Annual Report April 2015 - March 2016 1 Contact Details Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Board County Hall Bond Street WF1 2QW [email protected] 01924 306 497 Facilitated by a local youth worker, the LSCB also asked for the views on safeguarding from other local groups of children and young people in Wakefield. The groups were: Fruitbowl, UKYP, Young Carers, Agbrigg Junior Youth Club and All Stars. Their views are valuable to the Board and are depicted in the images throughout this Annual Report. The tree on the front cover was produced by children and young people from the Wakefield & District Children in Care Council. The tree depicts a growing child. The children were asked to write in its branches words to describe what makes them feel safe. They were asked to use words on the roots to describe those things that make them feel unsafe. The words on the leaves on the tree are those things that adults www.wakefield.gov.uk can do to help make them feel safe. Contents Foreword by Wakefield Children in Care Council ............................................................................................ 4 Foreword by Edwina Harrison, Independent Chair .......................................................................................... 5 Executive summary ............................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 9 Chapter 1 – Local background and context ..................................................................................................10 • Children and Young People in Wakefield & District.......................................................................................................................14 • Children’s Social Care ...................................................................................................................................................................16 • Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) .....................................................................................................................................17 • Early Help .....................................................................................................................................................................................18 • Children with a disability ...............................................................................................................................................................20 • Private fostering ...........................................................................................................................................................................21 • Safeguarding Review Unit .............................................................................................................................................................22 • Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) ...................................................................................................................................25 Chapter 2 – Governance and accountability .................................................................................................27 • Statutory and legal context ...........................................................................................................................................................30 • Board structure and committees ..................................................................................................................................................30 • Expenditure and funding ...............................................................................................................................................................34 • Business Unit ................................................................................................................................................................................34 Chapter 3 – Performance and Quality Assurance ...........................................................................................35 • Learning and Improvement Framework ........................................................................................................................................38 • Learning through peer challenge .................................................................................................................................................39 • Learning through internal audit ....................................................................................................................................................40 • Learning through audit and quality assurance .............................................................................................................................41 • Learning through performance and complaints ............................................................................................................................41 • Learning from reports into the LSCB ............................................................................................................................................42 • Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) report ..................................................................................................................................42 • Serious Case Reviews ...................................................................................................................................................................42 • Head teacher’s report ....................................................................................................................................................................42 • Department for Education (DfE) Innovation Project ......................................................................................................................44 Chapter 4 – Training and Learning Development ...........................................................................................55 • Training activities in 2015-16 ........................................................................................................................................................58 Chapter 5 – WDSCB Priorities and Achievements 2015-16 ...............................................................................61 • DfE Innovation Project ..................................................................................................................................................................65 • Domestic Violence and Abuse ......................................................................................................................................................65 • Licensing ......................................................................................................................................................................................66 • Child Sexual Exploitation – a West Yorkshire response ................................................................................................................66 • Wakefield Safeguarding Week ......................................................................................................................................................67 • Safeguarding Charter for Children and Young People ...................................................................................................................68 • WDSCB website ............................................................................................................................................................................68 Chapter 6 – Partner Agency Priorities and Achievements 2015-16 ......................................................................69 3 Foreword by Wakefield Children in Care Council With special individual contributions from C age 12, K age 15 and S age 15. Dear Reader before staff react, they need to listen about staying safe at first but I kept carefully to whatever issues you have”. running away. Since being fostered I The young people who go to Children in got support from Barnardo’s and an Care Council (CICC) are the champions For professionals involved in advocate that listened and helped me of the voice of the child in care, our aim Safeguarding, it’s essential to ensure to understand. I feel a lot safer now is to ensure Wakefield Council listens to that children “are not being made to feel with my foster carers and have started the experiences and views of children different if we are fostered, or because to settle down and feel like part of the and young people that have received I have a Social Worker or because my family. I am not putting myself at risk services first hand. We believe the family is getting support to help keep me anymore. I am happy. I appreciate all the Safeguarding Board, in welcoming our safe. Children should not be labelled by help everyone has given me”. contribution, has taken serious steps the support they receive. Children need toward listening to our views but also to know that there is always someone to Safeguarding is everyone’s business, embedding them as part of their Annual talk to and to know that they will listen”. and what does that mean to us? Report and taking into consideration our Through developing this work, we have messages as a way forward for anyone In our group work, listening is always realised just how much support is out