Contact Name: Sue Kocaman 01962 847263 [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 This report outlines the strategy to enhance the quality and increase the capacity of the County's fostering service. It reports on the progress of the first phase of an investment plan which was approved by the Executive Member for Social Care in October 2004, and asks for a recommendation to be made to the Executive Member for Children's Services, that the investment programme continue in 2006-07.

1.2 In making such a recommendation, it is recognised that significant decisions will need to be taken with regard to the budget for Children's Services in 2006-07.

1.3 The Children's 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 2004 by the then Executive Member for Social Care.

1.4 The proposals support the corporate strategy key aims; in particular

Aim 1: Maximising life opportunities. Hampshire's looked after children are some of our most vulnerable members of the community.

Aim 4: Building strong and safe communities: by enabling children and young people to grow up in those communities, and enabling them to participate in and contribute to the life of the community in a productive way

Aim 5: Improving services by continuously improving the quality of care which foster carers can give and,

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

The recommendations support the five outcomes of `Every Child Matters' and the Children Act 2004 by ensuring that children's health care is a priority, that they are kept safe from harm, and encouraged through their foster carers to enjoy and achieve to their full potential. Children and young people's education ,training and employment is a priority for foster carers enabling children to maximise educational attainment and secure employment: and the likelihood of their achieving economic well being is enhanced by the experience of being looked after in a stable foster placement.

2. Background

2.1 A number of reports were 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. These are detailed in the report entitled `Investment in the Hampshire Foster Care Service' which was presented to the Policy Resource Committee and the Social Care Executive Member in October 2004.

3. Key Messages

3.1 Feedback from this wide range of consultation and evaluation exercises made it clear that:-

3.2 The ability to provide placement choice is crucial in enabling performance targets to be reached, and in helping children to achieve their potential.

3.3 Choice of placement for looked after children means a recognition that for most children, placement within a family is the best choice, whilst for others residential care represents the best option for them.

3.4 Hampshire County Council has developed policies and procedures which encourage and support arrangements for children who do not need to be looked after, to be cared for in a `kinship care' arrangement with a close relative.

3.5 Where that is not possible, a relative or friend can be considered as a `family or friend' foster carer.

3.6 For some children, the arrangements which best meet their needs is to be placed in a children's residential unit, whether that is for a short period of time until a child or young person is able to live with their own or in a foster family; or for a longer period of time, until a young person achieves independence.

3.7 The County Council recognises, therefore, that a range of services will always need to be available in order to meet children's needs. This includes family placements within Hampshire's own fostering service as well as with Independent Fostering Agencies

3.8 It was also recognised that too much reliance was being placed on Independent Fostering Agencies in order to meet children's needs for family based care, and the associated performance targets. This, in turn , led to an imbalance of expenditure, and a decreasing capacity to invest in the Hampshire Fostering Service, at the same time as expenditure on Independent Fostering Agency placements was increasing.

3.9 The key to improving foster carer capacity in Hampshire was to develop the range of services and financial supports available to Hampshire's foster carers

3.10 This would impact on the performance indicators which consider key outcomes for children who are looked after. These are : increased stability, improved school performance, emotional health, long term employment and training success.

3.11 Increasing the pool of foster carers could only be achieved if both recruitment and retention of foster carers was strengthened. In order to support this outcome, a programme of investment was agreed.

3.12 It was agreed that the improvements to the fostering service be introduced on a pilot basis in the first instance, in order to quantify the benefits achieved before committing to the full investment of up to £2.8m per year, with initial improvements being introduced in the remainder of the financial year 2004-05 and the first six months of 2005-06.

3.13 It was accepted that some aspects may not suit a pilot approach, and would need to await introduction universally and permanently at a later date when funding allows; for example, the National Recommended fostering allowance rate; the payment of holiday allowances to foster carers.

3.14 The pilot and phased approach to implementation would also enable new arrangements to be reviewed to ensure compatibility with current schemes or services e.g. the impact of a professional fee on the current skill fee scheme; the interface between a new Foster carer out of hours support service and the already established County Out of Hours service.

4 Outcomes of initial pilots, and recommendations for consolidation or further development

4.1 In December 2004 the details of the first phase of the investment programme were approved by the Executive member for Social care.

