SUFFICIENCY STATEMENT FOR LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN
Revised September 2017
Our Vision for Thurrock: An ambitious and collaborative community which is proud of its heritage and excited by its diverse opportunities and future.
Our Priorities
People - a borough where people of all ages are proud to work and play, live and stay.
This means:
high quality, consistent and accessible public services which are right first time build on our partnerships with statutory, community, voluntary and faith groups to work together to improve health and wellbeing communities are empowered to make choices and be safer and stronger together
Place - a heritage-rich borough which is ambitious for its future.
This means:
roads, houses and public spaces that connect people and places clean environments that everyone has reason to take pride in fewer public buildings with better services
Prosperity - a borough which enables everyone to achieve their aspirations.
This means:
attractive opportunities for businesses and investors to enhance the local economy vocational and academic education, skills and job opportunities for all commercial, entrepreneurial and connected public services
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1. About This Document
Title Sufficiency Statement for Looked After Children (2017)
Purpose To ensure the local authority meets its duties outlined in S.22G of the Children Act 1989, as follows: ‘General duty of local authority to secure sufficient accommodation for looked after children’.
Data note This is a live document and the latest benchmarked data has been used, however where it is available and relevant current data has been included as this gives a more recent view of the local needs. It is accepted that this changes on a daily basis however this document is intended to give a strategic overview to aid planning rather than to be a monitoring tool on the numbers of looked after children.
Prepared by Children’s Commissioning Team
Current Version Sue Green revised by
This version Date 28/9/2017
Version Number 7
Review Frequency Annually*
Next review date *April 2019. Due to planned procurement exercise in 2018 there will not be a September 2018 update.
Status FINAL
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2. Circulation
This policy/function has been circulated to:
Corporate Director of Children’s Services Assistant Director – Children’s Social Care Children’s Commissioning and Service Transformation Team Children’s Services Directorate Management Team Senior Leadership Team – Children’s Social Care
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What is the Sufficiency Duty?
The Sufficiency Duty (the “Duty”) is outlined in S.22G of the Children Act 1989, as follows: “General duty of local authority to secure sufficient accommodation for looked after children (1)It is the general duty of a local authority to take steps that secure, so far as reasonably practicable, the outcome in subsection (2). (2)The outcome is that the local authority are able to provide the children mentioned in subsection (3) with accommodation that— (a) is within the authority's area; and (b) meets the needs of those children. (3) The children referred to in subsection (2) are those—
(a) that the local authority are looking after, (b) in respect of whom the authority are unable to make arrangements under section 22C(2), and (c) whose circumstances are such that it would be consistent with their welfare for them to be provided with accommodation that is in the authority's area.” The overall context for meeting the Duty is set out in the statutory guidance, (Sufficiency: Statutory guidance on securing sufficient accommodation for looked after children 2010) which states that:
“Securing sufficient accommodation that meets the needs of looked after children is a vital step in delivering improved outcomes for this vulnerable group. Having the right placement in the right place, at the right time, is a vital factor in improving placement stability, which in turn is a critical success factor in relation to the delivery of better outcomes for looked after children.” The key areas that need to be addressed in relation to meeting the Duty are:
The number of accommodation providers in the area A range of accommodation capable of meeting different needs That the Local Authority is active in managing the market That the commissioning strategy and practice is part of the “market management” That the Duty applies not just to meeting the needs of “looked after” children and young people but also children at risk of care or custody Sufficiency includes providing early intervention and prevention services that help support children and families
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Thurrock Context
There are currently 313 looked after children in Thurrock and this reflects a sustained increase since 2012, peaking in 2017 due to high numbers of Young Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers. There are a number of contributory factors towards this, and Thurrock has shown a higher than average trend against national with an increase of 23.66% from 2015 – 2017. In comparison, nationally there was an increase of 4.56% from April 1st 2015 – March 31st 2017.
