Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Sam Gorton  Tel: 01772 532471 email:  sam.gorton@lancashire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Introductions and Apologies

County Councillor Brown

 

To welcome everybody to the meeting and receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

All were welcomed to the meeting and apologies were received from David Barrow, Nicola Bamford, Terri Crossland, Jane Hylton and Sarah Jones.

 

2.

Notes of the Meeting and Matters Arising from 30 January 2020 pdf icon PDF 381 KB

County Councillor Brown

 

To agree for accuracy the notes of the meeting and receive any matters arising.

Minutes:

The minutes were agreed as an accurate record and there were no matters arising from them.

 

3.

Terms of Reference and Membership pdf icon PDF 205 KB

County Councillor Brown

 

The Board is asked to agree the current terms of reference and membership for the municipal year 2020/2021.

 

Minutes:

The Board agreed the membership and terms of reference for the municipal year 2020/2021.

4.

COVID-19 - Impact response of the pandemic for Lancashire's Children in Care and Care Leavers

Residential Manager, LCC

 

To receive a verbal update from LCC's residential units on how they and our young people have adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minutes:

Michael Nunn, Residential Senior Manager and Frankie Hearty, Residential Child Care Worker, Fostering, Adoption, Residential and Youth Offending Team Services were welcomed to the meeting and gave an insight on how lockdown and social distancing measures had changed the lives of young people across Lancashire's in-house residential services. 

 

Michael updated the Board on the Outreach Adolescent Support Unit which has been run by the Outreach Service who have been working diligently with families that have young people on the edge of care in order for them to keep together, meet their individual needs and challenges and also find ways of having some fun during lockdown and taking some of those pressures away from families that are really struggling through this difficult time.

 

Some Mindfulness packs have been collated by the Council's Community Outreach Teams and were put together for parents with young people and young people themselves that were struggling during lockdown.  The packs contained activities/sessions/help booklets/contact details and were left on the doorsteps of families in need across Lancashire to reach out to them.  Private meetings on Zoom were also offered so parents/young people could speak to professionals on a one to one basis and all were given key contacts.  Colouring books and art supplies were also donated from a number of businesses across Lancashire and the Council's Overnight Short Break Units to enable parents to do activities with their children and hopefully alleviate some pressures.

 

Examples of other activities carried out during lockdown were highlighted below:

 

·  Sunflower competition where young people where young people were provided with all the equipment and a virtual celebration event will be held shortly.

·  Live baking sessions – dropping off ingredients so young people could participate.  This is also a great upskilling activity and something that will be taken forward in the future which has been well received.

 

Over a 1000 tins of shortbread biscuits were donated from Royal Edinburgh and these were distributed far and wide across Lancashire and gave an opportunity to drop these on the doorsteps and engage in conversation with young people and families in need.

 

The Adolescent Support Unit have continued to receive young people into the service and have been managed in separate groups to aid social distancing and minimise the impact of COVID-19 on the group.

 

Frankie guided the Board through the presentation that was attached to the agenda where it was reported that despite the challenging times everyone was experiencing, the homes and outreach services had continued to go above and beyond for the children and young people they cared for.  It was noted that many of the young people had turned the experience into a positive one by developing better relationships in their homes with other young people and staff who care for them and learnt new technology to maintain contact with friends and family whilst being in lockdown.  Young people have also received communication/contact during this time from many professionals and services including social workers, independent reviewing officers, teachers as well as many  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Young People's Experiences of Living through the COVID-19 Pandemic pdf icon PDF 3 MB

LINX – Lancashire's Children in Care Council

 

To receive feedback from a cohort of young people living in care on their experience of living through the COVID-19 pandemic.  They have also produced a video please see link.

 

Minutes:

LINX (Lancashire's Children in Care Council) provided a report to the Board that was circulated with the agenda of the experiences of 22 children in care aged between 12 and 18 years which was captured during two weeks in lockdown.

 

The report gave examples of what those young people would be doing usually if not in lockdown, how they were coping with isolation, what are the positives to come out lockdown and what the key themes were.  Feedback can be found in the presentation.