4.1.1 In February 2005 the monitoring and evaluating mechanisms were agreed. The development of the six pilot schemes began in January 2005.

4.1.2 The pilots have now all been implemented, and the following is a summary of the improvements which have resulted, along with brief recommendations for their further development.

Pilot Number One

4.2 Formalising the Out of Hours Placement fee: Foster carers were offered a small fee for being available overnight and at weekends to take children who the Out of Hours Service assessed as in need of an urgent placement.

4.2.1 This arrangement had been tested on a short term, temporary basis, and had had some success.

4.2.2 Having piloted this arrangement across the County, since January 2005, there have been no occasions when a child has not been able to be placed with a family, where a family placement has been identified as the best placement for that child.

4.2.3 It is recommended that this arrangements be formalised and consolidated as a permanent feature of the fostering service. The costs for the service are built if to the family placement budget and consolidating it would cause no additional pressure on the budget.

Pilot Number Two

4.3 Recognise the contribution of current foster carers to the recruitment of new carers by paying up to £500 bonus to any foster carer who introduces a friend to fostering.

4.3.1 Surprisingly this has had little impact on recruitment (one fee may be paid in the next two months). Some foster carers have indicated that they would introduce a friend without a bonus, and find the payment of a bonus slightly insulting. However, it is early days and a small amount of money is involved.

4.3.2 It is recommended that the ability to pay a bonus be maintained, in recognition that whilst it may not appeal to everyone, to some carers it may represent some recognition of the contribution they have made to the service.

Pilot Number Three

4.3.3 Ten foster carers on a professional fee. This scheme was piloted in order to assess the impact of paying a significantly higher fee than was previously possible, on recruitment and retention, and on the (at the time) increasing use of Independent Fostering Agency placements. Ten fee paying arrangements were agreed as part of the pilot.

4.4.1 The scheme is now established. Foster carers being paid the level five fee are primarily current foster carers. The impact on the recruitment of new foster carers has been limited due to inability to advertise /commit beyond the period of the pilot.

4.4.2 Twelve children are currently placed with nine foster carers under this arrangement, resulting in considerable benefits to the children, an increased sense of satisfaction in the foster carers, and some financial savings for the County Council. An additional child will be looked after under this arrangement from October 2005.

4.4.3 There are additional benefits to be gained if this pilot can be both consolidated and developed in terms of numbers of placements.

4.4.4 There are additional Hampshire foster carers who could increase their capacity if they were able to join the scheme, and new foster carers who could be recruited if the scheme could be more widely publicised.

4.4.5 A description of each of these arrangements by way of case studies under this pilot scheme is to be found at Appendix A..A summary of the savings and benefits is outlined in the table below. Scenario number ten has been added recently and the arrangement is starting in October. (Savings from scenario number ten are not included in the table.)

4.4.6 It is recommended that the pilot be consolidated, and that it be extended with immediate effect to enable the level four fee to be developed alongside it, and to enable more children to benefit from the scheme.

Pilot Number Four

4.4.7 Recruit Foster Care Support Workers ( 5 hours each). Thirteen Foster Care Support Workers (FCSWs) were recruited in June 2005. Fostering Services Regulations 2002, restrict the number of hours that a foster carer can be employed within the Fostering service, to five per week.

4.4.8 Early indications are that the role is providing very useful support to foster carers, particularly those who have children placed with them in an emergency through the County Out of Hours Service. Out of Hours Social Workers automatically notify the FCSW when a child is placed so that practical support can be arranged, for example the provision of any equipment or clothing required for the child.

4.4.9 The restricted hours make it likely that any foster carers employed in this role in future will be located in another team within Children's Services, where restrictions do not apply.

Pilot Number Five

4.5 Re-designating 3 fte Social Work posts from district family support teams to the County Recruitment team.

4.5.1 There has been limited success in recruiting social workers which reflects the position generally with regard to recruiting qualified social work staff. Particular difficulties arose in the recruitment to these posts which were not permanently established in the Fostering Service, thus creating uncertainty for applicants.

