The Corporate Parenting Panel of Harrow Council met on Thursday 1 February 2024 to review updates on the participation service, corporate parenting performance, missing children, virtual school performance, and health services for children looked after. The panel noted the positive outcomes of various initiatives aimed at supporting young people in care, including financial assistance, educational support, and health assessments.

Update from Participation Service and Care Experienced Young People

The panel received an update from the Participation Officer, Joy Bell, who presented key findings from the 2023 Care Leaver Survey. The survey highlighted concerns among young people regarding the rising cost of living, feelings of loneliness, and uncertainty about housing availability. In response, Harrow Council provided care leavers with a £100 supermarket voucher as part of the Household Support Fund. Initiatives to combat loneliness included a Care-Experienced Christmas Dinner, a Care Leavers Forum, and the availability of Independent Visitors. Young people requesting winter clothing received a discretionary allowance. While 20 flats are made available annually for care leavers, demand continues to exceed supply, and support is also provided for private rent and deposits. Care leavers are also signposted to Coram Voice for advocacy support. In the past year, 62 young people received free gym memberships, and two training sessions were delivered by care-experienced individuals to social workers. The participation service hosted 14 events for children looked after, with 40 young people attending at least one outing. A significant number of Christmas presents, including toys, books, and toiletries, were distributed to children in care and care leavers. The panel was informed about upcoming events, including the Care-Experienced Award Ceremony and the rollout of Transport for London's travel initiative for care leavers. Future plans include treating care experience as a protected characteristic, offering cooking classes, supporting apprenticeships, and hosting a residential holiday for children in care.

Update and Performance for Corporate Parenting Service

Jacinta Kane, Assistant Director – Corporate Parenting, presented an update on the Corporate Parenting Service's performance. Harrow Council generally performed well compared to statistical neighbours and national averages, particularly in placement stability, suitable accommodation for care leavers, and care leavers in education, employment, and training (EET). In Quarter 2, 90% of Children Looked After (CLA) had their reviews within the target timescale, with a goal of 95%. While 18 reviews were late in Q2, most were completed within two weeks.

Regarding dental and health checks for CLA, 83.3% had up-to-date dental checks, exceeding the statistical neighbour average of 75% and the England average of 70%. The primary challenge identified was teenagers refusing dental appointments, with social workers actively encouraging attendance. The target for up-to-date dental checks is 90%. Currently, 10 children had not had a medical within the last 12 months.

The number of children placed more than 20 miles away from home decreased, with 85% of these being long-term placements. An update on missing episodes indicated that 8.6% of CLA had at least one missing incident in Q2, which is comparable to statistical neighbour and national averages. Any missing incident is reviewed weekly with police and senior social care managers, and independent return home interviews are offered. Strategy meetings with the police and multi-agency networks are held to prevent further missing incidents and address safeguarding risks.

Challenges in placement sufficiency were discussed, including the complexity of needs, the demand for sibling and parent-and-child placements, and rising provider costs. Harrow is part of a Commissioning Alliance to improve provision quality and manage costs, and has partnered with Centrepoint and Housing for a Housing First initiative to support care leavers at high risk of homelessness. A Fostering Recruitment and Retention Hub is also in place.

Missing Children Report

The Adolescent Safety Development Team Manager presented a report on missing children activity from April to December 2023. A new system has been introduced to simplify reporting missing children. Return Home Interviews indicated that the top risk factors were concerns with family/friends contact, drugs, criminality, alcohol misuse, and child sexual exploitation. The number of repeat missing episodes for CLA significantly increased, with the 10 most frequently missing children accounting for 77% of all reported episodes. The most common age for young people going missing was 16-17 years old. The panel requested an annual report detailing the impact of actions taken to reduce missing episodes, a breakdown of persistently missing children, and a risk rating.

Virtual School Performance Update

The Headteacher of the Harrow Virtual School, Mellina Williamson-Taylor, provided an update on the performance of children looked after. In Autumn Term 2023, 70% of pupils had attendance of 90% or better, with 19% achieving 100% attendance. 30% were persistently absent, with a higher proportion being male. The number of pupils with suspensions decreased to 5%, which is below the England average. No child had a permanent exclusion. Performance at Key Stage 4 showed improvement, with 77% of students receiving GCSE passes (Grades 1-9), an increase from the previous year. The number of students achieving a good GCSE pass in both English and Maths also increased. Seven Year 12 students were not in education, employment, or training (NEET), with bespoke support programmes in place. The Virtual School Headteacher's role has been extended to promote the education of children with a social worker and those in kinship care arrangements.

Update and Performance on Health for Children Looked After

The Named Nurse for Children Looked After in Harrow, Christine Nichols, presented key performance indicators for Initial Health Assessments (IHA) and improvement plans. For the period September to December 2023, IHAs were generally completed within the target timescales, although some challenges were noted with late requests and refusals. The CLA team also records and reports dental checks, immunisation status, and optician checks. Review Health Assessments (RHA) also showed improvement in completion rates, with the main factor contributing to late completions being late requests. The team is working to improve these processes through fortnightly meetings and flexible appointment offers. A case study highlighted a positive outcome for a young person with complex needs who, after initial reluctance, engaged with services and received appropriate health support.