- Introduction
This report covers the period April 2014 to March 2015. There have been significant changes and developments for the IRO service during this year. These have included a number of staff changes and an increase in the number of looked after children. A comprehensive Annual Report was issued for 2013/14 and this report consolidates and develops some of its key themes. In November 2014 an Internal Audit of the service was completed. Its overall finding concluded the IRO service was satisfactory and items from the management plan will be covered in this report.
- Significant changes and developments
2.1 Permanency Work
One of the IROs spent the first six months of the year seconded part time to the team working on improving permanency outcomes for children. This has led to positive changes and outcomes for children and enhanced/speeded permanency for them. Within the IRO team, the profile of permanency planning has been raised and IROs work proactively with social workers to address children’s permanency planning needs through regular meetings and contact in between reviews.
2.2 Changes in the LAC Population
During the year there has been an increase in children placed on a Care Order with family members who therefore become their foster carers. In the latter part of the year there was an increase of unaccompanied asylum seeking young people coinciding with the global increase of asylum seekers (see figure 2).These factors have caused an expansion in the number ofLooked after Children during the year (see figure 1) creating increased IRO caseloads (see figure 3).
Figure 1 - Number and Rate of LAC
Figure 2 - Number of LAC who are Asylum Seekers 2014/15
Figure 3 - Average IRO case load by month
2.3 Changes in Guidance and Regulations
The Looked after Children and Youth Justice Regulations (April 2014) confirmed the LASPOARegulations (Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, 2012) from November 2013 that young people remanded to specific accommodation are now considered to be in the care of the local authority. The IRO is now responsible for reviewing the child’s detention placement plan.
Under the Out of Authority Placement of Looked after ChildrenRegulations and Guidance(July 2014) the IRO must be consulted before any final placement decision is made so they can discuss the proposed arrangements with the child.
2.4 Matters raised by Internal Audit
The overall finding of the audit was satisfactory with the proviso that three recommendations should be included in the subsequent management action plan. These included:
i)The timely distribution of minutes withinstatutory timescales.
ii)Ensuring the recording of advocates’participation in reviews.
iii)Producing ‘SMART’ outcomes at the conclusion of the review.
Actions have been agreed and implemented in relation to all three recommendations. Management monitoring of the production and distribution of review minutes has been strengthened and the business process reviewed to ensure that all stages of the process are coordinated and timely. Advocates’ participation is now recorded in the review minutes and noted on ICS.SMART planning has been discussed at IRO team meetings and is quality assured through the Children’s Social Care monthly case file audit system.
2.5 Staff Changes in the IRO and Corporate Parenting Teams
Although a previously stable team of experienced IROs, this has been an unsettled year for staffing. This inevitably meant some changes of IRO for children during the year. However, the service has ensured all newLAC cases are allocated to IROs and reviews have taken place within required time scales (see figure 6 below).
During the year there were changes within the social work and management personnel of the Corporate Parenting Team. The IRO team met with the Head of Service to discuss the potential impact of these changes for looked after children in October. Change of social worker has had an impact on the continuity of care planning; IROs have therefore increased their monitoring and support of children in their placements.
2.6 Quality Assurance and service user feedback
IROs complete a monitoring form following each review for a looked after child. The form is sent to the social worker and team manager for comment and action. The process enables IROs to provide feedback and an overview of the quality of care planning and social work involvement for each child in care.
The table below shows the mean scores collated from IROs’ monitoring forms for care plans, placement plans, personal education plans and health plans for each child. The monitoring process uses the Ofstedscoring system of 4 as inadequate 3 requires improvement 2 is good and 1 is outstanding. The scoring demonstrates performance is closer to ‘good’ in all areas (with health plans excelling); this has been fedback to services via performance management meetings.
Figure 4 - Quality of planning: Average score
IROs also participate in the routine monthly quality assurance audit of sampled records from across children’s social care services and contribute to wider discussions at the Service Director’s monthly Performance Management Meeting.
IROs work closely with the commissioning team and will feedback key messages (both positive and negative) regarding their findings when visiting residential and fostering placements. An IRO is currently participating in the Sufficiency Planning work group in response to the need to develop more specialist services for some looked after children (including teenagers with behavioural problems, young unaccompanied asylum seekers and young people leaving care).
IROs also gain feedback from review meeting participants over a two week period every six months. This helps IROs to determine if meetings are meeting the needs of those in attendance. Key findings include:
- Three quarters of all children present at reviews felt they could contribute freely to their meeting.
