Decision details

Purpose of Report: This report provides an update and recommendations relating to the Placement Review which is focused on placement sufficiency for children in care. Placement sufficiency is at a critical stage in York. Despite the number of children in care remaining relatively stable over the previous 3 years, the diversity and complexity of placement requirement is changing. Increasingly Children’s Social Care are in a position where they are unable to place children and young people in existing Council provision and are having to purchase, often at short notice, external / private foster or residential placements that are expensive and may not be value for money in the context of the individual child.

The review is focused on 1. foster care – support, training, recruitment and remuneration, 2. residential provision and alternative innovative sufficiency options.

This report outlines the intended approach to meet our sufficiency by retaining and recruiting more foster carers and procuring other provisions.

Foster Care - Changes are proposed to the foster carer additional allowances, see Annex B in the report for a summary of these changes. This will ensure greater consistency, transparency and equity across the fostering workforce. It will also incentivise foster carers to offer multiple placements and emergency placement which should increase sufficiency. The review has taken into consideration the work with disabled children around COE and the need to increase community capacity with additional needs. Short break foster carers will be aligned with their mainstream colleagues in relation to finance, support and training.

Residential/Alternative provision - The review will look at different types of provisions, including through the White Rose framework, rather than just replicating our current residential provision. The procurement process will procure a varied offer, to complement our foster care offer, which may include solutions to emergency and short term placements; placements for adolescents, placements for children with complex and additional needs, support to our foster carers during the evening and weekend, out hours outreach support to foster carers and children on the edge of care.

This item has been deferred to the meeting of the Executive on Thursday 7 March 2019. This is to allow for further detailed discussion to take place that will inform the paper.

This item will now be considered by the Executive Member for Education, Children and Young People on Tuesday 19 March 2019 as this is a non-key decision.

Resolved:  That Option 3 be approved and the new training, support and remuneration offer for Foster Carers, taking into consideration the Foster Carer consultation feedback at Annex B, be implemented.

Reason:     In order to deliver the outcomes of the Placement Review and help to ensure that Foster Carers feel valued and have a sense of ownership of the new offer.