Agenda item

Robert Johnson and Luke Joseph provided an update on the work of the Children in Care Council during April (for copy of presentation see file of minutes).

It was reported that the Art Stops project is continuing, through the Art and Wellbeing Café.  Luke brought along a banner which the young people had produced and he explained the young people are taking it to events and asking participants to contribute to it by adding inspirational comments, quotes and sketches. Panel Members added their contributions.

The young people are continuing to be involved in the refurbishment of family time rooms and they are also becoming involved in interviews for Family Time Workers.

During the month, Durham’s Children in Care Council hosted the North East Regional Care Council and one of the young people had met with the judges of Durham 2025 City of Culture bid, to share ideas.   Representatives met with the Chief Executive and discussed issues including support for young people impacted by domestic abuse and foster care training. 

Younger group members shared ideas for the development of a strategy by County Durham Partnership regarding growing up in County Durham.  They are also continuing their work on the ‘All About Me’ project to develop profiles to help to familiarise themselves with the adults in their circle of care.

The older group reviewed the Corporate Parenting Panel annual report and provided feedback on updates set against the priorities for 2021-22 and both the younger and older groups were involved in setting priority areas for the future. The Senior Partnerships Officer updated the Panel that, at the joint meeting held on 12 May, the young people said they would like the issue of family time to be carried forward for additional work and they suggested personalised care and staff in children’s homes and foster care should be topics for the future. The suggestions will be discussed to identify three key priority areas for focus in the annual report.

Robert Johnson, Project Manager, Investing in Children complimented the young people who had facilitated the meeting with Ofsted inspectors and he spoke of one young person with learning difficulties who had shown great courage and with peer support had been able to participate in the meeting. 

The Members commented on how much they gain from the joint events and highlighted how moved they are by the stories the young people share.  In particular, Members commented that the young people made it clear how much they value honesty from the adults around them. 

Members also discussed how they can be of benefit to the young people and commented that they may have skills that they could help the young people to develop for example arts, craft and writing skills.  The Chair spoke of how she was heartened that the young people had been fascinated to know what teenage life was like for her and Members suggested that this theme could be developed further, by the Members, who could bring photographs and items from their childhood along to events to share with the young people.

Members also noted the young people’s views regarding the use of language.  Laura Armstrong, Professional Practice Manager, explained the writing procedure ‘Language That Cares’ pledged the Council’s commitment to using clear language to enable children, young people and families to understand what is being said and written.  Panel Members commented that it would be useful to be provided with a refresh on the preferred terminology. 

The Panel spoke of their concern when hearing of one young person who had been subject to a large number of changes of social worker within a relatively short period of time and that this was of particular concern as the matter had the subject of a scrutiny review.  The Head of Early Help, Inclusion and Vulnerable Children responded that the service is in a better position in terms of staffing and stability and the quarterly performance update would provide further information.