Equality Impact Assessment
EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT
CHILDREN’S SERVICES
Name of the policy or function being assessed: Adolescent Resource Centre
Definition of the Adolescent Resource Centre, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The children’s home at Bishops Way/Norman Grove is under the umbrella of the Adolescent
Resource Centre. The Adolescent resource centre provides a range of services:

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Community Outreach and Assessment team – Provides practical and immediate support to
placements in crisis, in our own provision and in the community to prevent unplanned
admissions to care. Based at Norman Grove waiting to expand the team to increase the
service provision.
Norman Grove Children’s home – 6 placements for adolescents up to the age of 17. Offering
a flexible service working closely with the Community Outreach and Assessment team to
provide for the few unplanned placements shared care to support existing placements and
supporting older adolescents who need full time care for a period not exceeding 8 months.
Bishops Way Children’s home – 6 placements for adolescents whose care plan has assessed
that they need the longer term permanent care to provide the stability and support to enable
them achieve better outcomes as young adults.
This Community Outreach and Assessment team together with colleagues in the wider
children’s services will contribute to the assessment that admits children directly to Bishops
Way
Specialist fostering team. This will not be assessed as part of the EIA – Specialist foster care
project funded through a grant from the Central Government to local multi agency teams
across England. It reflects the considerable concerns regarding poor outcomes for looked
after children in England. The model for the service is based on the social learning and
systemic theory pioneered by the Oregon Social Learning Centre. The programme aims to
provide young people with a secure base. The team includes foster carers, programme
supervisor, programme manger, birth family therapist, foster carer recruiter/supporter,
individual therapist/skills trainer and education staff. The children are individually placed with
carers who have been specifically recruited and trained; a respite carer is also recruited and
trained as part of the support package.
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has pioneered the development of all these support services
to produce better outcomes for looked after children and to support the agenda for the five outcomes
of ‘Every Child Matters’. The service will prioritise the small group of children for whom frequent
placement moves have characterised poor outcomes.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Directorate
Children’s services
Date Impact Assessment completed
August 2008
Is this a policy or function?
Policy 
Function

Is this a new or existing policy or function?
New 
Existing

Names and roles of the people carrying out the Impact Assessment:
(Explain why the members of the impact assessment team were selected i.e. the knowledge
and experience they bring to the process).
1. Victoria Buchanan Group manager
2. Maria Best, Jenny Howe Children’s homes managers
3. Staff teams in children’s homes, staff team in outreach service
4. Support from corporate setting
5. Teams within the service, Access to resources, advice and assessment, family support6
and protection, children looked after.
Service Head
Hilary Bull
Signature
Date
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Equality Impact Assessment
SECTION 1
AIMS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY
Identifying the aims of the policy1
What is the policy?
What is the aim, objective, or purpose of the policy?
The adolescent resource centre comprises two children’s homes and an Outreach service.
The two children’s homes are local authority accommodation for looked after children, they
are inspected by twice yearly on an unannounced inspection.
A residential review in 2005 concluded with the closure of 6 placements in a short term
setting and the reduction to 12 placements, 6 for shorter term care plans under 6 months,
6 for longer term children with care plans over 6 months. The review had concluded that
there were empty placements and that accommodation service needed to become more
flexible in order to meet the needs of more children in the community. The service would be
able to provide services to more children if an underused residential service was closed to
provide the establishment of staff posts, for work in the community. The outreach team was
structured from the existing staff team and dealt with the identified unmet need of supporting
placements in difficulty and providing threshold of care support to the community.
The outreach service also acts as a significant support in assessing those children who
would benefit from residential accommodation, so that the ARC service now provides better
outcomes for the children in our care.
The objective of the Adolescent resource centre is to provide a support service for the local
community, by enabling children and young people to remain in the family home or to be
accommodated within their area of origin.
Our secondary aim is to prevent the drift of young people in accommodation and to facilitate
their early return home, this has been achieved. Thirdly, we have been able to identify
those children whose assessments indicate longer term care and move them directly to
longer term care, by managing risk in the community until a placement is available, this has
cut down on placement moves and also improved outcomes for children.
