1 Introduction

1.1 This report outlines a potential strategy to help maximise outcomes for Hampshire's Children Looked After (CLA) through improvements to the County's Foster Care Service. It builds on the earlier reports to the Social Care Policy Review Committee and to the Executive Member's Decision Day in September 2004.

1.2 It makes recommendations in principle for a programme of investment in Hampshire's Foster Care Service, designed to increase capacity, enhance quality, and reduce the expenditure on the use of placements with independent fostering agencies (IFA's). If the principles are accepted, the options for piloting key aspects of the arrangements would then be explored taking into account the forward budget position as it emerges over the coming months.

1.3 The Social Services Department recognises the key contribution which Hampshire's foster carers make to ensuring good outcomes for our most vulnerable children. In acknowledgement of this a long service award ceremony and dinner was hosted in September by the Executive Member for Social Care.

2 Hampshire County Council Corporate Strategy

2.1 This report and the fostering services referred to support the corporate strategy key aims; in particular

2.1.1 Aim 1: Maximising life opportunities in this case for some of our most vulnerable members of the community.

2.1.2 Aim 5: Improving services, and,

2.1.3 Aim 6: Developing Councillors and staff in terms of Members' involvement on Fostering Panels and improvements for Foster Carers.

3 Race Relations (Amendment) Act

3.1 The Government Regulations and Inspection arrangements specify requirements concerning racial (and other forms of) discrimination.

Compliance with the Act in terms of carrying out an Impact Assessment is confirmed, forming part of the programme of work relating to the Department's Service Plans.

4 Background

4.1 A number of reports have been prepared following the reorganisation of the Family Placement Service as part of the remodelling of the Children's Sector in the Social Services Department, and following an inspection by the Social Services Inspectorate in 1999/2000.

4.2 These are:

4.3 A report by an independent consultant on priorities for change for the fostering service, audited against the UK National Standards for Fostering (referenced in Treasurers consultancy report ) (30.6.03)

4.4 The inspection report by the National Care Standards Commission based on the second Annual Inspection of Hampshire's Fostering Service. (Inspection Feb. 04. Report Apr. 04)

4.5 "Review of the County Fostering Service" (Feb - March 04) by Social Services, Performance Management Unit.

4.6 An internal audit of foster carers payments system (Oct 2003 / Feb 2004) by FSU.

4.7 "Review of the Hampshire County Council In-House Foster Care Provision" - June 2004 (County Treasurers' Consultancy).

4.8 A Best Value Review of Children Looked After was undertaken in 2001/02.

4.9 A team of managers & foster carers are currently working with the National Fostering Taskforce and eight other local authorities, to develop and improve in-house foster care provision.

4.10 Each of these reviews concentrated on different aspects of the fostering service i.e. structure; management arrangements; mechanism for payment; staffing; premises; quality of care.

5 Key Messages

5.1 Feedback from this wide range of consultation and evaluation exercises makes it clear that:-

5.2 The ability to provide placement choice is crucial in enabling the Social Services Department to achieve its required performance targets. The number of children who are looked after has remained stable during 2003 and in the first six months of this financial year, currently standing at 1,040 children being looked after full time.

5.3 The number of foster carers increased by a net total of 41 during 2003/04 to reach 459 carers looking after 544 children by 1 April, with 138 new foster carers being approved, and 97 foster carers leaving the service during 2003/04. This represented a net increase in Family and Friends foster carers of 28, and in county foster carers of 19, offset by a decrease in respite foster carers.

5.4 In the first half of this year, between April and September 2004, foster carer numbers have continued to increase but capacity to decrease, with 478 foster carers looking after 523 children, ie an average of 1.09 children per foster carer compared with 1.18 at 1 April. This is due to the continued trend of recruiting inexperienced foster carers, or foster carers for specific children, whilst retiring foster carers , with greater experience, have been able to care for larger numbers of children. It is intended to reverse this trend as the recent intake becomes more experienced, with an aim of returning to an average of 1.2 children per carer by September 2005.

5.5 The placement of choice for the vast majority of children is with a family rather than in residential care. Again, a key performance target is to have 100% of under 10's in family based care, and 85% or more, of the whole population of children who are looked after, in family based care. ( PAF C22 and B7)

5.6 At present this is being achieved by relying, increasingly heavily, on Independent Fostering Agencies.

5.7 The number of Children placed with Independent Fostering Agencies (IFA's) rose from 117 to 137 between April and September 2004, an increase of 20.

