Gwasanaethau Plant Ynys Mon Panel Rhiantu Corfforaethol...

Gwasanaethau Plant Ynys Mon Panel Rhiantu Corfforaethol – Rhagfyr 2014 Anglesey Children Services Corporate Parenting Panel Report – December 2014

1 Adroddiad Swyddog Adolygu Annibynnol / Independent Reviewing Officer Report

Report to Corporate Parenting Panel

Panel Date Monday, December 8th 2014 Report Title Report of the Independent Reviewing Officer,

Quarter 14/15 Report Author Rona E Jones

1 Performance Information

a. From August 2014 to November 2014 Ynys Mon County Council were responsible for the

welfare of the ‘looked after’ children and young people, a total of 79. In the last Corporate Panel Report the Isle of Anglesey County Council ‘looked after’ a total of 78 children and young people.

b. As the following graphs demonstrate there has been a steady decline in the number of

‘looked after’ population since 2012. Graph 1(a)

Nifer Plant mewn Gofal/Number of Lac children Nifer

Ch1 / Q1 12-13 89

Ch2 / Q2 12-13 93

Ch3 / Q3 12-13 84

Ch4 / Q4 12-13 83

Ch1 / Q1 13-14 78

Ch2 / Q2 13-14 76

Ch3 / Q3 13-14 81

Ch4 / Q4 13-14 78

Ch1 / Q1 14-15 78

Ch2 / Q2 14-15 79

Graph 1(b)

89 93

84 83

78 76

81 78

50

60

70

80

90

100

Ch1 / Q112-13

Ch2 / Q212-13

Ch3 / Q312-13

Ch4 / Q412-13

Ch1 / Q113-14

Ch2 / Q213-14

Ch3 / Q313-14

Ch4 / Q413-14

Nifer Plant mewn Gofal, ers/since 31/03/2012 Number of Children Looked After



Graph 2

c. The above graph (3) demonstartes the variouse information as regards the service

provided by the Local Authority. In total 7 ‘new’ children were ‘looked after’ by Isle of Anglesey County Council in the last quarter and 6 children left the service via different means i.e adoption. There were three children adopted and during this period no application were made for a Special Guardianship nor were there any applications regarding Discharging Care Orders.

d. However, there are a number of applications currently being pursued. In total there are 8

applications regarding Discharging Care Orders and 11 adoptions with 2 applications being made for Special Guardianship. This is an excellent outcome for the families in question but also the input provided by the social worker to enable them to succeed.

e. The Legal status of the looked after population is demonstrated by the following graphs.

In total there has been an increase in the total of Full Care Orders which is reflected by the decrease in numbers of Interim Care Orders.

Graph 3 (a)

7 6

3

0 0 0

5

10

15

Nifer Plant ynnewydd mewn

Gofal / Newchildren into

Care

Nifer Plant wedigadael Gofal /Children left

Care

Niferfabwysiadwyd /

Adoptions

Nifer gafoddSGOs

Gyda Rhieni -gollyngiad gofal/ Discharge Care

Order

Gwybodaeth am ein Gwasanaeth Gofal Various information regarding the Care service

Ch1 / Q1 14-15

Ch2 / Q2 14-15

6

50

13 7 3 0 0

20

40

60

Go

rch

ymyn

Go

fal I

nte

rim

-C

1 -

ICO

Go

rch

ymyn

Go

fal L

awn

-C

2 -

FC

O

19

89

A 2

0 -

V2

Mab

wys

iad

u -

E1 -

Ad

op

tio

n

Ysb

aid

- V

1 -

Re

spit

e

Ar

rem

and

Statws Cyfreithiol ein Plant mewn Gofal Our Looked After Children's Legal Status

Ch4 / Q4 13-14

Ch1 / Q1 14-15

Ch2 / Q2 14-15

Ch3 / Q3 14-15

Ch4 / Q4 14-15



Graph 3 (b)

Statws Cyfreithiol /Legal status LAC Ch4 / Q4

13-14 Ch1 / Q1

14-15 Ch2 / Q2

14-15

Gorchymyn Gofal Interim - C1 - ICO 11 7 6

Gorchymyn Gofal Lawn - C2 - FCO 43 45 50

1989 A 20 - V2 11 15 13

Mabwysiadu - E1 - Adoption 12 10 7

Ysbaid - V1 - Respite 1 1 3

Ar remand 0 0 0

78 78 79

f. There continues to be a high level of children and young people who are looked after

under the legal status of Section 20 accommodation. This means that a number of children have been accommodated with parental consent or at the request of the young person whilst assessments are being undertaken to assess the level of risk. An audit has been undertaken regarding S.20 as there have been criticisms in respect of how these cases were managed.

g. There are a total of 7 children waiting to be adopted and are subject of Placement Orders.

