1 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

2 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 Sheffield C

ity Council

Independent Review

ing Service Annual Report 2014/15

The C

ontribution of Independent Review

ing Officers to Q

uality Assuring and Im

proving Services for C

hildren in Care

The Local Authority is legally mandated to appoint Independent R

eviewing O

fficers (IRO

) and ensure that one is allocated to each child in care. C

hildren may be in care as a result of a C

ourt Order or follow

ing a request from a parent (or indeed an older young person w

here they are judged to have the com

petence to make an inform

ed decision). The placing Local Authority has responsibilities to the children

and young people in its care, irrespective of the legal basis on which they are placed or the geographical location of w

here they are living. In S

heffield a high proportion of children in care live within the city and/or w

ithin 20 miles of the child’s hom

e address. (See appendix 1)

The statutory functions of an IRO

are detailed within the IR

O H

andbook (2011) and summ

arised as: o

Chairing the child’s review

; o

Monitoring the child’s case on an on-going basis.

Within these functions are responsibilities:

o P

romoting the voice w

ishes and feelings of the child; o

Ensuring that plans for looked after children are based on a detailed and inform

ed assessment, are up to date, effective and provide a

real and genuine response to each child’s needs; o

Making sure that the child understands how

an advocate could help and his/her entitlement to one;

o O

ffering a safeguard to prevent any ‘drift’ in care planning for looked after children and the delivery of services to them (see IR

O

Handbook paragraphs 3.39 and 7.23);

3 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 o

Monitoring the activity of the local authority as a corporate parent in ensuring that C

are / Pathw

ay Plans have given proper

consideration and weight to the child’s w

ishes and feelings and that, where appropriate, the child or young person fully understands

the implications of any changes m

ade to his/her Care or Pathw

ay Plan.

This Annual Independent R

eviewing S

ervice report provides the quantitative and qualitative evidence relating to the IRO

Services in S

heffield as required by statutory guidance and summ

arised in the key functions and responsibilities above. The Annual R

eport covers the period 01/04/14 – 31/03/15 although, where appropriate acknow

ledges any changes made betw

een those dates and the tim

e of writing.

The IRO

Annual R

eport will be presented for ratification to The C

orporate Parenting B

oard and the Sheffield S

afeguarding Children

Board and m

ade available both internally and externally on the Council Intranet &

Internet. P

urpose of service and legal context The Independent R

eview O

fficers’ (IRO

) Service is set w

ithin the framew

ork of the updated IRO

Handbook, linked to revised C

are P

lanning Regulations and G

uidance which w

ere introduced in April 2011. The responsibility of the IR

O then changed from

the m

anagement of the R

eview process to a w

ider overview of the case including regular m

onitoring and follow-up betw

een Review

s. The IR

O has a key role in relation to the im

provement of care planning for children Looked After and for challenging drift and delay.

The NC

B research, ‘The R

ole of the Independent Review

ing Officers in E

ngland’ (NC

B, M

arch 2014) [1] outlined a number of im

portant recom

mendations w

ith three having a particular influence on IRO

s work plan priorities:

1. W

here IRO

s identify barriers to their ability to fulfil their role, or systemic failures in the service to looked after children, they m

ust raise this form

ally with senior m

anagers. These challenges and the response should be included in the Annual R

eport.

2. IR

Os m

ethod for monitoring cases and how

this activity is recorded should be clarified.

4 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 3.

A review

of IRO

s core activities and additional tasks should be undertaken. There is a need to establish whether IR

Os additional

activities comprom

ise independence or capacity.

Key m

essages – learning and improvem

ent This A

nnual IRO

report provides quantitative and qualitative evidence relating to the IRO

services in Sheffield, as required by statutory

guidance. Im

provement activities that w

ere previously highlighted for 2014/15 included: 1.

Further implem

entation of the Child C

entred Review

process.

2. M

onitoring of the introduction of a combined C

hild’s Plan &

Meeting R

ecord.

3. W

ork to ensure the introduction of a child’s Placem

ent Plan and the m

onitoring of its use and effectiveness.

4. E

nsure IRO

s use the IRS

Monitoring Form

(introduced in Decem

ber 2013) to audit the quality of practice, including the completion of

reports and statutory duties. The Monitoring Form

to be completed at the point of each R

eview and the IR

S S

ervice Manager to

collate findings to share with S

ocial Care m

anagement.

5.

To embed the revised D

ispute Resolution P

rocess (DR

P) and to link w

ith ‘Alerts’ raised at S

tage 1 through deficits identified within the

IRS

Monitoring Form

.

6. Identify funding for a dedicated 0.5 IR

O to w

ork with Youth Justice w

ith young people who are looked after by virtue of being

remanded in Youth D

etention Accom

modation (YD

A).

7.

To identify children who are in care as a result of an adoption breakdow

n and to influence positive adoption assessment and m

atching to m

inimise future breakdow

ns and learn from those that have taken place.

8.

To monitor and m

eet national and local Perform

ance Indicators.

9. To positively im

pact on the timely com

pletion of health assessments.

10. To positively im

pact on the timely com

pletion of Personal E

ducation Plans.

5 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

11. For IR

Os to w

ork consistently both with the statutory guidelines and w

ith each other, to ensure positive outcomes for children.

12. To m

onitor the quality of Age A

ssessments undertaken for U

naccompanied A

sylum Seeking C

hildren (UA

SC

) and ensure that these children &

young people are being offered services compatible w

ith both their age and the level of trauma they have experienced in

reaching the UK

.

13. Continued challenge regarding the delay in policy im

plementation w

ith specific reference to the introduction of the Placem

ent Plan &

the Delegated A

uthority tool. Policies relating to S

taying Put, S

pecial Guardianship and the C

hildren in Care Financial P

rocedures.

14. Maintaining IR

O caseloads w

ithin the range of 50 – 70 as recomm

ended within the IR

O H

andbook. P

rogress against these activities can be summ

arised: 1. C

hild Centred R

eviews have not progressed in the m

anner that was anticipated. The adoption of the ‘pure’ m

odel has been more

limited than had been hoped for. This has been for a num

ber of factors, the responsibility for many of w

hich sit within the Independent

Review

ing Service although learning has show

n that frequent use of such a model has not been w

elcomed by som

e children and young people. N

otwithstanding this features of the m

odel have been evident within a significant num

ber of reviews. The use of

techniques such as ‘Like & adm

ire’, ‘What is w

orking & not w

orking’ have allowed children’s voices to be better heard and for children

to have a powerful say in the prioritisation of w

hat is discussed in their reviews. A

s such the benefit to children has, perhaps, been w

ider than had been anticipated when an aim

of broadening the use of the model to 10%

of children in care had been planned.

Further work since the period in question w

ill now focus on confirm

ing that the child has been visited and consulted on the manner in

which their review

will be carried out, utilising elem

ents from the m

odel and also from other techniques such as the encouragem

ent of older children to chair their ow

n review.

2. C

are Plan & M

eeting Record. IR

Os have highlighted that this report has not been used in the w

ay that was planned. W

hereas the m

eeting record has been completed, the C

are Plan section has frequently not been. W

here it has there has been a danger that it has contained inform

ation drawn only from

the meeting in question rather than a consolidated and updated C

are Plan.

