Implementing a model of corporate parenting
A self-audit and analysis tool
Reproduced from Putting Corporate Parenting into Practice – A toolkit for Councils
(page 69-88)
© National Children’s Bureau 2008
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Introduction
Each children’s services authority is currently subject to an annual performance assessment under the arrangements for inspection
introduced by Every Child Matters. Self-assessment is an important element of the process and an electronic means of collecting and
analysing the relevant data has been developed: the ‘children’s annual performance assessment dataset’. This allows councils to consider
their performance on key indicators and to make comparisons with their past performance, with that of other councils and against national
data. Some of these indicators relate specifically to looked after children and care-leavers.
To avoid duplication, these indicators will not be repeated here. It is suggested that key members and officers build on the information
gathered from the children’s annual performance assessment dataset and the following additional questions to evaluate the effectiveness of
their corporate parenting – ranging from governance arrangements and performance data to more qualitative measures. This will highlight
areas where attention is needed to improve the service and it is suggested that each topic should form the basis of regular reports to the
corporate parenting group and be reflected in a corporate parenting action plan. It is also suggested that an annual summary should be
presented to the full council.
1. Being healthy
What are the key health issues for looked after children and care-leavers arising from the children’s annual performance assessment
dataset?
Issue
Comment
Action
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Additional questions
What is the number/percentage of looked after children
under five with up-to-date developmental assessments?
What is the number/percentage of looked after children and
care-leavers registered with a GP?
Do you have fast-track access for looked after children with
mental health difficulties to child and adolescent mental
health services (CAMHS)?
Does/do your PCT(s) have a designated doctor for looked
after children and care-leavers?
Does/do your PCT(s) have a designated nurse for looked
after children and care-leavers?
Are your looked after children and care-leavers satisfied
with the healthcare and advice they receive?
Action
How well are you doing in comparison with:
Your past performance?
Other comparable local authorities?
England data for looked after children and care-leavers?
Council data on all children?
Comment
?
Comment
Better
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Worse
About the same
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Yes
Partly
No
Are you satisfied that your looked after children and careleavers are healthy?
If not, what are the problems?
Are there particular groups with poor experiences or outcomes (for example, particular age groups, children from black and other minority
ethnic groups, disabled children, children placed out of authority, children in particular placements or types of placement)?
What needs to happen to improve the health of looked after children and care-leavers?
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2. Staying safe
What are the key safeguarding issues for looked after children and care-leavers arising from the children’s annual performance assessment
dataset?
Issue
Comment
Action
Additional questions
Numbers of allegations of abuse about looked after children
and care-leavers?
Within which placements?
?
Comment
Numbers of child protection investigations undertaken on
looked after children and care-leavers?
Within which placements?
Numbers of looked after children and care-leavers on the
Child Protection Register?
Numbers of looked after children and care-leavers who run
away or go missing from their placements?
Which placements are they missing from?
Numbers of looked after children and care-leavers who are
physically restrained?
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Within which placements?
Number of complaints made by/about looked after children
and care-leavers?
Within which placements?
What is the average time that Criminal Records Bureau
(CRB) checks are taking?
Are any staff without CRB checks working with looked after
children and care-leavers?
Do your looked after children and care-leavers feel safe?
Action
How well are you doing in comparison with:
Your past performance?
Other comparable local authorities?
England data for looked after children and care-leavers?
Council data on all children?
Comment
Better
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Worse
About the same
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Yes
Partly
No
Are you satisfied that your looked after children and careleavers are safe?
If not, what are the problems?
Are there particular groups with poor experiences or outcomes (for example, particular age groups, children from black and other minority
ethnic groups, disabled children, children placed out of authority, children in particular placements or types of placement)?
What needs to happen to improve the safety of looked after children and care-leavers?
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3. Enjoying and achieving
What are the key issues relating to enjoying and achieving relevant to looked after children and care-leavers arising from the children’s
annual performance assessment dataset?
Issue
Comment
Action
Additional questions
Numbers/percentage of looked after children who:
Have a statement of special educational needs?
Are permanently excluded from school?
Are without a school place?
Educational attainment of looked after children compared
with their peers at:
Early years?
Key stage 1?
Key stage 2?
Key stage 3?
