Agenda item

The Children’s Rights and Advocacy Service have prepared two  reports relating to feedback from York’s children and young people, who are looked after. The U Matter survey took place in early 2014 and the report summarises the findings. The Show Me That I Matter annual report 2013-14 summaries the discussions which have taken place in York’s children in care council during the past year.

Members considered a report relating to feedback from York’s looked after children and young people, the Show Me That I Matter Annual Report and the U Matter survey.

Show Me That I Matter (SMTIM) Annual Report

Officers presented the report to the Board and commented that;

·        A lot of children and young people did not know who to talk to at the Council.

·        That the move to West Offices had been positive and the SMTIM panel had a Chair and Vice Chair on a more stable basis.

·        It was hoped that an update to the SMTIM website would be complete by and relaunched in June.

Members asked the following questions in relation to the report;

·        That the membership of the SMTIM panel comprised of ten members and two Councillors. How were the panel selected and how were people able to join?

·        How was the agenda set for each meeting?

·        Was there any communication between the Schools Councils and SMTIM, did their objectives overlap?

In response to the questions it was reported that;

·        Officers were unsure if there was a cap of numbers on the SMTIM panel but any prospective members were encouraged to get in touch with the Council’s Children’s Rights Officer.

·        Generally the agenda was set by young people, who would ask questions to Officers and if they had not received answers these would then go on as items for the agenda for the next meeting of the panel.

Some Members spoke about how they wished to see how Looked After Children were active in all organisations which involved Children and Young People’s voices. They questioned why professional language continued to be used around these organisations and why language which was more likely to be understood more clearly by young people could not be used.

They hoped that the Annual Report was sent out to all Members so that they had the chance to see at least the front page.

U Matter Survey

Members commented on the figures presented in the survey. Comments included;

·        In the opinion of Officers, how representative were the responses?

·        That they wanted to see the actual figures rather than percentages to see how representative the survey group was.

·        That they were worried about the high turnover of social workers and what this would mean for the continuity of support for children and young people in the city.

In response, it was stated that the results of the survey were compared with the overall population of children and young people in York. Members were also informed that social worker recruitment had been examined, as there had been a significant turnover during 2013 but the vacancy rate in the city was now low. However, it was pointed out that the city was always vulnerable to social workers moving to jobs elsewhere.

A representative from the SMTIM panel was in attendance at the meeting and he told Members that lots of young people did not like filling out surveys. The Chair added that this could be because young people questioned why they should be involved.

Officers hoped that the “Speak Up” engagement event in June would help to overcome this issue.

Resolved:  That the report be noted.

Reason:   The views, wishes and feelings of looked after children and young people are central to the strategic planning for current and future services for this group of young people.