6 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

I am aw

are that the issues highlighted are being addressed and where they continue I w

ould expect these to be highlighted by the IRO

through audit and com

pletion of a Monitoring Form

.

3. The Child’s Placem

ent Plan was introduced on 01/01/15 w

ith an expectation that all children received into care from date should

have one on admission or by the date of the 5 day m

eeting. Children w

ho were already in care w

ere to have a Placem

ent Plan by the

time of their next R

eview after 01/04/15. N

either of these things have consistently happened.

Reports have been provided to Fieldw

ork Services on the failure to com

plete Placem

ent Plan on children accom

modated. IR

Os have

also been inconsistent in raising the absence of a Placem

ent Plan and have been instructed that the absence of a P

lacement P

lan m

ust trigger an Alert to the Team

Manager. A

t the point at which all children should have had a plan, there w

ere actually only 131 for 506 children (less than 23%

).

4. Monitoring Form

s are in place and are being triggered to Team M

anagers. There is a need for education as to the need to respond w

here an Alert is triggered as this represents a quantitative deficit rather than the ‘personal judgem

ent’ which it is on occasion taken

as. Within the Independent R

eviewing S

ervice it is vital that there is a consistency and completeness of use.

To ensure a consistency of use, the IR

S Service M

anager is now auditing the equivalent of 4 R

eviews per full tim

e IRO

a month.

Auditing against the C

are Plan and C

areAssess / Wisdom

records is feedback individually to IRO

s and thematically to a new

ly instigated IR

S Perform

ance meeting.

5. C

reation of links between the M

onitoring Form &

DRP Process. This has been achieved. The m

onitoring form is graded

complem

ent, good, specific deficit (alert) and serious concerns. Alerts trigger an Alert R

esponse Form to the Team

Manager. A

serious concern w

ill lead to a meeting at either stage 2 or 3 w

ithin the Dispute R

esolution Process (D

RP

) – see data later within

report. 6. Funding for dedicated IR

O tim

e to work w

ith young people remanded to youth detention accom

modation (YD

A). Maureen

Hanniffy w

as appointed to this post on 03/11/2014. As the data w

ithin this report shows the num

ber of young people remanded in this

way has been, thankfully, low

and decreasing. This is a reflection on the excellent work done by the Youth Justice S

ervice. A

t the time of w

riting there are no young people remanded into youth detention accom

modation.

7. Adoption disruptions / breakdow

ns are a tragedy for all involved. The number of children w

ho re-enter care as a consequence of a breakdow

n is still not recorded although the author recognises the sensitivity of so doing. It is to be hoped that the amount of w

ork being done w

ithin this area will m

inimise breakdow

ns but research is clear that where adoptions do break dow

n, they are most likely

7 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

to do so as the child enters adolescence. Time w

ill therefore judge whether the national drive to reduce delay and ensure m

ore children enjoy and benefit from

the permanence of being adopted into a new

family has fully addressed the need for high quality

assessment &

matching.

N

ational research has reported: ‘Betw

een April 1st 2000 and 31st March 2011, 37,335 children w

ere adopted and of these 565 were know

n to have disrupted post order and inform

ation was available in the database. N

early two thirds of disruptions occurred during the teenage years.

Gender and ethnicity w

ere not associated with greater risk of disruption.

Beyond the A

doption Order; C

hallenges, Interventions & A

doption Disruption – D

epartment for E

ducation, April 2014. ’ [2] W

hilst the focus on adoption during 2014-15 has centred largely on reducing delays; the learning from w

here adoptions disrupt needs to be built into the w

ider Service A

ction Plan.

8. Perform

ance Indicator outcomes are detailed w

ithin this report. Frustratingly, despite the best efforts of all involved, both the tim

eliness of reviews and children’s participation in review

s fell short of target by 0.1%. N

o attempt has been m

ade to ‘round up’ these figures in order to m

aintain a focus on improvem

ent. Timeliness can be affected by m

any factors – availability of staff and carers, tim

ely notification of the accomm

odation of children to the Independent Review

ing Service and sim

ple human error in

miscalculating dates. O

nce a review is out of tim

escale this has an on-going rolling impact. It therefore needs to be avoided and in

particular date calculation by IRO

s and the timely notification to the Independent R

eviewing S

ervice by Fieldwork S

ervices would and

will greatly im

prove this situation. The failure to report on 6 children entering care has recently had a 1.8% im

pact on this perform

ance indicator, making it highly probable that perform

ance in the year 2015-16 will fall short of target.

9. Health Assessm

ents. The IRS

Service M

anager has been involved in this. IRO

s have monitored to ensure that children have a

Medical C

onsent on being accomm

odated and that health assessments are done in a tim

ely manner. The im

pact of this, along with

the work by m

any others led to improvem

ent in the completion of health assessm

ents from 81.0%

in April 2014 to 87.3% in M

arch 2015.

The improvem

ent detailed has largely been maintained, standing at 89.0%

in May 2015 and 85.0%

in Septem

ber 2015. Figures were

the best for 5 years in May and in line w

ith comparator groups.

10. Personal Education Plans. There are approxim

ately 350 children in Sheffield w

ho attend School – R

eception to Year 11.Personal E

ducation Plans are needed for all these children. C

onsiderable work has been undertaken by the V

irtual School to increase the

8 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

number of Personal Education P

lans (PEP

s) in place. IRO

s assist with this in m

onitoring at the point of each Review

. Within the

Virtual S

chool’s Annual Report 2014-15 [3] it w

as reported that by the end of the summ

er term in July 2015 91%

of children had an in-date P

EP w

ith a further 6% com

pleted and awaiting sign off. This com

pares to 85.0% in Septem

ber 2014.

Notw

ithstanding this success, statutory guidance is clear that a PEP

is to be in place for a wider age range of children, both pre-

school and in line with the raising of the age at w

hich young people can leave education. All looked after children m

ust have a care plan, of which the PEP is an integral part…

. The PE

P (pre-school to age 18) is an evolving

record of what needs to happen for looked after children to enable them

to make expected progress and fulfil their potential. The PEP

should reflect the importance of a personalised approach to learning that m

eets the identified educational needs of the child, raises aspirations and builds life chances.

Prom

oting the education of looked after children - Statutory guidance for local authorities. D

epartment for E

ducation, July 2014. [4] S

heffield is therefore falling short in respect of both pre-school and post-year 11 children and young people. Whilst it is

acknowledged that this is linked to the currently truncated role of the V

irtual School in w

orking only with school age – year 11

children, this does not make it any m

ore acceptable. A

s an interim ‘fix’ IR

Os w

ill ensure that educational needs are addressed within the Pathw

ay Plan but this is an inadequate ‘w

ork around’ and the fundam

ental issues relating to the broadening of the role of the Virtual S

chool and the provision of PE

Ps for all

children as detailed in Statutory G

uidance needs resolution. The author is aware that w

ithin the Virtual S

chool Annual Report 2014-

15 a target for 2015-16 as being ‘(to) work w

ith a range of colleagues and services to expand (the Virtual S

chool’s) remit to cover

children after by the local authority in the pre-school and post-16 education comm

unities’. The Independent Review

ing Service

welcom

es this but also notes the associated need to ensure that Personal Education Pans are in place for this full span of children and young people.

