Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 31 July 2024 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 31 July 2024 were agreed as an accurate record.

Members are invited to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and other registrable and non-registrable interests they may have in relation to any items(s) of business on today’s agenda.

There were none.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

There was none.

To receive a verbal update from the Children’s Participation Team and Children in Care Council.

The Corporate Parenting Board received an update from the Children’s Participation Team. The Children in Care Council Youth Engagement Coordinator shared a presentation in the meeting. The Board heard that the team had recently recruited a new member of staff. There were now four participation officers working with young people, and that the team was fully staffed. 

The Board also heard that the second quarterly report of the Children in Care Council (CICC) had been completed and included in the minutes (Appendix 1) The Youth Engagement Coordinator provided the following three highlights in the report:

1.    The CICC was collaborating with the Care Experienced Young People (CEYP) Service on the Staying Close Project, which would identify peer mentors with lived experience to support younger people. Two information sessions had been held with young people, and that four peer mentors were identified. Funding had been secured for this project from the Department of Education (DfE).

2.    The CICC was collaborating with CEYP and Croydon Housing Call Centre to develop a work experience programme and recruit young people for an eight-week training, with a potential full-time role being offered after the training. The programme was currently under preparation until the end of 2024, and the applicants would be interviewed in January 2025. The programme would be launched in February 2025. Up to eight young people would be recruited to the training.

3.    The CICC was collaborating with the Children’s Integrated Commissioning Team to select a Young Quality Assessor. The Young Quality Assessor would work with that team to assure the perspectives and views of 16–17-year-old young people had been considered by providers of supported accommodation for young people.

The Board heard that the team had reached out to over 900 young people with care experience through notify.gov, and that all the participants in the programme aforementioned would be young people that the team had not worked with before.

The Youth Engagement Coordinator also shared further information on the diversity in the Ambassador programme, which responded to the action below from the last meeting of the Board:

• For the Children in Care Council Co-Ordinator to provide some information on diversity in the Ambassador programme at the next meeting of the Board, including information on how this reflected the characteristics of care experienced young people in the borough.

The Board were informed about the comparison between the demographics of CICC participants and that of Children in Care (CIC) population in Croydon. The Board heard that 52% of the CICC participants were female, whereas 40% of the CIC population in the borough were female; 45% of the participants were male, comparing to 60% in the borough. 3% of the participants were non-binary, with information for the whole borough not available. The Board also heard about the racial and ethnic identity of the participants: 17% of CICC participants identified themselves as White British, comparing to an overall 21% in Croydon; 4% of the participants being Other White, comparing to 8% of the CIC population in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38/24

To receive a verbal update on the Protected Characteristic Working Group and any recommendations.

The Corporate Parenting Board received a verbal update from the Subject Matter Expert on the Protected Characteristic Working Group. The Board were informed that the Protected Characteristic Working Group had considered and reviewed all the information that had been presented to the Board. The Working Group considered three options, which were:

1.    Not to adopt protective characteristic based on the information that had been submitted and reviewed

2.    To recommend the adoption of the protective characteristic, based on the review of the Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) and reports on the outcomes from the inclusion of care experience in the EQIA framework.  To adopt a position where all EQIA’s across the council must consider the needs and impact of decisions on care experienced young people.  An evaluation of the impact of this change to be presented to the Corporate Parenting Board in a years’ time, in conjunction with further work undertaken by the Protective Characteristic working group.

3.    To adopt protective characteristic based on the existing information

The Board heard that the second option was unanimously agreed by the Working Group. The Subject Matter Expert explained that there had been conversations about the meaning of an ‘Episode of Care’ from young people or a child who came into care to then become adopted. The Working Group also discussed whether the adoption of protected characteristic should be applied to anyone with care experience in the borough or limited to the care population being looked after by the Council. The broader issue of human rights was also discussed as the implementation could imply the disclosure of the care status of the young people who might have chosen to keep the status private. This could potentially cause legal implications to the Council. The Board heard that the Working Group would consider the queries above over the year and bring further information back to the Board.

The Board agreed with the approach. The Chair also commented that it would be helpful to learn from the experience from other local authorities, and that the consideration would be fed back to the Executive Mayor. The Children Looked After Quality Assurance Service Manager explained that the EQIA would measure the impact of changes to services across the council for Croydon’s care experienced young people. That would hold the Council to account about decisions and improve services.

