Liverpool City Council’s Post

“I have never met a young person who says it was paperwork that changed their life; they say it was Tom or Rhonda. Paperwork doesn’t change people’s lives. People do.” This is just one excerpt from an excellent article written by well-respected youth worker Jarrod Wheatley OAM that resonated with me. Reflecting on his work with young people in care, he writes about Australian child protection systems’ preoccupation with risk aversion and how this adversely affects the emotional wellbeing of children. Last year, I spoke at the CREATE Foundation Conference about this exact issue. I said so often the people running systems are thinking about the risks to themselves as public servants or as residential care workers, the risk to organisations, the risk to funding contracts, the risk, the risk, the risk… and that reduces a young person’s life to burdensome paperwork or checklists or compliance checks. Children raised outside of the care system aren’t raised this way, so why is it so for children in care? Jarrod writes, “humans need relationships – children in care are no different.” He goes on to talk about the importance of relationships in healing trauma, not transactional, client-based relationships, but real, lifelong connections that foster genuine connection—the one thing every child needs to feel loved, safe and belonging. I agree with his call to shift our current policy and regulatory framework to promote relationship-based practice. I loved his suggestion to shift how we approach child wellbeing, where we move from asking “how do we keep this child safe?” to “what do we need to do to help this child be connected, and through these connections, thrive?”. This was a great read, and I invite all my peers in the child protection and wellbeing sector to read and consider how it can influence your practice: Children in crisis need real relationships: the case for a child connection system Jarrod Wheatley OAM is a youth worker, social entrepreneur, NSW 2014 Youth Worker of the Year, and NSW 2019 Young Australian of the year recipient. And he has really great ideas about how we can improve the life outcomes for children and young people.

Yes! Relational Health….is health! Important here is to not focus on (solely) relationships with “providers”. Ask yourself as we come out of this past weekend…which “provider” did you spend it with? Who met a need you had and was available to you? Then ask well who did or was? OUR relationships matter. Not ones manufactured. In that is the opportunity to shift our work on its head. Away from workers who have to be all and do all (and can’t) to ones who broker relationships for kids AND their families. To build teams around them of “their people”. And activate them around kids or families unmet needs no matter what they are. That’s what we do in HEERO. Helping everyone/Each Other Reach Out. I continue to welcome you all to reach out. We have an intentionally designed way of believing, thinking and DOING in response to the historically created relational Voids we create for not just youth but families in legacy service approaches today. We would love to partner with anyone wanting to make this change to a relational way of doing. Not a “program” but actual way of doing day in and out promoting health and well being for all. Relationships matter. www.HEERO.ca

#good #Ofsted We can finally shout about it following the election quiet we have had to endure! I am so incredibly proud of everyone involved in showcasing the incredible work that is undertaken here in Rutland and the integrity in which all staff have to be truly child focused. We have worked really hard over the last 6-8 months at strengthening our Front Door and Assessment Children's Service and creating a truly meaningful integrated Early Help/Social Work approach from the start, championing a preventative and early intervention model of support. ‘Skilled social workers respond promptly and effectively to contacts and referrals. Social workers appropriately consider parental consent and whether it should be dispensed with. Sound and timely management oversight of all contacts ensures proportionate responses to children and family’s needs. ‘ ‘When professionals need advice and guidance about vulnerable children, social workers provide this through an effective consultation line based in the integrated front door.’ ‘Assessments undertaken are mostly thorough, giving consideration to family history, the views of children and families and the views of professionals involved. This results in a detailed analysis of risk.’ ‘A designated safeguarding lead described the local authority as a ‘listening authority’, and another noted that there had been a marked improvement in front door services.’ ‘Child protection enquiries start promptly. They provide a thorough analysis of children’s needs and the level of risk children face.’ ‘This is exemplified by a strong and impactful early help service that is improving children’s lives, by concerted efforts to support children to remain living within their birth family if it is safe to do so, by effective permanence planning’. Did I mention we have jobs going? 😁