1
Please note the term ‘Policy’ is used for simplicity. The broad term can also refer to a function or a service.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Rationale behind the policy and its delivery
(Please state the underlying policy objectives which underpin this service and what they are
trying to achieve).
Are there associated objectives of the policy? If so, what are they?
What outcomes do we want to achieve from this policy?
What factors could contribute/detract from the outcomes?
The overarching legislation is the Children Act 2004 and this informs all policy decisions.
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets decided to retain the in house provision for
accommodation service for children, and extend the service to provide outreach support for
the community.
The service has as an underpinning objective a commitment to equality in all its forms, not
only with the value base of the practice in our service but also the policies and procedures
of Tower Hamlets.
The outcomes we want to achieve are improved outcomes for all children in accommodation
or supported by our service and to reduce the stigmatisation which can be associated with
being in receipt of support from Children’s services. We wanted to reach out to Muslim
families with traditional values and provide services for young women.
Who is affected by the policy? Who is intended to benefit from it and how?
Who are the main stakeholders in relation to this policy?
 The main stakeholders are the children who are assessed as being at risk of
accommodation by the Advice and Assessment teams in Tower Hamlets. We aim to
prevent unplanned admissions to care. Those who are in placement receive stability and
support. The aim is to improve the outcome for their life as adults.
 The community of Tower Hamlets
 Request for accommodation, planned and unplanned from the Access to Resources
team who act as brokers for social workers requesting placements.
 The Looked after children in Tower Hamlets
 Colleagues in the social work teams
 Colleagues in education and health teams
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Equality Impact Assessment
Promotion of good relations between different communities
(How does the policy or function contribute to better Community Cohesion?)
How do you promote good relations between different communities you serve based on
mutual understanding and respect?
What opportunities are there for positive cross cultural contact between these communities
to take place e.g. between younger and older people, or between people of different
religious faiths?
1. The adolescent resource centre, regularly celebrates different cultural festivities such as Eid,
Ramadan, Diwali, & Christmas, we support young people to be with their families and use the
children’s homes to support. These types of events not only provide opportunities for learning
about cultural celebrations but also facilitate informal learning of other cultures and religions.
2. The staff group within the service represents many different ethnicities the information &
knowledge that workers have enhances the work in support groups and within meetings.
3. The Adolescent resource centre actively promotes methods of working with those carers where
English is not their first language, by using Tower hamlets Interpreters Service and using the
knowledge base and language skills of our own staff team.
4. The service, through the assessment and admission process consults with the children and their
families, to ensure their views are represented in cultural and religious matters.
5. The children’s homes have weekly children’s meetings to plan menus and participate in the day
to day activity and holiday plans.
6. The outreach service participates in wider cross cultural activities, homework club, art club and
regularly participates in external projects to promote the profile of looked after children. Most
recently a project with BAFTA to produce a film.
7. The Council run numbers of courses around equality of opportunities and on anti-discriminatory
legislations such as Disability Act, Race Relation, Sex Discrimination, Human Rights.
(Specifically identify the relevance of the aims of the policy to the equality target groups and
the Council’s duty to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination, promote equality of opportunity
and good relations between people of different racial groups).
The statement of purpose and function, and the procedures and practice guidance all
contain the importance of the equality targets and the importance of cultural and religious
significance.
The statement of purpose and function is a very large document and is available on the
intranet with the procedures for residential care.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Policy Priorities:
(How does the policy fit in with the council’s wider aims? Include Corporate and Local
Strategic Partnership Priorities)
The Adolescent Resource Centre is part of the delivery of children’s Social care in Tower
Hamlets which are driven by legislation and government priorities and performance
indicators. These include the Children Acts 1989 and 2004 and Care Matters white paper as
well as the associated procedures and guidance within Children’s services
The Corporate and Local Strategic Partnership Priorities include objectives and outcomes
for Looked After Children and Children at Risk in the community.
How does the policy relate to other policies and practices within the council?
The outcomes for children looked after are part of the wider council objective.
What factors/forces could contribute/detract from the outcomes?
The legislation and policies and procedures of the Children Act are very clear and the
requirements of the legislation guide the work.
How do these outcomes meet or hinder other policies, values or objectives of the
council?
