Agenda item

This report provides a briefing to the Health and Wellbeing Board on the role and challenge function of Medway’s Corporate Parenting Board, the key focus and achievements over the last 12 months.

Discussion

The Interim Deputy Director of Children and Adults introduced the 2016-17 Annual Report of the Corporate Parenting Board (CPB). This covered the period from April 2016 to March 2017. It was acknowledged that much had changed since the report had been produced. The Board had agreed new Terms of Reference on 19 April. The CPB had three sub-groups, Education; Health of Children and Young People and; 16+ and Care Leavers. The latter of these had recently been established (February 2017). It covered a range of issues including accommodation, homelessness, employment and education.

Representatives from the Children in Care Council attended every CPB meeting. The Lead Member for Children’s Services, the Director of Children and Adults, the Interim Deputy Director of Children and Adults, the Head of Provider Services, the Head of Safeguarding and the Head of the Virtual School attended Children in Care Council meetings. Membership of the CPB had been reviewed with two foster carers an adoptive parent and a housing representative having been added to the membership. The Head of the Virtual School reported directly to the CPB. This role had recently moved from educational services to children’s’ services, which provided an increased opportunity for integration with the work of the Board.

The Looked After Children Strategy, published in 2015, set out the general areas of work that the Corporate Parenting Board would cover. The Strategy contained eight objectives. A draft Corporate Parenting Board Action Plan had been produced which would be discussed at the next CPB meeting.

A key focus area for the CPB was the accommodation available for care leavers. Feedback received from young people highlighted that there was limited choice. There was also concern about the emotional wellbeing of care leavers. There were plans to look at the possibility of group living for some care leavers. This work would be undertaken with the Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services and with the 16+ and Care Leaver Sub-Group.

An increasing percentage of Looked After Children (LAC) were being placed in foster placements, which was positive. The percentage of Medway Looked After Children in foster placements increased from 67.9% in March 2016 to 70.8% in March 2017. A priority work area was to increase the range of skilled foster placements available. There had also been a decrease in residential placements over the same period, from 8.8% to 8.2% of all looked after children in Medway.

Following Cabinet agreement in November 2016, Medway had entered into discussions with Bexley and Kent local authorities with regard to the establishment of a Regional Adoption Agency. It was noted that all local authorities were required to have entered into an arrangement by 2020.

A Board Member emphasised the importance of the Corporate Parenting Board making a difference to the lives of looked after children. He said that the Children in Care Council had been asked to establish what actions looked after children would like to see taken by Children’s Services. A survey had been undertaken with a number of suggestions having been made as a result. The Corporate Parenting Board was supportive of the suggestions made. The Member said that, as a whole, the country was currently failing looked after children. The CPB and the Council were committed to ensuring that Looked After Children in Medway had the best possible life chances and outcomes. The Member also gave thanks for the support given to the CPB by Housing. He considered that there was a need to consider strategic solutions for young people leaving care and ensuring that foster care provided good quality care. The CPB had produced a DVD to show the stigma associated with being a Looked After Child. It was requested and agreed that this video would be screened at a future meeting of the Board.

In relation to the establishment of a Regional Adoption Agency, a Member asked when the benefit of the newly appointed project manager would be realised. The Deputy Director of Children and Adults anticipated that this would be within the next couple of months. A Board Member noted that some of the partnership working associated with the proposals had been challenging.

Another Board Member commented that Kent had an external provider for adoption while Medway did not and questioned how this would be dealt with during the establishment of a Regional Adoption Agency (RAA). She also asked whether the move away from adoption towards Special Guardianship Orders was in part due to the granting of Special Guardianship Orders being a more straightforward process than adoption. The Deputy Director of Children and Adults said it was anticipated that the RAA would be able to manage a variety of service delivery models. The use of Special Guardianship Orders was a national issue. In the majority of cases, the Deputy Director made the decision whether adoption was in the child’s best interest and did not consider that Medway was using Special Guardianship Orders as an easy option. It was also noted that the courts could overturn adoption decisions made by the local authority.

Decision

The Board considered and commented on the annual report and the effectiveness of the Corporate Parenting Board.