LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN

AND COMMISSIONINGSTRATEGY

2011–2014

“IMPROVING SERVICES AND OUTCOMES FOR LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE

AND CARE LEAVERS”

1

LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN

AND COMMISSIONING STRATEGY

2011–2014

How does this document support delivery of our

Children and Young People’s Plan 2011-2014?

Supporting the CYPP Vision
The development and delivery of highly effective support for children and young people who are looked after by the Local Authority is a core element of our work in Northumberland and lies at the heart of our Children and Young People’s Plan. Our Looked After Children and Commissioning Strategy sets out how we will achieve this in partnership with local people and with our partners.
Northumberland has high aspirations for its looked after children and is committed to providing the appropriate levels of support to enable children to remain within their family wherever possible but ensuring the highest standard of provision for these who need to be looked after. This strategy sets out how the very best support will be provided by the local authority or commissioned externally where this is considered to provide better value for money or is able to better meet the needs of children.
Supporting the CYPP Outcomes
  • All children & young people living in safe & secure environments
  • Improving health outcomes
  • Improving educational achievement for all
  • More people in work – fewer families in poverty

Links to the CYPP Priorities
  • Early intervention for additional needs
  • Tackling child poverty
  • Closing the gap
  • More care leavers in EET
  • Reduce risk-taking behaviour

Links to Other Plans
  • Children’s Services Service & Team Plans
  • Workforce Development Strategy
  • Participation Strategy
  • Equalities Analysis
  • JSNA Executive Summary

SECTION 1

1.1Message from Councillor LesleyRickerby, Lead Member for Children’s Services.

I welcome the opportunity to introduce this document setting out Northumberland County Council’s ambitions and strategies for all looked after children. The Strategy reflects the commitment of the Council to support children to remain with their parents wherever possible, by providing a range and level of support appropriate to their needs while recognising that some children will need to be looked after by the local authority. The strategy provides an overarching response to children who are at risk of becoming looked after, those already in the looked after system and those children and young people who leave the care of the local authority and require ongoing support to make the successful transition to adulthood.

In order to ensure all children are supported and kept safe from harm it is recognised that all services, including the voluntary and community sector need to work together to support children and young people and ensure the best possible outcomes are achieved. In addition, I am particularly encouraged with the motivation and participation of all young people in Northumberland and the contribution they have made to developing services

1.2Message from MrPaulMoffat Corporate Director for Children.

Northumberland’s Children and Young Peoples Plan 2011-13 sets out the strategic priorities for Children’s Services during the next three years. This strategic document makes clear the Council’s commitment to supporting children with additional needs by providing a range of services based on the principles of early intervening and prevention. This vision is further reflected in the Safeguarding and Looked After Children’s Service Plan which makes a very clear commitment to work together with other agencies to improve the life chances of all children and in particularly those with emerging vulnerabilities and additional needs.

The Children and Young People’s Plan has set as a key priority to improve outcomes for looked after children and young people and this strategy further reflects this commitment. However, whereas there are some very positive messages in respect of the work with children at risk of becoming looked after and those already in the looked after system the Council will continue to strive for excellence in all that it does for these children. This strategy should be seen as an essential part of the delivery plan for these broader strategies and is key to delivering on our commitment to looked after children.

…………………………….. ……………………………..

Leslie RickerbyPaulMoffat

Section 2

What we know about Northumberland’s looked after children

Introduction

Northumberland has high aspirations for its looked after children and is committed to providing the appropriate levels of support to enable children to remain within their family wherever possible but ensuring the highest standard of provision for these who need to be looked after. In providing services for looked after children services will be provided by the local authority or commissioned externally where this is considered to provide better value for money or is able to better meet the needs of children. This approach will involve the development of internal services, working with the Voluntary and Community Sector or engaging with private providers.