The policies are part of the wider aims of the council and we are regularly inspected as
individual services and also as part of the Joint Assessment Review to ensure that we are
meeting our objectives.
The senior management team is also responsible for the practice and standards within the
organisation.
These outcomes are in line with the Council policies values and objectives.
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Equality Impact Assessment
How the policy is implemented
(How is, or will, the policy be put into practice and who is, or will be, responsible for it?)
Who defines or defined the policy?
Who implements the policy?
How does the council interface with other bodies in relation to the implementation of
this policy?
Is the service provided solely by the Department or in conjunction with another
department, agency or contractor?
If external parties are involved then what are the measures in place to ensure that
they comply with the Council’s Equal Opportunities policy?
The Children’s Services department is responsible for the policy, through the head of
service.
The service is provided using the underpinning principle the Council’s Equality and Diversity
Policy.
The running of the service is the responsibility of the service manager for resources, with
the day to day responsibilities devolved down through a hierarchy of group manager,
managers and staff team.
The procedures and associated practice guidance are all part if the underpinning principles
of the legislation surrounding LAC.
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Equality Impact Assessment
SECTION 2
CONSIDERATION OF DATA AND RESEARCH
List all examples of quantitative and qualitative data available that will enable the
impact assessment to be undertaken (include information where appropriate from other
directorates, Census 2001 etc.)
The figures on looked after children and the length of their placement are collected for the
performance indicator which relates to this outcome. This is national data and counts
towards the overall inspections of the authority.
The management information which is collected for the statistics for looked after children in
a residential setting includes the figures for the children with disabilities who receive short
term breaks. The management information is not specific to this accommodation service.
LBTH Children Looked After (CLA) population as a whole: 390 (11 July 2008). This is
comparable to previous years: 375 (2006); 390 (2005) and 365 (2004).
Number of children looked-after per 10,000 population aged under 18 (DCSF Jan 2008):
 Tower Hamlets 69.3
 Statistical neighbour 97.8
 National average 54.3
Only 2 inner London boroughs have a lower CLA rate. Generally speaking, the lower the
CLA figure the better, as it indicates good quality in: preventative work with children in their
families; rehabilitation work with looked-after children, and work to find permanent
alternative placements for looked-after children. The figure is an improvement on the
borough’s performance compared to previous years: 75 (2006); 77 (2005); 72 (2004).
Percentage of looked-after children in residential accommodation (DCSF Jan 2008):
 Tower Hamlets 18.4
 Statistical neighbour 17.3
 National average 14.9
The Tower Hamlets figure is roughly average for inner London and is roughly consistent
with the borough’s figures in recent years: 16% (2006); 19.2% (2005); 19.7% (2004).
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Equality Impact Assessment
Equalities profile of users or beneficiaries
(Use the Council’s approved diversity monitoring categories and provide data by target group
of users or beneficiaries to determine whether the service user profile reflects the local
population or relevant target group or if there is over or under representation of these
groups)
OUTREACH SERVICE July 2008 – 33 service users
Age
Gender
Ethnicity
Bangl – 16(48%)
11 yrs – 1(3%)
Pakist – 1(3%)
12 yrs – 1(3%)
Blk/Brt – 4(12%)
13yrs – 2(6%)
Mixed – 1(3%)
F – 20 (61%)
14yrs – 9(27%)
W/Brt – 7(21%)
M – 13 (39%)
15yrs – 15(45%)
Carib/W – 1(3%)
16yrs – 4(12%)
Viet – 1(3%)
17yrs – 1(3%)
Crb/Blk – 2(6%)
Religion
Muslim –
17 (52%)
None –
14 (42%)
Christian –
2 (6%)
Disability
Yes – 1 (3%)
(minor learning
difficulties)
No –
32 (97%)
RESIDENTIAL SERVICE-USERS 15/7/08 (10 RESIDENTS)
Age
14
15
16
17
1 (10%)
5 (50%)
2 (20%)
2 (20%)
F
M
8 (80%)
2 (20%)
Gender
Ethnicity
Asian (Bangladeshi)
Asian (Indian)
Black (Caribbean)
Mixed (White & Black Caribbean)
Other (Vietnamese)
White (White - British)
White (White - Irish)
Religion
Buddhist
Christian
Hindu
Muslim
Not Stated
Disability
Y
(blank)
1 (10%)
1 (10%)
1 (10%)
1 (10%)
1 (10%)
4 (40%)
1 (10%)
1 (10%)
6 (60%)
1 (10%)
1 (10%)
1 (10%)
1 (10%)
9 (90%)
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Equality Impact Assessment
Equalities profile of staff
(Indicate profile by target groups and assess relevance to policy aims and objectives e.g.