4.5.2 Recruitment of new foster carers by the County Recruitment team has increased slightly from 44 to 55 between August 2004 and August 2005, with a continued reliance on sessional staff. The net increase in Foster carers in total in the last year has continued to progress albeit not at the rate required. This is slow progress and has not yet made the impact which we know is required if we are to rely less heavily on IFA's. Even so the number of children placed in IFA's has decreased over the last year

4.5.3 It is recommended that three new substantive posts be approved and the 3 posts which were re-aligned from family support teams, be returned to those originating teams.

Pilot Number Six

4.6 Employ 4fte qualified staff to develop an Out of Hours Service. Preliminary work to develop this pilot has identified a number of issues which need to be resolved. These include:

4.6.1 Management and supervision of the service

4.6.2 Recruiting and organising staff to cover a rota

4.6.3 Interface with the existing Out of Hours services, which will be reviewed following the establishment of the two new Departments

4.6.4 Interface with the newly developing specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) out of Hours Service

4.6.5 Interface with Children's Residential management arrangements

4.6.6 Impact on, and relationship with Foster Care support workers and other staff working at evenings and weekends.

4.6.7 Skills and experience of staff employed in the Out of Hours service

4.6.8 A range of tasks were identified to be carried out by this team; direct work with children, young people and their families; advising foster carers; training foster carers; recruitment activity etc . This service has consistently been identified as of crucial importance by the foster carers. It is critical that its development is taken forward.

4.6.9 It is recommended that one of the posts be converted with immediate effect into a project leader post in order to progress the implementation of the service.

5. Proposals for Phase Two investment

5.1 The first phase of the investment programme is in the process of implementation; the overall programme also included further proposals which were agreed in principle. These now need to be addressed.

5.2.1 In addition to building upon the pilots which have started in phase one, the second phase includes the following five additional elements :

5.2.2 Increase the fostering allowance to the recommended national rate (including an enhanced allowance for children with disabilities.)

5.2.3 Introduce additional holiday payments.

5.2.4 Introduce a specialist budget to support placements of children with complex needs.

5.2.5 Establish a series of benefits and discounts for foster carers and their families.

5.2.6 Increase the numbers of qualified staff in the district teams, by converting existing Social Services Assistant posts, and increasing the numbers of associated administrative support staff.

5.2 All of the above developments have been supported by the relevant Policy Review Committee and by the then Executive Member for Social Care in October 2004.

5.2.1 Options for continued implementation have been developed which take into account the need for prioritisation in the context of funding and timescales. These are summarised in the table at Appendix B.

5.4 In deciding which of the following options is the preferred one, a number of issues need to be considered. The potential to improve outcomes for looked after children must be the primary consideration. Financial considerations are also of considerable significance. These are laid out in greater detail in Section 8.

5.4.1 The morale of foster carers should be taken into account. Foster carers have been aware of the overall investment programme, the pilots and the phased approach to implementation. Whilst that approach has been accepted thus far, foster carers are very keen to know how the development of the Level Four and Level Five skill fee schemes in particular, are going to become more widely available. They are also keen to know when the Department is likely to implement the national recommended rate of fostering allowances.

5.4 The options for future investment are;

5.4.1 Option One. Develop no new services and introduce no further growth during 2006-07, but continue with the current projects.

(Additional gross investment required £459,000.) This option will enable continued improvement, albeit gradual and limited. It will hold steady the progress which has started, but, in effect, delay any further developments until 2007-08. It will prevent already approved foster carers from progressing on to a professional fee, thus impacting on morale. It will prevent the advertising of that fee to a wider audience, thus limiting the impact of the new scheme on recruitment of new foster carers.

5.4.2 Option Two. Continue with current projects, further develop the Skill Fee schemes, and begin to implement some of the additional elements of the investment programme. For example, moving more closely towards the national recommended fostering rate during 2006-07; introducing some additional benefits for foster carers who could care for children with complex disabilities who are currently in residential care and awaiting a family placement; introducing holiday payments for foster carers, as well as some benefits and discounts for foster carers and their families. Option two also enables some existing unqualified posts to be converted into qualified Social Work posts in order to improve compliance with fostering regulations and standards.

