Agenda item

Rachel Farnham, Director of Children’s Care will present the action plan to the Board.

 

The Head of Looked after Children and Corporate Parenting was in attendance and provided the board with information relating to the Corporate Parenting Board scorecard.

 

The Head of Service advised that the scorecard was in place for the Corporate Parenting Board to see how our performance was progressing and have the opportunity to challenge. The data was presented slightly differently from previously meeting, and this data set went through every performance indicator for corporate parenting , however the Head of Service had selected the indicators which she thought the board would find most useful.

 

The updates were as follows:

 

CP1- number of children in care in Middlesbrough

·        Numbers of children and young people open to social care, in particular, children looked after (CLA) have shown significant improvement since February 2021.

·        CLA numbers have vastly improved, dropping down below the 500 mark in January 2022, reaching 503 in February 2022- a 2% increase prior to last month.

·        In March 2022 there were a further 25 CLA and 12 that ceased to be looked after

·        CLA numbers are down 14.2% in comparison to the same point last year.

CP2- Gap between Middlesbrough and Regional CiC rate per 10,000- Trend

·        The rate of CLA per 10,000 had steadily declined since February 2021, recently reaching the lowest rate in 12 months in January 2022 at 40.81.

·        The rate increased from January to February 2022 by 7.4%- still a 33% decrease in comparison to the same point last year.

·        We remain above all external benchmarks, and have fallen below our 2022/21 outturn.

CP3- Ratio of children entering to leaving care- trend

·        The number of children starting a period of care remains stable, while those ceasing a period of care is showing a decrease since June 2021. This could be influenced by the decrease in overall numbers of CLA.

CP5- FTE caseloads between 15-20 – Trend

·        Board will be interested to know that caseloads have decreased.

·        FTE caseloads between 15-20 reveal that peal caseload % was in March 2021 at 63.60%- 18.9% above the 2020/21 target.

·        The caseloads have decreased since August 2021, falling below the target in February 2022 by 11.4%

CP6- Average number of weeks children spend in care (Ceasing Care in Month)- Trend

·        The average number of weeks children spend in care has maintained below the 2020-21 target in the last 12 months. Highlighting the positive turnaround for children in care. With the exception of October 2021 and September 2021, when the average peaked to 240.30.

·        In February 2022, the average number of weeks reached the lowest recorded in 12 months at 78.90.

CP9- % of CIC placed with parents on care orders at home- trend.

·        The number of children in care placed with parents in care orders at home exceeds the 2020-21 target across all months.

·        In recent months the % has slowly declined, reaching the lowest recorded in February 2022 at 7.20%- a 41% decrease in comparison to 12 months previous.

·        Currently have 45 children in total looked after by a parent.

CP12- % of children placed outside of 20 miles from home postcode- 12 month trend.

·        The % of children in care placed outside of 20 miles of home postcode remains above the 2020-21 target, 15%. We do however need to consider the type of placement e.g. securing a plan of permanence or with family members.

·        CLA placed more than 20 miles from their home postcode has stayed at a steady % in the last 12 months, at 20% in February 2022. This is a significant improvement in comparison to the highest recorded % in August 2021 at 26%.

CP13- % if CiC placed in in-house foster placements- 12 month trend

·        The % of in-house foster carer placements had remained relatively stable in the last 12 months.

·        The % exceeded the 21% 2020/21 target in January 2022 and has remained above the target in February 2022 reaching 22.27%- a 12.4 % increase in comparison to 12 months prior.

CP19- % of CIC/CL placements breakdowns in last 12 months.

·        The % of children in care/ care leaver breakdowns on the last 12 months shows a significant decrease in October 2021.

·        The % remains below the 2020-21 target in recent months. In February 2022 the % reached 4.04% , a -4.51% difference in comparison to 12 months prior.

·        Date was not captured for December 2021.

CP22- % of post 16 CiC in EET- Trend

·        The % of children in care post 16 in EET dropped below the 2020/21 target 65% from November 2021 o January 2022.

·        In February 2022 the % increased to 70%- 5% above the target. This is a +10% difference in comparison to last month

CP25- % of SDQ’s in 12 months  (Age 4-16 and CLA for 12 + months- a 12 month trend

·        The % of SDQ’s in 12 months (aged 4-16 and CLA for 12+ months) has steadily increased over the last 12 months.

·        In February 2022, the % increased to 88%, a +3% in comparison to January 2022 and a +42% difference in comparison to 12 months previous.

The Director of Children’s Services added that the number of CLA had risen recently and there were two specific reasons for this:

 

·        With the Future for families Hub, the complexity of cases means that the outreach work hasn’t taken place.

·        Somerset judgement- we have a cohort of children who have remained looked after due to this judgement. Current time we have 15-20 children who would have been adopted if not for the Somerset judgement.

A board member advised that she had read in the media that there had been a 14% increased in CLA in the North East of England. In response, the Director of Children’s Services advised that Middlesbrough, in terms of the trend has been doing very well in terms of our North East colleagues however she was aware that some number of CLA in North East local authorities have gone up quite significantly, however Middlesbrough’s trend has gone down.

 

The Director outlined that they can bring North East figures if desired.

 

A board member felt it would be useful to look at how we ensure good news stories are published and in response, the Director outlined she would be speaking to the Gazette about how we can be more proactive and introduce features. She also outlined that the recent report from the Ofsted monitoring visit would be published shortly and within this were positives.

 

A board member also queried the support provided to children who still live with their parents but under the support of Middlesbrough Council.

Children who are supported by parents and by family members. When cared for my extended family members, they become a regulated foster carer and are provided support by the foster teams from supervision, support, training to financial support. When children are placed with parents they received a support from the social worker and from the intervention workers who will provide training and they also go out to the wider community to look at additional support to help integrate them in the local communities e.g specialised training,early help (group settings).

Each child has a care team round them e.g. mental health, drug and alcohol services, to support parents in all areas of life and that wraps around the child and the Head of service would bring a package to a future meeting for information.

 

AGREED- That the scorecards be noted.