‘Putting corporate parenting into practice’ project

Di Hart & Alison Williams

DfE funded project

• Aim = To support local authorities in their corporate parenting role

• Emphasis on practical support– Regional events for those with a lead role in corporate parenting– Events with corporate parents and children in care councils – Tailored support for authorities having difficulties– Free web-based resources from May 2013

• NB: we define corporate parents as those with ultimate responsibility i.e. creating the right framework for staff/ carers to look after children well

• But different levels of responsibility according to role

Levels of responsibility

• Universal - all councillors should– Understand the legal/ policy framework

– Know the profile of local children – and how well they are doing

– Consider the needs of looked after children in all decisions

• Targeted – councillors with relevant role e.g. member of corporate parenting group or scrutiny committee should– Consider the effectiveness of local arrangements

– Consider range of evidence in order to identify what needs to change

• Specialist – councillors with leadership role should– Constantly drive improvements to the service

– Make sure that the needs of looked after children are incorporated in all council/ partner strategies

– Keep up to date with research findings and new initiatives

Children repeatedly tell us..

• They want to be cared about, not just cared for– ‘We’re not treated like children, we’re a case’

• Differences from other children were seen as– Cost perceived as the biggest factor in decisions– Having care plans, meetings and case files– Bureaucratic processes for ‘permission’– Being treated differently at school– Leaving care early to live on your own– Moving from place to place– Multiple professionals and disrupted relationships

(from: Having Corporate Parents - Children’s Rights Director)

What Ofsted found …

• In LAs where services were effective, they foundArticulation of the leadership, ambition and objectives for

looked after children

• In these authorities the corporate parenting board:– demonstrated a strong cross-party commitment to

looked after children, championing their rights, having high aspirations for them and monitoring their progress

– planned for and prioritised the needs of looked after children, resulting in a greater focus on improving outcomes

– actively engaged with their young people

A focus on outcomes

• Identify needs – and priorities

• Decide what outcomes you want to achieve

• Commission services to achieve those outcomes

• Review to see if they have been effective

• Ongoing process … led by elected members

Inspection from April 2013

• Four year cycle by Ofsted and CQC• Bringing together all looked after services, adoption

and fostering• Less focus on data, more on quality of care and

child’s ‘journey’• Explicit focus on leadership and governance

– Role of lead member and chief executive– How corporate parents oversee specific aspects e.g.

children missing from care, out of authority placements, sufficiency, meaningful relationships

– Corporate parenting arrangements, including response to NHS reforms, commissioning

Leadership

& Governance

Corporate parenting group/

mechanism

Decision MakingSystems & structures within LA Systems & structures within partner agencies

Plans, strategies, policies and protocols• CYPP• Commissioning strategy• Policies, plans & protocols of all partners• Care Pledge

Management information•Qualitative•Quantitative

Scrutiny•Internal•Inspection

Resources•Staffing•Skills•Placements•Services

Model of effective corporate parenting

Children’s comments heard & taken into account

Children’s views & wishes are heard concerning staff, their placements & services

Children say what they think of quality of services

Children in Care Council in place for consulting children

Children receive feedback including explanations of decisions made

What we found ...

• Greater awareness of corporate parenting role• ... but difficulty in establishing coherent governance

arrangements• Challenges in getting the ‘right’ information – and

knowing what sense to make of it• Lack of confidence in knowing how/ when to challenge

officers – and issues of trust• Problems in knowing how to work with children and

young people• Gaps in multi-agency involvement and ‘ownership’

Governance arrangements

• Most councils have some sort of body responsible for corporate parenting – but different models

Type Pros Cons

Formal council committee

Clear status and decision making powers

Tends to ‘note’ not actPoor engagement by stakeholders

Forum or board Can be flexible and informal

Unclear status and powersWho should be on it?

Scrutiny committee

Good at challenge Thematic rather than holisticNot equipped to lead

MALAP Involves partner agencies

Excludes elected membersRisk of duplication

The ‘so what’ test

• Corporate parenting boards get information but not always meaningful– Statistics with no context, such as comparison with past

performance/ other councils/ the local population– Reports that only include the good news ... or offer no analysis/

explanation – All statistics and nothing about quality

• Need to take control and ask for helpful information • Look at multiple sources of information

– Performance data – Children’s views – and frontline staff/carers– Supporting data e.g. analysis of complaints, IRO report

Working with children and young people • Children and young people should have a voice in:

– All decisions that affect them as individuals– The service as a whole

• Children in care councils work best if they have– Good links with DCS and elected members– Terms of reference (A National Voice report)

• Corporate parents must– Set up effective working relationship with CiCC e.g.

representation on corporate parenting board– Make sure other children are also heard – Develop a Pledge that goes beyond rhetoric

Free resources

• From May 2013, free resources on– Understanding corporate parenting responsibilities– A model of effective corporate parenting– How to work effectively with children and young people– Tools for evaluating the effectiveness of local corporate

parenting arrangements– Signposts to further sources of information

•  Handbooks for individual elected members

www.ncb.org.uk/corporateparenting