Agenda item

To scrutinise the effectiveness of Rotherham’s Early Help Offer

The Chair welcomed Cllr Watson, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Children's Services & Neighbourhood Working and the Assistant Director for Early Help and Family Engagement, along with service users and members of staff from the Early Help & Family Engagement Service.

The Char invited service users to give an account of their experiences of early help services and youth offending services respectively. They outlined the support and advice received from staff and the positive impact the interventions had had on them. This included support for new parents, assistance with benefit and financial advice, employment support and transition into adult services. The service users also highlighted how different agencies were co-ordinated in delivering tailored provision which reflected their assessed needs.

Officers from the Early Help Service gave case studies (which were provided with the consent of service users) which illustrated how the voice of service users were captured and gave an indication of the breadth and complexity of the case work under consideration. Details were also given of the “Signs of Safety” methodology used to ensure consistency of practice, and how positive outcomes for children and young people were measured.

Members thanked the service users for their personal testimonies and the assurance that they gave about quality of service.

The following issues were raised and clarified:

·         The service user highlighted that there was a lack of education and employment opportunities for young offenders. Members requested that the Deputy Leader explore if further measures could be taken to identify Council apprenticeship opportunities for young people involved in the youth justice system and engage the wider business community in similar initiatives. It was further explained that work was being undertaken with schools to minimise school exclusions and promote attendance as this was recognised as an important factor in diverting young people from offending behaviours.

·         Work was undertaken with young offenders under 18, to ensure that if they were transitioning into adult services, that this was done as smoothly as possible.

·         Examples were given of peer support schemes set up to engage young offenders or those at risk of offending and offer diversionary activities. The service user had participated in such schemes. An application for funding with neighbouring authorities had been successful to support such initiatives.

·         Further details were provided of the early help offer to new parents; for newer parents this may involve intensive one-to-one parenting support, however as parents grew in confidence, play groups and other outreach support could be accessed on an ‘as-and-when’ basis.

The Deputy Leader introduced the briefing paper, outlined the key themes covered and plans moving forward. This included the statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018) which set out requirements for Early Help Services to provide a continuum of support to respond to the different levels of need of individual children and families; details of the Early Help Strategy 2016-2019, which had been previously considered by Improving Lives Select Commission; and the 2018 Ofsted re-inspection of Services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers report which noted effective early help work with children and families.

The paper outlined that all phases of the Early Help Strategy had been completed on time, with all associated savings delivered. An overview of performance was given which included:

·         Improvement in the number of families were contacted and engaged within three working days.

·         Children Centre registration and engagement within Rotherham’s most deprived areas.

·         The year-to-date attendance rate was good and in-line with national averages.

·         The three national YOT Youth Justice Board Performance indicators showed Rotherham YOT outperforming regional and national trends.

Following previous lines of enquiry from Members, information was provided on early help assessments (EHA) completed by partners and how the voice of children and young people were captured.

Steps taken to improve partner completions of EHA included:

·                     Hosting regular Multi-Agency Practice Development Group to share good practice

·                     Undertaking checks of EHAs as they are submitted by partners to ensure Local Authority oversight of quality

·                     Provision of information and advice to partners

·                     Supporting Lead Professionals with ‘stuck’ cases and support with Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings where appropriate

In relation to capturing the voice of the child or young people, details of consultation and engagement events were given. Practice learning days also highlighted how workers considered the voice of the child and young people. Exit Surveys and case closures had been adapted to ensure that specific questions had been asked.

Key risks for the Early Help Service were highlighted which included:

·         Increased demand and complexity of work,

·         Poverty and Deprivation,

·         Education performance,

·         Budget,

·         Rotherham’s Universal Offer.

The Assistant Director cited research commissioned by the Local Government Association (March 2019) which involved eight Local Authorities. The research identified the key enablers of an effective early help services as follows: setting the direction, developing capacity, working with families and evaluating impact and quality.

Further details were given of the strategic change programme taking place across within Children’s Services which included;

·         Market Management

·         Demand Management

·         Early Help and Social Care Pathway

Specifically, the Early Help and Social Care Pathway sought to develop better systems and processes that provided the right level of care and support at the right time, in the right setting which led to better outcomes for children, young people and families and fewer children and young people coming into care.

The objectives for the Early Help and Social Care Pathway included an increased focus on prevention and early intervention which supported children, young people and families to stay at home and in their community settings and avoided unnecessary and costly statutory intervention.

The following points were raised in respect of the briefing paper:

Had an analysis of early help services in Rotherham been undertaken using the ISOS framework of services against comparative councils (including Children’s Trust)? It was indicated the service would be willing to undertake the analysis as it was felt the service would reflect positively against the framework. It was stressed that no two early help offers were the same so direct comparisons with other early help services were difficult. 

Clarification was sought on the current budget and future sustainability of the service. It was highlighted that 40% of early help service was funded from external sources. Future Troubled Families funding was uncertain, as were other streams. There was limited research on cost avoidance for partners arising from early help interventions, however, higher level data showed that early help services were making a positive impact.

The Chair requested that a further piece of work be undertaken on early help offer, to include the ISOS framework and that a sub-group be established to scope the specific elements which require assurance.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the report be noted.

(2) That a sub-group be established to undertake further scrutiny of the early help offer.