Workforce to Reflect the Community. Identify staff responsible for delivering the service
including where they are not directly employed by the council).
STAFF GROUP 22 July 2008 – TOTAL 45
Age
25-29 5 (11%)
30-39 15 (33%)
40-49 17 (38%)
50-59 7 (16%)
60+ 1 (2%)
Gender
F 30 (67%)
M 15 (33%)
Ethnicity
4 (9%)
Asian (Bangladeshi)
1 (2%)
Asian (Indian)
7 (16%)
Black (Caribbean)
8 (18%)
Black (Other)
11 (24%)
Black (Other African)
Mixed (White & Black Caribbean) 1 (2%)
1 (2%)
Mixed (White & Asian)
8 (18%)
White (White - English)
1 (2%)
White (White - Irish)
1 (2%)
White (White - Other)
2 (4%)
Missing
Religion
22 (49%)
Christian
1 (2%)
Muslim
1 (2%)
Other
4 (9%)
None
5 (11%)
Decline to State
12 (27%)
Not Stated (blank)
Disability
28 (62%)
Y
13 (29%)
Declined to State
4 (9%)
Not Stated (blank)
Evidence of Complaints against the service on grounds of discrimination
(Is there any evidence of complaints either from customers or staff (Grievance) as to the
delivery of the service, or its operation, on the equality target groups?)
There is no evidence of any complaints or grievances.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Barriers
(What are the potential or known barriers to participation for the different equality target
groups?)
The age range of the looked after children accommodated is restricted by the registration
criteria, and is children from 12 upwards, therefore this is a barrier which cannot be
overcome. The legislation and standards prefers young people under 12 to be
accommodated in foster care, this is accepted as good practice and the Council supports
this practice principle.
A barrier which was identified was including young Bengali women in our service, this was
helped by setting up the Outreach Team who work alongside families.
The proportion of young women seeking accommodation in the 14 and 15 year old age
group has increased.
There are cultural issues about the generation of young Bangladeshi adolescents not
accepting the traditional formalities of family life and expectations associated with that.
These can be problematic when working with families.
Recent consultation exercises carried out
(Detail consultation with relevant interest groups, other public bodies, voluntary
organisations, community groups, trade unions, focus groups and other groups, surveys and
questionnaires undertaken etc. Focus in particular on the findings of views expressed by the
equality target groups)
Conference on young Bangladeshi women at risk: feedback showed intense concern in the
community about sexual exploitation of young Bangladeshi women. (See appendix)
Weekly children’s homes residents’ meetings
Weekly staff meetings
Away days with staff group
Worked with young people on a film about life in east London
Findings from these meetings are included in this EQIA and are mainly about their worries
about their lives.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Identify areas where more information may be needed and the action taken to obtain
this data.
(You will need to consider data that is monitored but not reported, data that could be
monitored but is not currently collected and data that is not currently monitored and would be
impossibly/extremely difficult to collect).
Gaps in information:
Not every young person who could benefit from the service is necessarily known to us. We
have no information about young people who may be in need of the service but have not
made contact with it or with whom contact has not been made. The service does rely on
referrals to Children’s Services and the assessment of colleagues in Advice and Assessment
as to the child and family meeting the threshold for services.
This relates to a problem for the service engaging with young people and their families early
enough, before the situation develops into an emergency, there are occasions when it would
have been beneficial to engage with a family before a crisis occurs.
Action needed:
(Include short-term measures to be taken to provide a baseline where no or little information
is available)
Build up links with Advice and Assessment teams, with a view to getting them to include
consultation with the adolescent resource centre in as part of the core assessment. Our
services are not infinite and the threshold we worked on was the Threshold of Care meeting
which is set up by colleagues in ART.
