Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: County Hall, Worcester

Contact: Kate Griffiths, Committee Officer 

Items
No. Item

The Chairman made two announcements:

 

·       The Channel 4 documentary 'Superkids' shown the previous evening had been very good. The poet Lemn Sissay spoke to young people about their experiences of care.

 

·       This would be the last Corporate Parenting Board meeting for Jake Shaw who was moving to a new job. As Lead Member for Children and Families, The Chairman thanked Jake for his hard work and wished him the best for the future.

162.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Gareth Prosser, Margaret Sherrey and Juliet Smith.

163.

Confirmation of the Minutes pdf icon PDF 101 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting on 11 October 2018 were approved as an accurate record and were signed by the Chairman.

 

164.

Review of Previous Action Points pdf icon PDF 82 KB

Minutes:

ACTION

 

A list of action points from the previous year's meetings was distributed.

The list of points would be considered at the next meeting – 7 February 2019 - to ensure they had been actioned.

See attached list.

 

165.

ADDITIONAL ITEM - Integrated Service for Looked After and Adopted Children

Minutes:

Lisa Bradshaw gave a presentation about the work of the Integrated Service for Looked After Children (ISL) Health and Wellbeing Team.

 

The Team Vision was 'To promote the health, attachment and security of Looked After and Adopted Children by enabling others to support positive futures'. Promoting attachment was improving the child's attachment to the primary care giver.

 

The team delivered specialist attachment training and therapeutic intervention, carried out health assessments and provided educational, vocational and leisure opportunities. Outcome measures were assessed at the beginning and end of intervention but it was difficult to assess what was achieved compared to what may have happened if there had been no intervention.

 

Various interventions included:

 

·       Attachment Training group work led by psychologists, Social workers or mental health practitioners.  It allowed more carers and workers to be reached, the quality of foster placements to be improved and through that to improve placement stability. Clinical levels of anxiety and depression were measured before intervention, at the end of the intervention and 3 months after intervention and was found to have a marked improvement

 

·       Consultation meetings which helped to understand the child's emotional needs and provide strategies to support behaviour

 

·       Therapeutic Input either with talking therapies or play therapies. The £50,000 therapy budget covered 17 hours a week for a Clinical Psychologist and therapeutic interventions for Out of County and Independent Foster Agency placements

 

·       Parenting support; which involved meetings with social workers to help understand the impact of past experiences on children's behaviour, identify triggers, suggest therapeutic parenting techniques and promote placement stability

 

·       Community projects - including the Green Fingers project, apprenticeships and Music and Arts sessions.

 

In 2017/18 the team received 120 referrals; between 1 April 2018 and 19 November 2018 106 referrals had been received.

 

Future challenges included clarification of the eligibility criteria to enable services to be in place before crisis occurred and improving the completion rates of health assessments. The team would move into Throughcare Services to allow closer working with the Looked After Teams while in future Adoption work would be delivered by Adoption Central England.

 

During the following discussion it was clarified that:

·       The team made use of multi-agency working and used CAMHs questionnaires used to measure whether children met the CAMHs criteria. Developmental trauma did not meet the CAMHs criteria but the team did challenge that when necessary

·       When Children were placed out of the county, health assessments were completed by the authority where they resided provided the child was registered with a Doctor. Telephone support and funds from the therapy budget may be provided by Worcestershire

·       Therapists both within and outside the County were being invited to join the framework of workers so therapists would be available in more areas if their services were needed. A bid had been put in to gain funding to allow all children who became known to the service to be assessed to see if they required therapy.

 

166.

Serious Case Reviews

To receive a presentation from Tina Russell

Minutes:

A new national Children's Safeguarding Practice Review Panel had been set up and would consider all serious case notifications. They would instruct a Local Children's Safeguarding Review (formerly a Serious Case Review) to take place if necessary. Tina Russell gave details of the three serious case reviews which had taken place in 2017/18 and 2018 to date, one of which related to a Looked After Child.

 

After a brief outline of the cases she highlighted the main points of learning. It was emphasised that the responsibility for sharing learning and monitoring implementation of actions lay with the Worcestershire Safeguarding Children's Board and details of the learning and how that was disseminated was included in their annual reports.

 

Board Members appreciated the presentation and agreed they did not require any further detail.

 

ACTION

·       A report on Serious Case Reviews would be brought to the CPB on an annual basis. Any SCR related to a Looked After Child would be brought to the next appropriate meeting.

167.

ADDITIONAL ITEM - Housing for Care Leavers

Minutes:

Justine Bishop, Outreach Service Manager explained that there were currently 25 young people in supported living and approaching their 18th Birthdays with no plan of where they would live in future.

 

It was clarified that the statutory housing responsibilities were being fulfilled but there was not enough housing stock so young people were left with little choice and limited notice to move.

 

Members of the Board agreed that the situation was not good enough as care leavers were meant to be a priority for the County Council and all Districts.

 

It was pointed out that Registered Social Landlords did not have a Corporate Parenting role. Councillors were encouraged to speak to RSLs in the short term to explain that the majority of care leavers were ready to be responsible tenants. It was suggested that someone should go along to Registered Landlord forums to encourage private landlords to take on Care Leavers.

 

A Board member suggested that the County Council should act as guarantor for Care Leavers or rent flats which it could be sub-let to Care Leavers.

 

Actions

 

·       District representatives should contact Justine Bishop if they have forums where a useful presentation on local need for care leavers would enhance understanding and/or planning,

·       Tina Russell would take the issue forward in other related strategic forums in the county.

168.

Quarter 2 Data pdf icon PDF 818 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

For information.

169.

Household Items Collection

Minutes:

If anyone had any new or very good condition household items which were no longer required the Care Leavers Team would be happy to accept donations and put them to good use please contact Justine Bishop JBishop4@worcestershire.gov.uk

 

170.

Work Plan pdf icon PDF 48 KB

Minutes:

For information.

171.

Future Meeting Dates

 

Dates 2019

 

7 February 2019

21 March 2019

13 June 2019

19 July 2019

8 October 2019

27 November 2019

 

 

Minutes:

The next meeting would be 7 February 2019 at 2pm in the Lakeview Room at County Hall.

 

And then:

 

21 March 2019

13 June 2019

19 July 2019

8 October 2019

27 November 2019