Agenda item

The Board received a presentation on the Children in Care Council and the Care Leavers Council from the Participation and Engagement Manager.  She also showed a brief video that had been created by a young person to highlight the participation offer for children and young people in care in Worcestershire and the benefits that young people could gain from getting involved.

Every local authority was required by law to organise a Children in Care Council.  This was a forum for children and young people who were looked after to share their views with the decision makers.  There were three groups currently running:

• Big Voices gave children from birth to the age of about 11 the chance to meet other looked after children in a relaxed environment and provided an opportunity for Worcestershire Children First (WCF) to consult with the children on a range of issues to shape services.  For example, responses from children had been used when developing questions to ask in the recruitment of foster carers.
• Who Cares, We Care was the name for Worcestershire’s Children in Care Council and was open to children from the age of 12. 
• Speak Out was the group for care leavers from age 17 to 25.  The age range for each group was not set but involvement would be led by the needs of the young people.  These two groups met separately on a monthly basis.

COVID-19 had had a huge impact and engagement had been more sporadic and needed to be approached in a more flexible way.  Although the formal groups had been paused, officers were still keeping in touch with individuals.

Examples of Who Cares, We Care’s recent activity were given.  The Board was told about the benefits to young people of involvement in the participation groups including improving their confidence and self-esteem, and developing life skills.  A number of events had been planned for this year but had had to be postponed due to the COVID pandemic, including an early years celebration and a looked after children’s fun day.

Children in care were also members of the Young People’s Panel which had been a great success and had supported the recruitment of a number of prospective candidates (including the Participation and Engagement Manager herself).  The young people had received training which led to a recognised qualification and were professional and passionate about choosing the right candidate.  The team had since been inundated with requests for young people to be involved in other recruitment exercises.

It was recognised that a formal forum was not right for all young people and other opportunities were available.  It was important that all children in care were aware of the range of opportunities open to them.  Future plans included increasing the number of members and the diversity of the young people involved, developing participation webpages and building closer links with Corporate Parenting Board Councillors.

Members were reminded that 26 October to 1 November was Care Leavers week and this year’s theme was ‘Careers’.  Although there would be no corporate parenting fair in October, there were plans for a virtual event in the future.

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and the following main points were raised:

• It was confirmed that Speak Out currently had 11 members, and nine young people were trained to sit on interview panels.  Who Cares, We Care currently had three members and there was a clear need to recruit more.
• In response to a question about the involvement of Worcestershire children who were currently living out of county, Members were informed that lockdown and the subsequent increase in the use of virtual meetings had made attendance much easier for children living outside of Worcestershire as everyone was joining on line.
• The Director of Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding confirmed that participation groups were promoted to children when they were received into care.  However, she noted that the point of entry may not be the best time for this and it may be more appropriate to ask Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) to introduce the groups as part of quality assurance and feedback at mid-way reviews.
• A programme of webinar events was being planned to reach out to all young people in care and highlight the opportunities to engage with the work of the Corporate Parenting Board outside of formal Board meetings.  It would be helpful to have wider Board Member participation in this.
• It was confirmed that virtual open sessions were being held for young people to log on and find out more about participation activities.  A social media campaign had also been run over the summer.
• In response to a Member question about the geographical spread of those involved, it was confirmed that currently the majority were based in Worcester but the aim of future recruitment would be to expand this.
• In relation to the impact of lockdown on the mental health of young people, the Board was reminded that social workers had continued to be in touch with all young people in care and there had been a particular focus on care leavers, especially those in semi-independent supported living.  Some young people had struggled but, on the whole, the majority had coped.  It was noted that young people were used to communicating virtually.
• The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Children and Families confirmed that an ongoing focus on hard to reach groups was at the heart of the work.
• The Chief Executive of WCF reported that a survey of children, young people and families focusing on mental and emotional well-being was being undertaken in conjunction with the Worcestershire Health and Care Trust.  This would cover all children, not just those in care, and feedback would be shared with the Board.