There are good links with colleagues in Access to Resources who act as brokers and make
the decisions about available placements this needs to be constantly reviewed.
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Equality Impact Assessment
SECTION 3
ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT
Race – testing of disproportionate or adverse impact
Identify the effect of the policy on different race groups from information available
above.
The 2005 residential review identified a gap in service provision for young Bangladeshi
women. The outreach service has assisted with the take up of services from this sector of
the community and will continue to do so.
How is the race target group reflected in the take up of the service?
As the figures in section 2 show, numbers of Bangladeshi residents who use the service are
low, but the outreach service’s user-group was 48% Bangladeshi in July. We do not have
yearly figures, our stats are not included on management information, this needs to be a
recommendation for the future.
In August 35% of outreach service-users were Bangladeshi females.
From the evidence above does the policy affect, or have the potential to affect, racial
groups differently and if so do any of the differences amount to adverse impact or
unlawful discrimination?
We have no evidence that the service has any unlawful or adverse effect.
If there is an adverse impact, can it be justified on the grounds of promoting equality
of opportunity for one racial group or for another legitimate reason?
We have worked to bridge the identified gap in service provision for young Bangladeshi
Women.
Could the policy discriminate, directly or indirectly and if so is it justifiable under
legislation?
The service does rely on referrals to Children’s Services and the assessment of colleagues
in Advice and Assessment as to the child and family meeting the threshold for services. We
provide the service in an inclusive way to children from any ethnic group.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Gender – testing of disproportionate or adverse impact
Identify the effect of the policy on gender groups from information available above.
A study of children and young people becoming looked-after (CYP BLA) in the borough in
3 six-month periods in 2006, 2007 and 2008 found the trend was an increase in the overall
number of CYP BLA, but also the changing nature of the cohort towards older (13-17) CYP
BLA. Most of the increases were among older Bangladeshi CYP, especially Bangladeshi
females, with a slightly smaller increase in Bangladeshi adolescent males. Concurrently,
there was a reduction in both the number and percentage of younger CYP BLA. Though it
needs to be noted that overall when taking into consideration all ages of Bangladeshi CYP
they are still likely to be underrepresented compared to their numbers with their population
profile within Tower Hamlets.
How are the gender groups reflected in the take up of the service?
July snapshot:
Outreach:
F – 61%
M – 39%
Residential:
F - 80%
M – 20%
Service as a whole:
F – 65%
M – 35%
From the evidence above does the policy affect, or have the potential to affect, gender
groups differently and if so do any of the differences amount to adverse impact or
unlawful discrimination?
Our evidence shows that we have been able to increase the services offered to young
females in Bangladeshi families. Our service has always been able to offer services to all
sectors of the community and we continue to do this. Our outreach service now has some
more groups in the day for Art work and other social events and this is proving good at
keeping children in touch with the service.
If there an adverse impact, can it be justified on the grounds of promoting equality of
opportunity for one gender group or for another legitimate reason?
The opportunities for one gender group have not been promoted, but sometimes areas of
need in the community become more apparent when services are offered that meet the need
as we now offer work in the community.
Could the policy discriminate, directly or indirectly and if so is it justifiable under
legislation?
The service does rely on referrals to Children’s Services and the assessment of colleagues
in Advice and Assessment as to the child and family meeting the threshold for services. We
provide the service in an inclusive way to children of any gender.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Disability – testing of disproportionate or adverse impact
Identify the effect of the policy on the disability strand from information available
above
The integrated disability service, rather than the adolescent resource centre, deals with
disabled children and young people. Our residential provision is not designed or intended to
provide for children with physical disabilities, sensory impairments, long term illness or
severe learning difficulties
The adolescent resource centre has, however, provided a service to some children with
education learning difficulties.
How are disabled people reflected in the take up of the service?
The service has not dealt with disabled children apart from, in the past, a number of children
with educational learning difficulties.
From the evidence above does the policy affect, or have the potential to affect,
disability groups differently and if so do any of the differences amount to adverse
impact or unlawful discrimination?
We do not believe this differential effect is unlawful because the service is part of a larger
service, children’s social care, which as a whole is designed to meet the needs of all local
children in need, including children with disabilities.
