Agenda item

Cabinet Portfolio:-                Children’s Services and Neighbourhood Working

Strategic Directorate:           Children and Young People’s Services

Consideration was given to a report submitted by the Strategic Director of Children and Young People’s Services which was presented for pre-decision scrutiny ahead of the Cabinet meeting scheduled for 8 July 2019 in respect of the proposed revision of Foster Carers Fees and Allowances Payment Scheme. It was reported that the Council had sought to improve the care experience for children in Rotherham by ensuring that wherever possible they were looked after in a foster family environment.  In the spirit of that ambition, it was proposed to revise the ‘offer’ to foster carers with regard to the fees and allowances that they receive.  It was anticipated that this would also lead to a reduced overall cost in line with Budget assumptions. It is well understood that the needs of children and young people could only be met effectively if they lived in an environment that provided a high quality of care and support, generally within a family home setting and in a geographical location that was familiar. 

Members further noted that the placement of children within the borough would ensure a better oversight and control over educational provision and other support services such as Health and Community Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).   Recruitment and retention of in-house foster carers was at the heart of LAC Sufficiency Strategy.  As part of the overall strategy it was intended to change the placement mix, profiling a net increase of 36 new in-house foster placements over a 12 month period. It was noted that increasing the number of in-house carers was critical to ensuring that Rotherham:

• Had a range of suitable placements available to meet current and future placement needs.
• Was able to reduce overall placement costs and avoid more expensive Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) and out of borough residential placements.
• Was able to meet the needs of individual children and young people in care by creating stable, secure and high quality family placements
• Supported children and young people in care to maintain contact with birth families, essential services and their local community.

A revised foster carer fees and allowance payment scheme was proposed in in order to ensure that Rotherham is best placed to meet the above objectives.

Members expressed support for the proposals, welcoming the potential removal of the independent agencies as a ‘middle man’, and sought assurances that the monitoring of figures would assist the authority in making a difference. In response, the Strategic Director reassured Members that data would be monitored and progress tracked, especially in light of budget assumptions in respect of demand and how many children and young people that the authority would be working with during current and next financial year. The impact of the change would be closely monitored to provide assurance that the decision was correct.

It was noted that the focus was not solely on driving down cost, but rather making a good offer to increase the sustainability of the pool of foster carers available to the authority. It was recognised the remuneration was only part of the offer and the support provided by the Council was of greater importance to existing foster carers, who wanted to work with the authority rather than agencies. The Strategic Director agreed with this observation and indicated that this was just one element of the strategy, but acknowledged the need to communicate the foster carer offer more effectively and market the opportunity better.

Resolved:-

1.     That Cabinet be advised that the recommendations be supported.