The Panel will consider a verbal update on the performance highlights from the latest Children’s Services data report covering period ending 30th November 2023.
Contact: Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director
Kieran Lord, Service Director
Vicky Metheringham, Service Director
Minutes:
The Panel received a verbal update on performance data for period ending November 2023, which was provided by Kieran Lord, Service Director for Resources, Improvements and Partnerships in Children’s Services.
Kieran Lord highlighted the following key points for Family Support and Child Protection on behalf of Vicky Metheringham (Service Director):-
· Rates of referrals were significantly lower in Kirklees than England;
· Contacts receiving a decision within one working day had increased to 69.8% which was where it was this time last year;
· Re-referrals remained stable at 19.9% and the 12 month average was 19.2%;
· Timeliness of risk assessments had improved, 17 remained overdue as a result of enhanced oversight;
· Looked after children (LAC) reviews held on time was 97%; numbers of children in care had stabilised; 90% of visits to children had been made in line with practice standards; numbers of children in an Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) had reduced from last month to 168 and this time last year this figure was 165;
· 99% of care leavers had a pathway plan, with 93% of these being up to date, 95% in touch and 91% were in suitable accommodation;
· Numbers of children with a Child Protection Plan had increased again to 475 which now exceeded the England average;
· A small number of children were in unregulated settings, however, oversight was robust and numbers were reducing;
· The numbers of children with an adoption plan was half that of statistical neighbours, but conversations were ongoing with neighbouring partners with regard to adoption support;
· Seeking to improve the quality of pathway plans for care leavers and improving the opportunities for education and training;
· Working with partners regarding care leavers working in the community and following a visit from Mark Riddell (National Implementation Advisor for Care Leavers from the DfE) the service were working through the suggestions and recommendations from his report.
The Panel asked about caseload management and fluctuation of the numbers, how this was being managed and what measures had been put in place to keep this stable, Kieran Lord advised that there were a number of vacancies in a competitive market for social work staff but the Service were still not seeking agency support which provided stability. The Panel was informed that all of the Social Worker vacancies had been filled as of yesterday and the Service was very proud of the progress made on the plan of action which did not include agency workers. The Panel was informed that the Children’s Service had a retention and recruitment working group in place to ensure that the Service was able to moderate some of higher and fluctuating caseload averages. Kieran Lord explained that there was also a Recruitment and Retention Strategy in place which focussed on succession planning and making sure that the Service was retaining and maximising the skills. The Panel was informed that due to the success of recruitment, renewed focus was now being given to the retention practice going forward, which would hopefully ensure greater stability for staff. The Panel noted that wellbeing of staff was paramount and that the Service wanted people to be part of Team Kirklees and feel valued and see opportunities for development. Initiatives had been taking place across the Children’s Service on time to talk sessions with Senior Officers and Cllr Kendrick (Cabinet Member for Children), where there was the opportunity to listen to staff about the things that mattered to them most.
In response to a question from the Panel regarding the meaning of Section 47, Kieran Lord advised that in the Children’s Act 1989 were a number of mandated sections that as a Local Authority the Service needed to be able to provide to the children and population of Kirklees. Two key parts of the Act were Section 17 which was the Council’s need to legally provide appropriate levels of support to children defined as being in need of additional support and Section 47 was where that support required an assessment to see if further intervention was required in the form of a Child Protection Plan.
The Panel asked about placement and accommodation for care leavers and what was classed as unsuitable accommodation, Kieran Lord advised that –
· each individual young person had different circumstances and some children were not in the most appropriate settings, but that the data did include young people who did not want to engage with the Council as a service provider;
· As corporate parents, the Children’s Service were working closely with colleagues in Housing to ensure that care leavers had the correct housing provision, but that it could be a complicated scenario in terms of accommodation capacity and it did sometimes mean a delay to ensure that the most appropriate accommodation was provided;
· temporary arrangements were not ideal, but the Children’s Service were confident that appropriate oversight was in place and that the young people were living in safe environments.
The Panel noted that the data showed that 28% of care leavers were not in education, employment and training (EET) and asked if a breakdown could be provided, Kieran Lord advised that –
· the Service worked very closely with all the care leavers but did not insist that they undertake a certain path which might not be meaningful to that young person at their stage of life, some children could have been subjected to trauma and they had their own level of volition to be involved and engaged;
· the Service was trying to understand the EET offer and to learn from the maturity of other Corporate Parenting Boards to develop more formal plans to identify at an early opportunity what was needed and to encourage engagement by care leavers;
· all care leavers had access to a Personal Assistant to provide support and would continue to monitor the care leavers on a 1-1 basis.
