Items
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Item |
43. |
Declaration of Interest
To receive
disclosures of personal interest from Members in accordance with
the Code of Conduct
Note:
1.
Members are requested to identify the item number and subject
matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the
personal interest: and
2. Where Members withdraw from a
meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial
interest they must notify the Chairman when they leave.
Minutes:
A declaration of interest was
raised from County Borough Councillor S Rees for Agenda item 3; as
she is a representative of RCT as a Member of the Adoption
Panel.
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44. |
Welcome
Minutes:
The
Chair took the opportunity to welcome County Borough Councillor G
Caple to the Committee along with Officers from Voices from Care
Cymru to the meeting, with a particular welcome to the young person
representative.
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45. |
Apologies
Minutes:
Apologies for
absence were received from County Borough Councillor L Hooper and
Mr P Mee, Group Director – Community & Children’s
Services.
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46. |
Minutes  PDF 361 KB
To
approve the minutes of the 29th of November 2021, as an
accurate record of the Corporate Parenting Board
meeting.
Minutes:
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It was
RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the Corporate Parenting
Board Committee meeting held on the 29th November
2021.
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47. |
Voices for Care Cymru- Young Person Representative update
Minutes:
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The
Development Officer introduced the young person representative (AW)
to the Committee; AW provided Members of the Committee with an
update on her recent activities within the last 3 months. She
highlighted her attainment of an award known as the Young Achiever
of the Year through Care to Work. She highlighted the significance
of Care to Work and the RCT social services team who aided her in
attaining permanent accommodation and bill management support. AW
informed Members of the continued support provided by Voice for
Care Cymru (VfCC) to young people throughout the Pandemic for
instance through, event arrangements via Zoom, and phone, and video
calls to maintain contact.
The
Chair took the opportunity to congratulate AW on her award
attainment and was pleased to see all the progress made within her
personal life.
The
Development Officer informed Members of recent event cancellations
as a result of the Pandemic; however, VfCC were able to adapt their
services by introducing outdoor activities, online events and
one-to-one support. As restrictions are lifted, the Development
Officer from Voice for Care Cymru (VfCC) informed Members of future
projects to be implemented to attract wider groups of young people
within RCT. The Officer also highlighted a collaboration with the
Service Director of Children’s Services to set up a workshop
for the Best Practice Charter for parents who have been in
care.
The
Chair was pleased with the verbal update and recognised the need to
resume face-to-face services to connect with young people in
RCT.
Following the Verbal update, it was RESOLVED:
-
To note the update provided to the Board
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48. |
Vale, Valleys & Cardiff Regional Adoption Annual Report PDF 216 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
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The
Service Director of Children’s Services provided a brief
overview of the Vale, Valleys & Cardiff Regional Adoption
Annual Report. It was highlighted to Members of the Committee that
consideration of the report had already been undertaken by the
Scrutiny Committee in December 2021; the report was favourably
received.
The
Service Director of Children’s Services highlighted to
Members that the report is the 6th Annual Report of the
Regional Adoption collaboration established based on the Social
Services Well-Being Act (2014). The report provided details of the
performance reporting surrounding matters such as Adopter
recruitment, decision-making for Children to be placed in Adoption,
Family Finding and Post-Adoption support.
Members were informed of the slight decline in demand during the
first period of the Pandemic however, demand has since begun to
increase.
The
report highlighted the 26 placement orders, however, when
performance was last investigated in Children’s Services, 33
Adoption orders had been made during 2020/21. During the reporting period 2020/21 the Service
Director of Children’s Services confirmed the placement of 22
children for Adoption by the end of 31st March
2021.
Members were advised to note the effectiveness of the
recruitment campaign and increases in the number of adopters which
has created a positive impact of reduced numbers of out of agency
adoptions. The Service Director of Children’s Services
advised Members of the increase in requests for post-adoption
support and acknowledged the significance of providing support to
adopters. The Service Director of Children’s Services
recognised the need for additional resources for adopters as demand
has increased.
The
Chair was pleased with the information provided and referred to
Members for questions.
One
Member was pleased with the funding provided to attain a part-time
social worker to support birth parents; however, the member queried
the referral mechanisms and the type of support which can be
implemented to support birth parents.
As
part of additional services development, the Service Director of
Children’s Services informed Members of the introduction of a
‘Pre-Birth Pathway’ service. This aims to enhance the
support in place to prevent child and parent separation. The
Service Director of Children’s Services informed Members of a
new trail development service known as Parent Advocacy. This will
involve support for parents attending meetings such as Child
protection conferences. Great results have been identified from
other Local Authorities trailing this as parents have felt better
engaged in support services provided.