If there is an adverse impact, can it be justified on the grounds of promoting equality
of opportunity for one group or for another legitimate reason?
See above.
Could the policy discriminate, directly or indirectly and if so is it justifiable under
legislation?
See above.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Age – testing of disproportionate or adverse impact
Identify the effect of the policy on different age groups from information available
above.
12-16 is the age group addressed by the service. Older and younger children are not dealt
with by this service and their needs are met by other means within Children’s Social Care.
The legislation is very clear about the preference for children under 12 to be dealt with in a
family setting.
Within the adolescent resource centre’s prescribed age-range there is a good spread of
provision.
How are young and old people reflected in the take up of the service?
July snaphot:
Outreach
11 – 1 (3%)
12 – 1 (3%)
13 – 2 (6%)
14 – 9 (27%)
15 – 15 (45%)
16 – 4 (12%)
17 – 1 (3%)
Residential
14 - 1 (10%)
15 - 5 (50%)
16 - 2 (20%)
17 - 2 (20%)
From the evidence above does the policy affect, or have the potential to affect, age
groups differently and if so do any of the differences amount to adverse impact or
unlawful discrimination?
As with disabled children, we do not believe this differential effect is unlawful because the
service is part of a larger service, children’s social care, which as a whole is designed to
meet the needs of all local children in need, including children outside the adolescent
resource centre’s age-range.
If there is an adverse impact, can be justified on the grounds of promoting equality of
opportunity for one group or for another legitimate reason?
See above.
Could the policy discriminate, directly or indirectly, and if so is it justifiable under
legislation?
See above.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Lesbian, gay bisexual – testing of disproportionate or adverse impact
Identify the effect of the policy on lesbian, gay and bisexual (LBG) groups from
information available above.
Sexuality of service-users is not monitored. The service is exempt from the requirement to
gather this data, this was questioned within our staff team and we had an interesting
discussion about the discrimination that could result. We were able to assure each other
that the issues of sexuality would be dealt with in link work sessions.
How are LBG groups reflected in the take up of the service?
See above.
From the evidence above does the policy affect, or have the potential to affect LBG
groups differently and if so do any of the differences amount to adverse impact or
unlawful discrimination?
See above.
If there is an adverse impact which, can it be justified on the grounds of promoting
equality of opportunity for one group or for another legitimate reason?
See above.
Could the policy discriminate, directly or indirectly and if so is it justifiable under
legislation?
The service does rely on referrals to Children’s Services and the assessment of colleagues in
Advice and Assessment as to the child and family meeting the threshold for services. We
provide the service in an inclusive way to children of any sexual orientation.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Religion/Belief – testing of disproportionate or adverse impact
Identify the effect of the policy on different religious/belief groups from information
available above.
Previously Bangladeshi young women were under-represented among service-users. The
provision of the outreach service has enabled the Adolescent resource Centre to reach out
to more young Muslim people as we have been able to work with the families.
How are the religious/belief groups reflected in the take up of the service?
There is a wide spread of religious beliefs in the user group.
July snapshot:
Outreach
Muslim - 17 (52%)
None – 14 (42%)
Christian – 2 (6%)
Residential
Buddhist - 1 (10%)
Christian - 6 (60%)
Hindu - 1 (10%)
Muslim - 1 (10%)
Not Stated - 1 (10%)
From the evidence above does the policy affect, or have the potential to affect,
religious or belief groups differently and if so do any of the differences amount to
adverse impact or unlawful discrimination?
We do not believe the evidence suggest that the service affects groups differently, now that
the issue of Bangladeshi young women has been addressed through the development of the
outreach service.
If there is an adverse impact, can it be justified on the grounds of promoting equality
of opportunity for one group or for another legitimate reason?
See above.
Could the policy discriminate, directly or indirectly, and if so is it justifiable under
legislation?
See above.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Health Impact – testing of disproportionate or adverse impact
Identify the effect of the policy on physical or mental health of service users and the
wider community from any information that is available. (This might include an
increased risk to health for some groups in the community, which although not
intended, may have still occurred. The impact on health might include: increased
mental stress, greater risk of accident or injury, reduced opportunities to have a
quality diet, reduced opportunity for physical exercise, or greater incidence of
diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. )
There are specific health targets for looked after children, these are supported through






In house weekly plans
Visits from LAC nurse
Booking of all health appointments which are recorded.