The Subject Matter Expert added that the discussion surrounding the adoption of protected characteristics itself had been a key driver in other local authorities and made its own impact, regardless of whether the protected characteristic had been adopted. The Corporate Director of CYPE and the Director of Children’s Social Care commented that the EQIA framework would be refreshed this Autumn, and that the changes of EQIA to cover the impact of service provisions for the care experienced should be discussed and agreed in the Corporate Management Team before going to the Mayor’s Advisory Board.

The Board asked about the robustness of the EQIAs in relation to outcome delivery. The Chair responded that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39/24

For the Board to receive the Croydon Children's Services Corporate Parenting Annual Report 2023/24.

The Board received the Croydon Children's Services Corporate Parenting Annual Report 2023/24 which was introduced by the Head of Service Children in Care & Care Experienced Young People.

The Board heard that there had been the first care experienced Co-Chair and 25 young people ambassadors involved in the improvement process from the priority areas. The Looked After Children 0-16 and Young People’s 16+ service now had increased stability with more permanent social workers, personal advisors (PAs) and managers. The Early Permanence team had been created in the last year to ensure children who need permanent adoptive homes could be with adoptive families swiftly. The team were also doing a soft launch of the new Permanence Strategy and action plan.

The Board also heard that the Corporate Parenting Strategy had also a focus on improving the quality and affordability of housing accommodation options for care experienced young people. The team had set up a Housing Pathway Panel, which was a multi-agency panel, to look at the needs of the young people and match them with a suitable accommodation. The Subject Matter Expert added that, with the assistance of the Director of Housing Management, the first voids standard was established to provide a set standard of accommodation for the young people to move in, which included bed and mattress, sofa and white goods etc. That voids standard project would be a pilot project and the team would feed back the learnings to the Board.

The Board asked if there would be other support for the young people as transitioning to adulthood would be particularly difficult for the care experienced. The Head of Service responded that the team ensured the young people were getting the right support at the right time throughout the transition. The Chair commented that the ‘Joint Housing and Children’s Social Care Protocol’ had brought the Council in a better position to support care leavers.

In response to a question regarding the adequacy of housing for care experienced young people (CEYP), the Subject Matter Expert explained that part of the problem was caused by the current practice of not taking the care experienced young people into account for the housing allocation and letting process. The Housing Allocations policy was being presented to Cabinet shortly. The Housing Pathway Panel would also help to meet the needs of young people, where Council housing, housing association or private accommodation options were available. The number of housing options had increased. The Director of Housing Management also explained that the discussion with housing associations about the voids standard project was underway.

The Board also heard that the CEYP Team had ongoing communications with young people about the approved Local Offer. The team had been using the support and preparation approach to help CEYP, working with Money House, an external agency, to run regular monthly practical workshops about managing finances. The young people would have to participate in the workshops before they receive a final housing offer from the Pathway Panel. The programme has no cost to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40/24

For the Board to receive the Annual Report of Croydon Independent Reviewing Service 2023-2024.

The Board received the Annual Report of Croydon Independent Reviewing Service 2023-2024 which was introduced by the Children Looked After Quality Assurance Service Manager. The Service Manager updated the Board that there had been an increase in overall number of Children Looked After (CLA) reviews by over 10% in Year 2022/23. 1401 reviews were convened by the Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) and 79 of the reviews were late reviews. This year, the team had 10 late reviews as of the date of the Board meeting, which was improving. The Board also heard that there was a high participation rate of the CLA reviews (90%), and that the team was focused on different ways to make the review meetings more engaging for the children. This included creative approaches such as chats with younger children outside the meetings with the aid of teddies to understand their needs, and co-chairing to involve them in the minute-taking process.

The Board also received an update about the resolution process (formal or informal escalation process if there were issues around the progress of the care plans). There was an increase in the number of resolutions last year. The Service Manager was currently working with the Director of Children’s Social Care and partners to improve the permanency planning process in the service.

The Service Manager also highlighted the following new developments of the team this year. First, the fostering IROs joined the IRO team in September 2023 to better support each other and build up the skills together. The team had also been involved in joint housing assessments as an advocate to support homeless children and help them understand their rights and responsibilities under different regulatory frameworks. The IROs had fulfilled the role for 25 children as of 31 October 2024. Moreover, the team had identified and assisted some 18+ care experienced young people (CEYP) who had delays or challenges in transition planning, and those who were in custody.