Who sat GCSE/gnvqs?
GCSE/GNVQ passes/grades?
What percentage of looked after children are in schools with
a designated teacher?
What percentage of looked after children are in schools on
special measures/with serious weaknesses?
?
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Comment
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What percentage of looked after children are engaged in out
of school activities, including sport and music?
What percentage of looked after children and care-leavers
have leisure cards or equivalent?
Is there a clear strategy in place for implementing the duty
to promote the educational achievement of looked after
children?
How satisfied are your looked after children and careleavers with the support they are getting to enjoy life and
achieve?
Action
How well are you doing in comparison with:
Your past performance?
Other comparable local authorities?
England data for looked after children and care-leavers?
Council data on all children?
Comment
Better
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Worse
About the same
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Yes
Partly
No
Can you be satisfied that your looked after children and
care-leavers are enjoying life and achieving their potential?
If not, what are the problems?
Are there particular groups with poor experiences or outcomes (for example, particular age groups, children from black and other minority
ethnic groups, disabled children, children placed out of authority, children in particular placements or types of placement)?
What needs to happen to improve the enjoyment and achievements of looked after children and care-leavers?
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4. Making a positive contribution
What are issues relating to looked after children and care-leavers making a positive contribution arising from the children’s annual
performance assessment dataset?
Issue
Comment
Action
Additional questions
What number/% of looked after children are in:
Foster care: within local authority?
Foster care: outside local authority?
Children’s home: within local authority?
Children’s home: outside local authority?
Secure unit?
Hostels and other supportive residential placements?
Residential schools?
Other residential settings?
Remanded or sentenced to custody?
Other – specify?
How many children are waiting for an adoptive placement?
What is the age and profile of such children?
What is the average time they have been waiting?
?
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Comment
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What is the longest time they have been waiting?
What are the comparative costs of placements?
What are the comparative outcomes of placements?
How far away are the outside authority placements?
What proportion of children are placed outside the authority
because of complex needs/because of a lack of local
placements?
How many changes of school have looked after children
experienced?
How many changes of social worker have looked after
children and care-leavers experienced?
How satisfied are looked after children and care-leavers with
their opportunity to make a positive contribution?
Action
How well are you doing in comparison with:
Your past performance?
Other comparable local authorities?
England data for looked after children and care-leavers?
Council data on all children?
Comment
Better
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Worse
About the same
12
Yes
Partly
No
Are you satisfied that you are enabling looked after children
and care-leavers to make a positive contribution?
If not, what are the problems?
Are there particular groups with poor experiences or outcomes (for example, particular age groups, children from black and other minority
ethnic groups, disabled children, children placed out of authority, children in particular placements or types of placement)?
What needs to happen to enable looked after children and care-leavers to make a positive contribution?
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5. Achieving economic well-being
What are the issues relevant to looked after children and care-leavers achieving economic well-being arising from the children’s annual
performance assessment dataset?
Issue
Comment
Action
Additional questions
Numbers/percentage of care-leavers with allocated,
personal advisor?
Do you provide work placements or employment for looked
after children and care-leavers?
What do care-leavers say about the adequacy of the leaving
care allowance?
Are care-leavers generally satisfied with the standard of
?
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Comment
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their accommodation?
How many care-leavers are parents?
Do they have access to childcare?
Are care-leavers generally satisfied with the support they
receive in achieving economic well-being?
Action
How well are you doing in comparison with:
Your past performance?
Other comparable local authorities?
England data for looked after children and care-leavers?
Council data on all children?
Comment
Better
Worse
About the same
Yes
Partly
No
Are you satisfied that you are enabling looked after children
and care-leavers to achieve economic well-being?
If not, what are the problems?
Are there particular groups with poor experiences or outcomes (for example, particular age groups, children from black and other minority
ethnic groups, disabled children, children placed out of authority, children in particular placements or types of placement)?
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What needs to happen to enable looked after children and care-leavers to achieve economic well-being?
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General
Considering the above analysis, use the following template to evaluate how well you are doing in achieving beneficial outcomes for the
following categories of looked after children. This will help to identify priorities for action.
