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SOCIAL SERVICES, HOUSING AND BENEFITS SELECT COMMITTEE – 4
MARCH 2003 CHILDREN’S SERVICES RESTRUCTURING THE ACTING STRATEGIC DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES AND
HOUSING |
SUMMARY
The
Children’s Services Strategic Management Group has considered the need to
reconfigure its resources for some time. It has sought evidence through the
analysis of current performance data, commissioned research into 3 Star/Beacon
Authorities and lengthy consultation with staff, stakeholders and service
users.
1.1
Three strategic themes, based on our research, have
been drawn out and
they are:
Multi-Agency
Working Flexibility and
Performance Management
1.2
The structure of children’s services has been revised
to reflect these themes and to capitalise on our strengths and address areas
needing improvement. We have divided our Services into three sections.
1.4 A Family Section concentrating on
accessible services, signposting on to preventative universal and voluntary
sector services through revised eligibility criteria. This section would
prioritise child safety/protection and the core assessment of children at risk
and in need.
1.5 It is planned to strengthen this
section’s link with local communities, through:
·
Direct links to the Youth Offending Team aimed at crime
prevention.
·
Links to statutory, voluntary and community services
based on
geographical communities within
Education’s clusters of schools.
There is an
emphasis also on partnership working and community capacity building.
1.6 A
Jointly Commissioned Looked After Children section, headed by a Service Manager
that is tripartite funded by Health Education and Social Services, thus
cementing the strong links with Education and Health. This will provide a
dedicated service for looked after children, removing the present pull on
resources of reactive child protection work. It will continue to coordinate
funding and decision-making across health education and social services with
regard to agency and off Island placements.
1.7 This section is divided into services for
looked after children 0 –16 years and 16 years plus building on the strengths
of our current Independence Support Service for Care Leavers offering a
corporate, and continuous approach to young people entering adulthood. These
teams are being augmented using monies from the ring fenced grant from the
Leaving Care Act to employ Social Work Assistants to address the high rate of
final warnings and offending by children in the looked after system. The
Fostering and Adoption service will be allocated within this section to enable
closer links to looked after children services.
1.8 Finally this section will house a pilot
three year project of a newly created multi-agency team with workers seconded
from all three statutory agencies, social services, health and education
concentrating on children with complex and challenging needs including those
currently placed off Island.
1.9 The third Section is dedicated to quality
and performance management. As a separate arms length service it will manage
the Child Protection Coordinator and support to the Area Child Protection
Committee. It will also be responsible for quality assurance through the looked
after children review process and the development of children’s rights and participation
service.
1.10 It has
an oversight of complaints and the lessons to be learned, together with the
development of a performance management culture through the analysis of
performance Indicators against targets, Best Value, Performance Assessment Framework,
National Service Framework, Local Public Service Agreements and Quality
Protects. It will manage the administrative support services in children’s
services
1.11 We aim
to enhance the opportunities for promotion and retention of staff by each Team
having a Deputising Team Manager who has both deputising and supervisory
responsibilities and a Senior Practitioner post, with lead responsibilities for
a relevant area of work. All staff will be encouraged to add to the
Directorate’s knowledge base, building capacity through the identification of
training needs through the Personal Performance Review process and
participation in general and specialist training.
2. UNDERLYING GOALS AND PRIORITIES
2.1
Children’s Services aim to deliver high quality
services in line with the Corporate Plan’s goals of:
Improving health,
housing and the quality of life for all.
Raising education
standards & promoting lifelong learning
Creating safe and
crime-free communities
and
this Directorate’s priorities for 2002 of:
Achieving financial stability
Developing
a performance culture
Developing partnership working for the benefit of customers
3. IDENTIFYING
EVIDENCE AND DATA COLLECTION
3.1 Evidence has been collected from:
ž Past
service reviews
ž Internal
statistics
ž The
Joint Best Value Review of Children with Special Educational Needs, Children
with Disabilities and Significant Health Needs
ž Position
statements submitted to Government
ž Consultation
with: staff, stakeholders and end users
ž Research
into 3 star and beacon authorities
4. STRENGTHS
4.1
We are performing well or are on a
comparable basis with other Local
Authorities with regard to:
4
The point of entry services
4
The Oak House multi-agency approach
to Children with Disabilities
4
Adoption of children looked after
4
Fostering - given the national
shortage of Local Authority carers
4
Staying in contact with Care leavers
4
Timely statutory reviews of looked
after children
4
Child protection and looked after
children having allocated workers
5. AREAS FOR
IMPROVEMENT
5.1
We need to improve:
·
By reducing the number of children
entering the public care system, through more dedicated services aimed at
developing community links for capacity building and timely multi-agency core
assessments.
·
The academic achievement of looked
after children through improved partnership working and dedicated services
·
Care leavers uptake of employment,
education and training opportunities through pump priming monies allocated by
the Local Public Service Agreements
·
Access to Child and Adolescent Mental
Health services through improved partnership working and dedicated services
·
The numbers of looked after children
receiving final warnings or convictions for offences through earlier prevention
and increased support services
·
Improved information and data
management through the ICT strategy
·
The development of a performance
management culture, that is transparent and “owned” throughout the whole
workforce, producing flexible, responsive, valued added services.
6. CONCLUSIONS
6.1 Our
current structure implemented in 1997, is judged to be less effective in
meeting our statutory commitments in a manner consistent with government
guidance and best practice. We have therefore developed, through consultation a
new, no cost alternative structure for delivering our services that works to
our strengths and aims to address the areas needing improvement. We are now at
a stage to begin implementing. See appendix attached for timeline and structure
details.
7. FINANCIAL
IMPLICATIONS
7.1 The
restructuring for this year will be within our existing expenditure. Following
implementation there may well be a need to consider some financial underpinning
as a result of job evaluation and revised support and infrastructure
requirements.
RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Select Committee is
informed of the new structure as endorsed by
the Portfolio Holder, and receives
information on its progress as required.
BACKGROUND PAPERS
Children’s
Service Plan update
Contact Point : Prue
Grimshaw, 520600
J DOYLE
Acting Strategic
Director of Social Services and Housing