Agenda item

The Director of Children’s Care provided information to the Board in relation to service performance.  Members were referred to the ‘Children’s Services Analysis Tool (ChAT)’ document, which was based on Ofsted’s ILACS Annex A dataset (2020) / Inspection Report, and which had been circulated as part of the agenda pack.

 

It was explained that a focused Ofsted visit had taken place in July 2024.  Although the visit itself had lasted two days, when considering such matters as preparation time, preliminary meetings and file reviews, the inspection had run for two weeks overall.  Although positive feedback, which recognised that improvements had been made, was received, welcomed, and publicised, it was acknowledged that further improvements were still to be made.  The Agency Head of Service had led on the improvement work to date, which had demonstrated both strong oversight and hard work by the teams involved.

 

The snapshot data for the last six months, which had been circulated to Members, covered the following areas:

 

·        Children Looked After (CLA) with an open episode of care.

·        CLA Placements.

·        CLA Health and Missing/ Absent from Placement.

·        Care Leavers Eligibility, PA Allocation and Pathway Plans.

·        Care Leavers Demographics and UASC.

·        Care Leavers Pathway Plan and Contact Timescales.

·        Care Leavers PA Allocation and In Touch.

·        Care Leavers Accommodation Suitability and Type.

·        Care Leavers Activity (Education, Employment, or Training).

The Board noted that a reduction in the number of children in care was currently being seen, with 491 children presently in placement.  By comparison, in 2018/2019 there were approximately 700 children in care.  Work was actively taking place with families in relation to safe assessments; returning children to home; and progressing Special Guardianship Order (SGO) assessment.

 

Over the last six months, 68 children and young people had entered care, whereas 87 had moved out.  4% of those moving out had been adopted and 26% had resulted from SGO.

 

Work had been taking place with SHiFT Middlesbrough to provide intense support to 27 young people.  With a focus on crime prevention, activities related to youth custody and juvenile detention matters; legal gateway panels had also been revisited.

 

Regarding health, the Board noted that of the 381 Children Looked After (CLA) for at least 12 months, 90% had received an up to date health assessment.  In terms of dental checks, 84% had received a dental check in the last 12 months.  The issue of dental hygiene had been of significant concern previously; the Board welcomed this performance, but it was acknowledged that further work was required to raise this further.

 

Reference was made to a piece of work that had been undertaken in relation to identifying individuals that were, following new legislation, eligible to receive care leavers support.  The number of young people classed as care leavers had and would continue to increase; pop-up hubs had been established to support this process, and significant effort made to contact family members, etc.  Ofsted had recognised this as a particularly positive piece of work.

 

A Member referred to figures pertaining to care leavers’ Personal Advisor (PA) allocation and keeping in touch.  Clarification regarding the number of 17-18 year olds and 19-21 year olds maintaining contact with the Local Authority was requested.  In response, it was indicated that for 17-18 year olds this was 82%, and for 19-21 year olds 89%.

 

A discussion ensued in relation to CLA missing from placement.  The following comments were made:

·        The Board heard that officers had undertaken work to strengthen reporting measures, such as implementing weekly updates around serious incidents.  It was suggested that consideration be given towards future/ forward planning, and the types of areas where ‘deep dives’ and/ or more information would facilitate the work of the Board.

·        The Chair referred to police resources and queried how missing episodes impacted on these.  In response, the Cleveland Police representative indicated that, over the last 12 months, there had been a 23% reduction in the number of young people going missing from home; an 18% reduction in the number of high risk young people going missing from home; and an 80% reduction in repeat missing.

It was explained that a specialist team of officers worked on cases involving missing CLA.  When a young person went missing, a risk assessment was undertaken to determine whether they were at high or medium/ low risk.  High risk cases involved, for example, potential for self-harm; medium/ low risk involved, for example, young people missing for several days at a time.  Depending upon the assessment, resources would be allocated as appropriate.  In the case of young people missing for several days at a time, for example, it was explained that this had impact on frontline response because those officers would be asked to assist with the missing team resource.  It was noted that Cleveland Police had good response plans in place to deal with missing incidents.

The police representative referred to the Philomena Principles passed into care homes and queried how assured partners felt that, when young people had encountered other partner agencies, that they had also come into police contact.  In response, the Agency Head of Service for Corporate Parenting explained that there had been good responses in terms of monitoring with MACH, with a positive response and attendance from Cleveland Police.  There had been positive responses around escalation too.

In response to an enquiry from a Member, the Board was advised that the 23% reduction in children going missing from home referred to young people reported as missing by parents, services, etc.

A Member queried the work that had been undertaken to help prevent CLA missing episodes.  In response, the Board heard that Cleveland Police’s missing from home team had met with regulated care providers to discuss prevention matters.  Reference was again made to the Philomena Principles, which was about gaining insight into the lives of young people who entered care homes: understanding where family and friends resided; where they would likely go to if missing; obtaining telephone numbers, social media tags, etc.  It was about offering front-end support.

·        Children’s Services had a specific team dealing with incidents of missing CLA; part of their work was to conduct return interviews with young people.

·        The Chair suggested that a ‘deep dive’ into this area would be useful: to understand the reasons for missing episodes, what the cohorts were, etc.  There was significant concern for the Local Authority when missing episodes occurred, and a significant impact on police resources.

A Member referred to Kinship Care, in particular Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs), and queried the support available around these.  In response, the Board heard that the number of SGOs had increased slightly.  There had been some concerns raised from families around whether support would continue once a SGO was put in place; it was indicated that the SGO policy was currently being reviewed.  It was indicated that Child Arrangement Orders were having a positive effect for families.  Permanency monitoring was carried out monthly.

 

In responding to an enquiry regarding the definition, number and thresholds around care leavers, the Board heard that thresholds had not changed.  Although the associated processes and legal gateway had been aligned across Tees, Middlesbrough’s responses were different - which included work as part of the SHiFT Middlesbrough initiative.  Reference was made to earlier intervention work to prevent children entering care; improved educational attainment; and the aim to keep children with their families.  It was explained that the length of time young people had been in care, and how many days after their sixteenth birthday they had been in care, which determined their eligibility for support.  Pop-up drop in sessions to maintain contact and involvement with services had been held; reference was made to mental health support, and the regulations involved in all this work.

 

The Chair commented on the importance of reflecting on Middlesbrough’s service and provision in comparison to other local areas.  Openness, transparency and working effectively with neighbouring Local Authorities to uplift standards and offer the best service possible was key.  A Board Member referred to travel and bus companies and commented that effective communication with partners would facilitate the processing of travel permits for young people.

 

In response to a query from a Member regarding the Keeping in Touch statistics, it was explained to the Board that there had been some issues experienced with data recording for PA allocation and the percentage of 17–18-year-olds in touch with the Local Authority.  A pathway scorecard was currently being devised which would improve the accuracy of the data.  It was agreed that the updated figures would be provided to Members.

 

AGREED that:

 

1.      The Keeping in Touch statistics would be updated and provided to Board Members.

2.      The information, as presented, was noted.