Agenda item

Verbal update

Steve Liddicott, Head of quality assurance and practice development presented the Care Review briefing to the meeting.

A summary of the presentation highlighted the following:

·  Child Protection

·  Families Network

·  Transforming Care

·  Work force

·  Focus on Children and Families

Families Network

·  Addressing the role of family group decision-making - making it a mandatory requirement, along the proposal of the family network plan.

·  Special guardianship arrangements and kinship carers – provides support in those circumstances.

·  Care review – does not fully address adoption with birth parents and adoptive parents; need to ensure there is always contact.

·  The introduction of special guardianships.

Transforming care

·  Mainly focused on the framework, setting new care standards for children’s homes, and residential care to ensure there was a simpler understanding of this.

·  The creation of a new fostering and care provision. Profits made in the private sector and the creation of regional care operatives should address:

o  Price capping

o  Profit margins

o  Windfall tax

·  Proposals relating to the foster campaign to recruit foster carers – did not see many carers apply through this channel.

·  Foster carers – delegated authority: How many decisions are given to a child that were being looked after – principles of mocking bird scheme.

·  To abolish the independent looked after children care review and replace it with an independent advocacy.

·  Many of the review cases were processed on time

·  Information about the care experience – recommendations

·  CPC - responsibilities should hold different departments to account

·  Introduction care experience (a protected characteristic).

Introduction Social Care Framework

·  National Children’s Social Care Framework

·  Virtual School heads should be held accountable for school attainment

Care experience

·  Care leavers – more training opportunities

·  Addressed bursary fee for those aged 25 years old

·  Strengthening options for housing for care leavers, and to combat homelessness in this group

·  Addressed mental health and physical health support for those care leavers and those leaving care

·  Statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for care leavers

·  Costings for care leavers and guardianship system where some would get support and others might not get the support

·  Addressed the number of care leavers who lost their jobs during covid.

Dechaun Malcolm, children’s rights and participation officer spoke about the following:

·  Care leaver celebration in October 2022 – to celebrate all children’s achievements

·  Campaign running summer activities - performing and arts

·  A photography workshop

·  Art forms – to sell at auction, to fund raise for a Speakerbox website. 

The committee agreed (as suggested by Dechaun), that Speakerbox would be included as a standard item on the agenda for all meetings.