The strategy also draws upon Northumberland’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and provides a strong link with the Children and Young Peoples Plan (CYPP) 2011 -14. The CYPP sets out the strategic priorities for Children’s Services over the next three years, including the commitment to improving outcomes for looked after children. Specifically the strategy will contribute to the priorities in the CYPP, those being;

  • All children and young people living in safe and secure environments
  • More care leavers in employment, education and training
  • Provide children, young people and carers with a modernised fostering service
  • Reduce risk taking behaviour amongst young people particularly in relation to drug & alcohol misuse and unprotected sex so that more young people can achieve their potential

This looked after children’s strategy will be reviewed after twelve months by a former looked after child but will provide the foundation upon which services are currently provided.

2Needs Assessment

Northumberland’s Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) will inform the design of appropriate universal services including health and education, specialist services, early intervention and prevention, family support and outreach and targeted support. Data, including that in respect of looked after children and young people with emerging vulnerabilities will inform the development of services and predict service demand to inform the allocation of resources across the county.

2.1Numbers of children in the looked after system.

Northumberland’s looked after population has been lower than the national average for each of the past five years. In 2007, the difference was three looked after children per 10k, rising to fifteen per 10k in 2011. The widening gap is due to the success in Northumberland of maintaining stable numbers of children in the looked after system when compared to other local authorities who have seen a significant rise during this period. This stability has been achieved by robust risk assessment processes, including the application of the signs of safety model and a nationally recognised risk assessment process for adolescents. In addition the stability of the looked after population has been supported by ensuring appropriate, and where necessary intensive support is provided to enable children to remain within their birth families wherever possible. As a result of these practices children are now better supported to remain at home or are provided with permanence through long term fostering, adoption or the use of Residence & Special Guardianship.

Northumberland’s Children’s Support Team has worked with 415 children during the period 2010/11 who were either returning home as part of a rehabilitation plan or were at risk of becoming looked after by the Council. This number has been increasing during the past three years and the team have been successful in helping ninety percent of these children remain at home following this intensive intervention. It is anticipated that this level of demand on the service will continue during the period of this strategy. This approach has supported Northumberland’s broader commitment to early identification of children with emerging vulnerabilities so that appropriate support can be provided as well as ensuring appropriate re-unification of children whenever this is consistent with their assessed needs.

Between 2007 and 2011 the numbers of children who left the looked after system was greater than the numbers entering in each year (with the exception of 2009 when 109 children entered the system and 95 were discharged). This pattern has led to a steady and managed reduction in the number of looked after children as they have been successfully returned home or provided with permanence through other routes.

Northumberland currently has 126 children placed with NCC (non family) foster carers and a further 35 children placed in independent fostering placements. During the period of this strategy an additional 25 places for non family placements will be required to reduce the reliance on out of county placements and meet ongoing demand. The remaining 10 children placed in independent fostering arrangements have been placed on a long term basis due to their assessed needs and will remain with their current carers through to independence.

2.2The age profile of Northumberland’s looked after children.

Since 2007 more than one fifth (21%)of children entering the looked after system have been aged twelve months or younger, with the next highest number being for young people aged between thirteen and fifteen (27%). This pattern is consistent with the recent research Ages of Concern (2011)[1] that identifiessmall babies and adolescents as the two main groups of children who are at greatest risk of significant harm and non accidental death.

Further analysis of the age of children entering the looked after system shows that during 2011 Northumberland’s age profile is similar to both the National and North East profile. This analysis shows that twenty percent of children were aged below twelve months (Nat 19%), children aged between one and four accounted for twenty six percent (Nat 21%) but in line with the North East average. Children aged 5 to 9 accounted for eighteen percent (Nat 17%), and children and young people aged 10 to 15 made up 32% which is again, similar to the national average of 31%. The proportion of young people aged 16 or over that entered the looked after system was 5%, which is below the national average but in line with the North East average.

2.3Location of children who have become looked after.

Based upon the home postcode of the child before they entered the looked after system it is possible to look at the numbers of children by geographical area who are looked after at any particular time. This analysis shows that between 2007 and 2011 almost half (47%) of children coming into the looked after system were from the area covered by the Wansbeck team, followed by Blyth (18%), Cramlington (12%), then Tynedale and Berwick teams (8% respectively) followed by Alnwick (7%). This pattern matches closely with the levels of deprivation across Northumberland and is used to determine the allocation of resources across the county.

