Agenda item

This report aims to provide information to the Council’s Corporate Parenting Committee (CPC) about findings of the annual ‘Children’s Commissioner’s 2019 Stability Index’ for Children in Care. This report contains Brent’s response to the findings and provides a summary of activities undertaken to achieve stability for looked after children in Brent. This is to provide evidence that looked after children in Brent rece

This report aimed to provide information to the Council’s Corporate Parenting Committee (CPC) about findings of the annual ‘Children’s Commissioner’s 2019 Stability Index’ for Children in Care, Brent’s response to the findings and a summary of activities undertaken to achieve appropriate stability of care arrangements for looked after children in Brent.

Onder Beter (Head of Service for LAC and Permanency) provided a national summary and focussing on Brent’s picture, informed the Committee that the placement stability rate for looked after children in Brent had gradually improved and stabilised over the last 5 years even though it remained higher than statistical neighbours and the England average.  Members heard that the placement stability rate in Brent was linked to a number of factors that had an adverse effect on the life journey of children in care: traumatic childhood experiences prior to coming into care; the age of children at the point of entry to care and the multiple complex vulnerabilities in adolescence when they entered care, including child sexual exploitation and gang affiliation. In addition, there were challenges in ensuring a sufficient range and quality of foster care and residential provision for children with the most complex needs

Mr Beter then outlined the following actions which had been put in place for improvement:

Clinical case consultation for social workers and foster carers of LAC in Brent by the Brent Emotional Well-being Team and a social pedagogue to assist professionals and carers to help young people with complex behavioural and emotional difficulties. Positive feedback about the impact received. He continued that robust processes, scrutinised by senior managers, were in place to ensure procedures were adhered to when a placement change was requested so as to ensure that all placement requests resulted in a well-planned move involving young people and their carers. 

Mr Beter added that a weekly Children’s Placement Panel (CPP), chaired and attended by senior managers who provided scrutiny of all placement changes with monitoring and tracking arrangements to ensure that children only move placements when it was in their best interests.  Individual placements continued to being monitored by social workers and by Independent Reviewing Officers (IRO) as part of LAC Review.  Members heard that it was a requirement that children and young people, their parents and carer, Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs), Brent Virtual School for LAC and other professionals were consulted prior to placement moves. Additionally, the Operational Director, Integration and Improved Outcomes in CYP scrutinises any placement change requests for out of borough placements consistent with the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010

In respect of school changes, Mr Beter stated that children in care in Brent experienced fewer changes of schools compared to their peers nationally and added that over the past 2 years, no LAC of statutory school age had been permanently excluded.

In welcoming the report, Members sought further updates on the department’s measures for the recruitment and retention of permanent social workers further to the initiatives agreed by the Council’s GP Committee in 2018.  The Head of Service outlined the following measures designed to enhance recruitment and retention of permanent social workers;

a)      A comprehensive support package for newly qualified social workers known as the Assessed and Supported Year in Practice (ASYE) programme where newly qualified social workers were supported via more frequent supervision, mentoring, reflection time and protected caseloads

b)      Recently developed career progression pathways for social workers that allows social workers to progress in their career within the local authority rather than seeking these opportunities elsewhere.

c)      Participating in specific programmes to recruit social workers such as ‘step up to social work programme’ that provides a social work qualification to individuals with a first degree other than social work. 

d)      The focus on international recruitment of social work staff in 2019 that resulted in 14 social workers being recruited from southern Africa and India.

RESOLVED

That the report on Children's Commissioner's 2019 Stability Index for Children in Care be noted.