The Board asked about the caseload of the IROs. The Service Manager responded that there were 15 full-time/part-time IROs convening review meetings with 520 children looked after in the borough, and that the average IRO caseload was 59. The recommended average caseload for an IRO was 50-70 as stated in IRO Handbook, therefore the caseload in Croydon was not particularly high.

In response to a question regarding the RAG (Red-Amber-Green) rating in 18+ reviews, the Board heard that this assessment was not a self-assessment. The care experienced young people would be invited to express their wish of whether to have a meeting with IRO, and that the young people could decline the review. But young people were included in the conversation and the reviews.

The Board also asked how the Council supported the CEYP in terms of risk assessment of exploitation and safeguarding in the housing allocation process. The Subject Matter Expert explained that community safety and individual safety had been a key component of the work. This included sharing hot spot data and the Children Participation Team  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41/24

To receive a verbal update on the Health & Adults Sub-Group.

The Corporate Parenting Board received a verbal update on the Health & Adults Sub-Group from the Subject Matter Expert and the Director of Adult Social Care Operations. The Board heard that adult and health pathway had been challenging to progress. The Subject Matter Expert had worked with other local authorities and the Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to learn from others’ approaches, but at the point of this meeting no local authorities or ICBs were able to share a current pathway.

The Director of Adult Social Care Operations updated the Board that the Adult Social Care team had been identifying opportunities within the community to create community-led support for the care experienced young people with their mental health. For instance, the Community Catalyst Project had identified over 200 types of groups, opportunities or clubs over the period of 18 months. The information was collated and provided to the young people through the Catalyst network. The new care leavers’ app would be crucial to further develop the approach. Those points would be discussed in the next Sub-Group meeting.

The CLA Designated Health Professional also updated the Board that the team was working with young ambassadors to explore how to include health summary of the CEYP in the NHS app.

The Performance report for August 2024 is attached, as well as the indicators absent from the June 2024 report received at the last meeting.

The Corporate Parenting Board received the Performance report for June and August 2024. The Director of Children’s Social Care introduced the item by responding to the actions below arising from the previous meeting:

• For the Director of Children’s Social Care to circulate an updated copy of the Performance Report, including Care Leaver indicators.

• For the Board to receive an update on improvements to indicator CLA18 and for some commentary to be provided on future Performance Reports for consistently red indicators.

The Director of Children’s Social Care updated that the report pack for this meeting had already included the updated copy of the Performance Report in June 2024, including the Care Leaver indicators. The dashboard in the Performance Report had also included commentary for the consistently red indicators.

The Board asked for an update in relation to improvement of CLA 18 (Percentage of initial health assessments delivered within 20 working days of date child became looked after), and asked for clarity on other Children Looked After (CLA) health indicators (CLA 17a, 18). The Director clarified that there was always a one-month time lag for CLA 17a and CLA 18 indicators to become available. With regards to the CLA 18, the Director explained that the CLA health team had completed Initial Health Assessments (IHAs) within 20 days in August 2024, and the social workers logged them following the completion. The Board also heard that the historical corrections was the cause of differences between datasets in June and August 2024.

In the response to a question about the permanence indicator (AD 7 - Average time between a child entering care and moving in with the adoptive family, for children who have been adopted) not meeting the target in the Summer and the mitigation measures, the Director explained that the number of children in this cohort was small, and for some children adoption had been achieved after some time due to their needs, which extended the timescale while also being in their interests.

The Board also asked for the reason for the pathway plans being delayed (CEYP a - Care experienced young people with an Up-to-date Pathway plan). The Director explained that the team was struggling with the consistency of the pathway plans due to a high level of sickness from the Personal Advisors (PAs). The Director explained that covering staff had supported the team to complete pathway plans, however the balance with the quality of the pathway plans would be necessary as the plan had to be meaningful for the young people. Development of relationships with young people should take priority.

The Board stressed the importance of timely pathway plans and PA support to the young people. The Director agreed to look into the situation and commented that there had been improvement for the lived experiences of the care experienced young people, albeit the stagnated figure of the pathway plan indicator. The Corporate Director of CYPE agreed and highlighted that the culture change had been achieved in the last two years.

ACTION –  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43/24