2.4Legal status and placement type

Since December 2010, the number of children who were accommodated at the request of their parents (Section 20 Children Act 1989) has increased, whilst the number of children subject of care orders has remained steady.

At the end of September 2011, there were 126 children (46% of looked after population) placed with Northumberland foster carers and 51 (19%) placed with relative or friends. In addition there were a further 35 children placed with independent foster carers in both short and long term placements and35 children (13%) are placed in residential settings, of which 15 are placed in independent settings.

2.5Children Leaving Care

There are approximately 135children who are receiving leaving care support each year. All eligible and relevant young people are allocated a qualified social worker and will have a needs assessment and pathway plan setting out the support they will receive to support the transition to adulthood. No young person will be discharged from the looked after system unless this is consistent with their assessed needs and during the past five years a significant amount of work has been undertaken to increase the accommodation choices available to young people. This has enabled the service to end the practice of placing young people in inappropriate accommodation such as bed and breakfast provision.

2.6Children placed with Relative Carers

Northumberland has seen an increase in the number of children placed with relative and friend carers either as looked after children or subject to a Special Guardianship Order. These children are supported either through the looked after children procedures or through the Kinship Care policy. This policy provides details of the support available to carers where they look after children as an alternative to them being in the looked after system. The Kinship Care Policy ensures relative or family carers are not disadvantaged as a result of caring for the child without the need for a full care order.

Section 4

Key Achievements – what we have done well and what we intend to commission as part of this strategy.

3.1There have been some significant achievements and developments over the past two years that have contributed to improved outcomes for looked after children. These achievements will provide the basis for future planning and in conjunction with participation of young people will be used to identify areas for further service improvement. The commissioning strategies below will support the more detailed commitments and priorities set out in appendix 2 of this strategy and will contribute to improving outcomes for all looked after children and those who have left the looked after system.

  • The numbers of Looked after Children has remained stable and more children and young people are being supported to remain in the care of their parents or extended family through robust risk assessment and planning processes.

LAC COMMISSIONING PRIORITY 1

The kinship care policy and procedure will be extended to recognise the role of the “connected person” and will provides practical and financial support for family and friends carers where the placement is an alternative the child being looked after by the local authority. This will include clear guidance about the circumstances in which a child will be deemed to be looked after by the local authority.

  • The service has increased the number of in house foster carers during the past twelve months and over the past two years has reduced the number of children placed in independent foster placements.

LAC COMMISSIONING PRIORITY 2

The number of in house foster carers will be increased through better marketing and the recruitment and retention of foster carers. This will be supported by a fee paid structure that provides suitable reward to foster carers and high quality support from the family support team. This is in line with the CYPP priority to provide children, young people and carers with a modernised fostering service

  • The development of a marketing approach for foster carers within rural areas of the County.

LAC COMMISSIONING PRIORITY 3

Further work will be undertaken to recruit and train foster carers in the north and west of the county to enable children and young people from those areas to be placed as near as possible to their home when this is consistent with their needs. This will prevent alienation from family and friends and risk of disruption to education.This is also in line with the CYPP priority to provide children, young people and carers with a modernised fostering service

  • There has been a managed reduction in the number of children placed “Out of County” in both fostering and residential placements.

LAC COMMISSIONING PRIORITY 4

Children who need to become looked after will be supported by being provided with a placement that meets their assessed needs. This will be delivered through a mixed economy of provision that enables a positive placement choice.

  • The stability of looked after placements has remained very strong and the percentage of looked after children in the same placement for two years has shown a continuous improvement. This has contributed to the overall stability for looked after children and promoted better outcomes in areas such as educational achievement.

LAC COMMISSIONING PRIORITY 5

Long term stability for looked after children will be further promoted through the development of a “Staying Put” project that will enable young people to remain with their foster carers beyond the age of eighteen. This will support the delivery of the CYPP priority to see more care leavers in employment, education and training