Promoting Health & Education for Looked After Children: Stats & Guidance, Lecture notes of History

Download Promoting Health & Education for Looked After Children: Stats & Guidance and more Lecture notes History in PDF only on Docsity! Developing Well 1 Looked After Children Introduction This chapter of the JSNA considers the needs of children who have become looked after as a result of a legal order or who have been accommodated on a voluntary basis in agreement with their parents/carers. Looked After Children (LAC) are one of the most vulnerable groups in society. The majority of children who remain in care are there because they have suffered abuse or neglect. It is recognised that children in care have significantly higher levels of health needs than children and young people from comparable socio-economic backgrounds who have not been looked after. Their life opportunities and outcomes are also often much poorer and poor health is a factor in this. Past experiences, poor start in life, care processes, placement moves and many transitions mean that these children are often at risk of having inequitable access to health services, both universal and specialist The local authority’s duty to meet the social care needs of looked after children is set out in the 1989 Children Act and subsequent amendments. The local authority has specific duties:  To receive a child who is the subject of a care order into care and to continue to look after them while the care order is in force;  To safeguard and promote the welfare of looked after children - finding out the wishes and feelings of child/parents before making any decision, and giving due consideration to those wishes and feelings and to the child's background;  To promote the educational attainment of children in its care;  To regularly review the needs and circumstances of a child in care and to appoint independent reviewing officers to do this;  To provide appropriate advocates for children in its care;  To continue to support young people after they have left the authority’s care. The duty to meet the health needs of Looked After Children for both the NHS and local authorities are clearly laid out in ‘Statutory Guidance on Promoting the Health and Wellbeing of Looked After Children’. The NHS is required to make arrangements to secure appropriate health services for the child, in accordance with the health assessment and the child’s health plan and need to understand the current flows of looked after children both in and out of the CCG area and ensure that services are commissioned to meet the needs of all Looked After Children. All children in care are subject to a health plan. Health assessments must be undertaken twice a year for children under 5 years, and annually for children and young people aged 5 years and over. The local authority also follows the statutory guidance for Looked after Children and their education. The Children and Families Act 2014 amended the Children Act 1989 to require local authorities in England to appoint at least one person for the purpose of discharging the local authority’s duty to promote the educational achievement of its looked after children, wherever they live or are educated. That person (the Virtual School Head, VSH) must be an officer employed by the authority or another local authority in England. All looked after children should have a Personal Education Plan (PEP) which is part of the child’s care plan Developing Well 2 As leaders responsible for ensuring that the local authority discharges its duty to promote the educational achievement of their looked after children, by ensuring that: • closing the attainment and progress gap between looked after children and their peers and creating a culture of high aspirations for them is a top priority • looked after children have access to a suitable range of high quality education placement options and that commissioning services for them takes account of the duty to promote their educational achievement • VSHs are in place and that they have the resources, time, training and support they need to discharge the duty effectively • VSHs have robust procedures in place to monitor the attendance and educational progress of the children their authority looks after • the authority’s Children in Care Council (CiCC) regularly addresses the educational experiences raised by looked after children and is able to respond effectively to such issues. What do we know? Developing Well 5 Chart 3 – Age of Looked After Children (as at 31st March) Between March 2016 the number looked after children in both the under 1 and the 1 to 4 year old age ranges have increased slightly compared to the previous year, across both age groups there has been a total increase of 11 children looked after. The 11 to 15 age range saw a significant decrease from 83 to 71 following an upwards spike the previous year. The 16+ age range increased from 43 to 56. Developing Well 6 Projected LAC population For the past 12 months to 2016, the Looked After Children population has shown a slow increase and therefore projections could indicate that the population will grow to in the region of approximately 264 children by 2020. Current Placement Mix and Cost As of March 2016 the Council had 253 children placed in care. Table 2 and chart 5 below shows the breakdown of where children were placed. Chart 5 – LAC by placement type Developing Well 7 Table 2– LAC by placement type Date In- House Commissioned Foster Care Placed with Parents Placed for Adoption Residential Independent Living Other Placements Total Foster Care 31st March 2012 93 78 10 5 22 4 4 216 31st March 2013 79 116 4 6 31 7 4 247 31st March 2014 78 113 2 26 33 14 2 268 31st March 2015 75 120 3 12 30 12 0 252 31st March 2016 102 87 3 11 24 26 0 253 A very small number of children each year are Looked After by virtue of being remanded into local authority care following youth offending proceedings. Additionally, unaccompanied asylum seeking children absorb 10% of placements. Options for Permanence Most children will have their need for stability and nurturing met by their birth parents and will not require support from, or come to the attention