This decrease over the last quarter and from information received there has been a number of positive enquiries regarding these children. Further enquiries will now need to be undertaken to assess their suitability to parent the child/ren in question.

h. The Court requested that the Local Authority ‘accommodated’ one young person from

her own home due to her behaviour. This young person is currently placed out of county as there were no local residential establishments willing to provide accommodation due to behavioural concerns i.e. arson/violence. Congratulations must be extended to the social workers in this case for their ongoing support to this young person who was proving to be extremely challenging and at times quite abusive and violent. Following her move to her current placement she appears to have settled and is abiding by the placements clear boundaries, providing her with stability and security that has sadly been lacking in her life. The young person is for the first time since she was a child attending school and by all accounts doing extremely well. As her IRO I fully support this placement.

Graph 4

Oedran Lac Ch4 / Q4 13-14

Ch1 / Q1 14-15

Ch2 / Q2 14-15

0- 4 oed / years 19 22 20

5 - 10 oed / years 20 17 18

11 - 16 oed / years 26 27 29

16+ oed / years 13 12 12

78 78 79

i. The largest group of the ‘looked after’ population continues to be in the category 11-16



years of age with the second being in the category of 0 - 4 years of age. This is followed by 18 for the age group between 5 - 10 an increase of 2 since the last quarter and finally the category 16+ remains stable at 12.

j. From a total of 79 children and young people ‘looked after’ 76 had their ethnicity categorised as being predominantly white/British origin; this an increase of 1 since the last quarter.

Graph 5(a)

Rheswm am Leoli/reason for accommodation Ch4 / Q4

13-14 Ch1 / Q1

14-15 Ch2 / Q2

14-15

Amddiffyn plant - N1 - Child protection 68 67 66

Plant ag Anableddau - N2 - Child disability 3 3 5

Salwch rhiant - N3 - Parental illness 0 0 0

Teulu o dan straen - N4 - Family in acute stress 2 2 2

Teulu Gamweithredol - N5 - Family dysfunction 3 3 2

Ymddygiad annerbyniol - N6 - Socially Unacceptable behaviour 1 2 2

Absenoldeb Rhiant - N8 - Absent parenting Parental 1 1 2

78 78 79

Graph 5(b)

k. Once again the highest category for accommodation continues to remain ‘Child Protection’. A total of 66 children and young people were placed with carers due to concerns for their welfare - this has been stable throughout the last 13/14 & 14/15 quarter.

l. Five children had been receiving respite service due to their disabilities and a total of eight children were accommodated due to a variety of reasons i.e. family suffering from ‘acute stress’ or due to the young person’s behaviour.

66

5 2 2 2 2 0

20

40

60

80

Am

dd

iffy

n p

lan

t-

N1

- C

hild

pro

tect

ion

Pla

nt

agA

nab

led

dau

- N

2-

Ch

ild d

isab

ility

Salw

ch r

hia

nt

-N

3 -

Par

enta

lill

nes

s

Teu

lu o

dan

stra

en -

N4

-Fa

mily

in a

cute

stre

ss

Teu

luG

amw

eith

red

ol

- N

5 -

Fam

ilyd

ysfu

nct

ion

Ymd

dyg

iad

ann

erb

ynio

l - N

6-

Soci

ally

Un

acce

pta

ble

…

Ab

sen

old

eb

Rh

ian

t -

N8

-A

bse

nt

par

enti

ng…

Rheswm am Leoli ein Plant mewn Gofal Reason for Placing our Looked After Children

