an independent person to visit at least once a month to make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. This is essential in ensuring that all the proper conditions are met and ensuring that we are working within the regulations whilst also preparing the authority well for an Ofsted inspection when they arrive.

31.

Any other Business the Chair certifies as urgent