- The remaining quarter felt they could do so with help from another person at the meeting.
- Over 80% of children felt their views were listened to.
The findings were generally positive but indicate further work is needed to ensure all children and young people attending their reviews feel properly supported and able to contribute. IROs will continue to visit children prior to their reviews and prepare them for their meetings.
2.7 Participation
One of the IROs took on the supervision of the Participation Officer. This includedsupporting her with the True Triumph Awards evening, the Children In Care Youth Groupand other events and activities. Another IRO took a lead role in working with the Participation Officer with young people through TCTF (Today’s Children Tomorrow’s Future) - the Children in Care Council - and the Corporate Parenting Panel. IROs spending more time with children through supportingthe participation work has enhanced their profile with the wider children in care population andresulted in greater direct engagement of IROs with children.
During the year IROs have continued to encourage the participation of children, young people and parents in their reviews. Figure 5 illustrates that the attendance of children and young people has been fairly static, whilst the attendance of parents has risen. A number of children are too young to attend their reviews and some teenagers choose not to attend. IROs have used a number of methods to enable them to participate even if they are not in attendance. This includes visiting the young person in their placement prior to the review and encouraging them to record their opinions on a specifically designed child friendly form. Some children are encouraged to chair their meetings whilst in other instances the meeting format and process is restructured to be more child focused and inclusive. It is not always appropriate for parents to attend particularly when children have expressed a strong wish for them not to be present. IROs will seek to involve parents in the review process and will sometimes meet with them separately.
Figure 5 - Attendance at reviews – where a monitoring form was completed by the IRO
- Performance
Figure 1 illustrates a small increase in reviews held in timescale (within 20 working days for a first review, 3 months for the subsequent review and within 6 months for successive reviews).
Figure 6 – Percentage of reviews held in timescale
4.Review of objectives 2014-15
3.1 Minutes and Outcomes to be produced and distributed in timely fashion as per the IRO Handbook
The Internal Audit noted in November “There is an improving trend as 84% of minutes were distributed within the statutory timescale” .Further actions have been implemented by the Head of Safeguarding and business support team to keep this under regular review through proactive monitoring and challenging potential delays .
3.2 ICS Documentation to be more user friendly
This has been discussed regularly in team meetings and there has been close collaboration with the ICS support team to produce more effective recording templates, which are now being used by IROs.
3.3 IROs to regularly attend operational managers meetings and feedback key messages.
This has been actioned through proactive discussions with key teams and guidelines shared in promoting high quality care and permanency plans.IROs have sought to maintain their profile particularly in the corporate parenting services through the provision of advice and guidance to social workers on an ‘as and when’ basis.
3.4 IROs to attend regional forums and incorporate new national guidance / recommendations into local practice.
IROs have attended SE Regional IRO Network Group meetings through the year and in September discussed implementation of national guidance and regulations. We will continue to participate actively in the regional forum in the year ahead and bring back key messages and recommendations to the local service.
3.5 IROs to work jointly with the Corporate Parenting Team to develop and lead practice workshops for social workers regarding permanency planning.
IROs organised a practice workshop in December which was attended by over 25 social care professionals directly involved with looked after children. The workshop focused on the promotion of permanency plans and ensuring children’s needs are foremost in ongoing planning processes. This will be repeated and expanded in the forthcoming year.
3.6 IROs to set up new systems for ensuring care plans are reviewed “mid –term” between reviews and additional visits are made to the CLA population.
IROs are checking on the progress of care plans between reviews and are recording any required actionson each child’s file, with recommendations fed back to the social worker and their supervisor. IROs have maintained ongoing contact with both workers and managers and have supported effective and focused planning through attendance at professional’s meetings and case discussions outside of the reviewing process.
3.7 IROs to ensure that the Signs of Safety (SoS) model of practice is integrated into the reviewing process and reviewing forms are updated to encompass Signs of Safety practice requirements.
IROs are now using review forms which incorporate the SoS approach in to the reviewing process. IROs are attending monthly SoS practice leaders meetings, supporting a consistent ‘roll out’ of the SoS approach. IROs are aware that some SoS elements are beneficial for the review process. The review form on the ICS system is currently being updated to provide an improved format.
3.8 IROs to consistently review the care planning process via the “CCR monitoring form” and increase the percentage completed.