The table below shows outlines this trend against national and statistical neighbours:
Children in Care Aug As at 31st March 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2017 Total children in care (under 210 240 260 285 285 335 345 313 18) Total children in care (ALL) Thurrock UASC (under 18) 20 25 20 25 40 65 60 38 Thurrock other (under 18) 190 216 245 274 233 270 285 275 Thurrock (per 10,000) (under 55 62 67 72 70 81 82 76.5 18) Part England (per 10,000) 58 59 60 60 60 60 62 year Statistical neighbours (per Part 63.9 66.4 66.1 66 65.7 66.4 N/A 10,000) year Table 1 The latest national data release (2015) estimate Thurrock’s population at 163,270. The overall population of Thurrock has increased significantly in recent years and is projected to continue to rise in future years at a level higher than the national picture. For Thurrock, the total population is projected to grow to 169,000 by 2017; 174,000 by 2020, 184,000 by 2025 and 193,000 by 2030, overall a 18% increase (2014 – 2030). By comparison, the national population is projected to grow by 5.7% by 2022 and by 10.8% by 2030.
Nomis subnational population projections estimate that the number of young people aged 0-19 years in Thurrock is going to increase from 44,000 in 2014 to 47,000 in 2020 with the largest increase predicted to be in the 10-14 year old age group (source: Nomis).
Using Nomis projections, the 0-4 population in Thurrock is projected to grow by 0.85% by 2020 (104 children); by 2.6% (319 children) by 2025 and by 0.89% (112 children) by 2030. The 0-17 population in Thurrock is projected to grow by 3.5% by 2017 (1,406 children and young people); by 8.42% (3,337 children and young people) by 2020 and by 14.01 % (5,616 children and young people) by 2025 and 15.7% (6,293 children and young people) by 2030. Currently (2017) there are 12,183 children aged 0-4 years and 41,449 children aged 0-17 years in Thurrock.
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In Thurrock the upward trend of the number of children in the population is also increased by significant migration into the Borough from both within and outside of the United Kingdom and the local regeneration of the area. Estimates calculated on ‘in year’ school admissions data show an increase in the child population of approximately 5% per year in recent years with a projection of 11.78% by 2030. In comparison the projections for national population trends show a slow increase of 2.32% in the proportion of children aged 0-4 and children and a 7.26% increase in children and young people aged 0-17 by 2030.
Whilst it is anticipated that, over time, the ongoing development of our strategies for earlier intervention will begin to reduce the rate of looked after children per 10,000, which is currently above the national average (of 60) at 76.5. This may, to an extent, be offset by the overall rise in numbers of children and young people. At a time of reducing budgets, the need to maintain our focus on preventing children becoming looked after also has a financial imperative and the demand between funding this work and in ensuring children are found appropriate placements when they are needed poses a significant challenge.
Thurrock has a higher proportion of young people than the national average, with 24.59 % of the Thurrock population aged between 0-19 years, compared to 23.57 % of the national population being aged 0-19 years. The table below compares the percentage of residents in Thurrock, East of England and England who are aged 0-19 years by single year, and shows Thurrock to have a higher proportion of young people for almost all ages than the regional and national averages. Nomis data projects that the 17 and 18 year old population will decrease both nationally and in Thurrock between 2017 and 2020 but to increase during the period 2025 to 2030.
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Percentage of total population by single year of age, 0-19 year olds (2017)
1.80% 1.60% 1.40% 1.20%
1.00% Thurrock 0.80% East of England 0.60% England 0.40% 0.20% 0.00% Age Age Age Age Age Age Age Age Age Age 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Source: Nomis 2015 projection for 2017 Table 2
According to Nomis subnational population projections, the number of young people aged 0-19 years in Thurrock is going to increase from 45,249 in 2017, to 51,171 in 2030 5,249When breaking this down by age group, the following table shows a steady increase in all age groups with the largest increase in 10 to 14 year olds from 2014 and 15 to 19 year olds from 2020..