Working with colleagues in social work
Indirect promotions through healthy eating and health and safety in the building
Work with the local drugs awareness service
Help4U, the service within the child and adolescent mental health service dedicated to
looked-after children, supports the staff group and foster carers and also individually
provides family therapy and other therapeutic services to looked-after children.
From the evidence above does the policy affect, or have the potential to affect the
health of groups differently? If so, which groups and how does the impact occur?
The group of looked after children is well served by health services. The only impact is when
the young people refuse to participate in the services provided and in this case the staff
teams continue to support the young people to attend appointments.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Additional groups which may experience a disproportionate or adverse
impact
Identify if there are groups, other than those already considered, that may be adversely
affected by the policy?
For example those in poverty may be adversely impacted by the policy and it might be useful
to consider them as a separate group in the light of the Council’s overall policy objectives.
This service only deals with children who are looked after or at risk, not those from the wider
community.
The recent Joint Area Review (JAR) highlighted that as our outreach service expands it
needs to build up links with health and education services for looked-after children.
Additional factors which may influence disproportionate or adverse
impact
Management Arrangements
(How is the Service managed, are there any management arrangements which may have a
disproportionate impact on the equality target groups?)
Not evidenced through this EIA
What is the custom and practice in the provision or allocation of this service?
(Could these have a disproportionate impact on the equality target groups?)
The allocation and referral is through our assessment process and is governed by
legislation.
The Access to Resources team (ART) is the placement-brokering service within Children’s
Social Care and was commended in the JAR.
The Process of Service Delivery
(In particular look at the arrangements for the service being provided).
There are always improvements to be made in this area, and extending our community
working would be an advantage. As previously stated, our outreach work was developed to
meet the needs sectors of the community whose children were on the brink of care..
Operation Times
(When is the service provided; are there seasonal issues; are there barriers to the service
based on the time and delivery of the service which may affect the target groups?)
It is a 24 hour service.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Methods of communication to the public and internally
(What methods do you use to communicate this service? Include review and assessment of
methods, media, translations, interpretation etc. bearing in mind the extent to which these
media forms are accessible to all sections of the community)
We are part of the corporate communication process, and there are many reasons
why we keep the addresses of the children’s homes private.
Externally
Leaflets available in libraries etc explain children’s social care services.
Internally
Intranet. Presentations to management groups, staff groups and individual teams.
Awareness of Service by Local People
(Assessment of the extent to which local people are aware of the service based on available
data. What measures do you undertake to reach traditionally excluded communities?)
N/A
Evidence of disproportionate or adverse impact
(Is there any evidence or view that suggests that different equality, or other, target groups in
the community have either a disproportionately high or low take up/impact of/from this
service/function?)
yes 
no 
If yes, what and why (State below)
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Equality Impact Assessment
SECTION 4
MEASURES TO MITIGATE DISPROPORTIONATE OR
ADVERSE IMPACT
Specify measures that can be taken to remove or minimise the disproportionate
impact or adverse effect identified at the end of Section 3. If none were identified in
Section 3, identify how disproportionate impact or adverse effect could be avoided in
the future. (Consider measures to mitigate any adverse impact and better achieve the
promotion of equality of opportunity).
The adolescent resource centre will continue to develop its outreach service as a flexible and
dynamic method of supporting children and their families, preventing children becoming looked-after
where possible and appropriate, and identifying children in need of looked-after services in timely
fashion, whatever part of the community they come from.
The adolescent resource centre will utilise research to achieve the best possible outcomes for all
sections of the community.
The minutes of the recent conference which the service participated in are attached.
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Equality Impact Assessment
SECTION 5
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Does the policy comply with equalities legislation, including the duty to promote race
equality? Take into account your findings from the impact assessment and consultations
and explain how the policy was decided upon its intended effects and its benefits.)
yes 
no 
What are the main areas requiring further attention?
Further development of the outreach team
Increase flexibility of children’s homes
Working with colleagues to return children to home.
