Agenda item

RECEIVED a report updating the Committee on what the Council does to support care leavers.  The report was included in the agenda pack (pages 23 to 28). 

NOTED that

• The Council aims to support young people to remain in their current education and college courses. Each young person in care had a Personal Education Plan (PEP) that accompanied them during their journey through care. As an additional monitoring system there were plans to review the PEPs ongoing at the transition panel where a representative of the Virtual School was present and could provide additional advice and guidance to the current and future plans in place and ensure that all efforts were being made to sustain current educational/training provision.

• The Council continued to have marked success with higher than average numbers of care leavers attending university, with 61 current care leavers at university. To support care leavers the Council introduced a dedicated email address to keep in touch with its care leavers at university so that it could send them regular updates on funding opportunities and other important opportunities.

• In 2015 in partnership with the Chartered Accountants for England and Wales, the Council targeted its care leavers who were university students and provided them with a day focusing on them gaining quality advice, and information regarding accessing the workplace, career options and future career planning. The Council also offered each third year student a one to one appointment with Drive Forward to develop their CV and prepare them to access the job market. This offer was made in July last year and would be repeated this year.

• The Council was working to reduce the Numbers of Not In Education (NEET) and Employment and support young people to engage in education and find employment. As part of the strategic plan to reduce the numbers of NEET the service had developed a working protocol with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Drive Forward to ensure the welfare benefits process was simplified and care leavers supported more robustly into sustainable employment. Current performance data which monitored care leavers at the 19^th, 20^th and 21^st birthday in ETE, was below target. The Committee noted that there had been some accuracy issues on reporting, which the service was now aware of and were working to resolve.

• The E8ghteen project had been running since 2011. The project currently supported care leavers aged 16-20 being mentored by coaches from the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.  The project supported young people to remain in education and also for those out of education to engage and achieve some success. It offered opportunities to engage some the most hard to reach older children in care and care leavers to engender their interest in further education and employment.

• Housing and accommodation was another aspect of the advice and support offered.  For those under the age of 18 the most likely type of accommodation they would be placed in would be with a foster carer and live as part of their family. From the age of 18 years old care leavers had a range of housing options they could consider as part of independent living.

• The options were; remaining with their foster carers under staying put arrangements, moving to semi-independent provision with key work support, moving to one of the transitional training houses managed by the YAS with volunteers on site or possibly to their permanent accommodation. Occasionally care leavers entered the private sector but this was as a last resort and based on the care leaver being unwilling to return to Haringey to take up their permanent housing offer. Housing currently offered YAS a housing quota of 60 one bed and 6 two bed quota (for care leavers who were parents). Each care leaver received a setting up home establishment grant of £2000.

Cllr Weston commented that the offer to each third year student of a one-to-one appointment with Drive Forward to develop their CV should be offered at an earlier stage in their university placement. AD Safeguarding agreed to review this arrangement and look into getting that support in place sooner, either at the end of first or second year.

Action: Neelam Bhardwaja

Cllr Gunes raised concerns that the Committee had not been able to scrutinise information in relation to unaccompanied minors seeking asylum and requested a report be produced outlining key information such as numbers, length of time in care and what the Council’s responsibilities to those children were. Cllr Gunes also requested clarification on the legal status of child’s immigration status and whether this was included into the care plan. AD Safeguarding advised that the child’s status once they entered the LAC would be the same as any other child but that their immigration status would be set by the Home Office. The Head of Service, Children in Care and Placements to produce a report on immigration status and LAC/care leavers and the council’s role around unaccompanied minors seeking asylum for the next meeting.

Action: Dominic Porter Moore/Neelam Bhardwaja

Cllr Weston requested that the above report include reference to whether there was a policy position on whether the Council would support a challenge to an immigration status determination and on what grounds, for example if the care leaver was attending university.  

Action: Dominic Porter Moore/Neelam Bhardwaja

Clerk to speak with Stephen from Legal to get their input on the immigration paper for the next meeting.

Action: Clerk