Ch4 / Q4 13-14

Ch1 / Q1 14-15

Ch2 / Q2 14-15

Ch3 / Q3 14-15

Ch4 / Q4 14-15



Graph 6

Lleoliad LAC Ch4 / Q4

13-14 Ch1 / Q1

14-15 Ch2 / Q2

14-15

Mabwysiadu / Adoption 6 4 1

Teulu neu Ffrindiau / Family and Friends 8 9 9

Maethwyr Môn / Môn FCs 20 19 24

Maethwyr Preifat ym Môn / Private FCs in Môn 11 9 6

Maethwyr Preifat all-sirol / Private FCs out of county 16 19 19

Preswyl ym Môn / Môn Residential 1 0

Preswyl all-sirol / Residential out of county 6 5 6

Ysgol arbennig / Special School 1 1 1

Rhieni ym Môn / Parents in Môn 7 8 8

Rhieni all-sirol / Parents out of county 2 2 2

Ysbaid yn unig / Respite only 1 1 3

78 78 79

m. The above figures demonstrates the type of placements that the Isle of Anglesey County Council ‘looked after’ population are currently receiving, compared to the previous 13/14 & first 14/15 quarter:

Adoption - 1

Friends/family - 9

Mon foster carers - 24

Private foster carers living on Ynys Mon - 6

Private foster carers living out of county - 19

Out of county Residential - 6

Special School - 1

Parents living on Ynys Mon - 8

Parents not living on Ynys Mon - 2

Respite only - 3

Mon Residential - 0

n. In relation to the above 2 children who are currently living with their families (not on Ynys Mon) the Local Authority are to apply to the Court re: Discharge Care Order, which the IRO fully supports.

o. Important to note that the number of children/young people placed with private foster carers living on Ynys Mon has continued to decrease significantly from 11 to 6 children/young people. However, i’m aware that 19 children/young people continue to be placed out of county with private foster carers - these are mainly in the Prestatyn/Rhyl/Colwyn Bay/Flintshire area. As their IRO I firmly believe that the Local Authority needs to explore alternate placements for some of the children/young people or alternatively assess whether it’s appropriate for some of them to return home.



Graph 7

p. There is a slight decrease 85.30% to the statutory visits undertaken by social worker to the Isle of Anglesey County Council ‘looked after’ population. As the graph demonstrates there was an increase in the last quarter’s 90.54%. However, the Lac team have been experiencing instability as the previous team manager left his post. A temporary manager was appointed and recently there has been a successful applicant to the post of Lac team manager.

Graph 8

Blwyddyn 13-14

Year

Ch1 / Q1 14-

15

Ch2 / Q2 14-

15

Blwyddyn 14-15 Year

% Adolygiadau mewn pryd / % Reviews within timescale 97.14 100 93.94 Nifer Adolygiadau ar gyfer Plant lleolwyd all-sirol / Number of Reviews undertaken for Children placed Out of county 93 22 29 51 Nifer Adolygiadau ar gyfer Plant lleolwyd ym Môn / Number of Reviews undertaken for Children placed in Môn 152 36 37 73

245 58 66 124

% all-sirol 37.96% 37.93% 43.94% 41.13%

PIs diwedd blwyddyn

Môn Blwyddyn 11-12 Year

Cymru gyfan 11-12


Cymru gyfan 12-13


Cymru gyfan 13-14

% Adolygiadau mewn pryd / % Reviews within timescale 91.24 91.8 97.21 91.9 97.14 95.9

q. There has been a slight decrease in the overall PI's compared to previous quarters. The aim is to achieve 100% in the next quarter. However, as the figures demonstrate the current PI @ 97.4% continues to be higher than rest of Wales’s figure @95.9%.

91

.30

82

.50

90

.78

83

.00

90

.54

85

.30

0.00

20.00

40.00

60.00

80.00

100.00

% Ymweliadau Statudol o fewn amser ar gyfer ein Plant mewn Gofal / %Statutory Visits within timescale for our Looked after Children

Y Pi Ymweliadau Statudol ein Plant mewn Gofal 2013-14 Our Looked after Children's Statutory Visits Pi

Môn Blwyddyn 11-12 YearCymru gyfan 11-12

Môn Blwyddyn 12-13 YearCymru gyfan 12-13




Graph 9

Graph 10

r. The number of Lac reviews undertaken in the last quarter:

37 were undertaken on Ynys Mon

29 were out of county

66 Lac reviews were completed in the last quarter

Graph 11

s. The above graph demonstrates the number of Lac reviews that were held in 2 parts @17 % and 83% as per norm Lac review.

