Agenda and minutes

Apologies for lateness were received from Cllr Brabazon.

There were no items of  urgent business put forward.

There were no declarations of interest put forward.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 29^th April 2013.

Dr Kim Holt Haringey’s Designated Doctor for Children in Care at the Whittington Health Trust,  will be presenting the key facts  in relation to  health service provision to looked after children.  Performance figures on health assessments and dental check ups are included in the performance report  as part of agenda item 8.

This report sets out performance data and trends for an agreed set of measures relating to looked after children.

The Committee considered the end of year summary  of performance information relating to  looked after children.  The report pulled together all the performance information considered on a monthly basis  by the committee  and reflected on the issues and challenges  going forward.

 Overall, the number of children in care was reducing  and reflected the  better practice in planning, commissioning less residential  and move in Foster carer in the borough.  There were smarter objectives on assessing early on  whether  a child  can realistically live  with parents , whether a foster  carer from the family can be sought,  or kinship carer appointed . there was a need to be confident  with partnership  working before  discussion about  having resources lined up in the right place to support families.

Comment was made on the  number of foster carers recruited  , this was  much reduced from previous years .The contributing factors to the reduction in  house foster carers was that  some foster carers were adopting   and  there was also a cohort that were now retiring. The fostering service review was occurring at a time when there was a need to  consider these factors and  have an analysis of what was needed to improve the service The review had already identified a number of blockages to the recruitment of  Foster carers . It was clarified that  there was no pressure put on foster carers to adopt , although there was more impetus  placed on  early permanency planning in  the last year, it  was an activity that had been in place for a significant number of years and  therefore any transgressional (fostering to Adoption)placements were  always agreed at an early  stage of permanency planning.

It was commented that issues concerning the lack of in house foster carers that  lived in the borough had been  consistently raised by this committee over a number of years . It was accepted that  the number of in house foster carers recruited had not been good and generally the service did not offer value for money. However, the newly appointed interim Head of Service for commissioning and placements  advised the committee that he had seen  high quality placements taken forward by Placement  officers and they had very good job in finding good matches  for Children and young people coming into care. Part of the work by impower would be  looking into the assumptions  about being a foster carer . Some members  of the committee felt that there  should also be an opportunity for  them to  have an  input  in the review and share their experience of  being part of the committee which  had looked at  the fostering service through performance reports and  fostering recruitment drives over the years.  The  Chair and Interim Head of  Commissioning and Placements agreed to facilitate this focus group meeting  with Committee   members  and  impower.

 83.3 reviews had taken place  within timescales against a target of 95% . It was noted that I if the review meeting date was missed by just one day then  it was calculated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 245.

In accordance with the guidance arising from The Adoption and Children’s act 2002 an annual report of the work undertaken by Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) is to be presented to the Director of Children’s Services and will also be  provided to the Committee. Report to follow

 The  Committee were reminded of the statutory  role of the IRO(Independent Reviewing officer. Part of the role was quality assuring the care plan for the  young person/child that was looked after  and there was a prescriptive legal framework under which they operated . there was a need to have  effective challenge and scrutiny   about the care being received by the child or young person in care . legislation  reinforces the requirements for  a care plan to be reviewed within 10-20  days of completion. It was estimated that each Haringey IRO had  around 70  children/Young people in care to  oversee and  this was  number had greatly reduced form previous years meaning there was more opportunities for the IRO’s to participate in the strategic policy initiatives.

 There were a total of 7  full time IRO’s  who were  mostly permanent full time  staff with some agency staff members as well.  The agency IRO’s had a high expertise and were able to share good working practices that they had  gained from working in different boroughs.

There were a total of 1023 reviews completed , this included  visits and assessments made of looked after children that lived outside the borough.

They were currently performing at 95% of reviews completed within timescales.

The IRO report illustrated how children contribute to the reviews and an   explanation was given of how children , young and old,  are encouraged to participate  in the review  to ensure they genuinely express their feelings.  There  had been a positive response to the survey  and  the questionnaire published on viewpoint, the main issues had been the standard of accommodation for care leavers.

The Committee informed the IRO that they had invited Aspire to complete a survey with fellow young people in care and care leavers  from a stakeholder  perspective

The Committee were interested to find out what happens if a child/young person in care  is negative about their foster carers  and  were informed that the IRO will  speak with the social worker about managing the situation and will ensure that the  child/young person feels safe in their placement.  The issues raised will be followed up by the IRO and they will go through the actions arising from the previous meeting .This is in line with their role of being an advocate for the child. The Committee were assured that, depending on the  level of  the matter raised ,the IRO will not wait until the 6 month review to follow up on a actions with the Social Worker to check they have been completed.  In terms of the relationship with the Children in Care service, they welcomed the challenge of the  IRO  and there were  some occasions when an action could get missed  and the IRO was there as  acting as the advocate for the child/ young person to  pick these up. This together with  improved permanency planning, monthly meetings with health   meant there was   a lot of communication between the IRO and the children in care service. The Committee were  advised that where  ...  view the full minutes text for item 246.

Barnardo’s are commissioned by the Children and Young People’s Department (CYPS) to deliver an independent advocacy and independent visitor service to children and young people in the Borough. The Committee will  receive a summary of the services provided this year and the actions to be taken forward in the coming year.

To consider any new items of open urgent business submitted under agenda item 2.

There were no new items of urgent business put forward.

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of item  12 as it  contains exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985): paras 1 & 2: namely information relating to any individual, and information likely to reveal the identity of an individual.  

 The press and public were  excluded from the meeting for the following item.

To consider the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 29^th April 2013.

 The exempt minutes from the meeting held on the 29^th April 2013 were agreed.

To consider any new items of exempt urgent business as per agenda item 2.

None

Date of next meeting 03 October 2013 6.30pm.

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