Agenda item

The purpose of this report is to update Members on the stability of our placements for children in care to Haringey. 

The report was introduced by the Head of Children in Care and Placements. The purpose of the report was to update members on the stability of placements for Children in Haringey’s care.

The report contained information on what happened to children and young people who were removed from their home and family, who suffered rejection, separation and had a feeling of loss. It was noted that those feelings were deeper if they were placed in multiple placements. The Committee noted that the Placement Stability Panel was formed in 2020, to improve the experiences of children who were in care and to minimise placement disruptions and breakdowns.

The Panel consisted of designated leads from virtual schools, First steps, designated nurse for Children in Care, and Independent Reviewing Officers. There were five sources of referrals to the placement stability panel. These were: Inhouse Fostering Placements; Residential Provision; In house Fostering Placements; Semi Independent Accommodation and Independent Fostering Agencies (IFA). Page 3 It was noted that placement instability in children reduced their opportunity to develop secure attachments. The Committee noted that the council were corporate parents to all children who were looked after by the Local Authority. The preference for any child would be to place them with a connected person (i.e. a friend or relative). Placements should be close to home and should not disrupt the child’s education.

It should enable siblings to live with one another, suitable for a child’s need if disabled, and within the local authority area, unless further location was the more suitable option. Short term stability placement was measured by children or young people who have had three or more placement in a year. In the year 2023-2024, 10 children were said to have been in over three placements, which was in line with national average, but slightly below neighbouring boroughs. Long term placement stability was measured by a child under the age of sixteen who had been in placement for 2.5 years or more. In the year 2023, 71 children had experienced long term placement stability which was in line with national statistic, but slightly lower than the national average. Independent Fostering Agencies (IFA) were taking on more complex children, with higher needs and the average cost of an IFA placement was £1300 per week (it would include foster carers and other infrastructures), this was compared to an in[1]house placement costing £450 per week.

An in-house placement required that Haringey be in charge and have influence over partnerships. However, an Independent Fostering agency was not as easy to influence. There was a need for collaborative work whilst mobilising the work needed, there may be a need for therapeutic support through Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). There was a need for open discussions with partners, collaborative thinking would help bringing a solution. The “berry tool” helped the understanding of Haringey Council to match children and what was next with permanency planning. The information was shared with fosters carers which helped the foster carers to understand the science of matching children. Haringey were not part of the pathfinders yet, there were other local authorities who were going to receive financial grant from the government. It was requested there be a cost analysis comparison between the Independent Fostering Agencies and the In-house fosters and it be presented to the committee.

 ACTION The committee requested that there be an update on the Josh McAlister report, looking at the private market, private provider and standards which had been part of the recommendation.

ACTION It was requested by the committee for there to be an update on broader strategic changes taking place on the Stability Panel for the next meeting.

ACTION RESOLVED:

To note report.