91

.24

91

.8

97

.21

91

.9

97.14

0

20

40

60

80

100

% Adolygiadau mewn pryd / % Reviews within timescale

Y Pi Adolygiadau ein ein Plant mewn Gofal 2013-14 Our Looked after Children's Reviews Pi


Cymru gyfan 11-12


Cymru gyfan 12-13


22

36

29 37

0

20

40

Nifer Adolygiadau ar gyfer Plant lleolwydall-sirol / Number of Reviews undertaken

for Children placed Out of county

Nifer Adolygiadau ar gyfer Plant lleolwydym Môn / Number of Reviews

undertaken for Children placed in Môn

NIfer Adolygiadau ar gyfer ein Plant ym Môn neu'n All-sirol Number of Reviews for our Children in Môn or Out of county

Ch1 / Q114-15

Ch2 / Q214-15

83%

17%

LAC Reviews held in 1 or 2 parts in Q2 14-15

1 part

2 part



2 Analysis & Commentary

a. The trend in relation to the Lac ‘looked after’ population continues to stabilise.

b. The Performance Indicators for the Lac reviews continue to be high and the target is 100% by

the next Corporate Panel, however, important to note that they continue to be higher than rest of Wales.

c. The overall plan for improving the service i.e. informing the administrator regarding the invite

list within a specific time; improving the overall review documents for all aspects of the service, will now be explored further with the Quality Assurance Manager and a meeting has been arranged in January 2015 to discuss the way forward. This meeting will also include the Principal Officer Corporate Parenting Partnership as he is very keen to improve the service.

d. I welcome this and look forward to sharing our vision with the panel in the next quarterly report. This is an area that I have identified as needing improving for some time.

e. I am in the process of providing the children and young people with my mobile number as

another means of contacting me either directly or via text message. To date this has been used by a number of the young people and also their carers.

f. Consultation between the IRO and the Court Guardian is proving to be a useful mechanism for sharing and updating the Court proceedings. However, I am still unclear as to the sharing of the Local Authority Care Plan with the IRO prior and during Court proceedings.

g. As the children and young people’s IRO I am continually concerned as to the poor understanding that social worker and managers have as to the role of the IRO and again welcome the Principal Officer Corporate Parenting Partnership notion of appropriate training.

h. A new audit tool has recently been devised and there has already been several completed audits completed using this new tool to monitor the Local Authority Care Plans which has been a cause of concern. Hopefully, the outcome will enable the Quality Assurance Manager to provide an improved version of the Local Authority Initial Care Plan plus eventually the Local Authority Court Care Plan.

i. In relation to the Lac documents the Quality Assurance Manager has completed a plan of action and over the next few months will be auditing the relevant Lac documents and working at improving their usage.

j. In relation to:

Permanency Planning Meetings (prior to the 2nd Lac review) I have as yet not received any feedback from management regarding the ‘implementation of a solution’.

Again I am not being made aware as to when these meetings are held nor receive any minutes.

Part IV are being held in relation to the foster carer/other professionals involved with the child/ren and as the child’s IRO am not being informed let alone receive the minutes.

Neither are minutes of Legal Gate Keeping minutes being shared despite numerous requests being made.

I have raised these issues on numerous occasions. As the child’s IRO makes recommendation



in their Lac reviews and if vital information is withheld/not available then the recommendations made could be deemed to be totally inappropriate and even place the child at risk.

k. The trend regarding discharge of Care Orders and Special Guardianship Order continue and

i’m aware that there are some families who are now being informed of the Local Authority’s plan to Discharge Care Orders in respect of their child/ren.

l. A process of monitoring and tracking the decisions made in relation to Discharging Care Orders/Special Guardianship has been put forward by the Head of Service.

m. Respite provision is currently being provided as a means of supporting the placement and

preventing a ‘placement breakdown’. Concerns has been expressed in the manner which foster carers were not requesting support to help them deal with difficult situations and attempting to manage the situation themselves which inevitable resulted in them requesting that the child be moved immediately. This to be fair was seen largely from the private sector’s foster carers. I would like this provision to be incorporated within the child’s Initial Care Plan.

