Agenda item

8.1

The Committee received a report of the Director of Children and Families which provided an update on the progress of Sheffield’s Children in Care and Care Leavers.  The purpose of the report was to provide the Committee with the opportunity to review performance and to deliver an understanding of what it was like to be a child looked after by the Council and thus enable Members to use this information to hold officers to account, in order to be the best possible corporate parents to the children in the Council’s care. 

8.2

Joel Hanna (Assistant Director, Provider Services) took the Committee through the report, making particular reference to the seven priority areas which were engagement and influence of looked after children and young people, educational achievement and attainment, health and wellbeing, permanence, integrated placement strategy, safeguarding and vulnerability, and care leavers.  Also in attendance for this item were Councillor Jackie Drayton (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families), Carly Speechley (Director of Children and Families) and Dr. Lorraine Pearson (Looked After and Adoptive Children’s Health Team).

8.3

Members made various comments and asked a number of questions, to which responses were provided as follows:-

·                The ability to track children with a plan for adoption was improving and officers were looking to undertake this tracking at an earlier stage from the second looked after children review.

·                Adopters were recruited through a regional and national consortium, but the Council was looking to get more adopters in the South Yorkshire area, which would serve to reduce delays.

·                It would be possible to produce a detailed report on the timeliness of the adoption process, as this was monitored by means of monthly tracking meetings.

·                The object of the regionalisation of the adoption process was to increase the timeliness and maximise opportunities.

·                Work was being undertaken in South Yorkshire, with both the local authorities and fostering organisations, to increase the numbers of foster carers.  This work not only included recruitment, but also retention.

·                There were a significant number of care leavers represented in the City’s homeless population and it was important to ensure that the housing pathway for them was consistent, with a structured supportive pathway being desirable.  A national model had developed a 16-25 pathway in this regard and officers were working with the Care Leaving Service to develop tenancies with support.

·                The three year average of 499 days for the average time between a child entering care and moving in with its adoptive family, was higher than the three year target as set by the Department for Education of 426 days.  For children adopted during 2016/17, the average time was 438 days and it was hoped that the target would be met by the end of 2017/18.

·                The importance of schools and friendship groups would be considered on an individual basis, but officers would need to be satisfied with any support arrangements.

·                The last inspection of the Care Leavers’ Service received a good Ofsted report, but it was recognised that there were specific challenges in relation to accommodation, education and training and employment.

·                The Committee would be provided with a breakdown of the ethnicity of foster carers and it was acknowledged that there was a need to improve numbers generally, but more so in the BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) community.  This was an element of the overall strategy and a specific targeted recruitment and media campaign was planned.  In addition, a letter had been sent to organisations such as the Universities and the Fire and Rescue Service to encourage retirees to consider adoption.

·                A key piece of work was being undertaken on care leavers entering apprenticeships, as efforts had not been successful in matching care leavers to these.  In doing this, the focus was on preparation for apprenticeships as the gap was sometimes too great a step for some individuals, so traineeships were being developed.  In addition, there was a need to identify specific apprenticeships and traineeships through the virtual school in the Care Leavers Service.  It should also be borne in mind that 95% of those with no qualifications were care leavers or had special needs, thus indicating the need for earlier intervention.

·                The general decline in the number of Looked After Children in Sheffield since 2007, was a reflection of the investment in intervention, whilst the steady increase in these over the past 18 months reflected an increase in the number of 16 and 17 year olds coming into the system with more complex associated issues.  The austerity agenda and increased levels of poverty and domestic violence may also be contributory factors.  It should be noted that officers were reviewing all young people coming into care to ensure that the decisions made were robust.

8.4

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       thanks those attending for their contribution to the meeting;

(b)       notes the contents of the report and the responses to questions;

(c)        approves the setting up of a Sub-Group of the Committee, comprising Councillors Mick Rooney, Cliff Woodcraft, Mohammad Maroof, Bob Pullin and Jim Steinke and Waheeda Din (Parent Governor Representative), to further explore the issues raised at the meeting, with a view to identifying an area of focus for a more detailed piece of scrutiny work; and

(d)       requests that:-

(i)            the Corporate Parenting Board considers performance data for each of the six stages of the adoption process; and

(ii)          a further report be added to the Committee’s Work Programme, to include performance data on the six stages of the adoption process and a flow chart outlining the stages of the process and expected timescales.