Outcomes for looked after children: where are we heading?

1. Outcomes for looked after children: where are we heading? Helen Jones: Department for Education and Skills Harriet Ward: CCfR Loughborough

2. INTEGRATED CHILDREN’S SYSTEM (ICS) . . . . . . provides a framework for undertaking the key processes of assessment, planning intervention and review (APIR) based on an understanding of children’s developmental needs in the context of their families and communities.

3. THE PURPOSE OF ICS • to align the processes for children in care with those for children living with their families • to improve the quality of assessment, planning, intervention and review • reduce duplication of assessments • monitor outcomes • to improve the use of information gained in the course of practitioners’ interactions with children

4. WHO IS IT FOR? • all children in contact with social services from point of referral - children in need at home including in need of protection - children looked after - children who are being adopted - care leavers

5. DIFFICULTIES AND CHALLENGES OF LOOKING AFTER CHILDREN (ENGLAND) • never clear enough whether practice or research tool • depended on high quality and consistent manual recording – activity which most social workers find difficult • never successfully put into an electronic format • started at point of becoming looked after, therefore required large amounts of information at the beginning of care episode

6. BROADER POLICY CONTEXT:EVERY CHILD MATTERS Children Act 2004 defined outcomes for all children • being healthy • staying safe • enjoying and achieving • making a positive contribution • achieving economic wellbeing

7. EVERY CHILD MATTERS:ACCOUNTABILITY AND INTEGRATION • information hub on every child in a local authority • legal and practical support for information sharing • a common assessment framework across agencies

8. EVERY CHILD MATTERS:ACCOUNTABILITY AND INTEGRATION • information hub on every child in a local authority • legal and practical support for information sharing • a common assessment framework across agencies

9. EVERY CHILD MATTERS:ACCOUNTABILITY AND INTEGRATION • information hub on every child in a local authority • legal and practical support for information sharing • a common assessment framework across agencies

11. Harmonised system of assessments • Common Assessment (assessments undertaken by any professional in making a referral) • Assessment framework (assessments of need undertaken by social workers) + • Looking After Children (Undertaken by social workers to assess outcomes for children and young people in care) = • Integrated Children’s System

12. CREATING A RESILIENT SYSTEM • need to take account of the research developed on outputs/reports. If social workers are to use electronic systems successfully, they must be seen to support practice, for example, by: • facilitating the compilation of reports useful to practitioners and managers; • supporting day-to-day practice i.e. system will produce reminders for practitioners of actions which are due such as reviews; • automatic compilation of chronological information; • identifying which children are reaching certain targets and which are not i.e. making sense of performance indicators and highlighting their relevance to individual children • delivering information for performance assessment and PSA targets

13. ICS & PERMANENCE • structured processes for APIR • focus on care plan with measurable outcomes for review • care plans remain consistent throughout the process • assessment of attachment for under 5s to birth parents and current carers if in care • describes the overall permanence plan

14. THE PURPOSE OF ICS • to align the processes for children in care with those for children living with their families • to improve the quality of assessment, planning, intervention and review • reduce duplication of assessments • monitor outcomes • to improve the use of information gained in the course of practitioners’ interactions with children

15. Pilot findings: Assessment • Better focus on needs of individualchild • Better balance between child’s needs and parent’s capacity • Better quality information collected • Less duplication • Assessment of need rarely informs care plans

16. Pilot findings: Planning • More consistent plans that follow the child • More initial/core assessments completed for looked after children plans based on more realistic assessments of parents’ capacity to change

17. Pilot findings: Intervention • ‘Other-agency’ interventions not recorded • Inadequate data on access, duration, frequency impossible to know if services taken up  impossible to cost services  impossible to assess effectiveness

18. Pilot findings: Reviews • Child at heart of review process • No assessments of progress • No real data on outcomes

19. Practice issues • Processes better aligned • Less duplication • Improvements to assessment, planning and review • No information re interventions • No information re outcomes

20. Use of information • Improved access to hardware • IT skills better than expected • Link between individual children and national datasets not yet established

21. Use of information: Outputs • Some alerts, warnings and notifications • Not possible to select data items for summary reports • Not possible to select variables for statistical reports • Information flows to external agencies in their infancy

22. Future plans • Costs • Links to Index and Common Assessment • Assessments used for different purposes eg courts and permanent placements • Monitoring outcomes!!