3 Key messages from young people from Reviews

a. There are no changes to the situation re: parents completing consultation forms either the Local Authority or Independent agencies.

b. Some of the Independent Agencies do complete a report for the child’s Lac review as do the majority of residential establishments and the Local Authority Placement social worker also now provide reports at every child’s Lac review if ‘looked after’ by Ynys Mon foster carers.

Graph 12

c. As the above graph demonstrates 25% were completed by the young people but only 3% completed by their parents with 28% by their foster carers and 33% were not deemed applicable as the children were less than 7 years of age.

d. I am unclear as to how the issue of social worker spending time with the child prior to Lac reviews as I have seen very little evidence of this so far. I am aware that the Fostering Inspection has also raised this as a concern and this will be explored further as to how to improve this issue.

25%

3%

28% 6% 5%

33%

Consultation Papers

Completed by Child / YP

Completed by Parent

Completed by Carer

n/a - (parent unavailable)

n/a (adoption)

n/a (child under 7 yrs)



Graph 13

Was Child / YP Present

n/a - under 7 years 22

Yes 34

No 10

66

e. The above graph demonstrates the number of children and young people who attended their

Lac reviews, 52% attended their reviews and 33% were not applicable as they were under 7 years of age. Only 15 % failed to attend their Lac reviews.

f. The following two graphs provide a snap shot of the contact that exist between the parents or sibling contact. As the graph demonstrates 77% of children have contact with their parents. And 70% have contact with their siblings.

Graph 14/15

33%

52%

15%

Children Present at LAC Reviews Q2 14-15

n/a - under 7 years

Yes

No

77%

14%

9%

Contact with Parent

Contact with Parent with PR

No Contact with Parent with PR

n/a

70%

12%

18%

Contact with Sibling

Contact with Sibling

No Contact Sibling

n/a



g. Graph 16 demonstrates the type of Lac reviews that were held; 12% were Initial Lac review

following a child being initially placed with 14% held within 3 months and 74% held in the 6 month period.

Graph 16

h. This graph provides an insight into the number of Consultation Papers that were returned by either parent/carer/child etc. 33% were completed by parent 25% completed by child/young person and 3% were completed by carer. It appears that there is a low return from carers and these needs to be pursued by the Placement Team social worker to discuss further with the foster carers.

Graph 17

i. I recently attended the foster carer’s forum and invited them to discuss ways of improving the

Lac reviews alongside hearing the ‘voice of the child’.

j. I recently visited Tir Na Nog to view the accommodation provided to two of our young people who have ‘special needs’. I was extremely impressed with the placement and was of the opinion that it was extremely colourful and child friendly.

k. In my last report I noted the concerns raised by the children/young people that there was a

‘general theme shared in relation to visits undertaken by social worker in that they don’t see enough of their social worker’. To date this sadly remains the same and I’m unclear whether there have been further discussions as to how to improve this situation.

12%

14%

74%

Types of LAC Reviews held in Q2 14-15

Initial Review

Within 3 months of InitialReview

Within 6 months of PreviousReview

25%

3%

28% 6% 5%

33%

Consultation Papers

Completed by Child / YP

Completed by Parent

Completed by Carer

n/a - (parent unavailable)

n/a (adoption)

n/a (child under 7 yrs)



l. The majority of the looked after population have endearing qualities and are characters in their

own rights. At times it’s difficult to put across that the figures presented in a report are actual

children and young people.

m. For example one child wrote in her consultation paper that she wanted earrings and had asked her mother to take her but she wrote “perhaps she had forgotten” therefore, she wanted the carer to take her and to emphasise this point she promptly drew a picture of herself and wrote by the picture “me with earrings”.

n. There is currently a young man who is refusing to attend school and this is a cause of concern.

He desperately wishes to attend this old school but unfortunately he has moved to an out-of- county placement which is over 40 miles away from his old school and was at one point being ferried by taxi to and from that school. Following the Final hearing the Judge had stated that he must now attend the local school where he is currently residing. This is a very frustrating and difficult situation for all concerned and a very complex one. The Local Authority continues with the education authority to try and find a solution to this situation.