Population projections 2014-2030
Source: Nomis 2015 subnational population projections Table 3
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Current Demand
On 30th August 2017 there were 313 looked after children, in Thurrock, it recognised that this number regularly fluctuates and data should be viewed with this in mind as it is given to provide a trend to aid planning.
A detailed age distribution shows the following pattern:
Table 4
(The red section of the bars indicates Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Young People.)
This can be simplified into the following age groupings and legal status:
Age Number Percentage 0-4 41 13% 5-11 80 26% 12-16 140 45% 17 52 16% Table 5
Legal status Number Percentage Interim care 53 17% order: Care order 168 54% Single period 76 24% of acc. S20 Other 16 5% Table 6
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The length of time in care can be summarised as follows: (Looked After Children in care as at August 2017)
Table 7
This pattern is consistent with the relative increase in looked after young people, in particular Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, which explains the very high proportion of children who have been looked after less than two years.
Ethnicity The ethnicity of the current population of looked after children is as follows, and shows a slight reduction in children who are black/ black British who are looked after and an increase in children who are white British or white Other who are looked after. This reflects local demographic changes due to the influx of families from East London and Eastern Europe. For other ethnic groups the profile of looked after children remains relatively stable:
Ethnicity 2015 2016 2017 Aug 2017 White British: 54% 58% 56% 61% White Other: 6% N/A 6% 7% Black/B British 16% 18% 15% 11% Asian/A British: 8% 6% 7% 7% Mixed 9% 9% 7% 7% Other: 8% 9% 9% 6% Unknown 0% 0% 0% 1% Figures as at 31st March each year Table 8
Ofsted advises that, in 2015, nationally, 77% of fostered children are White with 22% being children belonging to minority ethnic groups.
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The local population profile continues to change with particular increases in Black African and East European families. It is therefore reasonable to presume that these groups will continue to become more heavily represented in the looked after population in years to come. However, the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union may affect the local population demographics.
Disability Nationally, Ofsted advises that in 2015, 10% of Looked After Children were reported to be disabled. This was a 3% increase over the previous year. The number of disabled children placed with Independent Foster Care providers was reported to be 11%, a two percent increase over the previous year.
Currently, in Thurrock, there are 17 (5%) Looked After Children and Young People with disabilities, 8 placed in Foster Care, 6 in Residential Homes and 3 in Post 16 Supported Accommodation
Age Number Percentage 5-11 8 47% 12-16 4 24% 17 5 29% Table 9 New Placements Since the beginning of 2017, there have been 82 new episodes of care. Due to the National Transfer Scheme only 3 of these placements were for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children.
The initial placements were as follows: In-House Foster Care 50 Independent Foster Care 23 Residential Care 4 Post 16 Supported Accommodation 5 Ten of these placements subsequently moved to alternative provisions.
Age Number percentage 0-4 26 32% 5-11 23 28% 12-16 25 31% 17 7 9% Table 10
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In terms of age at the point of entry these can be represented as: Of the 313 looked after children in Thurrock, the spread of placements are as follows:
Residential In house Independent Supported Total by Age of child (including Family fostering Fostering Accommodation age Assessments) Under 1 8 2 4 0 14 1 to 5 30 5 1 0 36 6 to 11 36 34 8 0 78 12 to 15 40 47 11 17 115 16+ 20 30 2 18 70 Total by provision 134* 118 26 35 313 type Table 11
In total 252 children (81%), are living in foster placements, 26 (8%) living in residential provision and 35 (11%) in Post 16 Supported Accommodation. *includes SGO and temporary foster care.
Location The majority (78%) of looked after children are in placements within 20 miles of their home address and this is considered for all new placements. There are occasions where the needs of the child means that specialist provision is needed and we are not able to identify a placement suitable for the child’s needs within a distance of a maximum of 20 miles. Of those children placed outside of Thurrock the majority are placed in neighbouring or nearby authorities of Essex, Southend and London Burroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge. It is also the case that a number of these placements were with in-house carers who have chosen to foster for Thurrock. The majority of looked after children attend mainstream school.