11. Age Assessm

ents of Unaccom

panied Asylum Seekers. There w

ere 4 Unaccom

panied Asylum

Seeker C

hildren (UA

SC

) within

the children in care cohort at 01/04/14 and 13 at 31/03/15. This number has continued to rise and at the tim

e of writing there w

ere 20 U

AS

C age assessed as under 18 years of age.

12. Delays in policy im

plementation have continued. The delays in finalising a S

taying Put policy have been particularly difficult and

challenging – for each young person involved, they are only 18 once and uncertainty has been, at the very least, unhelpful to them

and their Foster Carers. W

here a young person was planning to attend university this has added a pressure at an already very

stressful time of their lives.

9 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

At the tim

e of writing the policies in relation to S

taying Put, S

pecial Guardianship O

rders and the more general children in care

procedures; have received officer ratification but not political sign off which I presum

e has inhibited the ability to circulate and launch. D

espite assurances given at the beginning of August the officer ratified policies are not em

bedded within the TriX policies and the

overall Financial Procedures that are em

bedded are the wrong ones.

The author is also aware that w

ork is still on-going with the Staying P

ut policy. Having visited another Local A

uthority the challenge w

ith policies appears to include that Sheffield lacks the dedicated post(s) to develop such policy that existed, to great effect, in the authority visited. It w

as clear in the authority visited that the presence of policy development posts and w

elfare rights posts coupled w

ith a willingness to purchase expertise in policy w

riting had significantly moved the developm

ent of the policy on in a timely m

anner.

13. Caseloads – the service has sought to m

aintain caseloads within the range recom

mended in the IR

O H

andbook of 50 – 70. We have

however exceeded our specific target of caseloads at 60 w

ith the average in the period at 63. (see detail on pages 11 & 12).

Professional P

rofile of the IRO

Service

The IRO

Service sits w

ithin the Safeguarding & Independent R

eviewing S

ervice with its core functions consisting of review

ing and m

onitoring Care P

lans for children in care and monitoring the Local A

uthority in respect of its corporate parenting and safeguarding responsibilities. This location and line m

anagement in being independent from

that of social work team

s is compatible w

ith guidance and regulation. The Safeguarding &

Independent Review

ing Service is based in H

owden H

ouse, separate from any other children & fam

ily services. S

uch a physical separation is a positive benefit in embodying the independence of the Service but it has been evident that such physical

separation has led, unhelpfully, to a greater reliance on electronic forms of com

munication (telephone &

email) due to the tim

e limitations

of travelling to have, what could previously have been spontaneous, face to face conversations.

The Independent Review

ing Service staffing has rem

ained largely stable during the period in review. A

s at 01/04/15 there were 8.5 full

time equivalent staff. W

e have benefited from retaining the services of a num

ber of staff who have reduced hours, either as they w

ork tow

ards retirement or as they share their role as an IR

O w

ith another part time role in another service. K

athleen Paessler, K

ay Sam

uels, M

argaret Tully and Anne W

ard all now w

ork part time.

10 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 In addition to V

anessa Mannix and R

uth Merry (as reported in the last annual report), w

e have also been pleased to welcom

e Maureen

Hanniffy to the team

. Maureen has significant experience, m

ost recently in the Fostering Service, and w

ill combine her generic role as an

IRO

with a specific focus on those young people w

ho are looked after as a result of being remanded to youth detention accom

modation

(YDA

). Fred B

utlin left the Service during the period under R

eview. W

e are grateful that he maintained involvem

ent on a reduced basis in order to m

aintain a consistency of IRO

allocation for a number of young people until they reached their 18

th birthday. IR

Os are part of Safeguarding &

Independent Review

ing Service and are qualified S

ocial Workers. In term

s of diversity, the profile of the service is not consistent w

ith that within the children in care population. It is hoped that future recruitm

ent will be able to address this.

@ 31-03-2015

Male

Female

Ethnicity

IRO

s 2

11 12 W

hite British

1 White G

erman

Children in

Care

230 307

White B

ritish 372 W

hite (Other) 36

Mixed 63

Asian or A

sian British 26

Black or B

lack British 23

Other ethnic groups 15

11 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 Team

structure: Q

uantitative information - Looked After population and the IR

O service

The Looked After population for 2014/2015 has ranged from 526 to 537 and w

as 532 as at 31/03/15. IR

O caseloads have been betw

een 57 – 65 per f.t.e. IRO

. This compares w

ith the recomm

ended case load of 50-70 as set out in the IRO

H

andbook. A

total of 1553 Review

s were C

haired by IRO

s in the year ending 31st M

arch 2015.

MA

RG

AR

ET TU

LLY

RU

TH M

ER

RY

SERVIC

E

PA

UL M

AS

SE

Y

SERVIC

E

VA

NESS

A MA

NN

IX SER

VICE

AN

DR

EW H

AR

ME

R

JULIE H

EATH

FIELD

KA

THLE

EN

PAES

SLE

R

FRE

D B

UTLIN

MA

GG

IE MC

MA

NA

MO

N

TAM

SE

N N

OR

TH

BR

YO

NY M

AR

RIO

TT

JOH

N H

UTC

HIN

SO

N

AN

NE

WAR

D

KAY

SA

MU

ELS

KAY

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MU

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UR

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AN

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AGER

12 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 R

eviews are held at intervals of w

ithin 28 days of first being accomm

odated, within a m

aximum

of 3 months from

that date and then at intervals of a m

aximum

of 6 months.

Whilst the overall num

ber of children in care has maintained rem

ained relatively stable through the year (see page 11) there has been a large num

ber of both admissions and discharges (282 and 281 respectively – see below

). W

hen viewed as a proportion of the total num

ber of children in the city, the number of children in care is low

er than comparator

authorities (Core C

ities & S

tatistical Neighbours):

Overall num

ber of looked after children

C

hildren looked after at 31 March - R

ate per 10,000 population aged 0-17

rate per 10,000 population Previous outturns

2009 2010

2011 2012

2013 2014

Sheffield 56

54 59

54 47

47 C

ore cities 91

95 95

88 88

88 Yorkshire & the H

umber

61 63

65 67

65 65

Statistical neighbours old 75

81 82

82 84

85 Statistical neighbours 2011

72

74 76

76 76

England 55

58 59

59 60

60

13 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short term placem

ents. In Sheffield the m

ajority of such children are provided w

ith services, including short breaks, under Section 17 of the Children A

ct 1989. This is in line with assessed need and

parental choice. Only 3 children w

ere provided with short breaks under S

ection 20 of the Children A

ct 1989 at 01/04/14 and only 2 at 31/03/15. Age P

rofile of Children at point of A

dmission

The majority of children and young people w

ho started to be Looked After were less than 1 at the point of their being first accom

modated.

Surprisingly the next largest group w

ere aged 17 with a relatively level spread at other ages. The 2 young people w

ho are listed as being 18 at the point of com

ing into care were unaccom

panied asylum seekers w

ho, after age assessment, w

ere age assessed at 18.

