Agenda item

The Participation and Engagement Officer, Lee Peacock and Service Manager, Lesley Baldry, presented a report and delivered a presentation on the findings of the Care Leavers’ Annual Survey (for copy of report and presentation see file of minutes). 

The officers informed the Panel that the survey, which was caried out between February and March 2024, reported care leavers’ views regarding the support they receive, including what they feel is working well and areas for improvement. Young Person’s Advisers (YPAs) assisted to ensure the survey reached as many young people as possible, which resulted in a 22% return of completed surveys. 

Ninety-five percent of those surveyed said their YPA did what they said they would do and the results of the survey reflected the findings of the recent Ofsted inspection of the Care Leavers’ Service.  Areas highlighted for improvement included that some young people were unsure how to access their health summary. It was also found that some young people felt there could be more support to understand why they could not live with their family and some felt the transition from being supported by a Social Worker to being supported by a YPA requires further development.

The Vice-Chair, Councilor Walton, asked what action was being taken to improve the support for young people during the transition from Social Worker to YPA and the Service Manager replied that the offer had been extended to enable young people access to YPAs from the earlier age of sixteen.

In response to a further question from the Vice-Chair as to the support for young people to understand why it is not possible to live with their family, the Participation and Engagement Officer explained that a young person’s understanding of their circumstances can be subject to a number of factors.  He stressed the importance of ensuring the conversation continues throughout a young person’s pathway as their ability to process information develops.  The Vice-Chair pointed out that frequent changes of Social Worker may hinder the ongoing conversation and officers reassured the Panel that the service places great emphasis on life-story work and Later Life Letters may be written for young people, by their Social Workers, to help the young person to understand their past, present and future.

Luke echoed the comments on the importance of the consistent narrative, and he added that dialogue between young people and their carers to plan for the future should start as early as possible, to prepare young people for the transition.

Jo McCarthy, Deputy Designated Nurse for Safeguarding Children and newly appointed Co-opted Member introduced herself to the Panel and she welcomed further discussions as to how health practitioners may assist the service with access to health summaries, for example, whether the NHS app may be utilised. She also commented that she was looking forward to sharing information on the health offer for Durham care leavers, including those care leavers who live outside the county, to ensure that any gaps in provision are addressed. 

Luke suggested that it would be useful to have a breakdown on how many young people are benefiting from the support available within the local offer, to identify what support is having the most impact. The Service Manager agreed that there was more work to be done to understand not only how many care leavers are aware of the local offer but also how many are making use of the support.

The Panel noted that a similar survey is being developed for those under the age of eighteen and its progress will be reported at a future meeting. 

Resolved:

That the recommendations contained in the report be agreed.