5.8 The average annual unit cost of an `in-house' foster care placement is £12,000 plus support costs of £4,000 ie £16,000 in total and that of an IFA placement is £44,000 including support costs. The increase of IFA placements this year will represent an annual increase in expenditure of £640,000 at a full year effect.

5.9 In-House foster care resources are severely limited, such that the ability to match children with the most suitable carers is not routinely possible. This means that:

5.9.1 Placements are less likely to last for the required period, leading to increased placement moves, directly affecting the department's ability to provide stability for children in foster care ( PAF A1 and D35)

5.9.2 Children are less likely to be able to be placed near to their homes, communities and schools. This directly affects the amount and quality of contact with key people in their lives, and leads to either extensive travelling to maintain a school placement, with the associated cost of that travel, or, equally undesirable, a change of school.

5.9.3 This directly affects outcomes for children who are looked after, in respect of their emotional health, and their educational outcomes. There are an unacceptably high proportion of looked after children who are not entered for exams, or have no school place at all. ( PAF A2)

5.9.4 Children with disabilities are more likely to spend substantial periods of their childhood in residential care, rather than in family based care. There are currently 53 children with disabilities in independent residential placements, at a total annual cost to the Social Services Department of £2,950,000.Whilst it will be appropriate for some of those children to remain in residential care, it is the case that some children are placed in residential care simply because of the inability to recruit foster carers who have the professional expertise and experience to care for children who are highly dependant. The recently published National Service Framework (NSF) for Children sets standards which will increase obligations upon Social Services as well as partner agencies to meet the needs of children with disabilities regarding family based care.

5.9.5 It is evident from the various service reviews and inspections that the fostering service is well organised and managed, and complies with the minimum standards required by the Commission for Social Care Inspection .In areas where investment has already been made, the standard of work is excellent.

5.9.6 It is also evident that there is an urgent need to increase significantly the capacity of Hampshire's Foster Care Services in order to be able to respond appropriately to the placement needs of our Children Looked After. In order to improve both recruitment and retention, significant improvements in support arrangements are required.

6 Improving Recruitment and Retention.

6.1 The fostering service has developed a recruitment strategy which attracts large numbers of expressions of interest in fostering for Hampshire. Having attracted that interest, the numbers of prospective carers who are subsequently approved, falls significantly. It is known that some of the prospective carers who first approach us, eventually pursue their applications through an independent agency. The reasons for this fall into two categories: The level of allowances and fees/salary payable, and the quality of support given to foster carers.

6.2 It is imperative that these two strands are seen to be equally important in developing and improving the service to children in family based care. The PMU report and the Treasurers Consultancy report both stress the importance of the parallel approach to investing in the service, and initial work with the National Fostering Taskforce has emphasised this. Investment in infrastructure leads to improved support services for foster carers, enhancing retention. Investment in the allowance / fee structure leads to improved rates of payment to foster cares, enhancing recruitment. Neither action can deliver an improved service on its own.

6.3 The Treasurer's Consultancy report sets out options for improvements to fees and allowances, and improvements to the service which are critical if the number of foster carers are to be increased.

7 Financial Implications and Investment Requirements

7.1 In April 2002 the Government introduced additional funds by way of two specific grants to help local authorities improve outcomes for Children Looked After in line with national key objectives.

7.1.1 The Adoption Grant is to encourage the development of Adoption Support services with a view to giving greater confidence to families who are considering adoption, in order to increase the number of looked after children achieving permanence through adoption.

7.1.2 The Choice Protects Grant supports the development of services which will increase the likelihood of children who are looked after being found family based care arrangements. Hampshire has used funds from the grant to `pump prime' developments in family placements for children with disabilities; adoption services; fostering services and kinship care.

The grants are comparatively small, and whilst they have been helpful in developing some new services (foster carers training; recruitment and marketing strategies; some additional staff; a contract for supporting carers who have had complaints and allegations made against them; some new publications for children and carers to meet regulatory requirements), funding from the grants is not sufficient to make a significant impact on the level of allowances payable to foster carers, adopters, kinship carers, or those seeking a residence order. It should be noted that most of the developments in the Kinship Care strategy have been funded from PSA grant money which expires in March 2005, and to that extent this successful initiative will be put in jeopardy should an alternative source of funding not be found.

7.1.3 The Treasurer's Consultancy Report makes it clear that whilst Hampshire may wish to continue to place some children with IFA's, it should be a matter of choice rather than necessity; to that end significant investment is required in Hampshire's in-house service.

7.1.4 The report outlines a number of options and concludes that it is essential, if family placement services are going to be further developed in Hampshire, that significant up-front investment is made in order to realise subsequent savings.

