Minutes:
The Practice Lead provided the Panel with a progress update on priority areas identified by the Children in Care Council in May, as themes for focus over a six-month period. The key priority areas identified included staffing in children’s homes and foster care, family time and personalised care.
The Panel noted work has continued with regard to the recruitment and training of children’s home staff and foster carers, including exploring ways that young people can become more engaged in the recruitment work.
Referring to Family Time, the Panel heard that as a young person moves into the Children Looked After service, family time may take place on a less structured basis. It is recognised that not all young people are the same and some young people feel more comfortable in a more structured setting and the aim is to ensue the best fit for every young person. In response to a question from the Panel, with regard to the timeframe for the new Family Time formats to be put in place, the Practice Manager highlighted that as all sessions will be manged with the young people in a different way, it is difficult to set a specific timescale, however, it is hoped that the changes will be in place within the next six months.
Improvements to personalised care aim to ensure young people are fully engaged in their pathway plans and work is being carried out to develop a scrutiny panel of care experienced young people whose experience can provide an insight into how to drive improvements.