4 Risks and Concerns (including how these being addressed)

a. Risks re: financial savings. Caution needs to be taken in respect of exploring means of savings

via ‘out of county’ placements. As the children and young people IRO I have concerns in that some of the children and young people will be brought back to the Island where the appropriate suitable facilities are not available for them. This will have a detrimental effect on their well-being both in the short term and long term. I appreciate that these are difficult times for all Local Authorities but as stated previously caution is now required before any long term decision is made.

b. Concern has also been expressed in relation to moving children and young people from Independent agencies to Local Authority foster carers who have been newly approved. For many of these children and young people the placement has been stable and has provided security despite a number of moves. I’m aware that many social workers are anxious about the current situation and are concerned regarding moving children again for financial reasons only.

c. As the Panel is aware the IRO identified a number of children and young people who were living at home with their parents and despite numerous recommendations to discharge their Care Orders this was not followed through. Gradually over the last 24 months this has been happening and the last few ‘long term’ children and young people ‘placed at home’ will be discharged. The result of this will be two-fold; one of savings to the Local Authority but also secondly and more importantly in my opinion provide ‘normality’ for the children in question.

d. The issue of developing a ‘Safeguarding Unit’ as I referred to in my last report continues to be

the Local Authority’s vison, to date no further measures have been made but I am aware that this is now to be regarded as a priority.

5 Achievements & Good Practice

a. A number for children have recently been presented to the Head of Service in her role as the

Agency Decision Maker in respect of children who are deemed to require permanency via adoption and requires ratification of the Care Plan.



b. I have commented earlier in this report as regards the excellent work that the social worker

undertake in ensuring that the best outcome is achieved for the children and young people who are ‘looked after’ by the Isle of Anglesey County Council.

c. Our children and young person continue to succeed against all odds and a meeting has been

arranged to discuss means of celebrating their achievements.

d. The panel may remember my sharing two siblings who have long term health needs and to date remains unclear. However, I am pleased to share that currently a Viability Assessment is being undertaken in relation to a couple who know the siblings and are fully aware of their poor prognosis and are willing to commit to them both long term. If this is successful then the future for these two young children will be secure and a great outcome for the professionals involved. The Head of Service has been updated regularly regarding the situation.

e. It saddens me to state but one of our young people has sold her laptop due to pressure from her boyfriend. This young person went through a very difficult period and one which unfortunately involved her boyfriend who was deemed to be undesirable by all agencies including Police.

6 Planned Actions

f. The issue of internal procedure around the need for a clear process in respect of

recommendations made in Lac Reviews and how these are implemented continues to remain

outstanding.

g. However, the newly appointed Principal Officer Corporate Parenting Partnership has noted

that he wishes to meet with me on a regular basis in order to discuss improving the service

and we are to meet in January 2015. An update/outcome of our meetings will be shared with

the panel.

7 Additional Points to Note

a. I recently attended an IRO conference ‘Voice of the Child’ and was very impressed with a young man by the name of ‘Scott’ who shared his experience of being a child in the care system from the age of 6 months until he reached the age of 25.

b. This was a very moving account of his experiences over the years of being ‘looked after’ and this included physical and sexual abuse alongside emotional and neglect within the care system which he noted, was meant to ‘care for him’. I strongly believe that all social worker, foster cares and all involved in the arena of child care should meet this extraordinary and brave young man and hear his own personal experiences.

c. I would also like to draw your attention to the excellent work of the authors of the reports that are now presented to the Corporate Panel. Initially only the Fostering and Adoption manager and IRO presented reports. I was of the opinion that this was a misguided and somewhat blinkered view as to the work undertaken by Children Service as there were a number of other professionals involved with the Lac population i.e.: Lac Education Officer, Lac nurse, After Care Service.



d. It was also concerning to me that the ‘after care’ population were not seen/heard and were somehow lost to the Panel especially as Isle of Anglesey County Council continued their responsibility towards the young people post 18 years of age.

e. Reports are now being presented quarterly to the Panel and I welcome this and thank the authors for their input. I’m sure that the Panel agrees with me that it provides a wider perspective as to the Lac population and the service currently being provided and is an arena for raising concerns and finding solutions.

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