The table below outlines data from August 2017 showing the distance the placement is from the child’s home address: Distance % Under 10 miles 47 10-19 miles 31 20-29 miles 6 Over 30 miles 16 Table 12
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Currently we have 26 looked after children or young people in residential provision, including Children’s Homes and Residential Special Schools. However the cases of around 19% of these children are held within the Team for Disabled Children, although this team hold only 4% of all looked after children. This reflects their high levels of need, and consequent costs which arise in trying to meet them. The average age of this group at 12 years is slightly above the average for all children in residential provision, which is 11.2 years. The most recently published data by the DfE (Children’s Homes Data Pack Dec 2014 Update) reports that the average age nationally for 2013-2014 was 14.7 years and that around 75% of young people in residential homes are between 14-17. Thurrock’s profile at 26% is below the national picture.
Given Thurrock’s size and levels of demand it has not been considered economically viable to maintain directly managed residential resources, in this Thurrock is not unique and 51 other authorities are reported to have no provision of their own. This clearly increases the possibility that a child in a residential placement will be placed outside the authority, although we have some placements with local providers.
Stability Placement stability is improving with a reducing number of children in three or more placements per year. In 2016 Thurrock’s performance was equal to the national level of stability and above that of our statistical neighbours.
Stability of placements 3 or more placements in year (March 2015)
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total 3+ 30 20 20 36 28 19 35 Total CiC 235 210 240 264 284 279 279
Thurrock (% 3+) 12 10 9 13.6 9.9 6.8 10 England (% 3+) 11 11 11 11.1 10.9 91 10 Statistical neighbours (% 3+) 11.3 10.4 10.5 11.6 10.6 9.2 9.1 Source: CIPFA Benchmarking Table 13
Work to maintain longer term stability is ongoing as our performance outlined below remains broadly static and below the national and statistical neighbour averages. The relatively high number of older entrants into care is impacting on the potential to find a stable placement immediately.
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Children (aged <16) who have been in care for 2.5+ years and have been in placement for 2 years
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total care 2.5+ yrs 60 65 55 65 52 64 97 Care 2.5+ - placement less than 2 yrs 20 20 20 20 21 25 37 Care 2.5+ - placement 2+ yrs 40 45 35 45 31 39 60
Thurrock (% 2+ yrs) 65 70 60 66 60 61 62 No longer England (% 2+ yrs) 66 67 68 68 67 67 collected No longer Statistical neighbours (% 2+ yrs) 71 72 69 69 67 69 collected Table 14
The current age distribution of the looked after children cohort does mean that we are likely to experience a significant number of young people reaching the age of 18 in the next two years. Whilst plans for individual young people may change we can reasonably estimate that around 43 young people will reach this milestone by April 1st 2018, with a possible further 45 by April 1st 2019.
The number of children who are exiting the care system due to Special Guardianship Orders is increasing equating to 12.58% (Aug 2017) of those ceasing to be looked after in Thurrock against 13% nationally in 2015.
Change Local Authority, from 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Region and England previous year Thurrock 11.00 13.00 16.00 9.00 7.00 10.00 3.00 East of England 7.00 9.00 10.00 10.00 11.00 11.00 0.00 Statistical Neighbours 7.00 7.00 9.13 7.70 9.60 11.40 1.80 England 7.00 8.00 10.00 11.00 11.00 12.00 1.00 Table 15
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Table 16 The low number of children exiting the care system due to adoption remains a challenge for us with only 5 closed adoptions so far in 2017, compared with 14 in 2016 and 18 in 2015. In recognition of the need to improve performance in this area we have entered into partnership with Coram who have national expertise in recruiting adopters and are working with us to increase permanency achieved through this route. 2017 Change Local Authority, Part from 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Region and England year previous only full year Thurrock 6.00 7.00 9.00 11.00 10.00 13.00 5.00 3.00 East of England 12.00 13.00 14.00 19.00 18.00 15.00 17.00 -3.00 Statistical Neighbours 16.20 14.89 15.50 18.20 18.40 14.90 N/A -3.50 England 11.00 13.00 14.00 17.00 17.00 15.00 14.00 -2.00
Table 17
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16 – 18 year olds
There are five major need groups of 16 -18 year olds that require placements although all five will have some common needs; each need group does have specific needs which are unique to that group.