40 50 60 70 80 90

100Mar-07

Mar-08

Mar-09

Mar-10

Mar-11

Mar-12

Mar-13

Mar-14

Children looked after per 10,000 population aged under 18

SheffieldCore cities

Yorkshire & the Hum

ber

14 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 Age at Adm

ission N

umber of

Admissions

Percentage of all Adm

issions 0

57 20.21

1 13

4.61 2

14 4.96

3 8

2.84 4

11 3.90

5 10

3.55 6

10 3.55

7 10

3.55 8

11 3.90

9 6

2.13 10

6 2.13

11 8

2.84 12

9 3.19

13 12

4.26 14

17 6.03

15 19

6.74 16

25 8.87

17 34

12.06 18*

2 0.71

There were 34 care episodes that began at age 17:

Apr 14

May

14 Jun 14

Jul 14

Aug 14

Sep 14

Oct

14 N

ov 14

Dec

14 Jan 15

Feb 15

Mar

15 Total

Accomm

odation under S20 (single period of accom

modation)

3 2

0 1

2 1

0 2

0 3

2 1

17 D

etained in LA accomm

odation under PAC

E

0 0

1 0

0 0

1 0

0 0

0 0

2 In LA on rem

and or comm

itted for trial/sentence 2

1 2

1 0

0 2

2 0

1 2

1 14

Under police protection in LA accom

modation

0 0

0 0

0 1

0 0

0 0

0 0

1 Total

5 3

3 2

2 2

3 4

0 4

4 2

34

15 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 The 2 young people w

ho are detailed as being accomm

odated at age 18 were U

naccompanied A

sylum S

eeking Children w

ho, upon age assessm

ent, were found to be 18.

Perm

anency Outcom

es The profile in term

s of children leaving care within the year:

273 children and young people ceased to be accomm

odated as children in care. O

f these 74 left as they reached the age of 18. 42 children were adopted, 21 m

ade subject to Special G

uardianship Orders and 31 to

Child A

rrangement O

rders – 94 in total. Rem

oving the 20 young people who had episodes of rem

and and the 2 whose care w

as made up

of a series of short breaks: o

During the year 01/04/14 – 31/03/15 283 children entered care and 273 w

ere discharged.

o The total num

ber of children in care ranged from 526 in June 2014 to 537 in N

ovember 2014 at 31/03/15 there w

ere 532.

o O

f these 2 were receiving their cared as a series of short breaks.

The discharge reasons for those children and young people who ceased to be looked after w

ere:

16 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 D

ischarge Reason

Num

ber of C

hildren / Young People

Accom

modation on rem

and ended 9

Adopted - A

pplication Unopposed

29 A

dopted - Consent D

ispensed With

13 A

ge assessed over 17 not Independent Living or Transition to Adult Services.

6

Care taken over by another LA

in UK

1

Died

1 Left care to live w

ith person with no parent

responsibility 33

Moved abroad

1 M

oved to independent living - formal advice

30 M

oved to independent living - no formal advice

8 P

lanned return home to parents/other parent resp.

72 R

esidence Order / C

hild Arrangem

ent Order

31 S

entenced to Custody

15 S

pecial Guardianship O

rder (Former Foster C

arers) 10

Special G

uardianship Order (N

ot Former Foster

Carers)

11

Transferred to care of adult social services 3

Unplanned return hom

e to parents/other parental resp.

13

Total 286

17 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 The young person w

ho sadly died was a child w

ith multiple disabilities and additional health needs.

On a m

onth on month basis betw

een 96.0% – 97.3%

of Review

s were held w

ithin timescale (see page 22).

Children in C

are 01/04/14 – 31/03/15:

CHILDREN IN CARE 01-04-2013 - 31-03-2015

Apr-14

May-14

Jun-14

Jul-14

Aug-14

Sep-14

Oct-14

Nov-14

Dec-14

Jan-15

Feb-15

Mar-15

TOTAL

Num

ber of Admissions

23 19

20 21

26 34

19 22

19 23

26 31

283 N

umber of Discharges

26 23

23 20

26 24

27 14

20 22

30 21

276 N

umber of Rem

ands 2

5 8

7 4

2 2

4 2

3 3

1 43

Num

ber of Special Guardianship O

rders 2

2 2

1 4

5 0

3 0

1 1

0 21

Num

ber of Child Arrangement O

rders (Residence Order)

0 4

1 0

2 1

4 1

5 5

7 1

31 N

umber of Adoptions

4 4

2 4

5 1

7 4

1 2

7 1

42 N

umber of Adoptions v- Cum

ulative total 4

8 10

14 19

20 27

31 32

34 41

42 n/a

Num

ber of LAC at month end

533 529

526 527

527 537

529 537

536 526

522 532

n/a IR

O C

aseloads The IR

O H

andbook recomm

ends a caseload for IRO

s between 50 &

70. A national benchm

arking survey (Decem

ber 2013) identified that the average caseload for IR

Os ranged betw

een 50 and 95. Within S

heffield a comm

itment w

as made to seek to ensure caseloads of 60.

In point of fact IRO

s have had caseloads of between 57 - 65 per f.t.e. w

orker during 2014/15. C

aseload numbers are but one factor that equates to w

orkload. The number of review

s can vary in frequency. The geographical location, the stability or otherw

ise of the placement, the quality of social w

ork practice can all impact of w

orkload.

18 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

Month

Meeting

Type

Review

(28 D

ays) R

eview

(91Days)

Review

(183 D

ays) G

rand Total

Apr-14 14

21 85

120 M

ay-14 21

9 95

125 Jun-14

13 17

103 133

Jul-14 11

13 104

128 Aug-14

28 10

33 71

Sep-14 16

9 133

158 O

ct-14 34

9 95

138 N

ov-14 16

21 117

154 D

ec-14 25

15 82

122 Jan-15

15 27

66 108

Feb-15 11

16 91

118 M

ar-15 28

20 130

208

Grand

Total 232

187 1164

1553

19 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

D

uring 2014 - 2015, IRO

s have maintained a num

ber of additional responsibilities: o

Link work activity w

ith teams.

o

Attending regional IR

O m

eetings.

o P

resentation of workshops on the IR

O H

andbook to Social W

orkers.

o Liaison w

ith the Virtual S

chool & as a m

ember of the V

irtual School N

etworking m

eetings.

o Liaison w

ith the Children w

ith Disabilities S

ervices and sitting as a mem

ber of their Access to Services P

anel.

o O

ne IRO

(0.5) has worked w

ith young people remanded to custody (Youth D

etention Accom

modation) developing links w

ith the Youth Justice Service and the S

ecure Estate

In addition one 0.4 f.t.e. IRO

has undertaken Foster Carer R

eviews. S

tatutorily every year The Fostering Service is required to review

approvals as a Foster C

arer, and consider whether they should continue to be approved as a Foster C

arer and/or if there should be any changes to the term

s of approval. National S

tandards make it clear that the first annual review

report has to go back to the Fostering P

anel. After that, there is no requirement in the S

tandards for annual review reports to go back to panel, although the Fostering S

ervice can choose to do so. The Fostering S

ervice is also required to review an approval to foster at any point w

hen it feels the need to do so. An allegation or

complaint m

ight well trigger a review

of approval, as could any major change in household com

position – for example a m

ajor illness, divorce or separation.