5.4.3 This option has the advantage of maintaining the current progress from the first round of pilots, as well as enabling further growth. This means that a more significant impact can be made on outcomes for children by increasing more quickly the number and choice of foster carers. Existing as well as new foster carers will benefit from some element of the programme, increasing morale and enabling the development of a more skilled group of carers. The final phase of full implementation would be postponed until 2007-08 (Additional gross investment required in 2006-07. £1.310 million)

5.4.4 Option three. Implement in full the remaining elements of the programme during 2006-07. (Additional gross investment required in 2006-07, £2.383million.)

5.4.5 Whilst the original plan was for full investment in 2006-07, the learning from the pilots indicates the benefits of a phased approach. In addition, some financial benefits are likely to be made during 2006-07 which will provide a more accurate picture of the level of investment required to meet the cost of the final phase of the programme during 2007-08. Work can be carried out during the coming year in preparation for full implementation.

5.4.6 The preferred option is therefore option two, representing a gross increase of £1,310 million investment in the fostering service, in addition to the existing approved expenditure of £166,000.

5.4.7 The development plan for Hampshire's Fostering Service is critical to the way in which services for looked after children are managed. Difficult choices remain in that prioritising this element of Children's Services will have a significant impact upon other areas of activity, given the current level of funding available to the Department, and indications for subsequent years.

6 Business Case

6.1 The key to the pilot proposals was to quantify the initial programme of investment and to assess the potential savings and improvements in outcomes which it was anticipated would result. The numbers of IFA placements has been stabilised and the capacity of Hampshire's fostering service shows early signs of improvement.

6.2 The original business case, based on an investment programme at a gross cost of £2.8 million would have required that 95 fewer IFA placements be made in order to break even. It was recognised that this was an ambitious and probably unrealistic target.

6.3 Through subsequent work it has been possible to reduce the level of additional gross investment required by £ 0.5 million.

7 Legal implications

The County Council has a general duty to make arrangements for Children looked After ( Children Act 1989, S23)

8 Financial implications

8.1 £166,000 has been redeployed within Children's Services to fund the pilots. This redeployment could be continued on a permanent basis, but no other funding is currently available. Consequently, the recommendations assume that there is continuing investment of £166,000 per year, but that any other developments must either be self-financing or are dependent on identifying additional funding as part of the 2006/07 budget-setting process. On that basis, different elements of the proposed package require different treatment in terms of budgetary impact:

8.1.1 Formalisation of emergency payments for Out of Hours placements ( pilot number one) and recruitment incentive payments (pilot number two) have minimal impact ( £5,000) and can be confirmed for roll out on a permanent basis.

8.1.2 Development of the professional fee scheme ( pilot number 3) can be split into three types of case.

8.1.3 Some can be shown to reduce current spending, so the application of the new approach to these can proceed, subject to an appropriate officer approval mechanism, on a self-funding basis.

8.1.4 Some reduce the impact of additional cost pressures on the budget. Subject to an appropriate approval mechanism, such cases can be supported either from any budget allocation for new cases, or by identifying virement from the budget which would otherwise have had to absorb an increased pressure.

8.1.5 Some may increase current and future costs but improve the service provided. Such cases cannot be pursued unless there is a separate growth allocation for such service enhancement purposes, which looks unlikely in the current budget climate.

8.1.6 On this basis, the professional fee aspect of the proposals can be rolled-out on a cost neutral basis subject to appropriate approval mechanisms at officer level. Whilst the gross cost of projected activity is indicated as £780,000 in the full year, this should ensure that savings or costs avoided exceed that amount and so no additional budget provision will be required.

8.1.7 Evaluation of the mentoring role of foster carers (pilot number four) is not yet completed but is likely to be favourable, so the service can be planned to continue at current levels (£35,000) in 2006/07 within the £166,000 available.

8.1.8 Extra fostering recruitment workers (pilot number five) and provision of out of hours support (pilot number six) have not yet progressed as pilots, and it appears that offers of permanent employment in the relevant roles will be necessary to take these areas forward successfully. Accordingly, the balance of the £166,000 (£126,000) can be used to advance these areas on a permanent basis, with any further development being subject to subsequent full evaluation and identification of funding.

8.1.9 Proposals for additional investment in the fostering service include; increase the rate of allowances to all foster carers, to the national recommended rate; develop a specific budget to support children with complex disabilities who need family based care; develop a range of benefits and discounts; introduce holiday payments; increase staffing in key areas of the service.

