Care Matters: Time for Change

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Care Matters Time for Change
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• A brief recap
• Since 1997 there have been a number of
  reforms and investment into children in care.
• Quality Protects
• Care Standards Act
• Children (Leaving Care Act)
• The proportion achieving 5 A - C at GCSE has
  risen from 7 in 2000 to 12.

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But outcomes are still unacceptable

• 12 of children in care attained 5A - C in 2006,
  compared to 59 of all children
• Only 6 of care leavers go into higher education
• 5 times more likely to move school in years 10
  and 11 than others
• Over 30 of care leavers are not in education,
  employment or training at 19 compared to 13 of
  all young people
• 8 times more likely to be permanently excluded
  from school

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Care Matters showed

• We dont intervene early enough to support
  families
• System does not compensate enough for early harm
  importance of resilience
• Children in care lack a consistent adult
• Children move between placements too frequently
  and placement quality is not high enough
• Key services dont do enough to help children in
  care get their lives back on track
• Children leave care poorly equipped for adult life

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Achievement is poor because

• Lack of stability disrupts the education of
  children in care
• Too much time spent out of school higher rates
  of absence and exclusion
• Children in care lack sufficient support for
  their education and, on average, are in the
  lowest performing schools
• Professionals dont always work together to
  support the education of children in care
• Poor health and wellbeing, and other factors,
  create barriers to learning

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Time for Change Key themes

• Uncompromisingly high ambitions for children in
  care
• Good parenting from everyone in the system
• Stability in every aspect of the child's
  experience
• Centrality of the voice of the child

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Delivering a first class education

• Better access to high quality early years
  provision
• Highest priority in school admissions
• Measures to reduce instability caused by changes
  in care placement
• Putting the designated teacher on a statutory
  footing to improve the support provided by
  schools
• Strengthened guidance on exclusions and support
  to improve attendance

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Delivering a first class education (2)

• Greater personalised learning with
• increased one to one tuition
• 500 to support wider learning
  opportunities for all children in care at risk of
  falling behind and
• free part-time access to extended-school
  activities
• Virtual School Heads to provide scrutiny and
  challenge and support
• A 2000 university bursary for care leavers

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Care Matters wider proposals
Improving education goes beyond what happens at
school. Wider reforms to improve the lives of
children in care include

• Improved support for children in their families
  to reduce the need for care where that can safely
  be done
• Improvements to care placements through better
  skills for foster carers, better commissioning,
  better enforcement of minimum standards in
  residential care and more visits
• Improved access to health and leisure services
  free music tuition and priority status for
  children in care within local authority youth
  work
• Better transition to adult life piloting the
  chance to stay with foster carers to 21, and the
  chance to remain in care up to age 18 until young
  people are ready to leave
• Workforce reform social worker training,
  recruitment and retention strengthened
  Independent Reviewing Officer Independent
  Visitors

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Implementation

• We will publish an implementation strategy by end
  of the year
• We have already amended the admissions code,
  published statutory guidance on exclusions, and
  are piloting virtual school heads
• Developing a new partnership delivery model
• Children in Care Bill will set the legislative
  framework
• Revised regulatory framework bringing statutory
  guidance and National Minimum Standards into line
  
• We are providing additional resources to
  implement the necessary changes