Care Matters in Northern Ireland

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Care Matters in Northern Ireland
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Content

• Background
• Care Matters
• Implementation to Date
• Future Plans
• Questions Comments

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Background

• OFM/dFM Childrens Strategy whole-child
  approach. Six key outcome areas
• being healthy
• enjoying, learning and achieving
• living in safety and with stability
• economic and environmental wellbeing
• contributing positively to community and society
  and
• living in a society which respects their rights.

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Background

• Targeted support required to help children reach
  potential.
• Care Matters in Northern Ireland developed with
  input from key partners including DE, DEL, DSD,
  OFMDFM, DETI, the NIO, the Youth Justice Agency
  and the voluntary sector.
• Interface with Families Matter.

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Care Matters NI - Themes

• Care Matters NI Six Key Themes
• Increasing preventative services and support
• Information-sharing
• Gateway
• Family Support
• Family Group Conferencing.

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Care Matters NI - Themes

• Improving the range, quality and stability of
  placement options
• Better planning
• Placement choice
• Stability and permanence options.
• Improving corporate parenting
• Enhanced understanding of roles
• Participation
• Effective care planning.

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Care Matters NI - Themes

• Improving educational opportunities
• Role of LAC teams
• Role of carers
• Interaction with schools
• Increasing participation in training and
  employment.

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Care Matters NI - Themes

• Enhancing opportunities and life outside school
  and care
• Access to sporting, volunteering and youth
  activities
• Health needs
• Sexual Health
• Drug/Alcohol Use
• Criminality.

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Care Matters NI - Themes

• Strengthening support to young people leaving
  care as they make the transition to adulthood.
• Dedicated Teams
• Standards
• Accommodation Needs
• Preparation for Adulthood
• Access to Further/Higher Education
• Employability.

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Care Matters

• Strategy consulted on March September 2007.
• Broadly positive response. Key elements - need
  for resources and joined up approach.
• DHSSPS 10m investment in improvements to
  childrens services, including family support,
  leaving care, Gateway teams, pilot therapeutic
  models, foster care and adoption.

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Implementation - Safeguarding

• Safeguarding and Information-Sharing
• New public protection arrangements co-located
  public protection team
• Trust posts to fulfil responsibilities on Local
  Area Public Protection Teams
• Pilot arrangements for the co-location of social
  work staff within PSNI Public Protection Units
• Information-sharing protocol being developed.

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Implementation Family Support

• Family Support
• Family Support major focus for Department
  consistent with Families Matter agenda.
• 4.65m investment in family intervention
  services. Targets for provision.
• Further 3.5m recent investment to create 70
  extra posts in Gateway/Family Intervention Teams.

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• Family Support contd.
• Regional guidance on thresholds of need and
  thresholds of intervention as part of the UNOCINI
  framework.
• Regional guidance on Family Group Conferencing
  issued to maximise potential for young people to
  be cared for, and maintain links with, family
  networks.

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Implementation Foster Care

• Foster Care
• Regional Fostering Recruitment and Training
  Co-Ordination Service established in November
  2007.
• Free out of hours Regional Helpline and regional
  website established
• Television advert to encourage foster carers
• 1,841 foster carers at March 2009, a 20 increase
  since March 2006. 25 of foster carers are
  family or friends carers

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Implementation Foster Care

• Foster Care contd.
• Fostering Network taking forward plans to -
  increase ability of foster carers to make
• day-to-day decisions and
• - introduce specific approval processes
• and standards for kinship foster carers.
• Pilots planned for 2009-10
• Funding a service to support foster carers in
  cases involving allegations.

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Implementation Rights/ Advocacy

• Rights/Advocacy
• Independent advocacy service in place to help
  children and young people understand their rights
  and ensure voice is heard.
• Visiting service to residential homes and
  drop-in surgeries for young people in foster
  care
• VOYPIC also produced three innovative guides for
  young people entering care.

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Implementation Review of Residential Child Care

• Review of Residential Child Care
• Completed December 2008.
• A range of policy and practice initiatives
  developed to improve quality and standard of
  residential child care services.
• Consultation to take place on range of policy,
  including admissions, childrens resource panels,
  drug and alcohol abuse, use of restraint and
  bullying.

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Implementation - Education

• Education
• Fostering Achievement expanded.
• Easter Revision Courses
• Run for two years at several school sites.
• Fun-Learning Summer Schemes.
• 120 children last year planned again for
  August.

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• Education contd.
• Letterbox
• 160-180 LAC (p4-p6) receive packs of reading and
  play material. Tested before and after
• Developing similar programmes for post-primary
  age groups and for children with special needs.

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Implementation

• Child Trust Funds
• Extra funding provided to give every looked after
  child an extra 100 for every year they spend in
  care.
• Children on Edge of Criminality
• NIO legislation care order no longer suspended
  on making of juvenile justice centre order.
• Services commissioned across region for children
  on edge of criminality.
• Joint protocol agreed between PSNI and Trusts.
  Common-sense approach to involving police in
  incidents regarding LAC.

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Implementation Transition to Adulthood

• Transition to Adulthood
• Re-organisation 16 Teams - range of support
  including help with accommodation, practical and
  financial skills, and accessing education,
  training and employment.
• Employability Initiative Young people able to
  access full and part-time employment, training
  and volunteering opportunities including HSC
  organisations.

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Implementation Transition to Adulthood

• Guidance
• Joint working between Social Services and Careers
  Services
• Regional guidance to support young people to
  engage in employment.
• Young care leavers entitlements for financial
  support.
• Accommodation
• Joint working with DSD and NIHE on meeting
  accommodation needs.
• Joint commissioning and assessment for homeless
  young people.

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Implementation Transition to Adulthood

• Accommodation contd.
• Standards being developed on provision of
  accommodation and services to young people.
• Former Foster Carers scheme (GEM) provides
  financial support to carers who continue to
  support /accommodate young people aged 18-21. At
  the end of April, there were 187 on the scheme.

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Future Plans

• Future Plans
• Publish Summary of Consultation responses and
  secure cross-Departmental endorsement.
• Paper referred to Executive hope to have it
  considered this month. Seeks commitment to
  implementation and prioritisation of vulnerable
  children and families.
• DHSSPS plans major reform of the looked after
  childrens framework.

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Future Plans

• Future Plans
• Family and Child Centred Planning Project will
  incorporate many of the remaining Care Matters
  proposals which fall within the remit of DHSSPS.
• Overhaul of looked after childrens systems,
  guidance and documentation with focus on better
  planning, participation and procedural reform.
• Make processes relating to looked after children
  more child-centred.

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Future Plans

• Future Plans
• Project will produce revised guidance,
  procedures, and documentation on
• assessment, preparation and training
• care planning
• monitoring and review and
• access to support services.

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Future Plans

• Future Plans
• Project will consider provision for specialist
  care, including specialist fostering provision,
  services for adolescents and services for young
  care leavers.
• Will review statutory framework to determine best
  framework for service provision.

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Questions Comments