Regarding referral mechanism, the Service Director of
Children’s Services advised of the importance of birth parent
counselling as part of the adoption process. Thus, before an agency
decision maker can consider child adoption, they ensure referrals
have been made to both parent counselling.
One
Member expressed a welcome for the trials of parent advocacy and
recognised it was vital in permitting parents to participate and
express themselves. The Member requested further information on the
services future on investments following an increase in demand the
following year.
The
Service Director of Children’s Services agreed with the
Member stating the need for further investment and funding
...
view the full minutes text for item 48.
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49. |
Fostering Service Quality of Care Annual Report PDF 180 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
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The
Service Manager began by introducing herself to the Committee as
the named person for CIW purposes in fostering in RCT and informed
Members of the Committee that the purpose of the report was to
provide an overview of the annual quality of care in fostering
2020/21. The Service Manager confirmed the focus of the service
during the period of 2020/21 was to ensure Foster Carers were
provided with the utmost support. The Service Manager confirmed the
use of technology had enabled consistent contact to be maintained
with foster carers, for instance through phone or video calls, and
had permitted adaptability of the service to undertake meetings
virtually for instance the Foster Panel.
Along with on-going consistent support for foster carers, the
Service Manager informed Members of a new service introduced which
involved consultation for kinship carers and mainstream carers. The
purpose of the consultations involved identifying improvements that
could be made in attending panel meetings, panel processes,
appraisals for panel Members, and rescheduling panel meeting dates
to encourage attendance of social workers. The Service Manager
recognised the need to work closely with parents, and as a result
of consultation with parents for Children in foster, this has been
implemented. The team are currently working with the IRO service to
provide reports for parents in order to permit parents to express
their views about the foster care received.
During the first Lockdown, the Service Manager confirmed
collaboration with a Fostering Network as part of a wellbeing
programme. Members were informed of the success of the wellbeing
programme in introducing Pioneers. Members were informed of the
significance of Pioneers in supporting new foster carers within
RCT. Members were advised of challenges faced by the service such
as the recruitment of additional foster cares willing to work with
young people with complex needs, and older teenagers.
The
Service Manager introduced Ms Grenter to the Committee, who then
provided an overview of the role and experiences of a Pioneer
within RCT. The Pioneer detailed the numerous activities undertaken
within the role, these included collaboration with Fostering Wales
regarding the Fostering 22 Door Launch, attending Employment Panels
and discussing Policy effectiveness. The Pioneer advised of the
significance of the role in creating support systems for Foster
Carers and environments of encouraged open communication to discuss
challenges faced and solutions. The Pioneer informed Members of the
evolution of the role, with support being provided virtually to
Foster Carers as a result of the Pandemic, however, the Pioneer
hoped to resume the face-to-face service as restrictions are
lifted.
The
Chair was pleased with the work and supporting channels being
provided to foster carers by Pioneers. The Chair acknowledged the
importance of communication between foster carers and Pioneers in
order to share experiences, advice and solutions.
The
Corporate Parenting Board RESOLVED:
-
To acknowledge the information in the
report.
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50. |
Cwm Taf Fostering Front Door PDF 126 KB
To receive update on developments and impact
of marketing campaigns.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
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The Regional
Development Manager of Fostering Services provided an update on the
two significant developments made since reporting to the Board in
the previous year. It was confirmed that thus far Bridgend County
Borough Council have joined the Regional Front Door to further
expand on the collaboration and share resources, and good practice.
Currently as a team, the Regional Development Manager confirmed
dedication of the three Local Authorities in relation to Foster
Care recruitment. Members were informed of the other significant
development that surrounded the launch of Foster Wales, which was a
national collaboration of all 22 Local Authorities under one banner
heading. The Regional Development
Manager was pleased with the investments provided by the Welsh
Government.
Members were
informed of the implemented changes to services such as new
branding, and Website across all Local Authorities. Members were
advised of the significance of the new Websites across all Councils
to aid in promoting the message for Local Fostering and to maintain
the Mission statement of ‘Local Children are at the Heart of
everything we do’.
Despite the
successes of the Service, the Regional Development Manager of
Fostering Services recognised the challenges faced in fostering
recruitment across the UK. Members were advised of the 50% drop in
inquiries and initial visits for foster caring roles, as a result
investigations have been undertaken to gain an explanation. It was
identified that the drop was a result of post-pandemic recovery and
on a Local level, people’s unawareness of the re-branding.
Despite the reduction in inquires and initial visits, the Regional
Service Manager of Fostering Services was pleased to see an
increase in the number of people proceeding into investment and
approvals. Within the last 3 years it was identified that there has
been an increase of foster carers year on year. The Regional
Development Manager of Fostering Services informed Members of
improvements that need to be made surrounding provisions of foster
care retention and ensure Local Authorities abide by the National
Commitment.
