Children’s Social Care – Five priorities for our new Government

While the sector awaits a clear policy direction for children’s social care from our new Government there are reasons for optimism. Some well-received ministerial appointments and a fresh team with new ideas and energy could empower the sector to tackle the significant challenges faced.

At IMPOWER we have worked with over twenty local authorities in the last 18 months to find new and innovative ways of improving outcomes for children and families, while also reducing costs for local areas. Drawing on this work and conversations with leaders of children’s services across the country I am suggesting five priorities for the new Government:

Radically different model of service delivery at a local level

The current trajectory of demand-led services (across adults, children’s, education, heath & housing in particular) mean it will be challenging for local authorities to maintain financial sustainability in the medium-term even with (unlikely) injections of cash. There has been a reemergence of the concept of ‘total place’ – services, agencies and sectors working across boundaries to meet the needs of cohorts of residents as early as possible, driven by shared data, leadership and funding. This is now a necessity rather than a ‘nice to have.’ We need an immediate programme of scalable demonstration projects putting this into practice at a local level, with the right incentivisation and central funding.

Continue thrust of children’s social care reform – but strengthen and improve

I’ve discussed this agenda and the progress made in previous blogs. While some elements have the potential to make a positive difference, others need a fresh look. Regional Care Cooperatives being one example. Our experience and the view of many in the sector is that regionalisation alone is not a panacea. Fixing the current challenges with the cost and availability with care mean a fundamentally different approach to practice, commissioning and collaboration with providers at a local level. We are supporting sector-led approaches that demonstrate how. These need to be scaled and incorporated into regional approaches to realise the benefit of collaborations at this level.

Work with local authorities, partners and providers to find the right solutions to challenges with care costs and sufficiency

Simple solutions will not solve the current challenges around care costs and availability. Looking to eradicate or remove ‘profit’ from the sector fails to address the root causes of the current crisis and risks worsening the situation (as impact of changes in Wales suggest). While profiteering and equity-backed care providers exist and need to be tackled, they represent a relatively small proportion of the market, with many good providers working hard to improve outcomes for children. In our experience it is often the way system (practitioners, commissioner and providers) manage and respond to risk, an insufficient focus on needs and strengths, and external factors (e.g. long waits for CAMHS intervention, changes to regulation) which can drive excessive cost.

Building more LA residential homes is also not a solution on its own. As many LAs have experienced, the overall costs can be comparable to the external market, and a variety of specialism and skill is often needed to meet the wide diversity of children’s needs. The answer lies in practitioners, commissioners and providers working differently at a local level with relational, needs-led approaches to delivering the right outcomes for children – through a mixed-economy of provision. Fundamental to this is better understanding, capture and tracking of children’s needs at a child and cohort level – as enabled by the Valuing Care approach we have developed with the sector.

Incentivise and support education settings to confidently meet the needs of more children and young people with SEND

There are rumours of a review of the legislation and infrastructure that surround the current SEND system, which is not delivering the right outcomes for children and families. Our work with a range of local authorities has demonstrated that it is possible to give education settings and families more confidence and support to meet needs earlier, and within mainstream support. These approaches – which focus on the needs and strengths of individual children and larger cohorts, and providing practical, early interventions – need to be adopted at scale. Alongside this legislation and regulatory change are needed to give inclusion greater weight, alongside attainment and attendance.

Bring together children’s social care reform agenda with Child Health Action Plan

On 5^th July IMPOWER hosted a shared learning event with NHS and LA colleagues. There was clear consensus on the need for stronger collaboration between LAs and health agencies for children and families at an earlier stage (long before partnership conversations focused on those with the most complex needs). There is an opportunity to consider how public health and NHS services for children and families can be better incorporated into multi-agency models of early intervention and ‘Family Help’ at a community level as part of Labour’s Child Health Action Plan. There are already some fantastic examples of this join up across a number of LAs – it is a question of how can replicate, incentivise and scale such approaches.

I’d welcome any reflections or thoughts on the points touch on here – please get in touch with me directly if you would like to discuss – [email protected]