The main groups are:
- Post 16 young people formerly in Residential and Foster Care that no longer need 24 hour support and would benefit from additional support towards living independently
- Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC), aged 16 and 17 years old
- Homeless young people aged 16 and 17 years old. (Southwark Judgement).
- Young people, aged 16 and 17 years old, coming out of or requiring Secure Accommodation.
- Young People with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF).
Demand for accommodation for 16-18 year olds continues to be high with the main demand currently from young unaccompanied asylum seekers and young people moving from residential care.
Legislative changes place increasing demands on the local authority including the changes implemented in October 2015 bringing section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2014 into force, extending the requirement set out in section 38(6) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 in relation to transferring children aged 10 to 16 years old to local authority accommodation. Following this change the police are required to transfer 17 year olds to local authority accommodation when charged and denied bail; local authorities will be responsible for identifying and providing that accommodation.
Estimates of the demand for accommodation for 16-18 year olds is shown overleaf however it is recognised that this demand fluctuates regularly and therefore close working between Social Work teams and the Commissioning Services is ongoing.
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Post 16 young people formally in Residential or Foster Care that no longer need 24 hour support and would benefit from additional support towards living independently.
Need Group 2015 2016 August 2017 Projection 2017-18 Former Residential or Foster 2 15 24 30 Care Table 18
Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC), aged 16 and 17 years old.
Need Group 2016 - 2017 August 2017 Projection 2017-18 Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children aged 16 46 17 19 and 17 years old Table 19
The maximum number of UASCs, during financial year 2016 - 2017, was 103 of which two thirds were over 16. As a result of the National Transfer Scheme for Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers, whereby other Councils in the Eastern Region agreed to take new UASC, and the work undertaken by the UAS Team, this reduced to 58 by the end of the financial year 2016 - 2017. As at 30 August 2017 the number of UASC was 39.
The Target for the maximum number of UASCs accommodated by Thurrock is 28.
Homeless young people aged 16 and 17 years old. (Southwark Judgement). This demand has reduced significantly in part due to the young homelessness prevention project.
August Projection Need Group 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2017 2017 -18 Homeless young people aged 16 38 25 22 9 7 1 3 and 17 years old Table 20 Young people aged 16 and 17 years old, coming out of or requiring Secure Accommodation.
Need Group 2015 2016 August 2017 Projection 2017-18 Secure Accommodation 3 2 2 3 Detention and Training 3 1 1 2 Order PACE – On Remand N/A 1 1 2 Table 21
Thurrock Council joined with Essex County Council and Southend-on-Sea Council to form the Pan- Essex PACE Bed Scheme. Under this scheme, one bed is available each night. The scheme has been a success although the requirement from Thurrock Council has been low.
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No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF). NRPF applies to a person who is subject to immigration control in the UK and has no entitlement to welfare benefits or public housing. These restrictions are set out in Section 115 of the Immigrations and Asylum Act 1999. People classified as NRPF are unable to work but do have access to health, education and legal services.
Need Group August 2017 Projection 2017-18 NRPF – former YUAS 3 ** 6 Table 22
** In addition to the current cases, the Council is supporting 20 young people who are “All Rights Exhausted” and are still awaiting a decision from the Home office. It is expected that a number of these young people will become NRPF.
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Current Provision
In-house Foster Care
Thurrock’s in-house foster care continues to be at the heart of our provision of placements, as reflected in the current distribution of placements. The service is made up of a number of constituent parts:
Foster Care Support Team Therapeutic Foster Care Team Recruitment and Assessment Team Shared Care
As at 31st March 2017, Thurrock Council’s Thurrock Fostering was responsible for 167 children and young people. Of these 128 were in a fostering provision and 39 in new Special Guardianship Orders granted by the courts. Of the 128 in fostering provision, 95 were living with main stream foster carers, 14 with connected carers and 19 with temporary approved carers. In addition, 7 young people, over 18 years old, remained with their ex-foster carers under Staying Put arrangements. In August 2017 there were 120 children in In-House Carers, 8 with connected persons and 15 with temporary carers.
