Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Brook and Pugh, R Gerrard (Community Health and Development Co-ordinator) and L Mitchell - Approach Development. 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 21 February 2024 be confirmed as a correct record, and the attendance matrix be noted.

The Independence Reviewing Officer (IRO) gave a presentation on ‘The Role of the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO)’.  The presentation outlined:

•       Why the role of the IRO was created; and,

•       The key roles and responsibilities of the IRO.

At the conclusion of the presentation the following questions were raised:

•        An Officer asked the IRO to explain what her role entails.

The IRO advised that an IRO is an Independent Reviewing Officer whose primary focus was to quality assure the care planning and review process for each child and ensure that his/her current wishes and feelings were given full consideration.

An effective IRO service should enable the local authority to achieve improved outcomes for children. It was not the responsibility of the IRO to manage the case, supervise the social worker or devise the care plan. Although it was important to develop a consistent relationship with the child,this should not undermine or replace the relationship between the social worker and the child. 

•       A Member asked what was the average caseload for an IRO and had it changed over the last 5 years?    

The IRO advised that the total number of children in our care currently was 428.  The recommended caseload was 50-70 per IRO, unfortunately we are not currently achieving this.  Practice has been adapting however, to meet the demographic changes and we have been offering a much wider service.

•       A Member asked what was the role of the IRO in post adoption?

     The IRO advised that this was decided on an individual basis.

The Assistant Director for Social Care and Early Help advised that the IRO would have a care plan for the young person. However, after adoption whether this continued depends on the adopters. We were looking how to improve this with Tees Valley Adoption service.

•      A Member asked if there had been an increase in the casework for Child Protection Plans.

The IRO advised that several children several children are subject to Child Protection Plans however, when they come into our care, they are no longer on a protection plan.

The Assistant Director for Social Care and Early Help advised that there had been an increase of 40-50 children over the past year. The highest number of these were babies. There may be a business case for expanding to make pre-birth team.

From April last year the numbers coming into the service were steady but last month’s numbers rose and the Team were looking into the reasons why. The number of children on child protection orders has fallen, whereas the numbers of children in our care had increased. The majority of our children under CCP are under for neglect.

RESOLVED that the information in the presented be noted.

The Training & Development Worker for the Fostering Team &

Mockingbird Liaison Worker gave a presentation on the Mockingbird family model.

The presentation covered.

·       What is Mockingbird?

·       The Role of the Hub Home Carer

·       The Skills of the Hub Home Carer

·       The Role of the Satellite Families

·       The Skills of the Satellite Families

·       Real life impact of Mockingbird

·       Challenges for Mockingbird

·       Next steps for Mockingbird

At the conclusion of the presentation Officers responded to questions from Members of the Board including;

·          Do we match the constellation to the family? Can they swap constellations? Are we including this in the advertising?

Officers advised that when the system was first started a lot of thought was put into matching constellation to families.

·       Where was the funding coming from and how long will it last?

Officers advised that Hub home care provides monthly data reports, it maps out what the constellation is doing and is now funded by the local authority. It costs £18 000 to approve a foster carer. The mockingbird model helps to retain foster carers by giving them the extra support they need. Even more savings will come from not needing to put people into residential care.

·       Do Home Hub carers have scope for a break, who will step in when they do and how are they recruited?

Officers advised that as part of the model all Members of a constellation sign an agreement to support each other, and they have a deputy.  Some local authorities are recruiting directly for this role. 

RESOLVED that the information in the presented be noted.

A care leaver attended the meeting and discussed his experiences with the Board and answered questions in relation to it.

As part of the discussions the following comments were raised:

•           Officers to investigate extending invitations to Board meetings to representatives from the Police, members of the Safeguard Board and other public organisations in including the Area Youth Justice Service Representative. Corporate Parenting and blue cabin videos to also be circulated to Board Members.

•           Darlington’s mentoring scheme - was this Council developing mentoring and if so, was there a budget for it?

Officers advised that this was being raised with finance and an action plan of requirements was being created. This Council has a business mentoring program but no peer mentoring program.  Funding would be required as the peer mentoring role is salaried. It was suggested looking at private sector funding as Anglo American and BP were looking to invest some funds locally.

RESOLVED that:

1.              Officers investigate extending invitations to Board meetings to representatives from the Police, members of the Safeguard Board and other public organisations in including the Area Youth Justice Service Representative.

2.              Corporate Parenting and blue cabin videos be circulated to Board Members.

3.              Officers discuss with Anglo American and BP the possibility of funding for a mentoring scheme.

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 Virtual School Head also presented the Personal Education Plan (PEP) report. 

Both Officers then answered Members questions in relation to their reports.

RESOLVED that the information in the report be noted.

The Service Manager for Children and Families, Commissioning and Support Services gave an update on current accommodation projects and answered Members questions in relation to it.

The presentation covered:

·       Unaccompanied Young Children - The Ridings, May Opening with 6 Flats and office base.

·       Our Corporate Parenting Priorities and Actions.

·       New capital projects LUP funded Children Homes.

·       Childrens Home for Children with a Disability – Proposal 5/6 units.

·       Staying Close Funding – Laburnum Road Ormesby.

·       Children with a disability – Respite Provision

RESOLVED that the information in the report be noted.

The Designated Nurse for Children in our Care, from the Northeast and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board presented a report which:

·       Demonstrated the duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in care (CIC).

·       Assured the Board that health services to children in care were provided without undue delay or geographical prejudice.

·       Demonstrated the aim of the Looked After Health team was for sustained improvement in the health and wellbeing of children in care and those leaving care.

·       Assured the child’s voice around health issues were included wherever possible.

·       Reported on compliance to statutory targets from the Looked After Health Team for Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (HDFT).

As part of the discussions the following comments were made:

·       85% of assessments were delayed due to problems with clinic space.

·       Immunisation data for CioC is very poor with only 35% CioC being up to date with their immunisations. Was there a way to improve this? The Designated Nurse advised that this issue was being addressed as the way data was reported needed to be changed.

·       A Member requested dental checks be included.

·       An Officer advised that the numbers in the report were our own targets, not for Ofsted. We are above the national benchmark for dental, the national target is 70%, and we are on 81%.

RESOLVED that the information in the report be noted.

The Service Manager for Supporting Children and Young People Through Care reported on the 3 rota visits that have taken place, one in November 2023 and two in January 2024. The feedback from the visits was very positive. Two where rated 10/10, while the remainder was given 9/10:  - NOTED

It was agreed that a calendar invitation to all future meetings of the Corporate Parenting Board be sent to all Members of the Council.