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- What is meant by 'Looked After'?
- Placements for Children Looked After by Torbay Council
- Placements for Children Looked After by other Local Authorities
- Corporate Parent Role
- Personal Education Plans (PEPS)
- Supporting Educational Attainment through Foster Care
- Torbay Services and Specific Provisions for Supporting the Educational Attainment of Children and Young People who are looked after
In almost all cases, a child becomes looked after through no fault of their own, and it is important to remember that these are children who will grow up in the local community and become future citizens of Torbay.
Looked after is the term used from the legal definition that can be found with the Children Act 1989. What the term means in practice is that a child under 18 years of age becomes looked after by the local authority following either a court order, or through an agreement made with the child's parents. There is a range of court orders, but all provide joint parental responsibility to the local authority and to the natural parent(s) of the child.
In cases where there is a voluntary arrangement between the child's parents and the local authority, the child becomes accommodated under the Children's Act and therefore looked after without a court order. In these situations, parental responsibility rests with the natural parents.
In January 2011 there were 191 children and young people who were looked after in Torbay.
Most of the children looked after by Torbay Council are placed in a foster care setting, to provide them with a secure, family environment. Foster carers are recruited and supported directly by Torbay or in some cases work for Foster Care organisations in the independent sector. For some placements, the foster carer may be a relative or friend of the family of the child looked after. Whilst the majority of foster placements will be in the local area, in some cases the placement may be outside of Torbay. Other placements can see the child living at home with their parents, in children's homes or residential schools. To prepare older children and young people for independent living when they leave care, they may live in supported living accommodation, for example supported lodgings.
Other local authorities make placements of children looked after outside of their boundaries in some instances and in these situations, although the child may be attending a Torbay school, the parental responsibility for the child rests with the placing authority, not Torbay Council.
Local authorities take on the responsibility of corporate parent for all of the children and young people in their care. This requires the direct involvement of elected members and senior officers to ensure that Torbay provides good parenting for these children. As well as considering their safety and general well being, prioritising educational attainment is a key factor for Torbay. Success in educational attainment will contribute to improved life chances for this group such as:
- improved self confidence and self esteem
- a start to lifelong learning and opportunities to develop in new areas through books and other educational media
- the ability to continue with higher education opportunities
- improved employment prospects and choices
The Personal Education Plan is initiated by the social worker in collaboration with the child / young person they are supporting, the designated teacher and the parent or carer. The PEPS forms an integral part of the care plan for individual children. PEPS makes sure that educational services can be accessed, that any special needs are addressed and helps minimising disruption to schooling. The PEPS sets clear goals and allows for the monitoring and evaluation of the education for the child / young person.
From the point of application, Foster Carers are made aware of the need to promote educational attainment for children placed with them. Carers unable to reflect a commitment to this area would not be acceptable carers for Torbay Council. High priority is given to training and raising awareness, with a regular programme of events covering topics such as PEPS and the importance of supporting home work.
All children placed with Foster Carers have access to IT within the home, with carers having been offered training in the SAM learning programme, a computer based learning programme for children who are looked after. A high emphasis is placed on carers supporting education within the home in its broadest context.
The Foster Care Service has created a new post of Educational Transition Worker, to support children looked after make the transition between schools -a stressful time for any child, but particularly so for vulnerable children in public care. This post is sited within the Foster Care Service and paid for by Education.
For those young people who have poor attendance or are being encouraged back into main stream school, Foster Carers will escort and if necessary stay with the young person in the school environment.
Torbay Services and Specific Provisions for Supporting the Educational Attainment of Children and Young People who are Looked After
Torbay is working hard towards ensuring that children looked after have a PEPS within 20 school days of placement, or a change of placement. A number of specialist services are in place to support these children and young people to maximise their educational achievements and so provide them with improved life chances:
- Children Looked After Team: This multi-agency team is based with the Children's Services Permanency Planning Team. The remit of this staff group is to raise the educational attainment of children looked after through a holistic approach, working with individual children and their carers to provide support that includes school attendance, and health issues as well as educational progress.
- Designated teachers: Each school in Torbay has a designated teacher, in some cases the head teacher, to act as a main resource and contact support for children and young people who are looked after.
- Transition worker: This post is specific to children looked after and supports the move from primary to secondary education. Assisting children and young people looked after with one-to-one sessions, in PEP reviews and working with the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators.
- Children Looked after Support Worker: based at Paignton Community & Sports College: specific funding targeted to support children looked after who are on the role of a mainstream school in years 10 & 11. This support at Key Stage 4 provides 10 hours of personal tuition for each child to help in the preparation for GCSEs.
- Independent Reviewing Officers: in Torbay are effective in involving children and young people directly in annual reviews of their individual care plan. The PEP forms a key element of this review activity.
- Independent support - Torbay Children's Rights: to provide children who are looked after with an independent source of information and advice, Torbay Council and partner agencies have funded the Children's Rights Torbay (The Children's Society)
website.
The 'Front-End' of the site is accessible to everyone, with children and young people looked after provided with a password to access a private area of the site. As well as support information on a wide range of topics, the site has a 'Help with Homework' links page with access various educational websites. - Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA) 2004 - 2007: The Minister of State for Local Government and the Regions has signed Torbay Council's LPSA for the council to deliver a series of improved performance targets. There is a specific target in the LPSA to:
"Improve the quality of life and life chances of young people Looked After"
Indicators by which performance will be measured:
- The number of those young people who were looked after in their 17th year who are engaged in education, training or employment at the age of 19.
- The number of young people leaving care aged 16 or over with at least 5 GCSEs at grade A* - C.
- The number of young people leaving care aged 16 or over with at least 1 GCSE grade A* - G or GNVQ
There is a financial incentive for success in these areas which are being monitored and tracked as part of the Council's performance management activity. The reward gained would assist in having available funding to reinvest in this key area.
Related Websites
Contact Children's Services
- Tel: 01803 201201
- Email: csenquiries@torbay.gov.uk
- Fax: 01803 208225