At 30th August 2017 Thurrock had a total of 77 fostering households, with a potential occupancy of 135 children. This has reduced since the last Sufficiency Statement due to carers retiring or leaving foster care and corresponds with the National reduction in foster carers. However, an ongoing marketing and recruitment is currently taking place which is expected to increase these numbers. It is recognised that this number will fluctuate throughout the year due to the need to avoid inappropriate combinations of children, or because carers are on temporary hold because of personal circumstances there will never be 100% occupancy. Nevertheless we attempt to make use of in-house foster carers wherever possible.
At any given point a proportion of in-house carers will be from Friends and Family placements, sometimes still temporarily approved pending full assessment. These numbers can fluctuate significantly but represent a significant resource which reduces the demands on other carers.
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Overall numbers of in-house carers has reduced since 2015 when it stood at 82 (77 in August 2017), The age profile of our existing carers means that a proportion each year will decide to retire or otherwise resign because of changed personal circumstances. The graph below shows the age profile as at for 2015 and August 2017 which, shows an increase in the number of carers aged 40 and over.
Age of In-House Carers 2015 and 2017
Table 23
We have not generally lost carers to other Agencies, either Local Authority or Independent. However, we are aware of a number of carers moving between Independent Fostering Agencies and the Council has received a number of enquiries from carers wishing to transfer to Thurrock Fostering.
We are keen to attract new applicants to foster for the first time, in what is a very competitive market. We recognised that previously we had fallen behind some of our neighbours in terms of payments structure, particularly for newly approved carers. Following a successful growth bid the payments for new entrants have been improved significantly, and some increase has also been possible for Foster Carers already receiving higher levels of payment. It will however take some time to evidence the impact of these changes on recruitment and retention.
Alongside this we have refreshed our publicity materials and hold regular local information sessions around the authority. As a consequence we appear to have received an increase
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in initial enquiries although this will need to be monitored over a longer timescale to evaluate whether this is sustained. Thurrock Council does not have any In-House Residential provision.
External Provision
The Priority for Placements:
1. In Borough - Thurrock
2. Outside Borough – The neighbouring Councils of Essex and London Borough of Havering
3. Distance – All other areas.
The preference is that no placement should be more than 30 / 45 minutes’ drive from Thurrock Civic Office. In special circumstances placements outside the area will take place where this is in the best interests of the individual young person.
Independent Fostering Agencies
It is accepted that for the foreseeable future we will continue to make foster placements within the Independent sector, either because there is a particular need to place a child away from the area, or because there are specific needs which we cannot otherwise address, such as specific ethnic, linguistic or cultural needs.
Thurrock’s use of Independent Fostering Agencies needs to be understood in the context of the national picture. Figures from the Local Government Association – Fostering Stocktake, published on 16 June 2017, advised that that The Fostering Network had stated that over 7,000 new foster care families are needed to ensure that appropriate placements are available for all children and young people.
Ofsted has advised that as at 31 March 2016 there were 51,805 children and young people placed in foster care in England, of which two thirds (34,395) were placed with Council’s In-House provision and one third (17,410) were placed with Independent Foster Care Providers. In August 2017, the Council placed 38% (120) of placements were with
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place in In-House Carers and 37% (117) of placements with Independent Foster Care Providers
Audit Commission suggest that in the period 2000-2013 local authority purchasing of such placements rose by 342%, whilst in-house provision fell by 2%.Thurrock had previously been able to concentrate most of its use of foster placements within our internal resources, with an approximate ratio of 70%-30%. Unfortunately as the numbers of Looked After Children have risen, internal supply has not expanded to meet demand, and hence our proportionate use of Independent Fostering Agency placements increased, with a slight preponderance of IFA placements over the last year. For new entrants during 2017 the ratio was 68.5% In house and 31.5% External. It still remains our primary objective to get closer to the previous balance, as we believe a local foster placement, with foster carers who we have recruited, trained and continue to support, will be best able to meet a local child’s needs.
