Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Director of Children and Education

The Scrutiny Board considered a Briefing Note of the Director of Children and Education which provided an update on the complexities of finding homes for children in care following the Briefing Note previously considered by the Board at the meeting on the 23^rd November 2023.

The Briefing Note stated that in the last 2-3 years there has been a marked increase in the number of children and young people in care that local authorities have struggled to find appropriate homes for. This is a widely reported national issue and is a consequence of several interlinked factors, which were highlighted in Competition and Market’s Authority report of March 2022, the Independent Review of Children’s Social care of May 2022 and the Government’s consultation response to this review – Stable Homes, Built on Love (February 2023). There is national recognition that the children’s placement market is broken.

As officers reiterated during the meeting, Pro Bono Economics reported on the national challenges in October 2024: The number of children in residential care has more than doubled (102% increase) since 2011 with spending on these placements jumping by 90% (an increase of £1.1billion). Almost half of this increase has come in the last two years.

To tackle this, the Coventry practice model ‘Family Valued’ works on the premise of keeping children and families together when it is safe to do so. This approach seeks to enable families to find the solutions to challenges they face. Families are supported through Family Network Meetings and Family Group Conferences (FGC) and additional support to identify family led solutions. Family led solutions include kinship arrangements (connected fostering) which are sought, when a child is unable to remain safely with their parent/s. This area has seen significant growth in Coventry, with around 120 children now being placed in a kinship arrangement and 40 children being supported to achieve permanence through a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) last year.

The Briefing Note outlined that the number of children in care decreased earlier this year, with 668 children being in care as of April 2024. However, in line with an annual trend of more children entering care over the summer period, this increased to 720 by September 2024. There are currently 69 children living in a residential children’s home (end of September 2024), placed by Coventry Children’s Services, an increase of 10 children from April.

However, when children enter care urgently or need to move at short notice, finding the right home for a child in the current market can be challenging, providers may request funding for additional resources particularly if a child is moving from one children’s home to another. In addition, the impact on the child having to move can further perpetuate their sense of rejection, self-worth & subsequent trauma. A report by the County Councils Network & IMPOWER published in November 2024 states: Councils are faced with unenviable choices when needing to place a child taken into care at short notice – they cannot just be left homeless until a suitable price can be negotiated for their care.

Officers highlighted that the new ‘Short Stay, Same Day’ children’s home which is due to open imminently, seeks to address some of these challenges by enabling a planned move, supporting a robust search for the right home, at the right time, in the right place.

The Board questioned Officers and received responses on a number of matters relating to homes for children in care including:

·  Covering the costs of children’s placements when they cross local authority borders.

·  Joint working and preventive services arrangements – specifically trying to prevent children from waiting in accident & emergency and using the Hope Model to steer them in different directions.

o  Similarly investing in the Kooth counselling and support service to allow children from different ethnic backgrounds the space to talk about their mental health.

·  Work being undertaken to simplify and streamline becoming a foster carer while recognising the importance of safeguarding – future updates to the national minimum standards to facilitate this process.

·  Trauma reactions and self-sabotaging behaviour of some of the most vulnerable looked after children.

·  Projected savings if using council owned homes for children.

·  Future plans to bring looked after children into council owned homes for children and the impact this would have on the children and their families.

The Board thanked officers for their responses and their continued work.

RESOLVED that the Board:

1.  Continues to support the Residential Strategy 2023-2026.

2.  Notes the two additional homes for our children with the most complex needs.

3.  Supports the work being undertaken in relation to sufficiency, addressing high-cost placements and improving outcomes for our children in care.