Integrated Children's Services Report 2017-2020 and Plan 2021-2023
Strategic Outcome 7
Improve the lives of all children and young people (8 – 25yrs) in our communities and looked after at home.
Our Local Improvement priorities are to:
Improve outcomes for children and young people across our communities
What we will do 2017-2020:
Address the attainment gap for looked after children at home as well as those looked after away from home
Ensure compliance with the Carers Act by continuing to work with young carers and partners providing services and support to young carers
Continued support to children and young people experiencing grief and loss
Continued support for children and young people affected by disability and issues of mental health
Prioritise the needs of children and young people looked after in the community
What are the plans and structures that will support us to succeed?
Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Reports
Education Services Service Plan and Annual Performance Reports
CPP Inspection Improvement Action Plan
West Dunbartonshire Council Local Housing Strategy
Child Protection Committee Improvement Plan
We are committed to improving outcomes for all young people and our multi-agency working between Educational Services, SDS and key partners has ensured positive destinations have increased by over 11 percentage points over the past 10 years. We will continue to focus on ensuring effective planning which reflects needs and views of all young people.
There continues to be a gap in School Leaver Destinations (SLDR) between LAC/Care Experienced Young People and their peers. In 2018/19, 77% entered a Positive Destination in comparison to the overall LA figure of 93.6%.
We will continue to support and plan for sustained and positive destinations for care experienced young people via investment in community and school based mentoring as well as targeted supports from Senior Phase Teams and SDS.
The Scottish Government provide a grant to the authority to support delivery of the Scottish Government Opportunities for All commitment, and contribute to the National Indicator "To increase the proportion of young people participating in Learning, Training and Work", delivered through Post-16 transition planning and support for young people preparing to move on from school.
School Leaver Transitions is a bespoke and tailored personal and social development intervention for young people in their Senior Phase. The offer is for those pupils identified at risk of entering a negative destination upon leaving school, including looked after and care experienced young people. The early intervention approach increases the young person's chance of moving into a positive and sustained destination.
Young people in the Senior Phase and their last 6 month of education are eligible for this support. Practitioners work closely with Schools and Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to successfully identify potential young people at 16+ meetings using our own Risk matrix indicators and local factors.
The following groups of young people are identified as being at higher risk of disengaging from education and more likely to require Transition Support
" Looked after children and care experienced
" Young carers
" Young parents
" Young offenders
" Young people with low attainment
" Young people who are persistently truant
" Young people with physical or mental health problems or disabilities
" Young people involved in alcohol or drug misuse
" Young people with behavioural issues
" Young people with additional support needs
" Young people for whom English is a second language
" Winter leavers
" Young people leaving special schools
" Young people who are homeless
" Young people who are a risk to themselves or others
" Young people who do not sustain their initial move on from school
The Senior Phase Officer also maintain regular contact with lead partners and schools. The Officers share information on the progress in order to plan for progression to a sustained positive destination.
The Senior Phase Officer also have the responsibility to provide aftercare support to the young person for an agreed period under the terms of the funding of the programme delivery.
We have allocated funding from the Care Experienced Children's Fund to support the pilot project of MCR Pathways in two of our high schools; Clydebank High and Our Lady and St Patrick's High School since Winter 2018. MCR Pathways offers disadvantaged and care experienced pupils one to one support to help them flourish not only at school and through their education but also in their own personal lives. The Young Dunbartonshire Talent Programme quickly generated lots of interest and engagement from care-experienced and disadvantaged young people in the school.
OLSP end of year report.pdfClydebank High end of year report.pdfWe have implemented the Carers Act and supported Young Carers by:
Working together to ensure joint approaches to planning and supports;
Ensuring all Young Carers are supported to have a Young Carer statement if they choose;
Supporting their engagement and representation at the Carers Rights Day;
Establishing young carers groups for a range of age groups;
Establishing a Young Carer Support worker for each school.
YSort-It our partner organisation has been instrumental in leading this work and collaborated with HSCP and Educational Services to ensure robust systems of support and planning have been established.
During the period April 19- March 20 Y Sort It took 36 young people on 3 different overnight respite opportunities. We took part in two separate Residential trips to Loch Eil in Fort William in June 2019 and February 20. Click on icon to view Year in View Video.
