Better deal for looked-after children in Cardiff

People
ViewsJanuary 24th, 2014

Looked after

Children who are looked after by the local authority are the country’s most vulnerable children. That is a fact. All the evidence shows their education and social outcomes are far below those who have had the good fortune to be provided with a stable, secure,  and loving environment from birth. It is a challenging world for everyone involved – the children, foster parents, and social services and education providers who support them. 

But the challenge doesn’t just come from the situation but the way it is perceived and reported.

The serious case reviews of Baby P, Keanu Williams and Joseph P have shone a media light onto the social work profession, and it’s a profession which is all too often thought about when things go wrong. But there is a much bigger story to tell. What do we really know about children in care and how can local authorities ensure they provide looked after children with the same standard of care as children who are brought up by their families?   

Much of the criticism of social workers involved in the high profile cases where children have died has been around the failure to remove the child from the care of his parents or the failure to share information amongst agencies.  This is a very simplistic criticism and, most particularly, is not founded in law. The Children Act 1989 places a statutory duty on the local authority to keep a child with his or her family. The evidence required before a child can be removed must be substantial and stand up to scrutiny within the family court.  Only if there is immediate, significant risk to a child can a social worker remove a child with an Emergency Protection Order and that has to be agreed by the Court.  Assessing and collating evidence whilst supporting a family to stay together is critical.  The whole process of intervention is just not as easy as people believe.   

Social work is not an exact science. Circumstances change at the drop of a hat, judgement on the spot is critical, as is experience and a clear understanding of the legal framework within which social work is practised.  Yet media reports so often misrepresent the legal structure and over-simplify the work of social workers. This is unfair both to the profession and to the children being supported. 

No wonder there is a shortage in social workers throughout the UK – it is one of the most challenging, confronting and demanding professions.  

But if the media wants to act “armchair social workers” let them reflect on other perspectives they rarely touch. Would their lives of Peter Connolly, Keanu Williams and Joseph P w have been different if they had been removed from the care of their parents?  Are children in care cared for and how are their lives different to remaining with their family?   

Children can begin their life in the care system – the local authority has a duty to provide support to children who have left care at 18, up until 21 or 24 if they are in education.  This is a significant responsibility for the local authority and a huge, but necessary, cost to the public purse.  However, this is a cost worth paying if it improves outcomes for looked after children and ensures a child’s safety and protection from harm.  

We know that children who are looked after by the local authority generally tend to have lower educational and social outcomes.  This can be for a variety of reasons, including emotional or physical instability from birth, the trauma of being removed from parents and placement instability.  Children who are placed in a stable, loving and nurturing foster placement at an early age are more likely to have better outcomes.  The children placed in residential units because they are unable to live with a family or because there is not the capacity to accommodate their needs are more likely to have poorer outcomes.  And the numbers being placed in residential homes is increasing.

So how do we address this worrying trend and focus resources and support on really improving outcomes for looked after children?

Innovative solutions and new thinking are welcome. Ironically, fiscal forecasts and inevitable reduction in public spending since 2010 has actually provided children’s services with the opportunity to reflect on how we meet the needs of looked after children and improve their outcomes in the face of budgetary constraints. 

Cardiff Council has been leading in this new thinking.

We recently agreed to implement a Social Impact Bond (SIB) which is an innovative way of attracting investment into children’s services with no risk to the council.  The SIB attracts private investors to invest into a project that is delivered by a third sector organisation with a proven track record of providing services for vulnerable children.  Cardiff Council has agreed to implement a SIB that will result in the investor getting a return on the investment if the outcomes for children are improved.  The looked after children who will benefit from the SIB will be children who present with such significant challenging behaviour and risk taking behaviour that their placement stability is considered threatened.   The young people will have complex needs requiring considerable resources to manage their safety and their development.   

So for example, the SIB could provide a child placed in an out of county residential home with a highly supported foster care placement with wrap around support to ensure placement stability and improved outcomes.    This could include 24 hour support for the foster carers, access to educational psychologists, counsellors and mentoring.  A highly supported and professional but nurturing environment would assist a child to develop and sustain relationships based on trust which address identified need.  

The better outcomes achieved by children placed locally may be the result of a combination of factors, such as, proximity to family and friends, greater scope for good co-ordination of services at a local level and continuity in respect of Education and Health care better contact between child and social worker and ease of supervision.

A SIB can also be implemented for preventative and early intervention initiatives.  

The idea of SIBs is not unique to Cardiff. Manchester and Essex Councils have both implemented SIBs already, though all three authorities have slightly differing models.  The common theme is the prevention of children entering the care system which means support is at the front door of children’s services. 

SIBs are a good example of the radical and innovative practise which is an absolute must for the future. To make the necessary changes, however, local authorities must invest into the front door of the service area in order to reduce the number of children coming into care whilst offering safe and appropriate support and intervention.  By making bold steps to do both then a better environment will be created not just for social workers but also for the children themselves. Their improved life chances are the real priority.

Siobhan Corria is Cabinet Member for Children’s Services on Cardiff Council.

 

 

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