8.1.10 Increasing the rate for allowances to all foster carers to the national recommended rate is not easily linked to evidence from the pilots. This, rather, is a desirable development subject to affordability and assessment of best timing as part of the forward budget and, therefore, cannot yet be assessed.

8.1.11 Developments of these additional services and benefits will need to be considered in the light of the overall budget position, and decisions taken in the context of priorities for the Children's Services Department.

8 Personnel implications

Set out in Workforce Plan for 2005-06. The workforce plan for 2006-07 will reflect the decisions made.

9 Impact assessment

Central Government Regulations and Inspection arrangements specify requirements concerning racial and other forms of discrimination. A race and equality impact assessment has been considered in respect of Children and Families Social Care Services , of which the Fostering Service forms a part, and no adverse impact has been identified. This has been confirmed by the annual inspection of Hampshire's foster carer service carried out by the Commission for Social Care Inspection in February 2005.

10 Crime prevention issues

None

11 Views of the Local County Councillor

12.1 Not applicable. This report contains proposals which apply County wide and there are no proposals specific to any one Councillor's Electoral Division.

Recommendations

It is recommended that the Children's Services Policy Review Committee

1) Notes the progress made in the initial developments of the Hampshire Fostering Service investment plan.

2) Supports in principle the proposals for subsequent phased investment in the Fostering Service, as detailed in option two.

3) Notes that decisions will need to be taken, once the context of the 2006/07 budget and full outcome of the pilots are known, to determine to what extent to realign existing budgets in order to prioritise investment in the fostering service to the level of £1,310 million additional gross expenditure.

Appendix A

Children and Young People who have benefited from the Level Five (Professional Fee) Pilot Scheme

Case Scenario One

Mr and Mrs H. are Hampshire foster carers with a great deal of experience. Mr H was made redundant in 2005 and, in his fifties, realised that he was unlikely to find similar work in his original profession, so he and his wife decided they would become `Professional' foster carers. Mr H would be at home full time, so they would be in a position to take young people who presented greater challenges or needed more time and attention due to their history. They approached an Independent Fostering Agency who were very keen to recruit them, and who contacted the team manager of the Hampshire fostering service to negotiate a transfer.

When the Level five pilot scheme was explained to them, Mr and Mrs H were very enthusiastic about becoming part of the scheme, even though it would give them significantly less income than the IFA. Even so, they wanted to continue working for the Local Authority as foster carers, and paying them a weekly fee of £250 made this possible.

Mr and Mrs H were able to be linked with Keith K. who is 15 and has been looked after since 1999. He has been in four foster placements but was never able to settle or make relationships with his carers, so each placement broke down, leading to instability in his home life and severely interrupting his education. He was placed in a Hampshire Children's residential unit where work was undertaken with him to help him come to terms with his family history and enable him to relate to adults in a more positive way. He also settled into school in the north of the County and is in his GCSE year.

By 2004 he was ready to be found a long term foster family who would care for him until he is ready for independence. No family could be located within Hampshire's fostering resources and Keith was becoming disillusioned that no family would ever want to look after him.

Keith was able to move to the H family after a period of careful introduction, thus creating a vacancy for another young person in the Children's residential unit. Keith has been able to stay at the same school and maintain friendships and links in the local community.

This means improving the likelihood of a good outcome for Keith, and retaining a valuable foster carer ( who has capacity to take two foster children) who would otherwise only have been available to Hampshire by way of an Independent Fostering Agency at a cost of £740 per week

Case Scenario Two

Ms B. is a single carer with two children of her own. She is an experienced foster carer, but was limited in her ability to take children because she worked part time. She had capacity for two children. One child , Claire ( aged 9) has been living with her since January 2004 and is currently being linked to prospective adopters, with a plan to move on in December 2005.

Two sisters, aged 10 and 8, were placed with Ms B as an emergency placement, exceeding Ms B's approval but this is acceptable where siblings need to be found a home together. Another placement was being sought for the two sisters urgently, but none could be located. Ms B was offered the opportunity to join the pilot scheme, which meant that she was able to give up part time work, and her approval as a foster carer was changed to three children. This has meant that the two sisters have not had to move foster placements, and will be able to remain with Ms B until the Court Proceedings are completed and a long term plan agreed. Once Claire moves to her adoptive family Ms B will be able to offer a home to a third child. This is particularly valuable as Ms B is a carer in the north of the County, where recruitment of foster carers has been particularly challenging.