Kieran Lord advised that the Service would not rest on its laurels until every care leaver was making the very most of the opportunities available to them.
The Panel asked about the long wait for neuro-development pathway support and what action was being taken to reduce the wait, Kieran Lord advised that –
· this was a partnership approach and it was an intensive process to carry out assessments which required appropriate skilled clinicians and practitioners to undertake it;
· there was a national shortage of clinical and educational psychologists, psychiatrists and speech and language therapists that were involved in the formal assessments;
· Kirklees Council had already taken some significant strides forward and worked closely with colleagues to identify this priority in leadership forums and leadership partnerships, but also getting it on the agenda of the Starting Well Board and one of the initiatives taking place was ensuring that those who were waiting had an initial neuro-development assessment which could mean that they did not get the diagnosis, for example autism or ADHD;
· a new triage system had been implemented based on formulation that helped to understand the needs of young people so support needs could be diverted as early as possible and children and young people were ‘waiting well’;
· the Service would continue to have conversations about diverting some of those on the waiting list to the right level of support, for example, early or family support or additional educational support in anticipation of the later assessment to ensure they were ‘waiting well’;
· in order to minimise the assessment required, the Service continued to try and support with health colleagues to fill in some of the capacity needs in terms of the some of the priority professions;
· focus was on ensuring that those on the waiting list got the right support at the right time, rather than waiting for the diagnosis which they would get at a later date.
In response to a question from the Panel asking if the main reason for wanting the assessment was as a key to opening educational support, Kieran Lord advised that there were different pathways within the assessment itself, the neurological pathway traditionally followed a route into the more medical model diagnosis such as ADHD and Autism, but not to discount that they may fall within an Education Health and Care Plan; given that some of the diagnoses that may fall from this, cannot be assessed until adulthood and it might seem frustrating that there was an extended period of time before assessment, quite often there were more indicators about future need rather than something which would result in a diagnosis and immediate treatment, for example, medication or a change in educational provision.
The Panel asked about the level of requests for CAMHS support which seemed to be very low, Kieran Lord advised that the investment the Council has had with partners (Northorpe Hall, Locala, colleagues in Integrated Care Board (ICB) and South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SWYFT), had recognised that ensuring the right triage and support was in place at the right time, officers were working on the ’Keeping in mind’ model which would develop this triage process further. The Panel was informed that the CAMHS pathways still existed and colleagues were dealing with the children in terms of appropriate support and investment continued in those areas.
In response to a question from the Panel regarding at what stage children were identified as having ADHD or Autism and did some slip through the net or have it identified later in school years, Kieran Lord advised that nationally it was felt that there might be some over identification of people who presented with the type of behaviours that may fall in line with a diagnosis of ADHD but did not actually meet the criteria and similarly with Autism it was a spectrum of conditions which might be high functioning and pronounced in terms of the disabilities, abilities or behaviours. The Panel was informed that there was a fine line between necessity to have a diagnosis to get the right opportunities to get access to services, balanced against making sure that professionals were capturing the needs of the young people and matching that against the right support at the right time, irrespective of when the diagnosis would be made.
The Panel asked who would make a referral for an assessment of ADHD or Autism, Kieran Lord advised that it could come from a range of professionals or individuals and as well as the formal Local Authority Assessments and health partner routes, there was also a private route which a number of parents, adults and young people chose to take. The Panel was informed that the numbers of people who sought a private route for a diagnosis for ADHD and Autism tended to have a higher percentage which came back with a diagnosis, than those which went through the more statutory NHS and Local Authorities mandated areas. Kieran Lord explained that the Service would not want to put off any parent or school professional from having the conversations in the first place to ensure that the triage was undertaken as quickly as possible so that the right assessments and support could be put in place.
RESOLVED –
1. The Panel noted the report and thanked Kieran Lord and Jo-Anne Sanders for their contributions.
2. The Panel agreed to receive a future update on the new triage system for the support being put in place to meet the needs of children and young people to ensure they were waiting well whilst their assessment took place.