1. Inspection of Child Protection: Inspection Findings Mairead MacNeil Director Specialist Children’s Services January 2013

2. The Process 6 Inspectors arrived unannounced on November 26 th and stayed for 8 days They looked at over 200 cases; they spent time at CRU, they cat in Conferences, Core Groups, CHIN and Strategy meetings; they met with KSCB representatives; they met with Members and Senior Officers They knew us well when they left

3. Ofsted Judgements Quality of Practice – Adequate Effectiveness of Help and Protection – Adequate Leadership and Governance – Adequate Overall Effectiveness - Adequate

4. Key Findings No children were found to be at risk of, or suffering from, significant harm as a result of weaknesses in management or action Reconfiguration of early help services has improved the accessibility and responsiveness of help Improvements to the KSCB are starting to take effect

5. Key Findings The council has a good understanding of its strengths and areas in need of improvement We have delivered a significantly improved response at the point of referral into SCS

6. Things We Do Well CDT/CRU functioning well; thresholds for referral are correct and decision making is consistent The route to escalate cases from the CAF is effectively applied in most cases Effective initial screening and prompt subsequent action by the council and police services

7. Things We Do Well Children requiring protection receiving a more assured initial response than previously; risks being identified in a timely and effective way Managers and staff understand the need to focus on children and young people to ensure that interventions are timely, effective and avoid drift

8. Things We Do Well Interventions aimed at protecting and supporting children on child protection plans are proportionate

9. Areas for Improvement Child in Need planning Timeliness of CDT decisions around assessment Audits: need to be more focused; guided by overarching priorities; findings used to drive progress Changes to the KSCB are not fully effective’ child protection planning and review need further improvement

10. Areas for Improvement (Continued) Child protection plans lacked specific/measurable improvement goals; many ended before improvements were embedded and sustainable. Too many plans are repeating Casework is variable; quality and recording Focus and pace required; appropriate thresholds, assessment, planning, multi- agency engagement; supervision for CIN is insufficient

11. Recommendations Now  Audit of Child in Need cases  KSCB S11 audits

12. Recommendations 3 Months  CIN cases: include assessment of need and SMART plan  Support children removed from CPP  Review approach to CP conferences  CDT decision making processes  Quality CAF assessments and plans  Improve quality supervision and management oversight

13. Recommendations 6 Months  CIN referrals dealt with promptly  Partner agencies understand and carry out responsibilities

14. Summary and Next Steps The journey from 2010 to here has been long, hard but successful BUT…none of us aspire to be adequate We need to build on our good processes to make more of a difference Focus on child centred practice Be able to demonstrate impact and outcomes for children

15. Summary and Next Steps Every visit, every supervision, every case meeting, every management decision has to be focussed on making a difference for children and their families Focus now must be on quality, quality, quality

16. Summary and Next Steps AND they’ll be back!! We can expect a Children in Care Inspection anytime from May onwards It will have the same relentless focus on impact on individual children and the difference we are making for them and it will look especially at adoption and permanency work

17. Thank You

18. Questions