These trips were specially designed to allow our young carers to gain confidence, make new friendships, build resilience while exploring the outdoors. 24 Young People ranging from 10-16years old and 2 staff attended these residentials. At the end of the trip the Young People were awarded their John Muir Certificate. In August 2019 we set sail on a 5 day voyage on the Alba Explorer sailing from Greenock up towards Dunoon, then onto Isle of Arran, followed by Rhu then back to Greenock. Throughout this trip the young people learned all aspects of sailing by hoisting sails, preparing all meals, scrubbing the deck, reading graphs and planning their trip. At the end of the Trip the 12 Young People gained their Level 1 Certificate in Basic Sailing.
The Annual Scottish Young Carers Festival took place in July 2019 and 9 young carers came along with 2 members of staff to enjoy all the activities on offer and also participate in group activities and consultations with other young carer services across Scotland.
Our young carers have also benefited from day trips to Trampoline Parks, Ten Pin Bowling, Tree Top Obstacle Course and meals out as well as overnight stays at our Eco Friendly Hut in Carbeth. They also participated in annual Y Sort It events such as our Halloween Pumpkin Hunt and Christmas Family Party
A weekly Young Adult Carers Group has been established. This group is attended by approx. 10-15 YAC who help plan and organise their activities on an 8 week plan. The programme has included training and development, issue based workshops, cookery, health and wellbeing, jewellery making, movie nights, theatre and cultural trips. This group is for 16-25 years olds if in full time education/further education and provides 1-2-1 support sessions should the young person request this.
In response to a YC Focus Group and at the request of our young carers we have since developed a “Youngers” group for ages 10-15 year olds. This was developed in a youth club setting with various activity stations available such as board games, arts and crafts, outdoor sports and issue based information sessions. The Young Carers team also provide a ‘Pick Up & Drop off’ service, as transport and time was highlighted as a barrier for many of our young carers.
Throughout the reporting year and in response to the pandemic, we have continued to support our young carers by offering 1-2-1 sessions both in school and the community and YSI base.
Our young carers and young adult carers are children and young people first, with rights to live a full life and not miss out on childhood. Our services have a role to play in ensuring young carers can benefit from the same experiences and opportunities as their friends and peers. By supporting our young carers to have some respite and time away from their caring role it helps them manage their time, allow them to understand their caring role and the importance of it and make better life decisions. Early intervention is important and allows us to plan and support the young carers throughout their caring role. Through carrying our new Young Carer Statements with all new referrals and reviewing those who were already registered with the service, this allowed us to build relationships and gain young people’s trust, by responding to each young carer’s individual needs and advocating on their behalf, especially in regards to their caring role. .
Working closely with local primary Schools and Education representatives we have also eased the transition for young carers from primary to secondary school ensuring that they have a key contact throughout their school life.
Y sort it Senior Management team are also active members of many local strategy groups, influencing positive change, ensuring that Young Carers issues are on the agenda, heard and supported.
Alongside West Dunbartonshire Carers Centre, we were active in organising and presenting at the recent Carers Rights Day Event. This event was well attended by Partner Organisations, Elected Members and Council Officials as well as many unpaid carers. This highlighted the impact that Young Carers have in the community and the important work that they do. Feedback from that event was very positive with many people asking for more information on Young Carers. It is hoped that this year’s event will focus more on Young Carers.
Attendance at our weekly support groups has increased over the last year with more Young Carers and Young Adult Carers joining. These groups provide essential support to Young Carers and feedback has been extremely positive from both young carers and parents.
Effective partnership working between Y Sort and all schools in West Dunbartonshire has been established to ensure joined up support for young carers. Each secondary school and their feeder primaries has a key champion worker from the Y Sort It Young Carers Team. This allows both the young people and the teaching staff to have a “go to” person for any young carer enquiries in their school. We have organised Monthly drop in sessions, attend regular TATC and JAT meetings and also arrange for reviews and YCS to be completed at the school depending on local area.
A pilot scheme to support care leavers with their rent will be rolled out across West Dunbartonshire on a permanent basis.
The initiative means that care leavers in full time education and living in their own council property will not be required to pay rent while they study.