Meeting Type L.A.C.…

0

100

200Apr-14

Jun-14

Aug-14

Oct-14

Dec-14

Feb-15

Meeting Type L.A.C. Review

(28 Days)

Meeting Type L.A.C. Review

(91Days)

Meeting Type L.A.C. Review

(183 Days)

20 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 In S

heffield responsibility for undertaking Foster Carer review

s rests within the Independent R

eviewing S

ervice. E

nsuring that all Foster Carer review

s are undertaken annually has proved problematic during the year and w

ill be further addressed in 2015-16. The IR

O w

ho has undertaken these reviews is transferring to review

children but has agreed to produce a report highlighting the progress m

ade, barriers experienced and her recomm

endations. This report will be m

ade available both to the Fostering Service and,

at her request, to the Director of C

hildren and Families.

The IR

S S

ervice Manager has:

o M

et regularly with regional colleagues.

o

Planned a regional IR

O conference (that took place in S

heffield in May 2015).

o

Met w

ith CA

FCA

SS

to review the C

AFC

AS

S – IR

S Protocol and explore w

ays in which regional events and training can be

established.

o S

at as a mem

ber of the Corporate Parenting P

anel, Strategy B

oard & sub-boards focusing on participation, health, adoption,

placement resources and the lifestyle and vulnerability of children in care.

o

Met regularly w

ith the Assistant D

irectors to raise specific or thematic issues of com

plement or concern.

o

Met regularly w

ith the Service M

anagers in Permanence &

through care to raise specific or thematic issues.

o

Attended Fieldw

ork Operational B

usiness meetings as agreed.

o

Audited to ensure best outcom

es for children in care.

21 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 The C

hild’s Voice

The Children in C

are Survey

The Children in C

are Council led on undertaking a survey of children in care in O

ctober 2014. A total of 510 surveys in tw

o versions were

sent with a copy going to each child or young person.

The responses were:

0 – 12 years of age 78 out of 250 = 31%

13 – 18 years of age

41 out of 250 = 16%

Responses w

ithin the Surveys included:

o 91 / 93%

knew their Social W

orker’s name.

o

63 / 90% felt their Social W

orker was helpful.

o

53 / 76% felt that their S

ocial Worker spent enough tim

e with them

.

o 58 / 85%

knew their IR

Os nam

e.

o 85%

of the 13 – 18 age group knew how

to contact their IRO

and 78% knew

why they had an IR

O.

o

70 /97% felt safe at school.

o

92 / 97% felt safe at hom

e.

o 88 / 70%

have a life story book or mem

ory box A

ction Plans w

ere drawn up on the basis of the inform

ation received.

22 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 E

ntitlements and Advocacy

The All P

arty Parliam

entary Group for Looked-After C

hildren and Care Leavers Inquiry (2013) asked children and young people w

hat the m

ost important entitlem

ents for looked-after children and care leavers were. The A

ll Party P

arliamentary G

roup selected the five that they children and young people said w

ere most im

portant for looked-after children and for care leavers. A

dvocacy for children in care was provided by N

YAS

during the period covered by this report. They detailed that 34 children accessed the service in quarter 1, 28 in quarter 2 and 34 in quarter 3. N

YAS

did not provide any data or details on the provision of advocacy in quarter 4. Advocacy services passed to the Sheffield C

hildren’s Involvement Team

from 01/04/15.

During the 9 m

onths for which data is available, key them

es were identified as follow

s: o

Placem

ent and views of the young person not being given consideration prior to a m

ove.

o Young people needing to be listened to and involved in the transition process.

o C

hildren & young people w

ith learning difficulties / disabilities struggling to be involved in decisions affecting their lives.

o U

AS

C requiring advocacy during age assessm

ents. o

Support in R

eviews and/or m

eeting with S

ocial Workers.

o S

upport in comm

unication with fam

ily mem

bers. D

rawing out them

es has not been easy but there has been positive feedback from young people in receipt of advocacy. IR

Os supported

the move to provide this service in-house given the C

hildren’s Involvement Team

’s greater accessibility and ability to respond along with

the high regard which the C

hildren’s Involvement are held in ensuring that the child’s voice is heard.

o U

naccompanied A

sylum Seekers

o C

hildren with w

hose first language is not English

23 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 o

Children in secure accom

modation

o C

hildren placed at a distance A

dvocacy provision in Sheffield during 2014 – 15 currently passed from

being provided by NYA

S to The C

hildren’s Involvement Team

the Youth Justice Board com

missions advocacy services for young people detained in young offender institutions (YO

Is) and secure training centres (STC

s). IR

Os routinely check that children and young people know

about advocacy and how it can support them

in having a real say in decisions affecting their lives. IR

Os need to do m

ore to ensure that children have access to advocacy. Advocacy can be essential for the children and young people

and these processes can make a vital contribution to safeguarding and prom

oting their welfare and rights. To facilitate this the Service

proposes to change the questions within the IR

O’s C

hair’s Report to not just ask if the child requires an Advocate but to first ask w

ho advocates on behave of the child. W

here there is nobody fulfilling this roll it would then ask w

hether the child required an Advocate (Yes /

No) and direct a referral to the advocacy service.

24 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 Tim

eliness of reviews

An average of 96.9%

% R

eviews took place w

ithin the statutory timescales (against a target of 97%

). IRO

s completed som

e reviews in a

series of meetings to ensure the relevant people w

ere involved and the meeting rem

ained child focused and friendly.

W

here reviews w

ere held out of timescale this has a cum

ulative effect on the out turn, with subsequent review

s also being out of tim

escale. Within 2014-15 the reasons for late review

s were:

97.3 97.1

97.1

97.0

96.6

97.2 97.3

97.1

96.0 96.6

96.7 96.6

Apr-14

May-14

Jun-14

Jul-14

Aug-14

Sep-14

Oct-14

Nov-14

Dec-14

Jan-15

Feb-15

Mar-15

Pe

rce

nta

ge

of lo

ok

ed

afte

r ch

ildre

n re

view

s

25 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

P

rocesses have been strengthened to ensure that reviews are not inadvertently booked out of tim

escale by the IRO

and I am also aw

are that action has been taken by S

ocial Care in relation to late notifications.

Children and young people’s preparation and involvem

ent in reviews

An average of 92.9%

of children and young people participated in their Review

s for the year ending 31st M

arch 2015 (against a target of 93%

). Participation includes attending and/or contributing to their Review

.

26 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

93.7 93.6

93.6

93.0

93.8 93.8

93.5 92.4

92.3

91.7

92.6 91.5

Apr-14

May-14

Jun-14

Jul-14

Aug-14

Sep-14

Oct-14

Nov-14

Dec-14

Jan-15

Partic

ipatio

n o

f looked a

fter c

hild

ren in

27 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 There have been a total of 35 occasions w

here a child has not participated in their review (out of a total of 1553 review

s during 2014-15):

Reason

Total

Child’s disability

1

IRO

decision that it was not in the child’s best interest to attend.