Case Scenario Three

Ms H. and Ms M. were recruited as new foster carers in January 2005. Ms M had experience of working with children with complex disabilities and was keen to foster children with special needs who would benefit from her expertise. The couple could not be recruited onto the Level 5 pilot directly, as one of the conditions of the pilot was that a child had to be linked who met specific criteria. However, the couple were willing to risk that they would be linked to such a child soon after recruitment and agreed to be assessed as foster carers even though no commitment could be given regarding the fee.

In July 2005 a child, Bridie, was identified and linked on a `shared care' arrangement. Bridie has autism and severe learning difficulties and the level of respite care which was available to support her and her family under the Family Link scheme was proving inadequate. Bridie now lives in a `shared care' arrangement, whish means that she spends half her time with her family and half with her foster carers. This is a model of care for children with complex disabilities which can often retain them in their own families , when the alternative would be a complete breakdown of care and contact.

Ms H and Ms M are approved for two children. A second child, Meg, is currently subject to a Family Group Conference , and again the foster carers are offering shared care to support Meg at home. Meg also has severe disabilities.

If the level 5 fee had not been payable, the foster carers would not have been able to take two such complex children, again because work commitments would have restricted the time they have available to offer.

There was also a risk that they would have been tempted to move to an Independent Fostering Agency if too long a period of time had passed without a fee becoming available.

Case Scenario Four

Mrs W. is a widow who has many years of fostering experience fostering for Hampshire. She had approached an Independent Fostering Agency with a view to transferring to them, and indeed had undertaken some training with them in preparation for her transfer. The level five pilot was approved and Ms W was immediately approached with a view to remaining as a Hampshire foster carer.

Mrs W. is dependent in state benefits. The level 3 fee, which was previously the highest fee available to her, adversely affected her benefits without adequately increasing her income. The level 5 fee enabled her to be more financially secure. She was immediately matched with a young man, Chris, who was in short term foster care with another foster carer and had been waiting for almost a year for a suitable long term foster carer to be found. At 13 years old he was considered ` hard to place' and it was becoming increasingly likely that a long term foster carer would only be identified through an Independent Fostering Agency.

Chris's move to Mrs W. released a short term foster placement for another child, which meant that his original foster carer has the satisfaction of working in the short term with another child instead of becoming increasingly frustrated by her inability to help Chris move forward. This in turn has increased her `job satisfaction' and improved morale.

The outcome for Chris is much improved, now that he knows he is with the foster carer who is able to keep him for the remainder of his childhood.

Case Scenario Five

Mrs M is a single carer who is very experienced as a foster carer but was limited in her capacity to foster children with a high level of need because of her need to work. She was already approved for one child, and the level 5 fee enabled her to take a second child into her home, because she was able to give up work.

She was matched to a young man, Rick, who is 13 and has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Rick has had 4 placements with foster carers which have not been sustained because none had the skills to meet Rick's needs.

The placement with Mrs M was ideal and time was taken to introduce Rick, find a school placement, and ensure that proper support was available to support Mrs M.

It is likely that without this placement becoming available Rick would either have continued moving from one foster carer to another, or would have been dependent on a foster family being identified through an Independent Fostering Agency.

Case Scenario Six.

Mrs M and Mr H were originally approved as foster carers for Hampshire in response to an advertisement for a family for a particular young man in 2001.

When he reached adulthood and moved on, Mrs M and Mr H, who had previously stopped working (with adults with learning difficulties) in order to foster, expressed an interest in fostering another young person, but were in need of an income from fostering, which exceeded the standard fee.

Their availability coincided with the pilot being agreed, and they were matched recently to two siblings with special needs. Jan (aged 9) has Severe Learning Difficulties and Dean (aged 7) has Mild Learning Difficulties and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The children have been in the care of the local authority for almost a year but have had to live with two separate foster families until now. Together, they represent a significant challenge and a level of skill and availability which many foster carers are not able to provide.

