Creating Opportunities

Creating Opportunities

Raising Aspirations

From Care2Work Quality Mark

Nomination Report – Local Authority

Nominated Local Authority
Nottinghamshire County Council / Name of contact Person
Michelle Lee
Senior Employability Worker
Victoria Huggins / Andy Pickering / Date of Panel:-
January 2015
COMMITMENT
1. Employment and skills strategies and other strategic planning across the local authority, incorporate a corporate parenting commitment to improve the employability of care leavers. / A key area of focus for a From Care 2 Work strategy in Nottinghamshire is to join up strategic partnerships and coordinate the good work that is being carried out across the county. The Looked After Children Strategy in place which is monitored quarterly by steering group chaired by Group Manager for Through care Service who is also the Strategic Champion for care leavers and the LAC Strategy Group to take on governance of the Work Plan.
Elected members are fully committed to care leavers. Corporate Parenting Committee and Children and Young People Committee receive 6 monthly reports on progress of care leavers with a particular focus on EET.
The County Councils broker for Apprenticeship delivery is Futures Nottinghamshire. Due to geography it would not be feasible to ring-fence specific opportunities for young people but guaranteed interviews for care leavers are offered. The Local Authority will monitor how many young people apply for apprenticeships, how many are offered interviews and how many are offered positions and report to Leaving Care CSM quarterly.
Information, advice and guidance about career planning takes place during Pathway Planning. All Looked After Children have a Personal Education Plan up to 16, and Pathway Plans are reviewed by Independent Reviewing Officers.
The Through care Service employs three Achievement Advisers. These are designated staff promoting the employability of children in care post 16 years and care leavers up to age 25 years. NEET young people are prioritised and the Achievement Advisers produce quarterly reports to show which young people are in EET and to drill down in to why young people are NEET.
Both North and West Nottinghamshire colleges are supportive of the needs of care experienced learners and have designated support workers for care leavers.
There are good relationships with the local Job Centre Plus offices; the marker is used, as are early claims. Young people on the verge of sanctions are flagged and offered extra support. Job Centre staff and Achievement Advisers work together to ensure that the Work programme Action Plan is linked to the pathway Plan
Procurement team to include care leavers in the social value statement for all new contracts. This will promote employability opportunities to care leavers in future contracts with the County Council. EG shadowing, work experience, apprenticeships.
Team Managers in LAC/Leaving Care sign off pathway plans to ensure quality Pathway plans are audited monthly as part of the Children’s Social Care Quality Management Framework.
The local authority have made a link to the training provider - Skills for Employment and will be offering a Traineeship for a care leaver aged 16 to 25 within the Leaving Care Service – see below for more details.
The Council celebrates the achievements of looked after children and care leavers annually with an achievement award celebration. In addition, the leaving care service organises two annual participation events across the county which are well attended.
2. Ensure the social care workforce has an understanding of building employability and career planning, so that appropriate next steps are reflected in individual pathway plans. / The Achievement Advisors employed in the Through care Service support the Personal Advisors to help young people sustain their EET choices. Career planning support is monitored through supervision and NEET young people are prioritised and decisions are recorded and added to the young person’s file.
The Inspire and Achieve staff at West Nottinghamshire College support the Achievement Advisers to complete EET assessments with NEET hard to engage young people.
EET issues are included in inductions, supervisions and reviews for all relevant staff in the Through care Service. There is training available for relevant staff contained within the Preparation for Adulthood training module offered by the Leaving Care Service as part of the training programme available for CSC staff. Foster carers also undertake specific training in this area as part of Pathway Planning training.
Specific employability training to be delivered to foster carers, residential staff, (we have already delivered Employability Essentials to the PA and Social Care team). Contact to be made with From Care2Work to develop this. Future training to be provided by Achievement Advisers
From Care2Work have shared good practise examples from other similar councils to engage ‘hard to reach’ NEET young people which has been made available to all staff.
Panel Member Recommendations / comments:
There is a strong commitment in place at a strategic level and having the Group Manager as chair of the strategic group will ensure that employability remains upon the corporate agenda.
It is good to see that the service has appointed Achievement Advisors to provide dedicated support to YP around EET.
§  The authority would benefit from building employer relationships based on young people’s chosen career destinations. A Quality Mark launch event can be a good platform to employer engagement.
§  There are a range of apprenticeships offered within the authority and steps are in place to increase the number of care leavers taking up these opportunities. It would be good to see where care leavers are successful that they become involved in the mentoring programme to offer peer to peer discussions about the experience in the future. The local authority could consider including a mentoring element within the job outline for the apprentices.
OPPORTUNITIES
3. Operational processes allow care leavers to access a range of employability opportunities
2.  / Achievement Advisers support care leavers 18+ with information, advice and guidance. Young people’s progression routes and destinations are captured in Pathway Planning with strong action plans developed for the young people as part of this process.
There are a range of apprenticeships within the local authority. Futures and NCC Apprenticeship Co-ordinator agree to alert AA’s as soon as new apprenticeship opportunities come on stream.
The coordinator is made aware when a care leaver makes an application so that support can be offered. Futures have committed to deliver annual workshops on applications and interviews for care leavers exploring work options. Care leavers have successfully completed apprenticeships in catering and business administration.
The authority has made a link with the training provider - Skills for Employment and will be offering a Traineeship for a care leaver within the Leaving Care Service. The post will be linked to the National Traineeship Scheme and the offer based on the individual needs of the young person. The experience is likely tofocus primarily onpeer mentoring andthe engagement of care leavers in service development
The local authority workforce development team help and support with work tasters and placements internal to the council. Numbers of young people taking up these opportunities will be monitored by 18+ Advisers and reviewed on an annual basis by CSM Leaving Care.