10

Refusal to participate by the child or young person

14

Child did not participate or com

plete a consultation booklet 10

Total 35

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Child's DisabilityIRO

decision in thebest interest of the

child not toparticpate

Not

seen/consulationreceived

Refusal toparticipate by

Child/young person

Total

Total

28 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 P

articipation Trends

M

anagement oversight

The revised statutory Guidance states that operational social w

ork managers m

ust consider the decisions from the R

eview before they

are finalised. This is due in part to the need to ensure any resource implications have been addressed. O

nce the decisions are completed

the Manager has 5 days to raise any queries or objections. There are significant issues w

ith Social W

ork Manager com

pliance with this

system:

o E

ach Decision triggers a m

essage to the responsible Team M

anager with an expectation that they respond w

ithin 5 working days.

o W

here the completion of a M

onitoring Form triggers an ‘A

lert’ the Team M

anager has 5 working days to respond through the

completion of an ‘A

lert Response Form

’. During the period to 31/03/15 w

hen the Alert R

esponse Form w

as added, there were 91

specific alerts highlighted, triggering 79 Alert R

esponse Forms of w

hich 72 were com

pleted and responded.

o O

ver the full period under review the M

onitoring Form outcom

es were:

0 20 40 60 80100120140160180200

Child Under 4 at Tim

e of Review

Child did not attend - no contribution

Child did not attend - contributed via otherm

eans

Child did not attend - contributed via advocate

Child attended - spoke for him/herself

29 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 C

omplim

ent Standard Specific Alerts

Serious Concerns

82

592 126

2 Total:

802 o

This highlights both the general quality of work being undertaken but also that only 51%

of reviews are show

ing as having a com

pleted Monitoring Form

. Q

uality Assurance of the IR

O S

ervice The Independent R

eviewing S

ervice introduced during the period in question, a Monitoring Form

to be completed at the tim

e of each R

eview. This M

onitoring Form w

as later amended to include an option of a fourfold ‘trigger’:

1. C

omplem

ent on the quality of work undertaken.

2.

Standard (G

ood – everything in place). 3.

Alert (S

pecific deficits which need addressing).

4.

Serious C

oncerns (leading to the convening of a meeting w

ithin the Dispute R

esolution Process).

Where an A

lert is identified this will trigger an A

lert Response Form

to the Team M

anager detailing the deficits and requiring a response as to how

these are to be addressed. The M

onitoring Form contains questions relating to:

o The tim

ely completion of the Social W

orker’s report.

o The attendance of the S

ocial Worker at the R

eview.

o

Recording of statutory visits.

o

Personal E

ducation Plan.

30 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

o

Health P

lan and health consents.

o P

lacement P

lan. o

Child’s / P

athway P

lan.

o C

hild’s wishes &

feelings.

o P

ermanence P

lan.

Whilst detailed reporting w

as not possible during the period in question, this is now being developed and w

ill be available to allow

reporting against both the outcomes and rationale behind the outcom

es. This will be included in the next A

nnual Report.

In addition to the Monitoring Form

s the IRS

Service Manager has com

pleted or been involved in completing the follow

ing audits: o

Actions taken on accom

modating a child.

o

Adoption delay.

o

Health plans &

health consents.

o M

onitoring Forms & M

onitoring Form outcom

es against CareA

ssess records including Care / Pathw

ay Plan.

o

Placem

ent Plans

o

Post-18 placem

ent sufficiency.

31 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 Identifying good practice, problem

resolution and escalation IR

Os have had to challenge practitioners and m

anagers within S

tage 1 of the Dispute R

esolution Process (w

here there have been specific deficits) on 85 occasions and w

ith Stage 2 (w

here serious concerns have been identified) of that process on 8 occasions. There w

ere no disputes within S

tage 3 of the Dispute R

esolution Process. A

ll informal challenges related to a m

ix of issues with the follow

ing reported m

ost: S

upervision and training IR

Os have scheduled m

onthly supervision (pro rata for part time staff) and ad-hoc supervision. Training has been attended on the basis

of identified need and availability including 3 IRO

s attending a residential course for independent chairs run by Birm

ingham U

niversity. A

dditional areas of concern identified in 2014-15 In addition to those challenges highlighted in the 2013-14 A

nnual Report (and detailed on pages 5 – 9 above), the follow

ing have been identified and raised during the period covered by this report: 1. C

hanges in Social Worker. S

ome children have experienced significant num

ber of changes in keyworkers and/or in the num

ber of S

ocial Workers visiting them

as a result of duty workers covering sickness or annual leave to undertake statutory visits. This w

as raised to m

e by Foster Carers at their O

pen Forum m

eeting in September 2014. A

report in October 2014 show

ed:

Num

ber of Social Worker

During child’s tim

e in care N

umber of

Children

0 1

1 95

2 – 5 309

6 – 9 94

10+ 22

Total 521

The length of tim

e that a child has been in care will im

pact on the number of changes in S

ocial Worker but the data does support

some children’s perceptions of having m

ultiple workers and this does not include other w

orkers who have been involved on a duty

basis.

32 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

It is appreciated that reorganisation within Fieldw

ork will rem

ove some of the need to change allocation for purely structural reasons

and hoped therefore that this will have an on-going im

pact.

2. Children’s W

ishes & Feelings – The consultation booklets introduced during 2013-14 have proved positive w

ith younger children but highlighted a need to explore alternative m

ethods by which older children can offer their view

s. An electronic process is being

explored. This has proved positive in other Local Authorities and discussions are on-going w

ith a provider. In addition to this tw

o other processes are being planned to further embed children’s w

ishes and feelings: o

The introduction of a ‘Mid-point R

eview’ w

ithin which the IR

O w

ill speak to a child who is aged 11+. This m

ay be by telephone or in person. W

ith younger children this conversation may be w

ith the child or, where m

ore appropriate, the carer. Such a review

will

allow both the progress checking of decisions m

ade at the last review and a structure opportunity to ascertain the child’s view

s on their C

are Plan and how

it is progressing.

o E

nsuring that the discussion detailed feeds into the manner in w

hich their review w

ill take place. (see also broadening the definition of ‘child centred review

s’ below)

3.

Broadening the im

plementation of C

hild Centred Review

s has not progressed as had been anticipated although features of the m

odel and learning from it have been m

ore widely introduced. D

uring 2015-16 IRO

s will both ensure discussions w

ith children about how

they wish their review

to be undertaken but also draw from

a range of resources, including the Person C

entred Review

model as

to what form

this will take. A

s the work done on a ‘S

trength Based Approach’ is evaluated within child protection conferences, learning

from this w

ill also be assimilated.

4. W

ithin the comm

entary about placement sufficiency, there has been an evident shortage of in-city foster placem

ents for teenagers. W

hilst it has been evident that the wider availability of placem

ents has been significantly improved, appropriate placem

ents for teenagers in Foster C

are has remained a challenge.

5.

The place of ‘Permanent’ Foster Placem

ents within a range of perm

anency options for children and young people has received further statutory clarity w

ithin ‘Perm

anence, long-term foster placem

ents and ceasing to look after a child’ (Statutory G

uidance for Local A

uthorities, Departm

ent for Education, March 2015).

[5] The process by which a placem

ent is matched and confirm

ed as perm

anent by the local authority remains inconsistent, particularly w

ith regard to Independent Fostering Agencies.

33 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 6.

The Service w

ould contest that clarity and consistency are required in the allocation of Personal Advisors for young people post-16 and that this should not be determ

ined by whether a young person is allocated w

ithin Perm

anence and Throughcare or the Children

with D

isabilities team.

7.

