Agenda item

Adam Hart, Headstart South Tees Apprentice and Care Ambassador will present a report to the Board regarding the NENC Care Leavers project.

Also in attendance will be Emilia Soulby, Network Development Manager, North East and North Cumbria Child Health and Wellbeing Network and Jo Morgan, System Leader for Cared for Children.

A report was presented that provided an interim update on the Care Leavers project from the North East and North Cumbria (NENC) Child Health and Wellbeing Network.  The report outlined the key findings of a recent questionnaire, summarised the projects’ purpose, expected outcomes and next steps.

Within the footprint of NENC there were high numbers of cared for children and therefore the population of care leavers was significant.  Care leavers were more prevalent to suffer inequalities that their peers who had not been subject to the care system.   There was a commitment to levelling up and reducing inequalities faced by vulnerable groups within the region.   The project aimed to firstly engage with care leavers to understand what life was like for them and gain understanding of their day-to-day experiences which might impact on their wellbeing.  Consideration would then be given to  consider how services could work together, share good practice, and engage better with young people to improve life outcomes for them.

Using the Core 20 Plus 5 Toolkit, the population of Care Leavers had been identified in Middlesbrough.  Consideration of data around mental health, housing, and work/education was identified.

The Project Objectives were as follows:

1.         To hear the voice of our young people. To effectively work with our young people.  Capture their opinions which could help the development of a co-produced project that was meaningful to them both qualitative and quantitative methods.

2.         Data collection. To understand the needs of our young people on leaving care within an area of NENC to provide a representation of our cared for population using publicly available data.

3.         Share learning across the NENC footprint via the creation of a report to be shared with key stakeholders.

Research undertaken to date included:

•           3 health inequalities were identified through the core 20+5 analysis, those being: food insecurity, emotional health and accommodation. This information was used to shape the professional and Young Persons Questionnaires.

•           A 20-question survey was sent out to all members of Middlesbrough Children’s Services staff, asking for feedback on current services, what professionals thought were the key issues young people faced, and how services could be improved to ensure maximum efficiency.

•           A 24-question survey was sent out to senior management and team managers to pass on to every young person in their service to gain feedback on young people’s views on services on how they could be improved, this was still open for responses.

•           32 professionals responded to the survey.

The professionals survey covered three main topics: mental health, housing and cost of living.  The topics were highlighted as important through the core 20 + 5 analysis and the questions were structured around this.

Initial findings highlighted that the majority of professionals felt that emotional pressure had increased for young people leaving care.  Some professionals believed the lack of fostering provision and young people being placed in residential homes, also had an impact on young people’s emotional health.  One professional stated one of the biggest impacts of young people’s emotional health was increased accessibility to street drugs. Professionals suggested that more awareness of VCSE services could help young people to be identified by more specialised services, as some also stated that most referrals go through to CAMHS or a GP.

Concerns about housing were mostly about capacity, with one professional describing it as a “lottery” due to what is available at the time, and the location of the property.  Some felt the risks in the community was a huge concern.   Ensuring those young people who were more susceptible to exploitation were placed in an area that did not have known criminal and sexual exploitation was vital.   Professionals suggested more flexible and social support and more individual need to the end of care with a step-by-step approach to independence.

The impact of the cost-of-living crisis had been reported nationally as having a great impact on the expenditure of families and individuals.  Most professionals noted that one of their biggest concerns was the regular and increased use of foodbanks.  Some staff noted that Universal Credit was quite low, the current rate being £66.00 per week.   A question was also raised as to “why are so many care leavers on Universal Credit.”

Professionals were interested to know how the addition to the protected characteristics would impact the offer from the local authority.  Raising aspirations and increasing opportunities for care leavers was a key theme  identified when asking professionals what could be done to deal with the cost-of-living crisis.

The next steps would involve undertaking a detailed analysis of the professionals’ data and the analysis of young people’s responses.  Recommendations from the findings would inform project work to support Care Leavers in Middlesbrough.   Project developments would continue to be communicated to key stakeholders.

AGREED that the information was received and noted.