Agenda item

The Deputy Strategic Director of Children and Young People’s Services introduced a report which provided a summary of performance in relation to services for Looked After Children at the end of April 2016. It was noted that the report should be read in conjunction with the performance data report which detailed trend data, graphical analysis and benchmarking data against national and statistical neighbour average.

The following areas of good and improved performance in the previous twelve months were noted:

·         Caseloads continued to be consistently at manageable levels for workers across the service

·         Although further improvement work was needed on Health and Dental assessments, performance in April 2016 for Health Assessments was 90.9% and Dental was 90.5% which for Dental represented a further improvement on the previous month.

·         99% of Looked After Children had their review undertaken in timescale

·         99% of eligible Looked After Children had a pathway plan

Whilst recognising that good and improved performance, the following areas required further improvement:

·         There was a shortage of adopters which had impacted on the number of completed adoptions, with two taking place in April

·         Although Looked After Children visits against local standards stood at 77.2% in April, it did not reach the local target of 90%. Performance against national minimum standards for April was good at 97.7%

·         The number of Looked After Children who had three or more placement moves was still too high. Whilst the percentages were in line were with national averages, the numbers were inconsistent with the aspirations for all children in care to benefit from a stable placement

·         There were too many care leavers who were not yet engaged in education, employment or training so there would be a renewed focus on that in the coming twelve months

·         Audits identified that the quality of practice for Looked After Children needed to improve.  

In response to a query in respect of whether caseloads levels for social workers were reasonable, it was explained that each social worker had a range from 15 to 20 cases in operation on average in Rotherham. It was noted that the caveat behind that statistic was that it did not give any background to the intensity of that casework. It was noted that a social worker could have one large case or many little ones up to 25. It was explained that where social workers were newly qualified, they would have a protected level of caseload.

It was further noted that the number of health and dental assessments were improving and whilst there were no system failures, there were high levels of refusals that needed to be investigated further. It was explained that hospital settings could be a reason for putting young people off, but it was planned that the LAC Council would be asked for ideas to encourage attendance at assessments.

It was reported that the service continued to achieve reviews and visits on time and develop pathway plans. Whilst there were high levels, it was explained that the quality of each review would be at a level to which the authority aspired. It was noted that the quality of what was recorded needed to improve so that the child had a full record of what had happened in their life.

It was expressed in respect of the number of children having placement moves because there was not enough of the right type of care. It was recognised that further work was required to ensure that the right type of placements were secured.

Specific reference was made to the needed for more foster carers to foster teenagers. It was noted that since March 2016, there had been 8 resignations or retirements amongst foster carers, but there had been 15 approvals for new foster carers, which represented a small net gain. It was agreed that the Council needed to be smarter in how it recruited and there was recognition that the historic position was one where foster carers were fostering too many children. There were currently high numbers of foster carers that only foster one child and it was considered unusual to have such low placements. It was explained that a number of foster carers only had one bedroom and so had been restricted to baby cases. There were also a high number of cases that remained in foster carer homes beyond the age of 18, but that had meant that foster carers could not take any other children at that point because of lack of space in their homes.  

In response to a question in respect of what work was being done to encourage care leavers to engage in education, employment or training, it was explained that 99% of Looked After Children at the age of 16 engage in education, employment or training. Issues tended to arise when they reached the age of 18 and enter the world of work and this had been identified as an area requiring significant work to prepare Looked After Children for the world of work. It was noted and welcomed that the Chief Executive had identified the need to prioritise apprenticeships for Looked After Children within the Council.

It was also noted that work had been undertaken in the past with companies from which Council procures services or products and Looked After Children had entered apprenticeships with those businesses.  

In response to a query about how ‘edge of care’ arrangements could be strengthened, it was explained that the intention was for children to return home or make alternative plans with the intention of preventing children from coming into care. The preferred approach was to provide family therapy or alternative support through family group conferencing and NSPCC reunification work.

Agreed:-        That the performance report be noted.