The need for improvem

ents in both pathway planning and Pathw

ay Plans has been raised by IRO

s and acknowledged by the

Perm

anence and Throughcare Service. Such plans are an im

portant assessment in ensuring the sm

ooth transition of a young person to adulthood and w

ork is planned between the service and P

ermanence and Throughcare to create a Pathw

ay Plan that is fit for

purpose.

8. A

uditing of children’s files is difficult when the electronic storage system

(Wisdom

) appears to suffer from tw

o regularly highlighted shortcom

ings: o

Inappropriate filing and/or retention of multiple blank form

s.

o Inconsistent filing of key docum

ents including legal papers, Adoption S

upport Plans and externally produced assessm

ent reports. The service w

ill continue to monitor these areas and feedback / challenge through the com

pletion of an IRS

Monitoring Form

where

necessary.

9. R

efreshing is needed on the IRO

-CAFC

ASS Protocol that has been signed between the tw

o agencies. This is being achieved through regular m

eetings with C

AFC

AS

S, challenges to Legal S

ervices where C

ourt documentation has not been provided to IR

Os.

Joint training between IR

Os and C

AFC

AS

S Guardians is planned for early 2016.

34 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 A

reas for improvem

ent – Action Plan

Targets for the following areas have been identified as detailed above and the service expects to deliver and/or m

onitor to ensure im

provements by 31/03/2016. Follow

ing the ratification of this report discussion will take place to confirm

more detailed responsibility for

actions where these rest w

ith Fieldwork / P

rovider Services or w

ith the Independent Review

ing Service and agree targets w

here applicable. It has been agreed that reporting on this A

ction Plan w

ill be to the Corporate P

arenting Strategy P

anel at each of its meetings.

What?

How

? W

ho? M

aintain perform

ance in

the tim

eliness of

review

meetings at 97%

. o

Timely com

pletion of Change in C

ircumstances Form

s by S

ocial Workers. W

here CareFirst system

issues are identified,

provide guidance

to S

ocial C

are staff

to resolve and/or w

ork around. o

Allocation of IR

O w

ithin 5 working days.

o

Ensuring IR

Os book review

s in timescale &

where this is

legitimately not possible, undertake the review

in 2 parts to m

aintain timescales.

o

Audit against dates set for next review

s to ensure these are set w

ithin statutory timescale.

o

Audit against dates set for review

s of children subject to P

lacement O

rders to ensure that these are within the

locally set policy of a maxim

um of 3 m

onthly.

Fieldwork

Services

Independent R

eviewing

Service

Maintain

performance

in children’s

participation in

reviews at 93%

o

Audit, m

onitor and challenge to ensure that children are participating

and that

the form

of

participation is

accurately recorded.

Independent R

eviewing

Service

To increase children & young people’s com

pletion of consultation ‘booklets’.

o Investigate the introduction of an alternative electronic form

of completing consultation as requested by older

young people.

Independent R

eviewing

Service

35 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

o C

ontact has been made w

ith two national com

panies offering system

s. These have been demonstrated to the

Children in C

are Council w

ho had a clear favourite. o

The development and im

plementation of this m

odel will

be pursued during 2015-16. R

e-vitalise child centred reviews through ensuring that

children are fully consulted about how they w

ish their review

to be undertaken and draw from

a range of resources

including those

developed w

ithin the

‘Person C

entred Review

Model’ to ensure that this

happens.

o C

ompare and contrast w

ork within child centred review

s to learning from

the Safeguarding S

ervice’s Strength

Based A

pproach when this is available.

o A

cknowledge the need to consult prior to review

s with

the child and for the style of the review to arise from

this consultation, rather than to be purely based on any single m

odel.

Safeguarding

&

Independent R

eviewing

Service

Monitor to ensure that C

hild’s Plans are holistic and

not a series of documents.

o Fieldw

ork Services to review

the use of the Care P

lan & M

eeting Record and issue guidance as to its com

pletion. o

IRO

s to pick up and feedback where a C

hild’s Plan is

‘fragmented’ through the IR

S M

onitoring Form and issue

an Alert to the Team

Manager.

Fieldwork

Services.

Independent R

eviewing

Service.

Monitor the introduction of the C

hild’s Placem

ent Plan.

All children should have a P

lacement P

lan by the time

of their next review after 01/04/15. M

onitoring has show

n that

this has

not been

adequately im

plemented.

o R

e-affirmation

of policy

to be

issued by

Fieldwork

Services.

o IR

Os

to pick

up and

feedback through

the IR

S M

onitoring Form w

here a Placem

ent Plan is not present

and issue an Alert to Team

Manager.

o

Collation of these A

lerts to be included within m

onthly reporting as detailed.

Fieldwork

Services

Independent R

eviewing

Service

IRS

Monitoring Form

s to be completed at the point of

all R

eviews

and graded

Com

plement,

Standard

(Good), S

pecific Issues (Alert) and S

erious Concerns

(leading to a meeting under the D

ispute Resolution

o A

udit of completed form

s and the outcome of those

forms to be available through m

onthly reporting. Independent R

eviewing

Service

36 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 P

rocess). A

gree who is best placed to collate inform

ation and learning from

the cases of those children who have

returned to care.

o Liaison

with

Fieldwork

and Adoption

Services

to understand

the num

ber of

children involved

and determ

ine how

learning

from

these cases

can be

collated to the benefit of all children.

Fieldwork

Services

Adoption S

ervice

Continue to m

onitor the timely com

pletion of health consents

and assessm

ents through

IRO

audit,

completion of the IR

S M

onitoring Form and liaison

with the LAA

CH

team.

o W

eekly reports

are now

in

place giving

a detailed

position. o

Deficits w

ill be highlighted by IRO

s through their auditing and com

pletion of an IRS

Monitoring Form

. o

Ensuring

that up

to date

information

is available

is directly tied into the com

pletion and maintenance of the

child’s Placem

ent Plan.

Fieldwork

Services.

LAA

CH

Team.

Independent R

eviewing

Service

Continue to m

onitor and seek to improve the recorded

rate of dental checks through IRO

audit, completion of

the IRS

Monitoring For and liaison w

ith the LAA

CH

team

.

o Investigate im

proved ways of recording dental checks.

o C

onsider the feasibility of including dental check dates w

ithin the IRS

Monitoring Form

.

Fieldwork

Services.

LAA

CH

Team

Independent R

eviewing

Service.

Continue to m

onitor the timely com

pletion and reviews

of P

ersonal E

ducation P

lans through

IRO

audit,

completion of the IR

S M

onitoring Form and liaison

with the V

irtual School

o V

irtual School to continue m

onitoring and analysis as at present.

o

Data from

IRO

audit through the IRS

Monitoring Form

to be available w

ith the monthly perform

ance reports.

Virtual S

chool. Independent R

eviewing

Service.

Whilst the level of com

pletion of Personal Education

Plans

for children

of school

age (5

– 16)

has significantly

increased, the

Local A

uthority is

not com

pliant in completing these plans for pre-school

children or young people in education post-year 11. P

etition for the extension of the Personal E

ducation P

lans to children in pre-school and young people post

o O

ffer support to efforts and plans already in place. Independent R

eviewing

Service.