There is a wide range of provision for young people are who unable to access, or not ready for mainstream opportunities. There are a good range of vocational, academic and technical courses at North and West Nott’s colleges for students of all abilities. Young people with complex needs due to disabilities have access to EET opportunities at Portland College.
There are strong links with the Princes Trust and a number of young people have successfully completed programmes with them.
The county has areas of significant social depravation and transport issues which impact on young people’s access to employment. There is a ‘Wheels to Work’ moped scheme which is a great help to young people in rural areas.
The Achievement Advisers (AA’s) are to explore the employability options that could potentially be offered to care leavers through the District Council Volunteer Co-ordinator. The concept of volunteering as a way to achieve employability skills is well established and young people have been successfully linked with the Worldwide Volunteering Scheme. Young people can also be referred to talent match who provide a home visit mentors who support young people into EET.
An agreement is in place with Futures Nottinghamshire to ensure that care leavers are flagged for additional support from AA’s.
Futures have agreed to accept written evidence of key skills following assessment by the local college in lieu of level two qualifications. This approach recognises that some young people will not have attained qualifications during statutory school age.
Hard to reach NEETs, generally young men are the most challenging and this is reflected in the NEET reports. Achievement Advisers have identified young men in prison and a project is under discussion to look at they can be supported prior to release to break down barriers into EET.
4. Financial policies and procedures clearly identify how young people will be supported with education, training and employment. / There is a policy in place which outlines the financial support that young people can expect and a leaflet is being developed. This is currently being overseen by the Children In Care Council.
There is a range of financial support to assist with the employability of care leavers. Since 2013 it has been NCC policy to pay rent and benefit level allowances to care leavers who enter education courses late and lose benefits as a result. Care leavers are less likely to then lose their accommodation which would impact on EET.
There is a long established policy of “topping up” young people’s incomes if in a low waged position reducing the disincentive to work when compared with claiming state benefits.
University fees and accommodation costs are covered. Along with the HE Bursary, gap year activities have been funded where appropriate. All LAC have access to a computer within foster homes and are provided with relevant ICT equipment once they leave care to support home study.
Equipment for vocational technical courses is provided such as chef’s whites and knives, hairdressing scissors, safety wear. Field trips are funded.
5. The move on plans, or current accommodation, support care leavers to take up or maintain education training and employment opportunities. / 82% of care leavers are in suitable accommodation (July 2014). Processes ensure that when plans are made for accommodation, EET opportunities are considered. There are good relationships with housing and social landlords which helps to meet young people’s needs.
There is a countywide forum for housing stakeholders which is chaired by Targeted Support Services Group manager. TSS manage the supported housing providers and projects in the area and the forum meets regularly. The forum helps to identify risk factors which can contribute to the loss of accommodation and means a multi-agency approach toward homelessness issues.
The principle of Staying Put is well established in NCC. In 2003 a Supported Lodgings Scheme was developed in order to support the conversion of foster carers at age 18 to allow young people to remain in situ as adults. This has evolved into Staying Put. In addition the policy in the authority is to continue to fund the placement at no change to payment structure during the academic year in which the young person turns 18. This is done in order to minimise the impact of different funding arrangements at this crucial time.
Panel Member Recommendations / Comments:
Good information sharing around apprenticeship opportunities and it is
encouraging to see the authority is to set up a traineeship role within the leaving care service. This is piece of good practice and we may come back for more information in order to share this with other LA’s interested in setting up similar posts.
A good range of opportunities are offered both within the council and external partners including volunteering opportunities and Princes Trust.
The financial policies allow for a range of financial assistance in order to meet the individual needs of young people, including those on a low income.
The panel particularly noted that for Staying Put arrangement that there is no change to the financial structure for those who turn 18 during an academic year to minimise impact during this time. This is in keeping with recent Government guidance and is a piece of good practice we would like to promote to other authorities.
§  There is a commitment to deliver annual workshops with a focus on applications and interviews for care leavers. The local authority should explore the potential of engaging employers to support this, ie, perhaps speaking to the group from their perspective about what makes an application stand out, and how to make an impression during interviews.
SUPPORT
6. The local authority ensures all looked after children and care leavers get career planning support within the pathway planning process that raises their aspirations throughout their transition to adulthood. / The Achievement Advisers are responsible for preparing, selecting and matching young people to work experience and other opportunities and this is captured in the action planning part of the Pathway Plan.
Career planning and discussion about EET goals are firmly entrenched in Pathway Plans. The 16+Achievement Adviser supports LAC to ensure that key elements of the PEP are transferred to the Pathway Plan at 16 years. Support and guidance transfers from 16+ Advisors to the 18+ Advisers at the point of leaving care.
Pathway plans are audited monthly as part of the Children’s Social Care Quality Management Framework.
18+ AA monitor the progress of all NEET young people and offer direct intervention and guidance. Practical and emotional support is provided by Personal Advisers and Achievement Advisers, for example, by being taken to college in the first week and to open days.
UASC young people have an AA present at 3 way tutorials if needed, and for any young people wanting additional support. Contact is maintained with college tutors so that any issues can be resolved at the earliest possible stage.
7. Information is available to young people so that they are fully aware of the choices and options available to them and how they will be supported to access these. / All young people receive a copy of their Pathway Plan. Information is available to young people on the variety of EET opportunities and who will support them. The PAs and EET Advisors disseminate this information, the LAC service also give information, as do the Career Planning Resource Staff within schools in the area. There is also a Higher Education Leaflet which details the support that care leavers can expect.