Since July, 2014 the monitoring form has been included within the ICS process for recording reviews, thus enhancing its completion. The percentage completed has risen from 44% in the previous year to 67.2% during this year. A quarterly report has been presented to the performance management meeting highlighting key themes emerging from the audits.These have included the generally high quality of care plans (as noted in table 4.6) the number of children attending their reviews and the number of reviews completed (888 during the year).IROs will pursue a 100% completion rate of monitoring forms and will also encourage social work staff to contribute to this process.During the year IROs also met with Looked after Children’s nurses and the Virtual School Team to agree good practice standards, which are captured on the monitoring forms.
3.9 IROs to ensure that all activity carried out with or on behalf of children and young people is evidenced in their ICS records and other documentation.
IROs record on ICS all visits to children and young people and significant activity carried out on their behalf, including use of the informal dispute resolution process.
5.IRO case studies
Each IRO has provided a case study to illustrate the difference the service has made. (Please note identifying information has been changed to preserve confidentiality.)
4.1 “The foster carer of Chris aged 15 phones his IRO. At a school meeting last term an education support package was agreed for Chris to have at home. The carer has now been told that this particular package is no longer being funded. The IRO contacts the social worker, the Virtual School Team and the school and gains agreement that the package will be funded and Chris will have it in a few weeks.”
4.2 “Tom is an 11 year old boy who struggles to settle in his first placement. He misses his mother and becomes distressed and angry. His carers struggle to understand his behaviour and attempts to discipline him make him feel more upset. The IRO works with his social worker to support his placement but ultimately a new placement has to be found. He is now very happy in his new foster home. The carers have begun to make contact with his mother and they now oversee his contact with her. Tom is much happier and it is hoped eventually, he might be able to go home. If this is not possible, he is happy to stay with his new carers who have recently been approved as permanent carers for him.”
4.3 “Alicia is 7 years old. She was on a Care Order and was looked after by her maternal aunt. The IRO has worked closely with the social worker to enable Alicia to return to her mother’s care in the course of the last 12 months. Alicia consistently told the IRO she wanted to go home to be with her mother. The IRO and social worker met with the mother on a number of occasions and supported her to demonstrate to the Court her improved parenting capacity. The IRO reviewed the mother’s progress and ensured the child’s care plan focused on the objective of returning to her mother’s care. Alicia was able to return to her mother’s care in March 2015”.
4.4“Sharon, a teenager, speaks to her IRO and requests contact with her younger sibling. The IRO discusses this with her social worker, who is reluctant due to what they perceive as safety issues. The IRO contacts the social worker’s manager and requests a planning meeting is set up to discuss. A safe contact arrangement is agreed at the planning meeting and as a result Sharon is able to see her sibling again.”
4.5“The IRO is reviewing Abdul, an asylum seeking young person who is placed in foster care outside Milton Keynes. Abdul is very happy and settled with the foster carers but not in education. As a result his social worker and manager plan for him to be moved back to Milton Keynes. The IRO meets with Abdulwho is very clear that he does not want to leave the foster placement, where he feels very supported. The IRO goes back to the social worker and their manager and questions the planned move, which as a result does not go ahead. Abdul is subsequently provided with an education placement. “
6.Objectives for 2015-16
6.1 Training on Care Planning:
To provide training to Children’s Social Care on preparation and participation of young people in their reviews, effective permanency planning and child centred care plans.
6.2 Reports from Child Care Reviews:
To create one document combining outcomes and minutes in to one format. This document to also includerecommendations from Health Assessments and Personal Education Plans.
6.3 Induction of new team members:
To induct, train and mentor new IROs ensuring consistent practice standards are adopted across the team.
6.4 Care planning regulations:
To incorporate the Permanence, Long Term Foster Placements and Ceasing to Look After a Child Guidance (March 2015) into practice and include within training as per 6.1.
6.5 Completion of Monitoring Forms:
To achieve 100% completion of monitoring forms on Child Care Reviews once staffing levels increase with new staff member in post (August 2015 onwards).
6.6 Distribution of Outcomes and Minutes in timescale:
This has been addressed in the past year- see section 3.1. To aim for 100% compliance this year, subject to any external contingencies.
6.7 IRO Challenge and use of Dispute Resolution Protocol:
To increase the use of the Dispute Resolution Protocol where appropriate and record all IRO interventions for the child on ICS.
6.8 Participation of children and young people in their reviews:
To work with Corporate Parenting Team colleagues (through team meetings, case discussions and practice seminars)the Participation Youth Worker, TCTF and children in care group to increase the effective participation of children and young people in their reviews.
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