Out of County Residential placements Corporate Parenting Panel 1 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Central Bedfordshire Council

Out of County Residential placements Corporate Parenting Panel 1 December 14

Central Bedfordshire Council

Introduction

• The Council needs to provide a variety of residential care packages to

meet the individual needs of looked after children.

• The Council has a shared contract with Bedford Borough Council for

‘in-house’ residential care managed by The St Christopher’s

• Fellowship. This contract is for the management of two residential

homes, providing 13 places

• Residential homes often need to include access to additional care and

health services.

• Some children taken into care need to be provided with

accommodation away from their home location for their own safety.

Central Bedfordshire Council

Residential placements

• To fulfil our role as corporate parents, we need to find the most

appropriate homes for looked after children

• Children who need to move to residential homes are our most

vulnerable and often have the most complex needs.

• The Council has to meet OFSTED/statutory requirements including:
• to monitor the quality and suitability of residential placements
• to manage risk at any placement and around the child
• ensure the safety of any child placed in care
• OFSTED National Minimum Standards for Children in Care 2011 -

“Children in residential care should be given the opportunity for as full an experience of a supportive homely environment as possible”

Central Bedfordshire Council

Making a placement

If it is the most appropriate option for the child and after careful consideration and judgement, we will source an residential placement. The next steps are:

• To consider the holistic needs of the child first
• Determine who could meet these needs (decisions are made by

team including social workers, commissioners and provider information).

• Contact potential providers to assess suitability of the home

(location, mix of children, and potential risk elements)

• Any appropriate home who have availability, then consider the latest

OFSTED inspections grades, Reg. 33 and 34 reports, statement of purpose, cost, location and staffing (qualifications, training, vetting)

Central Bedfordshire Council

How – monitoring placements

• Once in placement, the Council receives a monthly report from the

provider re every child’s placement and progress

• The Council also ask for additional information to provide additional

quality assurance (see next slide for more information)

• Social workers carry out regular and regulatory visits
• IRO’s complete 6 monthly reviews for all Looked after Children, and

in most cases will meet with staff from the residential home provider

• Commissioners receive Regulation 34 reports from providers every

quarter

• Commissioners receive Regulation 33 reports from independent

inspectors every month

• Commissioners complete annual quality assurance

checks/compliance

Central Bedfordshire Council

Additional monitoring

Commissioners also collect and monitor the following information on a monthly basis and present to senior managers: Dashboard monitoring sheet

• Placement stability
• Health and wellbeing of the young person
• Safety and Risky Behaviours, including episodes of children

absconding and/or any potential CSE risk

• Participation (extra-curricular activities, preparation for

independence etc.)

• Educational Outcomes

Central Bedfordshire Council

Additional quality assurance

• The Council has recently commissioned an independent

Quality Assurance and Compliance Manager. She will:

• make visits to every residential home where we have children
• placed. This will be a risk based approach.
• Take on a ‘mini-inspection’ of the home, talking to staff, and

children.

• Experience of the child will be central to the visits
• Take a ‘critical friend’ approach with the residential homes,

enabling them to have open and honest discussions

• Report back to Central Bedfordshire Senior management and

the homes on findings and any recommendations for improvements.

….

Central Bedfordshire Council

Any questions?