1. Journey to Excellence thriving children – strong families

2. Journey to Excellence
Together, the Council, its partners and families will focus our effort on using our available resources and partnerships to ensure:
Assertive and co-ordinated Early Help - build on strengths & pull children away from vulnerabilities
Excellent and nurturing care - pushes children & young people to succeed in adulthood
WHOLE SYSTEM

3. Increasing numbers of children needing care and protection
Why now..?
Increasing numbers of children needing care and protection
Limited implementation of evidence based interventions
Excessive demands on the ‘front door’ of specialist services
No clear public access to Early Help
Repeat calls for services and multiple assessments
Lack of consistent model & clarity across agencies

4. Children’s Plan principles…
Think family
Act early (and assertively)
Take responsibility
Work together (relationships are key)
Use best practice and interventions that work

5. Early Help – co-ordinated & assertive
Journey to Excellence
Early Help – co-ordinated & assertive
Excellent nurturing care & placements in Bradford District
Rapid and effective response when young people are in crisis
Integrated support to prepare young people with disabilities for adulthood
SIGNS OF SAFETY

6. Early Help
Early Help offer required under ‘Working Together’
Our local Early Help needs to:
Improve outcomes
Be more focused & assertive
Be better co-ordinated
Provide a single point of access
We will build on
Families First
Better Start (Pilot area alongside Keighley)
Children’s Centres

7. Director’s 5 questions Whole family approach Q.1.
What are priorities for the family?
Health-safeguarding
Q.2 Are there any health/Safeguarding issues for the family?
i.e. Are the family registered with GP – Dentist
Or have they missed any appointments i.e Speech and language
Actions
Offer advice -support
Monitor
Seek specialist help if required
Liaise with all agencies supporting family to ensure improved outcomes
Education
Q.3 Are all the children attending school ?
Do the family have any concerns about their child’s education
Offer advice-support
Focus on all children-young people in family
Crime/anti-social behaviours
Q.4 Are any of the family involved in crime and anti social behavior ?
Do the family have any concerns about its impact on the local community
Support Families on benefits out of poverty into training and work.
Q.5
Do adults in family want help into work?
Offer advice and support into training and work
Consider volunteering
Director’s 5 questions

9. Early Help - delivering improved family outcomes
Tier 1
UNIVERSAL &
EARLY HELP
NEW
Multi agency approach to early help
Early Help assessment
Whole family approach -Directors 5 questions
Early response to problems
Reduce repeat referrals
Build resilience for families in local areas
Support families out of poverty into training & work
Clear step up entry point into targeted Early Help
Tier 2
TARGETED EARLY HELP FAMILIES FIRST
Multi agency approach to Targeted Early Help
Co-located Early Help access point for public & staff
Targeted Early Help assessment linked to signs of safety
Range of interventions focused on need delivered in locality setting
Strengthen family resilience to reduce repeat referrals
Families First support into training & work out of poverty
Performance contributing to Families First outcome plan
Clear step up & down process
Tier 3
SOCIAL CARE –CHILD IN NEED
Co-located Early Help access point for public & staff
Risk based approach based on repeat contacts
Assertive outreach for high risk non engaging families Early Help assessment linked to Signs of Safety
Range of interventions focused on need delivered in localities
Tier 4
CHILD PROTECTION
LOOKED AFTER
CHILDREN
Clear step down process
Signs of safety assessment process