🚨 Big News: Transforming Children’s Social Care 🚨 Yesterday, Parliament announced vital reforms for children’s social care—a sector close to my heart and one I’ve dedicated my career to supporting. These long-overdue changes tackle some of the biggest challenges and include:  ✅ Extending corporate parenting duties across public bodies.   ✅ A legal right to family group decision-making.   ✅ A Single Unique Identifier for improved data sharing.   ✅ Ensuring education is part of safeguarding partnerships.   ✅ Extending Staying Close support for care leavers up to 25.   ✅ Enabling local authorities to form Regional Care Cooperatives.   ✅ Giving Ofsted powers to oversee and intervene in the care market.   ✅ Regulating agency staff to improve consistency and quality.  These reforms are a HUGE step forward and show the government is serious about improving outcomes for children, young people, and families.  As someone with real-life experience working in the children’s residential sector and a passion for driving positive change, I know how crucial this reset is. Quality staffing will play a massive role in ensuring these reforms deliver lasting impact.  Most importantly, these changes wouldn’t have been possible without the courage of:   🗣️ Children in care   🗣️ Care-experienced adults   🗣️ Parents, kinship carers, foster carers, and practitioners  Your voices were heard, and you’ve made a difference.  These reforms bring hope for a better future. What are your thoughts on these changes?  

Unregistered children’s homes – Ofsted blog. Earlier this month Ofsted published their analysis of the rise in the use of unregistered children’s homes. Last year, they opened over 1,000 cases to investigate potential unregistered settings and found 931 unregistered homes up to the end of March 2024 (the figures for 2023 were 687 and for 2022 315). The figures may actually be higher. https://lnkd.in/enTi5BGn When Ofsted work out that a setting is unregistered, they normally send a warning letter to inform the provider of the setting that it must stop operating and apply for registration. Very few providers of unregistered settings apply for registration after receiving a warning letter. Last year, only 6% did so. Of these applications, only 8% were successful in registering. Children living in registered children’s homes benefit from the safeguards that regulation brings. For example, Ofsted inspect registered homes at least once a year. And an independent person must visit registered homes every month. They check the running of the home and assess whether children are being kept safe. Children living in unregistered children’s homes do not have these safety nets. There is no process for assessing the quality of their care, the suitability and skills of the staff, or the day-to-day experiences of the children living there. Often these children are described as having “complex needs” A previous Ofsted blog looked at Providing good experiences for children with complex needs https://lnkd.in/eyTixBRA A recent report from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner looked at the experiences of children with complex needs who are deprived of liberty https://lnkd.in/egRqV7GB Ofsted says it recognises the significant challenges that local authorities face in finding the right places for children but children who need placements should only be placed in legal, registered settings. They will continue to look closely at any use of unregistered provision in their inspections of local authority children’s services. The DfE has now published its policy paper for the Children’s Well-being Bill, confirming it intends to give Ofsted additional powers and resources to better tackle unregistered providers that have vulnerable children in their care. https://lnkd.in/eVDBU554 The Government will also need to address the underlying reasons that have seen an increase in unregistered provision. #safeguarding  #SafeguardingChildren #Ofsted  tri.x

A recent UK report has studied the preventative effect of Sure Start centres - child and family hubs - on youth crime and misbehaviour. As the new Queensland Government’s attention turns to how best to implement further evidence-based prevention and early intervention investments - the effect of sustained, community-based, wrap-around, multi-disciplinary child health and development and family wellbeing services ought to be in the mix. As the UK report concludes:  “The rollout of Sure Start centres across England from 1999 to 2010 targeted improvements in a wide range of outcomes for children in the short run, including school preparedness and health outcomes. Not only was Sure Start effective at achieving these aims, but, as prior studies have shown, it also delivered improvements to children’s socio-emotional development and the home environment. At the same time, the persistent effects of Sure Start on health and academic outcomes throughout childhood suggest that benefits stemmed not just from the support children received at Sure Start centres, but also from how additional support for the whole household made a difference in the long run.” “This report builds on past work showing that Sure Start generated significant reductions in child hospitalisations and improvements in academic performance, by demonstrating that the benefits extended to reduction in serious crimes. These effects stretched out over a long time frame, highlighting the potential of early intervention to produce long-lasting benefits.” Queensland has some great examples of community, health and school-based child and family hubs, and there are plenty of opportunities to do more and to support them better.  This experience and evidence is why ‘integrating hubs and spokes’ is one of Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership's 6 priority portfolios in our draft Phase 3 Strategy.  Keep an eye out for more from us soon on hubs as on 3rd December we are launching a ‘Child and Family Hubs Framework’, in collaboration with the National Child and Family Hubs Network, together with its host Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and our host ARACY. You can register here: https://lnkd.in/grwckzxe See the UK @Institute for Fiscal Studies report here: https://lnkd.in/e6656P-u