Use of external foster placements is managed as far as possible within the boundaries of the “Eastern Region” agreements to which Thurrock has been party since 2008; with the Sub-Eastern Region Foster Care Framework Agreement and now with the Eastern Region Select List.. By combining with other Local Authorities we have been able to develop closer provision with over 85% of children and young people now being placed with 20 miles of the Civic Office. However, the quality mechanisms of this regional arrangement do not meet our local needs and in recent years the number of local authorities participating has decreased and the collective procurement is therefore not as effective. In addition to the regional arrangements, spot purchasing is also used when needed.
Residential Placements
This is the area where we have historically had relatively few children in such placements. It has become clear that in order to ensure access to the required range of placements and to ensure that good value for money is achieved we need a more proactive attitude to exploring the range of providers. The appointment of a Social Work Adviser on Resources and a Placement Officer post has increased capacity to source appropriate placements when they are required and improve monitoring of the quality of the offer.
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Having the Children’s Commissioning Service based in the Children’s Directorate has significantly improved joint working and ensures that the commissioned offer is flexible and responsive to local needs whilst providing value for money.
Additional cross regional discussions are ongoing to explore the options available for children’s residential care.
Non-Maintained and Independent Special Schools.
The provision of placements at these schools is similar to the situation with children’s residential placements as, due to historic low numbers, placements are made on an individual basis with schools that are suitable for the needs of the individual child / young person. The number of children looked after by Thurrock placed in this type of provision is a small part of the overall total.
Transition to Adult Services for Children with Disabilities
The profile of disabled children looked after has changed over recent years. Young people are not entering care until much later. This is largely due to the quality and quantity of Short Break provision being offered to disabled children, young people and their families. Short Breaks can be offered at an earlier stage and the service offer a good range of early intervention and prevention resources that can be provided to families. Those children who do enter care are likely to have fairly profound needs, and will probably require on-going provision into their adulthood.
Planning for the Transition to Adulthood for children looked after starts at 16 years old. Social Workers from the Transition Team attend LAC reviews and undertake their own assessments at approximately 17 years. All young people post 16 are discussed and plans verified via the Transition Placement Panel and the Joint Funding Panel.
With the introduction of the Education, Health and Care Plans in September 2014, all disabled children and young people will have a Single assessment and an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The EHCP will focus on the needs of the child and how a multi-agency team will support implementation of the plan. The reviewing of the EHCP will be via a Team Around the Child/ Person Centred approach, with a strong emphasis on the
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wishes and aspirations of the young person, particularly in relation to independence, social and leisure activities and Further Education/ Employment opportunities and Housing.
Provision for 16-18 year olds and Care Leavers
The Local Authority has a duty and responsibility to young people who have been in care and have left care at the age of 18, who meet the criteria as laid out in the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000.
The work undertaken with those who are 18+ is carried out by the After Care Team, who has a worker who is responsible for the accommodation of our care leavers. Currently each young person that has left the care of the local authority is supported to apply for to social housing provided by the Housing Department. There are 5 bandings in terms of priority and young people leaving care are banded at level 4, then up graded to level 3 once a supporting letter is provided by the After Care Team. It is then expected that each young person then bids for their property as is the normal process.
The After Care Team is also part of the Joint Resource Panel which involves our housing partners and allocates places within the supported housing schemes available within the borough. This panel meets on a monthly basis.
The After Care Team, as at August 2017, looks after 74 young people and manages 27 properties. These properties are available to our care leavers who are not able to apply for social housing, are in the transition stage of independence or are waiting for their own accommodation to be provided. The team also work closely with The Housing Benefit Section, Department of Work and Pensions and the local Welfare Reform Working Group.
