Corporate Parenting
Jayne Ivory
Cath Pealing
Joanne Hiley
Levels of responsibility
• Universal - all councillors should
– Understand the legal/ policy framework
– Know the profile of local children – and how well they are doing
– Consider the needs of looked after children in all decisions
• Targeted – councillors with relevant role e.g.
member of scrutiny committee or Corporate
Parenting
– Consider the effectiveness of local arrangements
– Consider range of evidence in order to identify what needs to change
• Specialist – councillors with leadership role should
– Constantly drive improvements to the service
– Make sure that the needs of looked after children are incorporated in all
council/ partner strategies
– Keep up to date with research findings and new initiatives
(NCB 2013 Presentation)
Confident Place, Confident People.
Aims and Objectives
• At the end of this briefing you will have a greater
understanding of your role and responsibilities as a
Corporate Parent.
• To understand the needs of children looked after and
care leavers.
• To have an awareness of the specific role you can play
in ensuring good outcomes for children looked after and
care leavers in Wigan.
Confident Place, Confident People.
Children repeatedly tell us..
They want to be cared about, not just
cared for
– ‘We’re not treated like children, we’re a case’
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Differences from other children
Having care plans, meetings and
case files
Bureaucratic processes for
‘permission’
Being treated differently at school
Leaving care early to live on your
own
Moving from place to place
Multiple professionals and
disrupted relationships
(from: Having Corporate Parents Children’s Rights Director)
Confident Place, Confident People.
Memories and someone who
made a difference to you
Please write down 3 really pleasant/positive
childhood memories you have:
1. As a young child at home with
siblings/parents
2. As a child at primary school
3. Of a person that inspired you in school/at
home/in college
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What Ofsted found …
• In LAs where services were effective, they found:
Articulation of the leadership, ambition and
objectives for looked after children
• In these authorities the corporate parenting
board:
– demonstrated a strong cross-party commitment to
looked after children, championing their rights, having
high aspirations for them and monitoring their
progress
– planned for and prioritised the needs of looked after
children, resulting in a greater focus on improving
outcomes
– actively engaged with their young people
Confident Place, Confident People.
A focus on outcomes
• Identify needs – and
priorities
• Decide what outcomes
you want to achieve
• Commission services to
achieve those outcomes
• Review to see if they
have been effective
• Ongoing process … led
by elected members
Confident Place, Confident People.
Inspection from April 2013
• Four year cycle by Ofsted and CQC
• Bringing together all looked after services,
adoption and fostering
• Less focus on data, more on quality of care and
child’s ‘journey’
• Explicit focus on leadership and governance
– Role of lead member and chief executive
– How corporate parents oversee specific aspects e.g.
children missing from care, out of authority
placements, sufficiency, meaningful relationships
– Corporate parenting arrangements, including
response to NHS reforms, commissioning
Confident Place, Confident People.
The ‘so what’ test
• Corporate parenting boards get information but this may
not always be meaningful
– Statistics with no context, such as comparison with past
performance/ other councils/ the local population
– Reports that only include the good news ... or offer no analysis/
explanation
– All statistics and nothing about quality
• Need to take control and ask for helpful information
• Look at multiple sources of information
– Performance data
– Children’s views – and frontline staff/carers
– Supporting data e.g. analysis of complaints, IRO report
Confident Place, Confident People.
Working with children and
young people
• Children and young people should have a voice
in:
– All decisions that affect them as individuals
– The service as a whole
• Children in care councils work best if they have
– Good links with DCS and elected members
– Terms of reference (A National Voice report)
• Corporate parents must
– Set up effective working relationship with LAC e.g.
representation on corporate parenting board
– Make sure other children are also heard
– Develop a Pledge that goes beyond rhetoric
Confident Place, Confident People.
So where are Wigan up to?
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Lead Officers Group – membership
Corporate Parenting events
Scrutiny arrangements
SLAC Inspection & Action Plan
Corporate Parenting Strategy
Pledge
Engagement
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How are our children doing in
education?
• Treat CLA data with caution
– Low pupil numbers
– Less significance
– Above average rates of SEN (especially
within secondary)
• Outcome focused
– Local Authority is measured on attainment
– Progression is still key
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Key Stage 2
• Attainment
– Fantastic year in 2011
– Slightly below average in 2012
– Progress still strong
• Trajectory
– Concerning (based on our available tracking
data)
• 44% in 2013
• 30% in 2014
Confident Place, Confident People.
Key Stage 4 (GCSE)
• Attainment
– Two disappointing years (2011 & 2012)
– Attainment at just 7% (2 children)
• Trajectory
– Very positive (based on our available tracking
data)
• 24% in 2013
• 29% in 2014
Confident Place, Confident People.
CLA Performance
• Raising the bar
– Better outcomes
– High quality information
– Intelligence-led focus
– Continuous
Confident Place, Confident People.
Corporate Parenting
• Improving the role of the • A good corporate parent
must offer everything that
corporate Parent is key
a good parent would
to improving the
including stability
outcomes for children in
• It must address both the
care
difficulties which children
in care experience & the
• It is with the corporate
challenges of parenting
parent that responsibility
within a complex system
of different services
& accountability for the
wellbeing and future
• Equally, it is important
prospects of children in
that children have a
chance to shape &
care ultimately rest
influence the parenting
they receive
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What Health Means to Me
•Running and Playing
•Being with my friends
•On my bike and exercise
•Eating food, fruit
•Sleeping at night and good dreams
13 year old boy participating in National Children’s Bureau
Health Project 1999
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The NHS
• Major role in ensuring timely & effective
delivery of health services to looked after
children
• To have systems & processes in place to
actively track and target their health needs
• Ensure access to universal services as well as
targeted & specialist services
• The contribution of the NHS is crucial to
ensuring the L.A fulfil their responsibilities of
corporate parenting
Confident Place, Confident People.
L.A.C View of Health
Rarely perceive health as a matter of access
to health services
The most important things are:
• Feelings about life
• Housing situation
• Having close personal relationships
• Their care experience
• Depression
Confident Place, Confident People.
Health of LAC - Reality
•More childhood infections
•Routine immunisations often incomplete
•Medical/hospital appointments missed
•Common problems such as eyesight and
hearing problems missed or overlooked
•More undetected tooth decay
•More concerns about substance use,
teenage pregnancy, homelessness
•More mental health problems
•National Children's Bureau (1999) Improving the health of children
children and young people in
public care
Confident Place, Confident People.
Your pledge to our children
• Please write a comment/statement on the
card provided to say what you will do to
improve the lives of the children in care to
Wigan.
Confident Place, Confident People.
Thank you for your time
and attention.
Questions and Answers