Introduction
This is the 2nd annual report to inform elected members, staff and partner agencies of the profile and outcomes for those children we looked after during the year ending March 2008.
As clear evidence of Knowsley’s commitment to children and young people looked after, the Children and Young People’s Partnership identified 9 priorities in its 2007-10 Strategic Plan, one of which is to deliver improved outcomes for children looked after. In order to deliver this strategic priority the Corporate Parenting Strategy was launched earlier this year setting out clear actions, objectives, milestones and timescales. Based on a comprehensive needs analysis it embraces national proposals set out in Care Matters and progress is subject to rigorous monitoring and evaluation.
Corporate parenting describes the local authority and its partner’s duties and responsibilities to children and young people who are looked after. Its central principle is that the local authority and partners should parent looked after children much as one would parenttheir own child or children in their family.
- How many children are looked afterin Knowsley
The number of children we look after increased from 290 in March 2007 to 307in March 2008.This equates to 80 per 10,000 of Knowsley’s 0– 17 population and although significantly lower than our statistical neighboursit ishigherthan the national figure of 54 per 10,000. Although our total has increased by6%, the population has remained relatively stable since May last year. 53% were male and 47% female – this is mirrored nationally - and the age distribution has remained fairly constant over the last 3 years.24% were aged 0-4 and 12% aged 16+ in contrast to the respective national figures of19% and 20% (2007). During the year 104 children and young people entered our care primarily due to family dysfunction or being at risk of abuse or neglect. Of this total, 39 were aged 0-4, 27 aged 5-9, 29 aged 10-15 and 9 were aged 16+ at the time of their entry into care
2. Legal status
In terms of legal status,79%of children and young people were the subject of a legal order compared to 70% nationally. The remaining 21%were looked after at parental request – compared to last year we have slightly increased the percentage looked after as a result of a legal order and reduced the percentage accommodatedat parental request. All had an allocated qualified social worker and all statutory reviews of care planswere held within timescales.
3. Placements
Despite the fact that our care population has risenand our mainstream foster caring capacity fell slightly during the year, we managed to maintain a good balance of local placements sufficient to meet local needs.Of our total looked after population,almost 89% (84%nationally) were cared for in family settings including 98% of all children aged under10 – the remaining 11% were placed in residential settings compared to 15% nationally. Of thosewho began to be looked after in theyear, all but 1 were placed within the Borough ensuring minimal disruption interms of education and contact with family and friends.
Placement stability is crucial to positive care outcomes and only21 children and young people (6.8%) had 3 or more placement moves during the year, bettering the 2007 outturn of 12%.Howeverin terms of longer-term stability only 62% of those children and young people looked after for at least 2.5 years were in the same placement for 2 years or more - this is mirrored in the 2008 nationalaverage.The proportion placed with parents has reduced from 19% in 2007 to 17% - of this total of 52, 40 are of school age –still considerably higher than the national proportion of9%.We are aware that young people looked after by their parent(s)or close family members are less likely to attend and achieve than those placed in foster or residential care andare confident that the Corporate Parenting action plan and the ongoing review of our permanence and adoption policy will redress this imbalance and deliver improved educational outcomes.
17 children and young people were either adopted or made the subject of Special Guardianship Orders. A small increase from last year but the increased care population does have a significant impact on performance. Although ouradoption rate rose from 5.7% in 2007 to 6.3% we failed to meet our target of 10%. Our Corporate Parenting action plan details a strong commitment to deliver permanency for those young people where a return to their birth family is not in their best interests.With all our partners we are determined to secure better outcomes for these young people which will equip them well for adulthood.
- Listening to their views
Children and young people looked after have continued to contribute actively and robustly to service development, design and delivery.
Examples include:
- Active membership of recruitment panels for residential and Young Persons Team staff
- A representative group are developing proposals for a Council ‘pledge’ to children looked after and for a ‘children in care council’ which will meet regularly with elected members and senior managers
- Good representation in the Youth Parliament and SPARK ( Children and Young People’s Forum)
- Design of information leaflets for young people entering care and for the Fostering and Adoption service
- Publication of ‘Right to Write’ – a book of poetry and artwork in partnership with the St Helens Right to Read Project – the success of this publication has resulted in an agreement to publish a quarterly newsletter from July 2008 written by and for children looked after
- Their achievements
- 3 pupils achieved 100% attendance throughout the school year
- From September 2007to March 2008,28 achieved 100% school attendance
- 7 gained 5 or more GCSE passes
- At the annual Achievements Award ceremony held in the Philharmonic Hall in October 2007, 20 school-age young people received awards acknowledging their excellent school attendance, attainment, effort, progress and commitment in the academic year
- In July 2007 1 young person received an Aim Higher award for his work on the Superstars project administered by LiverpoolUniversity
- 14 young peopleachieved 100% attendance on the ‘Find your Future’ programmes aimed at low achievers and those at risk of exclusion - by September 2007 all 14 had gained entry into employment, education or training
- 11 young people living in their own tenancies gained food hygiene certificates
- Following successful completion of a Prince’s Trust programme I young person secured a 1st line management position
- Their outcomes
In terms of educational attendance our performance remained poor. 28 children missed at least 25 days schooling which represents 15.9% of all school age children and young people looked after– animprovement from the previous year’s figure of 32 children (18.5%) but still not acceptable – we are however confident that absence rates will reduce again in the current year.
In the academic year 94% of all Knowsley pupils gained 1 or more GCSE’s. Of the 19 young people looked after eligible to take GCSE exams 11 (58%) gained at least 1 pass, of this total 7 were awarded at least 5 A*-G grades and 1 gained 5 A*-C grades.9 of the young people in the cohort had a statement of special educational needs.
Of the 22 older young people who left our care during the year, 2 had gained 5 A*-C passes and 11 had gained at least 1 GCSE.8 young people were supported to continue into further education.
Health needs were well met and all were registered with a GP and dentist. More than 93% of eligible children received aholistic health assessment and dental check during the year compared to 84% nationally and all children new into care were offered an emotional well-being assessment.Next year we aim to introduce an annual visual screening programme and ensure that any follow-up dental treatment is completed. All children and young peoplewere provided with guidance, literature and support toencourage and promote healthy lifestyle choices by way of personal health promotion and the provision of leisure passes.
9 young people aged 10+ from a cohort of 136 (6.6%) were dealt with through the criminal justice system in the year compared to 4.6% of all 10-17 year olds in Knowsley.This represents an increase of 6 young people compared to last year but is still significantly better than the 2007 regional and national averages
- Their transition to adulthood
All care leavers had agreed Pathway Plans in place,were supported by Personal Advisers and maintained contact with our services. This was evidenced by the high numbers of care leavers deemed to be in suitable accommodation (96%) and a higher ratio in employment, education or training than that of all 19 year old young people in Knowsley.Our commitment to care leavers is further evidenced by the recent decision to prioritise young people looked after for a Council apprenticeship scheme commencing in June this year.
- Conclusion
In general outcomes for children looked after in key areas have improved compared to last year -fewer children experienced placement moves; school attendance and attainment and the adoption rate has improved. We continued to deliver strong performance in regard to the numbers placed in family settings, the relatively small number in out-of-borough placements, children and young people’s health needs and outcomes for care leavers despite an overall increase in the size of the looked after population.
We do however acknowledge that children looked after both locally and nationally fare less well than their peers particularly in relation to most outcomes but are confident that our Corporate Parenting Strategyand related action plan supported by a robust monitoringsystem will help narrow the gap and ensure delivery of improved outcomes for all children and young people we look after.