 

Mia Leyland gave an update on the Children in Care Council and Care Leavers Forum during lockdown where they had continued to deliver the groups albeit virtually, and have also increased the frequency too from monthly to fortnightly.

 

Care Leavers are an isolated group anyway and Barnardo's wanted to ensure there was an extra layer of support for them.  Membership has also increased during lockdown with new young people attending which has been good.  Attendance at the Care Leavers group meetings have also increased as well which is positive and by making them virtual meetings, has removed some of the barriers of physically attending the meetings and travel issues which before would prevent young people from attending.  Therefore going forward this is something that will be taken forward in the future offering hybrid meetings (some in the building and other members virtual).  For the Children in Care meetings, the younger people find digital meetings more of a challenge, especially if they are new members and prefer the face to face meetings and the social contact they get from this meeting.  The groups have changed slightly with more of a social aspect to them during lockdown, with quizzes, cook and eat sessions, art sessions (supplies sent out and vouchers also so they can get what is needed to participate).  Barnardo's have supplied an emergency fund during COVID-19 which has enabled vouchers to be given to young people who have been struggling buying food, paying bills etc.

 

Young people are still taking part in consultations for example with the Department for Education so their voices are still being heard, CC Brown and Sharon Hubber joined a Care Leavers Forum meeting where young people were able to ask what was happening with social care and support.  Barnardo's have distributed care packages which includes mental health information, mindfulness support and been a point of contact for young people during the pandemic.

 

Young people commented that they have found online meetings better than not having any meetings at all due to the social distancing aspect and that the meetings have been adapted to make them fun as well as provide them with information that they need.  Young people found it less isolating and enjoyed seeing different faces and helped them to stay positive and connected.

 

It was noted that Children's Services are now looking at different ways of meeting up with young people ie meeting in parks, going for a walk, meeting for a coffee and making social bubbles and Barnardo's  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Any Other Business

County Councillor Brown

 

To receive any other business.

 

Minutes:

Brendan Lee, who will be the new Head of Service for Children Looked After and Care Leavers gave an overview on what work has been done during lockdown.

 

The Board were encouraged to watch the video below of care leavers experiences throughout this pandemic.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_k9BoM4qkc&feature=youtu.be

 

Roxanne McAllister, Children's Social Care Team Manager gave an update on how colleagues had called-in to young people just for a chat, nothing formal which had been received really well with young people and it has been proven that this has developed more meaningful relationships between young people and their workers.

 

Young people have kept themselves up to date with what has been happening throughout COVID-19 and following guidance and changes when announced and have been really responsible which is a credit to them.

 

In terms of what has been happening with support, all young people were risk assessed to see who needed face to face support and who could be contacted over the phone.  This had to be balanced with keeping young people safe as well as the care workers whilst ensuring that social distancing guidelines were adhered to along with making sure young people did not feel isolated throughout and to support them and be there for them as much as possible.

 

Extra financial help has been available for young people and personal advisors have been shopping for them and making sure they have everything they need.  Lots of social engagement work has taken place on social media, video diaries, games, online activity days, a cook-a-long session virtually making vegetable lasagne.  These are just some of the ways staff have been interacting with young people.

 

Housing has been a particular challenge during this time due to landlords not letting accommodation.  Housing protocols for care leavers are being produced and also there are also plans to expand the housing offer and working is underway with Procurement on this.

 

A Mental Health Strategy is also in the process of being written and engagement from stakeholders is being sought to enable a multi-agency approach to support our young people and ensure this piece of work is bespoke for care leavers.

 

Some big strategic pieces of work that will need to be brought to future Corporate Parenting Boards are:

 

·  Housing and working with District Councils to ensure there is an offer which is not only equitable but that quality housing is provided for our care leavers and improves lives and has an impact on them too.

·  Work on Homeless protocols.

·  ASDAN work.

·  Delivering a different leaving care service going forward.

·  Ensuring all staff are upskilled to support young people/care leavers in mental health and development an Improvement Plan.

 

Brendan and Roxanne were thanked for their update.

 

7.

Date and Time of Next Meeting

County Councillor Brown

 

Thursday, 10 September 2020 at 6.00pm, format of meeting to be confirmed.

 

Minutes:

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, 10 September 2020 at 6pm virtually via Zoom.