Agenda and minutes

There were no Declarations of Interest made by Members at this point in the meeting.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Children and Young People’s Social Care and Services Scrutiny Panel held on 24 October 2022 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

The Executive Director of Children’s Services and appropriate Officers will be in attendance to provide the Panel with further information relating to support provided to Children with Disabilities and their families during the transition to adulthood.

S Butcher, Executive Director of Children’s Services, E Cowley, Head of Inclusion, Assessment and Review and K Scratton, Interim Head of Children with Disabilities, were in attendance at the meeting to provide the Panel with further information in relation to its current review.

 

The Interim Head of Children with Disabilities opened the presentation by stating that, in the same way that safeguarding was everybody’s business, so too was preparing young people for adulthood and independence.

 

The Panel was informed that the following services and partner organisations were some of the key players in ensuring young people were fully supported to become independent adults:-

 

·        Stronger Families Service

·        SEND and Inclusion Service

·        Children with Disabilities Service

·        Children Looked After and Pathways (Leaving Care) Service

·        Virtual School; Education and Schools

·        Youth Offending Service

·        NHS North of England Commissioning Support Unit

·        Adult Social Care

·        Integrated Support Solutions (for example substance misuse)

 

Stronger Families

 

Stronger Families, often know as Early Help services, provided targeted early help services to address the assessed needs of a child and their family, focussing on activities to improve outcomes for the child.  An assessment of need was undertaken for children and young people and their families who were identified as benefitting from early help. 

 

Stronger families referred young people into adult services prior to becoming 18 for preparation for adulthood.  Youth provision worked with young people with SEND up to the age of 25.

 

Education, Employment and Training

 

Within Stronger Families, the Education, Employment and Training service supported young people aged 16-18 into suitable education, training and employment opportunities.

 

After the age of 18, young people were allocated a Support Worker and young people with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and care leavers were supported by a worker until the age of 25.

 

SEND and Inclusion

 

In supporting young people to prepare for adulthood, the SEND and Inclusion service must have a clear delivery plan to ensure that the vision and outcomes as identified within the SEND Code of Practice were achieved. 

 

A Strategic ‘Preparation for Adulthood’ Group had been established which aimed to understand the direction of travel and to identify and fill any gaps in provision.  The group met every six weeks and reported in to the SEND and Inclusion Group chaired by the DCS to ensure a clear line of sight by senior managers.

 

The voice of the child was key throughout supporting any young person and when young people with special education needs were asked about their aspirations for the future, the majority said that they wanted the same things as anyone else – to have a job, their own home, perhaps get married and have children of their own.

 

The Panel was informed that the key areas of focus in preparation for adulthood were as follows:-

 

·        Increasing the range of pathways and post-16 opportunities including supported internships and enterprise.

·        Improving and increasing the number of employment and independence opportunities

·        Improving provision planning and transition to adulthood.

·        Ensure the voice of the child/young  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22/26

The Chair will provide a verbal update on the business conducted at the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 25 October 2022.

The Chair provided a verbal update in relation to the business conducted at the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 25 October 2022, namely:-

 

·        Executive Forward Work Programme

·        Executive Member Update – Cllr Coupe, Executive Member for Adult Health, Public Protection and Digital Inclusion – provided an update on current and ongoing work within his portfolio.

·        Scrutiny Chairs’ Updates

 

Next meeting of OSB – Wednesday, 16 November at 10.00am.

The next meeting of the Children and Young People’s Social Care and Services Scrutiny Panel was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 20 December 2022 at 9.30am, Mandela Room, Town Hall.