1 = poor outcomes
2 = satisfactory outcomes
3 = good outcomes
4 = excellent outcomes
Being healthy
Staying safe
Enjoying and
achieving
Making a
positive
contribution
Achieving
economic wellbeing
Birth to 4 years
5–10
11–15
16–17
18+
Black and other minority ethnic
children
Unaccompanied asylum seekers
Disabled children
Children placed out of authority
Children in residential care
Children in foster care
Children in residential schools
Children placed with family or friends
Children placed with parents
Children in custody
Other?
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Do you have access to information from research to support your decisions?
Do you have access to information from the practice of other councils to support your decisions?
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Governance and planning
Governance
Yes
Partly
No
Do you have a multi-agency corporate parenting
group?
If there is no corporate parenting group, do you have
an alternative structure for ensuring that the
corporate parenting function is exercised effectively?
Are the governance arrangements for corporate
parenting clear?
Comments
Action(s) needed
Strategic planning
Yes
Partly
No
Does the Children and Young People’s Plan consider the needs of looked after children
and care-leavers?
If so, does it include a contribution from the following?
Strategic health authority?
PCTs?
CAMHS?
Education?
Youth service/targeted youth support/Connexions?
Youth offending team?
Leisure?
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Housing?
Drug action team?
Teenage pregnancy coordinator?
Comments
Action(s) needed
Yes
Partly
No
Do you have a specific corporate parenting strategy?
If so, does it address the specific needs of:
Care-leavers?
Children placed out of authority?
Children placed at home?
Children placed with family or friends?
Younger children?
Foster children?
Children from black and other minority ethnic groups?
Disabled children?
Children involved in offending?
Carers, parents, kinship carers (to enable them to meet the needs of children)?
Comments
Action(s) needed
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Protocols
Do you have the following protocols in place for looked after children and careleavers:
Transitions:
Children transferring teams?
Children transferring local authorities?
Young people transferring to leaving care services?
Children subject to special educational needs statements?
Young people transferring to adult services?
Other transitions?
Other protocols:
The process for linking the special educational needs statement review and the
looked after children review?
Other
Comments
Yes
Partly
No
Yes
Partly
No
Action(s) needed
Case planning
Does the report from the independent reviewing service include the following information
on reviews:
The quality of looked after children reviews?
The quality of young people’s participation in looked after children reviews?
The quality of parents’ participation in looked after children reviews?
Does the report from the independent reviewing service include the following information
on care planning:
Numbers/percentage of children with up-to-date:
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Assessment?
Care plan?
Personal education plan?
Health plan?
Pathway plan?
The quality of care plans?
The quality of children’s involvement in care plans?
The quality of parents’ involvement in care plans?
Comments
Action(s) needed
Staff and carers
Yes
Partly
No
Do all the homes and schools where you place children have 80% NVQ Level 3 staff?
Do you have mechanisms for consulting residential workers and social workers?
Do you have a system for reviewing your recruitment and retention of:
Social workers?
Residential social workers?
Social work managers?
Other staff who work with looked after children?
Comments
Action(s) needed
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Yes
Partly
No
Yes
Partly
No
Do you produce reports of what percentage of foster carers in the local authority leave
each year?
Do you have mechanisms for analysing the reasons for foster carers leaving?
Do you hold celebration or other events for foster carers?
Do you hold celebration or other events for foster carers’ children?
Do you have mechanisms for consulting foster carers?
Do you have a system for reviewing the numbers and profile of foster carers?
Comments
Action(s) needed
Services
Do you have a multi-agency commissioning strategy, based on need, for services
(including placements) for looked after children and care-leavers? (Note: this will increasingly
become a feature of children’s trust arrangements.)
Do you have a system for reviewing your family support services to prevent children and
young people becoming looked after?
Do other agencies provide reports concerning service provision and outcomes?
Comments
Action(s) needed
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Reports
Yes
Partly
No
Have you got a system for producing regular reports for the corporate parenting group on
the five outcomes?
Do the reports include information from the following sources?
Annual IRO report?
Inspection reports?
Regulation 33 visits?
Feedback from looked after children and care-leavers about the overall service?
Consultation with staff and carers?
Performance data?
Fostering panel?
Adoption panel?
Placement panel?
School exclusion panels?
Special educational needs panel?
Complaints investigations?
Other?
Comments
Action(s) needed
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