Invitees:

Deborah McMillan, Corporate  Director – Education and Transformation

Cllr Hailey Townsend, Cabinet Member, Childrens Social Services and Equalities

Nicola Echanis, Head of Strategy Commissioning and Partnerships

Mark Lewis, Group Manager Integrated Working and Family

The Group Manager Integrated Working and Family, and the Family Support Service Manager provided a report and presentation to Committee to update them on the progress with the Connecting Families Edge of Care work.

The presentation provided the following information to Committee:

·         Between 2007/8 and 2011/12, the Bridgend LAC population increased by 40% compared to a 24% increase across Wales

·         Children under 2 and young people aged between 14 to 16 accounted for almost 50% of BCBC’s LAC population between 2008 and 2013

The LAC population in Bridgend was continuing to rise at a steady rate and support for families needed to changeThe Family Support Service Manager highlighted the Edge of Care proposal to Committee which was:

·         The high number of children coming into the care system was a focus of an LSB workshop in January 2014

·         There was an agreement to subsequently to focus some Connecting Families resources on targeting those children on the edge of care to avoid LAC status

·         An Annual target set of working with 20 children (and their families) aged 11-16 years at high risk of entering the care system

·         Initial age focus informed by high numbers of teenagers entering the care system

He further added that the Approach Connecting Families would take would be targeted support that would be offered based on research of the current data to include:

o   children of high risk of becoming looked after

o   children currently or previously on the Child Protection register or previously LAC

o   Families known to the probation service

o   Families affected by domestic violence, substance misuse and mental health

o   Families with a history of School Exclusions

o   Families affected by housing issues

The Family Support Service Manager informed Committee of the Edge of Care progress, and  he explained that the service went live on the 1^st May 2014.  He also stated that 30 families accessed the Edge of Care service during 2014-15 which included 52 children (including siblings) which significantly exceeded the target.  He added that those families are now utilising support via Early Help Hubs.

He added that prior to intervention each family on average had cost Public Services approximately £40k per annum.  Following public intervention the average costs avoided for public services was reduced to a projected £23k per annum.  He stated that the total costs avoided to the Public Sector were approximately £707k once the service costs of £135k for Connecting Families were deducted.

The Family Support Service Manager concluded with the Developments and next steps for the Connecting Families Service which were:

·         The Family Support Team has been amalgamated into Connecting Families

·         All eight Family Support Workers/ Intervention specialists now completing work around children at risk of entering care system. Those in care (including rehab home) and general family support work

·         Group work developed including Parenting, Sexual Exploitation Prevention, Attachment and Dads Group

Improve Targeting – focus on intervening earlier and take learning from past 12 months forward.  Members thanked the Officers for the very informative and comprehensive presentation which was welcomed by the Committee.

Members were concerned about the future funding of the Connecting Families Service and asked if there could be any potential savings made if the Authority worked in collaboration with the Integrated Family Support Service (IFSS).

The Head of Strategy and Commissioning Partnerships stated that the IFSS provide a statutory service to families that are affected by Substance Misuse only, whereas Connecting Families is supported by Grant Funding and involved working with families affected by various issues including Domestic Violence, Substance Misuse and Mental Health issues.  She added that the Authority were working on a Resilience Plan to secure an early help offer to ensure  that an increase in children needing intervention with Social Services is limited.  She further added that the numbers of LAC and children on the Child Protection Register are reducing because of the early help offer currently in place.

The Deputy Leader informed Members that this year the Authority is predicting an under-spend in Childrens Social Services.  He stated that the adoption service has over-spent, but that the reasons for this, were that it has been very successful.  He added that more investment was needed in that area so the Authority can continue to safely reduce LAC numbers,  adding that if statutory services  only were funded, as oppose to non-statutory services then LAC numbers would inevitably rise.

Conclusions:

The Committee welcomed the report and recognised the great deal of work that was being carried out under the Connecting Families Project.  Members also recognised the need for support and funding to continue in this area in order to maintain these services and ensure sustainability.

With this in mind, the Committee recommend that the Connecting Families project be placed as a strategic priority for the Directorate and furthermore that it be progressed externally as a strategic priority with either the LSB or the Western Bay Safeguarding Children’s Board in order to raise its profile and ensure its continuation.