They have now been placed with Ms M and Mr H as a long term foster placement. Their move released two placements with Hampshire Foster carers for other children, as well as enabling Ms M and Mr H to remain as foster carers for Hampshire, and achieving a good outcome for this brother and sister.

Case Scenario Seven

Mr and Mrs A. were recruited as foster carers for Hampshire some years ago and are therefore very experienced.

In 2004 they started to care for a young man, Jack, who was very challenging and was eventually excluded from school on a permanent basis.

Mr A. proposed that he take a career break for a nine month period in order to be at home full time to look after Jack and work with colleagues to successfully reintroduce Jack into full time education.

This was achieved at Easter 2004, and Jack is much more settled at home as well as in school. The plan is for him to remain with Mr and Mrs A in the long term. The higher rate of fee was no longer required to support Jack.

In the meantime the pilot scheme was agreed and Mr and Mrs A asked if they could be approved to take a second foster child. Their success with Jack meant that they were matched very quickly with another young man, Simon.

Simon has had many foster care placements which have been short lived, and correspondingly many school placements . At 13 he is considered `hard to place' but he has now moved in with Mr and Mrs A. The fact that Mr A continues to be available all day, means that he can work closely with Simon's school to support his education placement, a well as having the time and energy to commit to both boys at evenings and weekends.

Case Scenario Eight

Ms W was recruited as a Hampshire Foster carer from an Independent Fostering Agency. She has some experience of fostering but felt that the opportunities being offered to her by her agency were limited. She heard about the Level Five fee from a friend and was recruited on to the pilot scheme because she was able to be matched to and linked with a young man, James.

James had been looked after by Hampshire for eighteen months. He is eleven years old and whilst his behaviour is not especially challenging he suffers from encopresis. This has made it more difficult to find a foster family who feel confident at managing and helping him.

James was in an Independent foster placement outside of Hampshire. He has now been able to move to Ms W's home, providing him with stability and a settled future, and increasing the opportunities for contact with his home community and for education, training and support when he is moving out of the care system and in to independence.

Case Scenario Nine

Jane is 7 yrs old and is part of a sibling group of 6. Her siblings have been placed in various adoptive, kinship and foster placements, following final Care Orders granted by the County Court.

Jane's original plan was to live with her older sister, Lara. A family was found who were considered suitable and the two children moved in together.

In a short space of time it became apparent that the level of disturbance to Jane and Lara's ability to attach meant that neither of them could settle with each other or their new foster carers. They had to be moved quickly into new foster families and Mrs C, a single carer, offered to care for Jane on an emergency basis. Mrs. C worked part time and had a second foster child in placement.

It quickly became apparent that Jane would not be an easy child to care for. At the same time her school placement was in jeopardy and her school asked if Jane could attend for mornings only, returning home for each afternoon.

Mrs C agreed that she would support this arrangement in the short term, and took some leave from work.

At the same time the Level five pilot became available, which enabled Ms C to reduce her hours on a permanent basis and rely on income from the fostering fee.

As a result both children remain fostered by her, and Jane's school place is retained, as well as her foster placement.

There is no doubt that if the fee had not been available Mrs C could not have been able to commit the amount of time which Jane required, and it is very likely that Jane would have required a specialist foster placement with an Independent Fostering agency, meaning greater expense, and yet another move for this very fragile girl.

Case Scenario Ten

Mr and Mrs P are Independent Fostering Agency carers who are looking after Angie who is a 13 year old child in the care of Hampshire County Council. In September 2005 the family indicated that they wished to transfer from the agency with whom they fostered and foster instead for Hampshire fostering service. Transfer of approval is underway and the foster carers are likely to be approved by the fostering panel in October 2005. This means that Angie will be able to remain in the care of her current foster carers, who will retain the same level of income as they received from the Independent Fostering Agency, under the level five scheme. There will, however, be considerable savings to the County Council.

Appendix B

PROPOSALS FOR PHASE TWO

Phase two priorities in addition to the above:

1) Increase fostering allowances to the recommended national rate ( including an enhanced allowance for children with disabilities (CWD))

2) Introduce holiday payments

3) Introduce a specialist budget to support placements of children with complex needs

4) Establish a package of benefits and discounts

5) Increase the numbers of qualified staff in the district teams, by converting existing SSA posts.

Original proposal for investment was £2,865,300

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

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

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