Agenda item

(To receive a report from Stuart Carlton, Assistant Director of Children's Services, which describes the arrangements for providing early help to children and families in Lincolnshire and areas for development and improvement)

The Committee gave consideration to a report from the Executive Director of Children's Services, which provided information on providing early help to children and families in Lincolnshire and highlighted areas for development to improve on the current position.

It was reported that the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership had agreed to introduce a system to improve the process of working together to meet the needs of children and families through the Common Assessment Framework and Team Around the Child in 2006.  Working Together to Safeguard Children was introduced in April 2013, and this guidance placed an emphasis on the importance of early help in promoting the welfare of children, together with clear arrangements for collaboration. 

It was highlighted that Lincolnshire's Early Help Offer identified that there was a need for help for children and families as soon as problems started to emerge, or when there was a strong likelihood that problems would emerge in the future.  The Offer was not just for very young children, but included universal and targeted services and was designed to reduce, or prevent specific problems from escalating or becoming entrenched.

The critical features of an effective early help offer included a multi-disciplinary approach that brought together a range of professionals; a relationship with a trusted Lead Professional who could engage with the child and the family; provide families with support so that they could develop their own capacity to deal with issues, and look at things with a more holistic approach to address the child in the wider family, and to provide a more streamlined and simple assessment process.

Attached to the report at Appendix A was a copy of Lincolnshire Children's Services Early Help Offer, and at Appendix B was a copy of the Lincolnshire Children's Services Early Strategy, which outlined Lincolnshire's current Early Help Offer for the Committee to consider.

The Early Help Strategy outlined the areas of work partners were committed to, to improve Early Help arrangements in Lincolnshire.

During discussion, some concern was raised as to whether all the relevant organisations involved in the Early Help Strategy had the capacity to deliver the help needed to troubled families.  The Committee was advised that although the budgets available were reducing, there was a need to look further into what was being done; ensuring that there was no duplication and making sure that what was being done was being done in the most effective manner.  The Strategy, as part of the modernised working would ensure that enough help was provided to enable troubled families to help themselves.

Some concern was also raised with regard to referrals on page 38 of the Early Help Offer document that in order for an early assessment to be effective when the family/child did not consent, then the Lead Professional would make a judgement as to whether, without help, the needs of the child would escalate.  If that was the case then a referral to the local authority children's social care might be necessary.  The Committee was advised that there were only a few schools concerns that reached the Child Protection Threshold.

It was highlighted on Page 41 of the Early Help Offer (Appendix A) that there was no longer a midwifery managed unit at the Grantham and District Hospital. 

Some members extended their concerns with regard to the importance of School Nurses and Health Visitors in the life of a child.  The Committee was advised that School Nurses were commissioned through Public Health and that Health Visitors (Commissioning of the Healthy Child Programme) would come over to the Local Authority in 2015.  It was noted that work was currently underway to look at the opportunities that this might create, and to identify the best way to take this forward, to avoid duplication.  It was reported that some discussions had taken place with Public Health already as to how Children's Services felt the School Nurse service should be provided.  The issue would need to be debated further by the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee as to what the Public Health offer for children should look like.  Some members felt very strongly that Schools Nurses needed to be involved in the pastoral life of a child.

A further area highlighted was concerning a child's readiness for school and whether there was a definition as to what that was. Some members of the Committee expressed concerns that young children were now attending school when they were not toilet trained.  It was highlighted further that some of these young children regressed during the school holidays as they were not receiving the support they needed.  The Executive Director asked members of the Committee to let her know of any specific cases, so that the Team Around the Child could provide support through the school holidays to those individual children and their families.  Officers confirmed that the definition of ready for school was a flexible judgemental view measured from the "Early Years Stage Profile" and it was very difficult to define as there was a range with regard to school readiness, and that each schools offer might be different.  Officers advised that there was the potential to set up a County wide parenting service to help those families who needed extra help.  Officers were aware that there were families in need, and it was highlighted that Children's Centres had targeted provision and that once Health Visitors' were transferred in 2015, the provision would be assessed and services transformed.

In conclusion, the Committee recognised the problems Children's Services had regarding reduced funding for service provision, and to the success of its services, but felt that it was very important to support vulnerable children and their families.

RESOLVED

            That the report be noted.