of, Local Authority Children's Services departments. Developing Well 10 Table 3 – Comparative costs of placement types Description Actuals Actuals Actuals Actuals Actuals Forecast Budget year 2010 - 2011 2011 - 2012 2012 - 2013 2013 - 2014 2014-15 2015-16 Residential Care Home Placements £3,067,775 £2,154,811 £1,907,011 £2,511,233 £2,152,876 £2,570,460 Independent Foster Care £1,904,727 £2,733,731 £4,240,260 £4,962,802 £4,647,259 £4,014,440 In House Fostering Allowances £1,164,298 £1,559,527 £1,553,530 HEALTH OF LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN Health Assessments Developing Well 11 During 2015/16 88.3% of children looked after for 12 months or more had at least one health assessments (children under 5 had two) during the year. Chart 8 : Health Assessments for Looked After Children Dental visits During 2015-16 87.7% of children looked after for 12 months or more had at least one dental check during the year. Chart 9 Looked After Children dental visits Immunisations Children looked after for 12 months or more with all their immunisations up-to-date as at 31st March Developing Well 12 2016 stands at 87.7%. Chart 10 - Looked After Children immunisations: Emotional Wellbeing of Looked After Children The emotional wellbeing of Looked after Children is measured using a Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). This figure is measured and any score of over 14 is then referred to CAMHS. These scores are returned to the Department of Education as part of statutory returns using average scores for children who have been looked after for more than 1 year and are aged between 4 and 16 years old. The average score has increased from 13.9 in 2014-15 to 16.1 in 2015-16. Chart 11 SDQ Average scores Child Protection history of Looked After Children Developing Well 15 placement stability. We will develop a range of policies and procedures that will support our ability to provide alternative care for those children whose needs are best met away from their home and our overarching “Friends and Family Policy” will be designed to offer a range of support to those children and young people whose needs can be met by their family and wider personal networks. We know that outcomes for children are better when they are able to form long-term relationships with carer’s. To that end we will develop a “Placement Stability Policy” and associated practice guidance that will ensure that we secure permanent long term care arrangements for children. Working closely with our virtual school we will ensure that services and strategies to promote the educational attainment of our looked after children and young people are prioritised in order to narrow the gap between the achievements of children who are not in care and those who are looked after by Bedford Borough Council. In partnership with health services we are ensuring that the health needs of the children and young people we have responsibility for are identified in an appropriate and timely manner with a focus on prevention. Evidence shows that children and young people in care have some of the poorest health outcomes in comparison to their peers. We recognise that young people in placement should remain with their carer’s beyond 18 if that is the best decision for them. We have introduced a ‘Staying Put Policy ‘that enables young people to remain with their carer’s beyond their 18th birthday. Bedford Borough Council are committed to a range of activities designed to ensure that all our children in care are able to access education, employment or training as the move towards adulthood. As one of the Borough’s largest employers we have more to do towards ensuring that there are work-based opportunities for young people leaving care. What is this telling us? What are the unmet needs/ service gaps? We have completed a comprehensive needs analysis in order to refresh our ‘sufficiency strategy’ This will set out our commissioning intentions for 2016-2020 in light of emerging policy and changes to legislation that impacts upon the numbers and profile of children in care We will develop a range of policies and procedures that will support our ability to provide alternative care for those children whose needs are best met away from their home and our overarching “Friends and Family Policy” will be designed to offer a range of support to those children and young people whose needs can be met by their family and wider personal networks. We know that outcomes for children are better when they are able to form long-term relationships with carer’s. To that end we will develop a “Placement Stability Policy” and associated practice guidance that will ensure that we secure permanent long term care arrangements for children. We will also continue to innovate and look for new types of placements to meet the individual needs of children and young people. Specifically, this will include expanding our range of supported housing options for older young people. Developing Well 16 This section links to the following sections in the JSNA:  Sexual exploitation of children  Children in Need References National Children’s Bureau, (2012) Tackling health inequalities among children and young people National Children’s Bureau public policy priority 2012-13. Available at: http://www.ncb.org.uk/media/775150/ncb_policy_priority_health_inequalities_-_2012-13.pdf Statutory guidance for Looked After Children and their education. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-the-education-of-looked-after-children The Munro Review of Child Protection: final report, A child centred system (2011), Department for Education, The Stationery Office. Available at: http://www.official- documents.gov.uk/document/cm80/8062/8062.pdf Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015), Department for Education. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/419595/Working_Tog ether_to_Safeguard_Children.pdf Care Proceedings Reform (2013), Ministry of Justice. Available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/protecting-the-vulnerable/care-proceedings-reform Appendices Name and contact details of author: Martin Purbrick, Head of Looked After Children