10. Early Help contacts estimate
Early Help Provision
Monthly
Social care ,000 (s/c)
Family information service 5,200 (fis)
New ,200 (est)
Existing-refocus services /commissioned provision
300 a month
Step down (from s/c) (est)
annual Total ,232
Monthly total
New/refocus -Early Help drop in centres
2 a week in each constituency
10 people x2 a week x4weeks x5cconsituencies
Plus 4 contacts to resolve issues
400 participants a month
Monthly flow
600 families do not follow thro (20%)
600 families advice/signposting universal/Early Help (20%)
600 families advised to be dealt with by universal/Early Help services (20%)
New/refocus -Multi agency Early Help clinics
May include the following Children's services, police, Health, Camhs, Youth .Offending .Team . Entry into work advisors, housing advice, vcs
New/refocus - Drug & alcohol clinics
2 a month in each constituency
10 people per clinic x 2 month x 5constituencies
100 participants a month
Once a month in each constituency
5 clinics x 5 appointments =25 a month
300 families already have a worker who will work with the family in whole family way (10%)
150 families require assertive outreach Targeted Early Help –Families First tier 3 (10%)
New/refocus – to respond to incidents of domestic violence ‘ Keeping your family safe course’
Once a month each constituency
10 adults 4 week course x 5 const.=
50 participants
Targeted Early Help Families first tier 2/3 monthly needing intervention 1070
New/refocus –to respond to incidents of repeat Marital custody disputes which impact on the children
‘working together to raise happy children meetings’
3 sessions a week per const x 5= 60 participants
New/Refocus to issues which can be addressed by
Parenting courses & Enough is Enough
(Child violence towards parents course)
5 parenting courses per month per cont=50
1 Enough is enough course per month x10 adults per month =10
Revised 14 October 2015
Families First /team around family/yot restorative justice clinics
150 a month

11. Signs of Safety
Developed in West Australia in 1990s
Solution-focused with a robust focus on risk & safety
Key principles
Safety is always the goal
Changes happens when there are constructive working relationships
Everyone should take an enquiring approach
Developed from what practitioners and family members said works best

12. Signs of Safety
Assessment and planning tool − Three columns:
What we are worried about (past harm, future danger, complicating factors),
What is working well (existing strengths and safety)
What needs to happen (family and child protection authority goals and next steps for future safety)
Scaling question: where are we on a sale of zero to ten (where ‘ten’ means safe to close the case and ‘zero’ means the child must be removed)

14. Engaging children in assessment and planning:
Signs of Safety
Engaging children in assessment and planning:
Three Houses (good things, worries, wishes)
Words and pictures tool for explaining what’s happening

16. Signs of Safety - outcomes
Families more empowered - understand the concerns & what needs to change
Work more intensively to build child safety
Practitioners report greater job satisfaction:
clarity of the approach
usefulness of the tools and the
impact for children
• Number of children removed from families reduces

17. Looked after children placements within Bradford
Integrated support for:
Steps to success in learning & education
Good health & emotional well-being
Safe, nurturing & aspirational care
Resilient families, carers and children
Well matched care & placements
Smaller children’s homes
More foster carers for teenagers

18. Rapid and effective response to crisis
Building on Mental Health partnerships
More safe spaces
Integrated Rapid Response/emergency ‘all ages’ hub
Focus on Missing & Child Sexual Exploitation

19. Integrated support to prepare for adulthood
Integrated service lead by Adults Services
Young people with disabilities aged 14 plus
Integrating Social care, Occupational Therapy, health transitions & Continuing Health Care
Personal Budgets & more use of Direct Payments

20. Integrated support to prepare for adulthood

21. Success… Increase access to health services
Improve educational attendance and outcomes
Reduce domestic violence
More families out of poverty
Reduce crime and anti-social behaviour
More children and young people with disabilities directing their own support

22. Success… Reduce contacts and re-referrals to social care
Reduce numbers of Child Protection Plans
More children safely remaining/returning home
Reduce numbers of looked after children
Reduce children cared for outside of the Bradford District

23. Board is asked to:
Endorse the overarching Journey to Excellence programme
Endorse partnership support to the overarching programme
Endorse the Early Help model
Note plans for pilots in Keighley & the Better Start areas
Endorse and provide partnership support to the use of Signs of Safety from Early Help through to Child Protection. Discuss sharing costs of training.
Note further consultation will be undertaken between January to March 2016
Agree to take a further report and Early Help Plan following consultation