Incredibly welcome to see these reforms to children’s social care in England. The current system is fundamentally broken - with private firms profiting off the back of some of the most vulnerable young people in our society. The fact that essential care and support have become vehicles for profit-making rather than genuine, child-centred support is an indictment of how far we’ve strayed from the principles of equity and social justice. In my role at The Sutton Trust I see first-hand the devastating impact this exploitative system has on life chances. Only 14% of care leavers go on to university, compared to 47% of their peers. At this rate, it will take over a century to close the gap. This is a systemic failure that compounds disadvantage and limits opportunity from childhood through to adulthood. A fairer future must start with better, more accountable care for every child. We need provision that puts the needs of young people first - not the profits of private providers. This reform is a vital step, but it cannot be the last. We must now push for a system rooted in compassion, equity, and long-term support for every young person, so that background never defines their future. https://lnkd.in/eWgmvN8M Children's Commissioner for England Local Government Association

Councils often seek senior interim professionals to manage winter pressures in Adult and Children’s Social Care due to various specific needs and challenges. Here are the top 10 reasons: 1. Increased Demand for Home Care Services Reason: Higher demand for home care during winter due to colder weather and increased health issues. Relevant Act: Care Act 2014 (Adult Social Care). 2. Managing Capacity and Resources Reason: To efficiently manage and allocate resources in response to sudden increases in service demand. Relevant Act: Care Act 2014. 3. Ensuring Compliance with Safeguarding Standards Reason: To oversee and ensure compliance with safeguarding standards for vulnerable adults and children during high-pressure periods. Relevant Acts: Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Adults); Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 (Children’s). 4. Developing and Implementing Sufficiency Strategies Reason: To address gaps in care provision and ensure a sufficiency of placements and services for children. Relevant Act: Children and Families Act 2014 (specifically related to Sufficiency Duty). 5. Improving Multi-Agency Coordination Reason: To enhance coordination between various agencies involved in social care to ensure a comprehensive response to winter pressures. Relevant Acts: Care Act 2014; Children Act 1989 and 2004. 6. Responding to Increased Health Needs Reason: Managing increased health needs among adults and children due to seasonal illnesses. Relevant Acts: Care Act 2014 (for adults); Children Act 1989 and 2004 (for children’s health). 7. Addressing Staffing Shortages Reason: To quickly fill gaps in staffing and leadership due to increased turnover or absence during winter. Relevant Acts: Care Act 2014. 8. Enhancing Quality of Care Reason: To maintain or improve the quality of care provided to adults and children amidst increased demand and stress. Relevant Acts: Care Act 2014; Ofsted regulations for children’s services. 9. Managing Financial Pressures Reason: To oversee and manage the financial aspects of care services, ensuring cost-effectiveness and efficiency during high-demand periods. Relevant Acts: Care Act 2014 (financial assessments); Children and Families Act 2014. 10. Implementing New Initiatives or Policies Reason: To introduce or manage new initiatives or policies aimed at improving care services or addressing winter-specific challenges. Relevant Acts: Care Act 2014; Children Act 1989 and 2004. Senior interim's are often brought in to provide the expertise and experience needed to navigate these complex issues effectively, ensuring that councils can deliver high-quality care and meet statutory requirements during winter pressures. Please do not hesitate to contact me for your Social Care,Transformation and Commissioning Interim experts, I look forward to hearing from you. sanchezsh@macildowie.gov.uk 07816 192644

📢 Important Update for Children's Social Care The recent Tory manifesto has outlined children's social care plans, including more children's home places and expanded mentoring for care leavers. Still, despite the £2.6bn care review bill, it lacks new funding. While these steps are positive, the absence of financial backing raises concerns about the effectiveness and sustainability of these reforms. At ACCA, we emphasise the urgent need for comprehensive investment to support vulnerable children and families truly. Read the full article below - #socialcare #safeguarding #carereviewbill #generalelection