There is a developing market for Supported Accommodation due to increasing demand however due to its small size very few providers are currently opening within Thurrock’s borders. Our aim in securing accommodation is to ensure it is as close to Thurrock as possible whilst ensuring that it meets a young persons needs. Increasing the range and quantity of provision for 16-18 year olds remains a priority for the Borough.
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The quality of provision is a priority and there is a shortage of suitable accommodation for 16 and 17 year olds in Thurrock. In Thurrock, the Housing Department inspect all accommodation in the Borough to be used by 16 and 17 year olds to ensure they meet Thurrock Council’s standards; in addition minimum qualification levels are set. As we are aware that other local authorities may not undertake these checks, properties used for supported accommodation in other areas are visited by the Social Work Adviser on Resources or a member of the Children’s Commissioning Team.
In addition to the Supported Accommodation the Council currently has two hostels used by young people. Both these hostels are run by St Mungos and provide life skills and support for the residents.
The Charles Street Hostel, Block B, can accommodate 5 young people, aged 16 and 17, and is used, mainly, to house homeless young people (Southwark Judgement) although other young people can use this hostel.
The Clarence Road Hostel can house up to 9 young people aged between 17 and 21, 25 if they have Learning Difficulties or Disability.
Thurrock is a member of the Children’s Cross Regional Arrangements Group (CCRAG) and is represented on the CCRAG Steering Committee. During 2017 CCRAG have indicated that they are extending their Database to include post 16 Supported Accommodation.
CCRAG currently comprises of 18 Councils Bath, Bedford, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes, Norfolk, Oxford, Peterborough City, South Gloucestershire, Slough, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.
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Key Priorities for Development
A summary of the priorities for development based on this sufficiency analysis is shown below:
To ensure there is sufficient post 16 residential provision including to meet identified specialist needs, we will:
- Complete a full procurement exercise to increase the availability of high quality 16+ provision. - Undertake a market analysis of the sector able to meet the range of needs of young people aged 16+ years. - Work closely with the local authority housing team to increase the provision of accommodation for care leavers that is of good standard and in the local area where appropriate. - Increase the availability of accommodation for young people from priority groups through market development strategies. - Increase the availability of supervised accommodation for care leavers who need 24/7 transitional support through improved commissioning. - Seek to secure continuation funding for the Youth Homelessness Prevention service. - Prioritise a reduction in the use of out of borough placements by ensuring the placement team have access to details of all provision by distance, cost and type. - Ensure all young people aged 16+ in accommodation are supported by the NEET reduction team.
To provide and commission high quality placements that meet identified needs and improves stability we will:
- Use this assessment of the anticipated demand for places, the type of places needed and the support needs of children and use this to inform commissioning and complete a full procurement exercise. - Develop growth and marketing activity to increase the number of in house foster carers/ placements, particularly from target groups. - Complete a review of specialist high need placements needs and market to develop a framework for purchasing these, moving away from spot purchasing where possible
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- Develop a clear framework of costs and additional charges to ensure that a consistent mechanism is in place from December 2017 and use this as a part of re- commissioning - Work closely with key officers from Social Work Teams, Finance and the Thurrock Clinical Commissioning Group to ensure robust financial monitoring of placement costs to inform decision making is in place - Continue to only place children and young people in placements rated as good or better by Ofsted unless there are exceptional circumstances and these are agreed by the Head of Children’s Care and targeted Outcomes. - Ensure that on an ongoing basis where the Ofsted judgement on a placement reduces then a clear action plan monitored monthly should be put in place and monitored by the Head of Children’s Social Care in partnership with the Strategic Lead Children’s Commissioning & Service Transformation. - Review the current placement strategy and mechanisms and where possible simplify these to ensure placements are commissioned in a consistent way based on clear outcomes and value for money - Seek approval from Cabinet to proceed with a full procurement exercise for all placements for children looked after by end March 2018.
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