Care Matters: Delivering for Children in Care

1
Care Matters Delivering for Children in Care

• Helen Jones
• York
• October 09

2
Ten things looked after children told us that
they wanted

• Stability of placement
• To do well in education
• Their health to be looked after
• To be listened to and taken seriously
• To be treated like other children
• Having friends and mates
• Not to be bullied
• Having an active parent
• Being appropriately placed (preferably 1st time
  around)
• Confidentiality.

3
Ambition for Children in Care

• Care Matters White Paper
• The aspiration the State has for children in
  care should be no less than each parent would
  have for their own child
• Also reflected in Secretary of States letter to
  Directors of Childrens Services on 30 April
• Children in care should be a litmus test of how
  we are delivering the ambitions set out in the
  Childrens Plan
• it is crucial that we work together to improve
  the outcomes of children in care further and
  faster
• services seen as a continuum of effective
  family support services

4
Care Matters - 4 Key Aims

• Ensuring good parenting from every person
  involved in a childs life
• Making sure young people are heard, giving them a
  real voice, a real say in the decisions that
  affect their future
• Ensuring children and young people have stability
  in their lives and
• Raising the aspirations of children in care,
  expecting no less from children in care as a good
  parent would expect of their own children.

5
Components of Care Matters Strategy
Underpinned by very strong partnership with the
sector - need to build on that to generate
sector-led improvement across the board.
And strengthening the voice of children and young
people throughout
6
Progress So Far

• Since Care Matters
• Continued gradual progress on outcomes
• steadily improving attainment since 2000, with
  rates of exclusions dropping and attendance
  improving
• More care leavers in suitable accommodation and
  Employment, Education or Training
• Children and Young Persons Act November 2008
• Piloting social pedagogy, MTFC, Staying Put 18,
  VSHs
• Children in Care Councils Pledges being
  implemented across the country
• Some fantastic local practice developed

7
Whats Next?

• Children and Young Persons Act being implemented
  in 3 waves
• Revised Children Act Regulations and Guidance
  (linked to Act implementation)
• New inspection regime for vulnerable children and
  safeguarding starting
• From Care 2 Work roll out employment support
  programme for care leavers
• Social Work Task Force final report in autumn
• Roll-out of Virtual School Heads
• Revised adoption (statutory and practice)
  Guidance 2010
• First ministerial stocktake November 2009

8
Watch out for consultations on.

• September National minimum standards fostering,
  adoption, childrens homes
• October Inspection fee changes
• October to January Care Planning, Placements and
  Review regs and guidance. Includes guidance on
  duty to provide sufficient and diverse
  accommodation. Will include regional events. IRO
  guidance over the same period with own regional
  events.
• December Care leavers family and friends care
  visits to children in custody and disabled
  children in residential placements
• 2010 strengthened powers of enforcement in
  childrens homes fostering service
•  

9
Regulations and GuidanceCare Planning, Placement
and Review regulations

• Takes the approach of the childs journey with
  the child at the centre
• Rationalises current regulations
• Improve care planning and reviewing
• Greater focus on placement plans
• Ensure appropriate delegations
• Promote contact, especially between siblings
• Ensure more placements closer to home

10
Placement Stability

• Ive been in 18 different foster placements, a
  secure unit for drugs, in court and had so many
  different social workers. No-one sat me down and
  asked what was going on.
• Child-focused approach to care planning
• Understanding of the local market and the use of
  commissioning arrangements to avoid emergency
  placements
• High quality assessments which include the views
  of children
• Regular reviews to check placements are working
  well (inc Adoption)
• Learning from local research on why placements
  break down
• Providing carers with practical and evidence
  based support and training

11
Interventions to Support Foster Care

• Development of Multidimensional Treatment Foster
  Care (MTFC) programmes across the age range
• Piloting of KEEP Project to make elements of MTFC
  programmes more widely available to foster carers
• Roll out of Fostering Changes Programme to
  support positive parenting by foster carers

12
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care as an
attachment based intervention

• Children who have received poor or inadequate
  care or who have been exposed to high levels of
  prenatal and early life stress do not respond
  typically to the efforts of caregivers to nurture
  and support them
• Current behaviors of these children often reflect
  adaptation to the early environment
• Without support it is difficult for foster
  parents to override interactional processes (old
  patterns of rejection, betrayal etc.) that lead
  to relationship failure (Dozier)
• Conversely, with appropriate support, the
  therapeutic potential of relationships can be
  activated

13
Wider lessons of MTFC

• More than 5 stressful behaviours per day is a
  strong predictor of placement breakdown
• Successful programme in US for regular foster
  care provides weekly foster carer meeting and
  weekly Parent Daily Report
• Extended hours support to foster carers

14
KEEP Keeping Foster Carers Safe and Supported

• Builds on development of MTFC Pilots
• 16 week parenting group for foster and kinship
  carers of children aged 7-11
• Weekly behaviour report by foster carers

• Goals-
• Improve child functioning
• Decrease child placement disruption risk
• Improve parenting experience for adults and
  children

15
Fostering Changes

• A behaviourally based programme that ensures
  foster carers gain real skills in behaviour
  identification and management
• Commitment in care matters to national roll out
• Contract awarded to develop facilitators guide
• Courses set up across England to run Sept 2009
  Mar 2011

16
View of Foster Carers about Fostering Changes

• If I had this training many many years ago, some
  of the placements I had, I would have kept them
• I have gained a lot around praise I am doing
  that a lot. Its a brilliant course and I think
  all foster carers should do it
• I am seeing changes already

17
What we have learnt works

• You just want to be treated the same and feel
  the same as everyone else.
• Leadership fully committed to improving outcomes
  in every agency childrens services, schools,
  health and care providers.
• High aspirations are set for children in care
  within the overall strategy and are viewed as a
  barometer of success for the whole local
  authority.
• Respecting children, listening to them and acting
  on their views. Childrens participation is an
  integral part of arrangements, particularly an
  effective Children in Care Council
• Stable care that genuinely supports education,
  health and enjoying and achieving.
• Comprehensive planning at individual and
  strategic levels
• Strong planning and support for care leavers

18
You can make a difference, You can change lives!

• I feel very safe and secure where I am now.
• Im the lucky one I have the BEST foster parents
  possible.
• I had my PEP at school. My teacher, social
  worker and foster carer was there.
• Best things about being in care - I am much
  healthier now
• I was running away a lot, but recently my carers
  help me get out of the habit.
• The mover to my new placement was in my best
  interests because the new carers are everything I
  wanted and needed.
• I think my leaving care workers are doing a
  brilliant job. Keep up the good work.
• Dont want to leave (being in care) in case its
  not as good