Minutes:
The following update was provided by the Children in Care Council:
· Work is continuing on the development of an Independent Living Skills pack, with discussions being held with foster carers, staff from the Children and Families teams, and, the SEND service. The Head of Children’s Social Care requested that the information gathered be shared with her, to enable the service to progress this project.
· Young people participated in an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) team away day to air their views on meetings and care plans. Young people have expressed that they would like care plans and meetings to have a more positive focus and that they would like their views on matters such as who should be present at meetings, to be given due consideration. The away day was a great success and the IROs commented on how impressive the young people were. As a result, information had been included in the IRO business plan and further meetings are being planned. The Chair welcomed this positive step and the Head of Children’s Social Care added that consideration will be given to inviting the young people and IROs to a future panel meeting, to provide an update on service developments as a result of young people’s feedback.
· At a recent meeting with the Chief Executive, the young people talked about the Blue Light Card, which offers discounts to those working for the emergency services, and, discounts offered to some 6th form college students. The young people suggested that similar incentives would be useful for looked after children, to help develop their money-management skills and promote independence. The young people reported that the Chief Executive and the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People are supportive of the idea. The Head of Children’s Social Care agreed to look at the suggestion, adding that it may be that the Freedom Card could be developed further, to extend the offer.
· At a recent meeting with the Full Circle team, the young people discussed the possibility of helping to design therapy session rooms. This would bring additional benefit for the young people as it would provide them with the opportunity to be involved in a real project which could be included on their CVs. Discussions have been held to look at the refurbishment of the Family Time room at Wheatley Hill Family Centre with a design around an interactive space. The Head of Children’s Social Care informed members that this is the seventh room undergoing refurbishment using monies donated from the members’ small grants funds. The Head of Children’s Social Care clarified that Family Time rooms were formerly known as Contact rooms however the name was changed following feedback from the young people who requested that more positive terms be used. In a similar way, Risk Assessment forms are now called Safety Plans, changing the emphasis from negative to positive. The Chair commented on the new terminology being a culture change adding that this is an example of the how important it is that the young people challenge services if they feel that improvements could be made.
· On 8 January, teacher training will be held for designated leads for looked after children in secondary schools.
· The young people have requested that more work is done to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation, so that all services that young people may come into contact with can offer guidance on how to stay safe, as a preventative measure.
· Some liaison work has been done with Durham University, to link the Children in Care Council with student volunteers. The Chair emphasised the importance of linking with the university and it was agreed that a letter would be sent to the Vice Chancellor to initiate conversations to explore how the university could support the Corporate Parenting Panel to achieve the best possible outcomes for our children and young people. The panel noted that the new Head of the Virtual School has been appointed, and, the Corporate Parenting Panel’s education representatives are members of the Virtual School Sub-Group.
· The Children in Care Council is aiming to have fifteen young people accredited to deliver training in 2020.
· It was reported that the recent foster carer training went well with foster carers reporting that they were inspired by the young people.
· Some of the young people have discussed developing an emergency comfort pack for those young people who are taken into emergency accommodation without any of their belongings. The Head of Children’s Social Care pointed out that the instances of children and young people being taken into emergency care with none of their belongings are very rare as a lot of work has taken place to ensure these situations are well managed.
The Annual Health Report was taken as the next item of business.