7.1.5 The investment would lead to improvements in the wider family placement service, including the fostering service, kinship care service, and services to support those children who can achieve permanence through the making of Adoption or Residence Orders.

7.1.6 It is proposed that the improvements to services be introduced on a geographical pilot basis in the first instance, in order to quantify the benefits achievable before committing to the full investment of up to £2.8m per year, with initial improvements being introduced in the remainder of the current financial year.

7.1.7 Some aspects may not suit a pilot approach, and will need to be introduced universally and permanently when funding allows; for example, the National Recommended fostering allowance rate; additional social work staff for the Fostering Recruitment team.

7.1.8 The pilot and phased approach to implementation would also enable current arrangements to be reviewed to ensure compatibility with new proposals e.g. the impact of a professional fee on the current skill fee scheme.

8 Monitoring Outcomes

8.1 The immediate impact of introducing the National recommended rate of allowances, a professional fee, and enhancing support to some foster carers during office hours, and all foster carers out of hours is expected to be, improved morale amongst current foster carers, and an increase in the number of foster carers being recruited.

8.2 Options for recruitment incentives - both for foster carers and those who refer them - will be considered.

8.2.1 An increased placement capacity amongst `in house' foster carers, particularly over pressurised times such as weekends and bank holidays ( Christmas and New Year for example).

8.3 The next Annual Inspection by the Commission for Social Care Inspection is due to take place in February 2005. As part of the Inspection process foster carers are consulted with respect to their satisfaction of the service they receive from the County.

8.4 A consistent message in previous years has been frustration about the support and information that foster carers receive from social workers. It is expected that by introducing the above priorities this year, the tone of the feedback from foster carers as a result of the consultation, will improve.

8.5 There will be an improved net increase in the number of foster carers, and a wider range of foster carers with the skills to take children who are highly dependant.

8.6 Placement capacity may also improve, through a corresponding improvement to the Residence, Adoption and Kinship allowances, which will encourage foster carers to offer permanent homes to some children, which will then decrease the bed capacity. It will also decrease the number of children who are looked after.

8.7 Feedback from foster carers will continue to be more positive, and foster carers will become ambassadors for the service, reflected in the increased number of `recruitment incentives' paid.

8.8 There will be increased evidence through placements being made to meet the needs of the child, with corresponding improvements against key performance indicators.

8.9 The use of Independent fostering agencies should at least, level out, and at best, decrease over the financial year.

8.10 There will be a change of practice, in the placing of children with disabilities within family placements rather than residential placements, leading to improvement in the life opportunities for those children.

8.11 The ultimate outcome of the three year investment programme would be to improve the Department's performance in respect of the identified performance indicators, without which children who are looked after in Hampshire are at risk of experiencing poor life chances.

8.12 The relevant performance indicators are A1 and D35, measuring stability of placement in foster care, and where the department must improve its performance against the national average.

8.13 PAF C22 and B7 require the department to place an increasing percentage of children who are looked after in family based care. The success of this currently relies heavily on the use of IFA placements, though the success of Family and Friends foster care is also helping.

8.14 PAF A2 and associated targets relate to children's educational outcomes. The stability of a placement impacts strongly on this target, which is at risk according to current projections.

9 Business Case

9.1 The key to the pilot proposals will be to quantify the initial programme of investment and to assess the potential savings and improvements in outcomes which it is hoped will result. These will focus around reducing current and future IFA placements by a combination of recruiting more foster carers and increasing the number of carers who (through improved support) can look after more than one child. However, the business case may have to include other factors too as the full programme of £2.8m investment would require that 95 fewer IFA placements be made in order to break even, which is an ambitious and probably unrealistic target.

10 Conclusion

10.1 Previous reports to Members have described the secure foundations upon which Hampshire's family placement services can be improved. A significant number of the Government's key performance indicators relate to outcomes for children looked after, which depend upon the availability of high quality care arrangements. A project plan outlining how these improvements can be made is under development. The level of investment required is significant, and an `invest to save' approach will be needed in order to achieve the objectives.

11 Recommendations

It is recommended that the Executive Member for Social Care

11.1 Approves in principle the proposed direction of development of Hampshire's Foster Care Service and authorises the investigation of the associated investment plan.

11.2 That a further report be brought to the Executive Member for Social Care, setting out proposals for the introduction, on a pilot basis, of key developments in 2004/05 and 2005/06.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

The Following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

Documents which disclose exempt of confidential information as defined in the Act.

APPENDIX A

Menu of Options plus full year effect costs.

INVESTMENT PROPOSALS: PAYMENTS TO CARERS

INVESTMENT PROPOSALS: INFRASTRUCTURE