In relation to the
future, plans will be implemented to promote Foster Wales in order
to attract younger generations to become foster carers. Successful
Campaigns have been launched, for instance through Radio, TV,
Spotify, and social media in order to promote Foster Wales. On a
Local level, the Regional Development Manager of Fostering Services
informed Member of a campaign launch which advertises Foster Wales
on Buses and Radios (Capital FM) across Cwm Taf.
The Chair thanked
the Regional Development Manger of
Fostering Services for his report and work undertaken as part of
the Corporate Parenting Board across the three years. The Chair
wished him the best of luck within his new role at Cardiff County
Borough Council.
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51. |
Tros Gynnal Quarterly Report PDF 217 KB
To receive the Tros Gynnal Plant (TGP) Cymru
quarterly progress report
Additional documents:
Minutes:
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The
Board received an update from Ms Davies who provided an update of
progress made by Tros Gynnal Plant (TGP) Cymru. Ms Davies began by
focusing on the Active offer section of the report. Based on the
Active Offer in Quarter 3, 32 young people accessed the Issue based
service along with 12 young people who were referred to Active
Offer. Over half of the young people who accessed the Issue based
service were doing so for the first time. Members were advised of
the decreases in both Issue Based Advocacy (IBA) and Active Offer
in Quarter 3 compared to previous Quarters (2). During Quarter 3,
86 young people became eligible for the Active Offer, out of those,
18 were from Children Looked After (CLA). Members were made aware
of 2 young people who were counted twice as they met the eligible
criteria via the CP and Looked After Children criteria thus making
the number to 84 young people.
Based on the information provided from Local Authorities (LA),
50 children and young people rejected the Active Offer meeting when
suggested by there social workers
however, 11 accepted, and then referred. 20 young people rejected
the Active Offer without a reason and 30 young people rejected the
offer to meet with an advocate and 12 stated they preferred to
speak to a family member.
Ms
Davies directed Members to the graphs within the report which
provided a breakdown of eligibility criteria of the Active Offer
Referrals, Issue Based Advocacy, and demographics of service users
of Quarter 3.
It
was RESOLVED:
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To note the content of the report
-
To receive updates on future progresses made by
TGP
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52. |
To consider passing the following under-mentioned Resolution:
“That the press and public be excluded from the meeting
under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972 (as
amended) for the next item of business on the grounds that it
involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in
paragraph 13 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the
Act.”
Minutes:
It was RESOLVEDthat the press and public be excluded from the
meeting under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act (as
amended) for the following items of business on the grounds that it
involves the likely disclosure of the exempt information as defined
in paragraph 14 of Part 4 of the Schedule 12A of the Act.
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53. |
Social Services Quarterly Complaints and Compliments
To
receive the report of the Group Director, Community &
Children’s Services providing the Corporate Parenting Board
with an overview of the operation and effectiveness of the
statutory Social Services complaints procedure.
Minutes:
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This report
provided the Corporate Parenting Board with an overview of the
operation and effectiveness of the statutory Social Services
complaints procedure between 1st October
2021 – 31st December 2021.
The report contained information on the
number of complaints received, the nature of the complaints and any
lessons learnt as well as detailing councilor, A.M and M.P
enquiries and the number of compliments received.
Following
discussions relating to the exempt item, Members
RESOLVED:
-
To note the content of the report and the work undertaken by the
Complaints Unit.
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54. |
To receive an update from the Service Director of Children Services
Minutes:
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The Service
Director of Children’s Services provided a verbal update
regarding three main activities which have occurred thus far.
Members were informed of the approval of the Looked After Children
prevention strategy by Cabinet.
Secondly the
Service Director of Children’s Services credited the work
undertaken by Ms Ceri Jones- Head of Access & Inclusion and
Ceri Webster- Deputy Principal Educational Psychologist for their
role in leading the appointment of a Headteacher for Looked After
Children (LAC). The Service Director of
Children’s Services advised Members of the significance of
the Headteacher in transforming Education for Looked After Children
(LAC). Lastly, The Service Director of Children’s Service
informed Members of a recent research project undertaken by CASCADE
which identified a significant need for meaningful support for
young people who become parents. The Service Director of
Children’s Services informed Members of a Workshop due to be
Post-election, with the Board being invited whereby the findings of
the research will be presented.
The Chair was very
pleased with the update and looked forward to attending the
Workshop to gain further insight on the research.
The Corporate
Parenting Board RESOLVED:
-
To receive a report on the Looked After Children Strategy.
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