Summary of recommendations for improvement
Increase the capacity of the outreach team.
Development plans for children’s homes
Continuous vigilance through supervision, staff meetings and other forums of the value base
and the attitudes of individuals and teams.
How will the results of the IA feed into the performance planning process?
Monitoring gender and cultural balance of the staff group to ensure it reflects the community.
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Equality Impact Assessment
Future Monitoring and Consultation
How and when will the policy be monitored?



Independent visitors
External inspections (4 unannounced per year, i.e. 2 for each children’s home; monthly reports by
independent person)
Health and safety inspections
Suggested consultation for the future.
(Identify areas for future consultation and any barriers to participation in consultation with
proposals to overcome these).
Residents’ meetings
Management forum
Staff forum
Working with Help4U (a consultation day in July 08 will be repeated in future)
See minutes attached of the forums which we have attended
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Equality Impact Assessment
SECTION 6 – ACTION PLAN
Recommendation
Maximise health outcomes
for service users
Key activity
Ensure young people
attend health related
appointments
Support hobbies and a
healthy lifestyle
Progress milestones
Ensure that staff act
promptly if there are any
signs of health issues with
the young people.
Diary appointments and
ensure the young person
attends, accompanying
them where appropriate.
Work in conjunction with
families and carers.
Support young people in
preparation for a healthy
adulthood.
Ensure that young
people’s mental and
emotional well being is
promoted.
All staff to work closely
with CAMHS both in
relation to referrals and
advice.
Minimise adverse impact due
to ethnicity/ gender
Actively participate in
supporting vulnerable
young women (Asian).
Outreach team to work in
close conjunction with
Sapphire Team, schools,
Street Matters and
families/carers.
Work alongside the outreach
team to work with vulnerable
young women.
Young people make a
positive choice not to get
involved in bullying
behaviour.
To prevent groups of
young women becoming
accommodated.
To keep the young people
safe from bullying or
discrimination
Ensure all young people
are aware of our bullying
procedures.
To provide a safe forum
for the young people to
discuss any issues.
To display poster relating
Officer Responsible
Progress
Maria Best 12 Norman Grove
Jenny Howe 89 Bishops Way
Pauline Mcgeeney,
Lorraine James
Eileen Mcgeeney
Maria Best
Jenny Howe
Eileen Mcgeeney,
Deputy Outreach
Maria Best
Jenny Howe
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Equality Impact Assessment
to this topic
Staff to liaise with the
schools regarding any
suspicion of
bullying/intimidation/discri
mination.
Any form of discrimination
to be challenged
appropriately
Communication and
consultation with schools.
To support young people to
be part of the decision
making though the use of
formal and informal systems.
Young people to
participate in decision
making
Young people to take part
in, resident’s meetings,
link work sessions, PEPS
and other meetings
involving them.
To promote a good physical
environment, that it is
comfortable and cosy.
Young people to become
engaged in the process of
a clean and welcoming
environment.
Contribute to making a
clean and welcoming
environment to live in.
Young people to choose
the décor and furnishings
for their rooms.
And that it reflects the same
characteristics as a family
home.
That is also warm and with Using the food to
good food.
contribute to our
understanding of different
cultures and festivities.
Deputies,
Pauline Greenaway
Lorraine
All staff
Cooks and deputies through
supervision.
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Equality Impact Assessment
To continue to closely
monitor placement stability
and work to prevent
placement breakdown
improve placement choice
and links with the community
The EIA has shown that
there is very little recording
of the work of the outreach
team on our information
system framework i and
there outcomes are not
included in our management
reporting.
Monitoring of placements
where there are concerns
that placements may
break down.
Decision making at a
corporate level about how
to process map the work
done by outreach and
have it added to
framework I
The children’s homes also do
not have access to the
To include the children’s
information systems to
homes in the recording
record, ( Managers have
systems for the authority
read only access)
Reduction in the number
of placements breaking
down, reduction in the
number of agency
placements.
Victoria Buchanan
That this piece of work
becomes part of the
framework I
implementation plan
Victoria Buchanan / Hilary Bull
That this piece of work
becomes part of the
implementation of the
framework I plan.
Victoria Buchanan / Hilary Bull
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