West Dunbartonshire Council introduced the scheme in 2019 with the aim of allowing young care leavers the opportunity to focus on studying without worrying about finances.
At the start of the pilot year, 11 young residents were benefitting from the exemption, with eight continuing their studies throughout while receiving rent abatement. Those eight are currently continuing their education for 2020/21.
The scheme will now be extended on a permanent basis as part of the Leaving Care Housing Protocol, and an additional two young care leavers are due to benefit from it when they begin their further education this year.
It is hoped the roll out of the scheme will encourage more young care leavers to consider furthering their education.
Those eligible will be expected to use the period where their rent is being covered to build modest savings.
The scheme has been created in a partnership between the Council’s Housing team and West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership.
While it is currently only available to Council tenants, the possibility of extending the scheme across West Dunbartonshire will be discussed with other Registered Social Landlords in the area.
The Leaving Care Housing Protocol ensures young people who were previously looked-after have support to achieve independence and stability in the community.
The initiative provides tailored support to people between the ages of 16 and 26, providing them with the securest form of tenancy available to them.
They are then offered guidance along the way by a dedicated support worker.
YPIM Annual Report 2019-2020.pdfThis report outlines the service demand and activity within Young People in Mind across the period from April 2019 to March 2020. Information on our service plan and development for 2020-2021 are also outlined.
This service was further developed in the last year to include a support aimed at children and young people age 6 and over, who were in kinship care or looked after at home. As the service remains a relatively small resource, the process for referral originated in Team Around The Child (TATC) arrangements where the health outcomes of children and young people are reviewed.
The LAAC nursing service receives data in respect of all children looked after away from home, at home with parents or in kinship care. For those looked after away from home the service is applicable to all. For those in kinship or looked after at home the service is an opt in based on the view of the TATC as to their health needs and whether these are being adequately met by community health services.
Further, the service has adapted to offer a flexible service, seeing children and young people in a range of locations in order to improve accessibility. This was based on a small scale test of change which identified barriers to access in offering a clinic based service, and has since been successful in operating from a range of sites including within the social work service.
Guidance for Education on responding to Tragic Events
Guidance for Responding to tragic events was launched to Education staff in the Autumn of 2019 as it was recognised that many families in WDC were affected by tragic events each year and the capacity of our staff to respond appropriately was paramount to families feeling supported. A survey of education staff in 2018 indicated that the majority of tragic events in the lives of our children involved death or loss which resulted in grief and / or trauma.
The aim of the document was to outline for staff working with children and families good practices based on research evidence on what is important in the aftermath of a tragic event.
While written primarily for Education staff the document has been circulated to partner agencies and positive feedback received regarding the usefulness to building confidence of staff working with children and young people.
WDC has had a partnership with CB UK for some time and during 2019 -20 our Psychological Service piloted the new training resource which has updated online training on responding to death and bereavement issues. Evaluations of the training indicate that staff knowledge and confidence in supporting children and young people who have experienced a bereavement is enhanced following the training.
WDC has been delivering the Seasons for Growth programme to help children cope with change, loss and bereavement using the metaphor of the changing seasons for many years. Currently we have 230 trained companions, most of whom are from education but we have also companions from social work, health and the ministry.
Last year approximately 21 Seasons groups took place in schools and parental evaluation always indicate how supportive these groups have proved to the children and the difference they have noticed in their own children’s well being.
The Psychological Service ran 2 training sessions to training new companions last year and organised 4 reconnector sessions ( 2 online) to share good practise and develop skills in our trained companions.
The EP Seasons coordinator continues to provide regular support and advise to Companions running groups and organise the distribution of Seasons journals. This organisation ensure the children and young people in WDC benefit for the well run groups with skilled staff supporting their wellbeing.
Educational Psychology had worked with the national seasons team to develop training for schools on a universal approach to aid the recovery of children following lockdown and the affects of covid19 on their lives.
3 universal seasons teacher training sessions were delivered to teachers and psychologists in June to prepare school staff to manage the mental health and well being of children as a result of the pandemic and I session of the children’s training was delivered to staff .
Going forward the recovery plan is for this to be used by schools to support children following the massive change in their life following the outbreak of covid19.
Feedback from staff indicated that the training delivered had reassured staff and given them the confidence they required to support children on their return to school.