37 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 year 11 as detailed w

ithin ‘Prom

oting the Education of Looked After C

hildren – Statutory G

uidance for Local A

uthorities, 2014). M

onitor the

quality, perceived

accurateness and

timeliness

in com

pletion of

age assessm

ents for

unaccompanied asylum

seeker children (UA

SC

) and feedback to Perm

anence & Throughcare.

o C

onsider joint piece of work w

ith Perm

anence & Throughcare and identify an IR

O, w

ith experience of w

orking with U

naccompanied A

sylum Seekers, to

work undertake this.

Fieldwork

Services.

Independent R

eviewing

Service.

Drift

in care

planning &

the

need to

increase aw

areness of children’s wishes and feelings.

o Introduce an IR

O M

id-Point C

heck. IRO

s to pro-actively m

onitor at mid-point betw

een reviews against

the progress of decisions from the last m

eeting. To speak to children aged 11+ (through visiting or phone call) and to speak to carers for younger children to check children’s w

ishes, feelings and allow children

to raise issues as appropriate with their IR

O outside

of a review.

Independent R

eviewing

Service.

In completing audit activity against all the above,

provide a monthly report of all M

onitoring Forms to be

available to IRO

s, for individual 1:1 discussions and challenge

if necessary

between

the IR

S S

ervice M

anager and IRO

s, for IRS

Perform

ance meetings,

Safeguarding and Fieldw

ork Managem

ents.

o A

s detailed,

ensuring IR

S

Service

Manager

attendance at

the appropriate

Fieldwork

Service

Manager m

eetings.

Fieldwork

Services.

Independent R

eviewing

Service.

There has been variable completion of A

lerts by IRO

s and response to this challenge w

ithin Fieldwork. The

Service w

ill ensure that complem

ents, alerts and the raising

of the

serious concerns

are consistently

undertaken by IRO

s and that the collation of these and the them

es raised are feedback to Fieldwork on a

monthly basis and through attendance by the IR

S S

ervice Manager at a quarterly P

erformance M

eeting.

o M

onthly sample auditing.

o Individual challenge in 1:1’s w

ith IRO

s.

o Them

atic challenge within m

onthly IRS

Perform

ance m

eetings.

o P

rovision of

reports to

Fieldwork

Services

and attendance of the IR

S Service M

anager at quarterly P

erformance M

eetings.

Independent R

eviewing

Service.

Audit has identified variable filing of key reports by

Social W

orkers in

CareFirst’s W

isdom

application. o

To be included within IR

S M

onitoring Forms.

Independent R

eviewing

38 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 Feedback through IR

O m

onitoring the presence or otherw

ise of appropriate reports in Wisdom

. S

ervice.

Arising from

the report, seek to address consistency in IR

O practice to ensure quality and consistency of

service to children.

o Through

monthly

IRS

P

erformance

meetings

and individual 1:1 m

eetings between the IR

S S

ervice M

anager and IRO

s.

Independent R

eviewing

Service.

Arising from

the report to collectively challenge as identified.

o Through individual 1:1 m

eetings, IRS

Perform

ance m

eetings, Safeguarding and IR

S S

ervice Manager

meetings

and Fieldw

ork P

erformance

Service

Manager m

eetings.

o IR

S S

ervice Manager to attend Fieldw

ork Service

Manager m

eetings on a quarterly basis.

Independent R

eviewing

Service

Fieldwork S

ervice Independent R

eviewing

Service

The quality

and tim

eliness of

Pathway

Plans

is variable. To w

ork with P

ermanence &

Throughcare to im

prove the quality of Pathw

ay Planning and P

athway

Plans.

o IR

Os have prepared a guide to their expectations of

the content of a good quality Pathw

ay Plan.

o

Perm

anence and Throughcare are exploring good quality exam

ples of Pathway P

lans. o

Agreem

ent in place that a nominated IR

O and Team

M

anager will then m

ove forward to present training

once an agreement is in place as to any new

format

for a Pathway P

lan.

Independent R

eviewing

Service.

Fieldwork S

ervice Fieldw

ork Service

Independent R

eviewing

Service.

Children accom

modated less than 20 w

orking days. The Independent R

eviewing S

ervice identified during the

year that

there w

ere a

number

of children

accomm

odated for a short time such that they w

ere never review

ed. There were 47 children that had had

a Looked After period for less than 28 days in the first 11 m

onths of 2014 (including some sibling groups).

Whilst som

e of these were rem

anded, concern about the rationale for both accom

modating and ceasing to

The key messages for practice arising from

this audit w

ere: o

Timeliness

of the

care period

is im

portant –

professional challenge should be used if a case is drifting of if there is professional disagreem

ent (SS

CB

Resolution

of P

ractitioner D

isagreements

can be

used, when needed).

39 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 accom

modate

others led

to a

referral to

the S

afeguarding Children B

oard for a thematic audit.

o M

aking informed in relation to w

here to place a child – to identify if there is som

eone known to the child that

can care for them.

C

hildren subject to Section 20 are vulnerable - it is important

for the professionals to:

o P

lan, from the beginning, for a sudden change in

circumstances – periods of care can be very short and

can change suddenly. o

Professionals should com

municate, w

ith the multi-

agency team, about any changes.

o

The child’s plan should be reviewed, in the light of any

change to circumstances (as soon as possible after

change has occurred).

O

ther positive

practice, that

can help a case

progress positively

o K

nowing the child, responding to them

and building up trust w

ith them.

o K

eeping a focus on the child: listening to the child, but w

eighing this up with all the other inform

ation available.

40 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15

o P

ositive m

ultiagency com

munication

- w

ith one

professional taking the lead o

Professional C

hallenge, where needed

o C

onsider – is there one small thing that you could do

in order to make a difference to the child?

There

has been

delay throughout

the period

in question

in the

ratification and

dissemination

of policies

relating to

Children

in C

are Financial

Procedures, S

taying Put and S

pecial Guardianship

allowances / support.

o C

ontinue to press for the timely im

plementation and

dissemination of policies w

ith particular referenced to S

taying Put, S

pecial Guardianship and C

hildren in C

are Financial Procedures.

o

Ensure

that these

policies are

referred to

and em

bedded w

ithin the

Tri-X policies

that are

accessible to Social Workers.

Ensure annual review

s are undertaken of all Foster C

arers o

Increase IRO

capacity from 2 to 3 days.

o

Agree

new

model

and process

based on

the experiences of the last 2 years as detailed in the report provided by the outgoing IR

O for the D

irector of C

hildren and Families.

Independent R

eviewing

Service.

Independent R

eviewing

Service

Fostering S

ervice.

41 Independent R

eviewing S

ervice Annual R

eport 2014-15 Legend 1.

The Role of the Independent R

eviewing O

fficers in England. (N

CB

, March 2014).

2. B

eyond the Adoption O

rder; Challenges, Interventions &

Adoption D

isruption. (Departm

ent for Education, April 2014)

3.

The Sheffield Virtual School for Looked After C

hildren. Annual Report 2014-15

4.

Prom

oting the Education of Looked After C

hildren – Statutory G

uidance for Local Authorities. (D

epartment for E

ducation, July 2014).

5. ‘P

ermanence, long-term

foster placements and ceasing to look after a child’ (S

tatutory Guidance for Local A

uthorities, Departm

ent for E

ducation, March 2015).

A

bbreviations C

AFC

AS

S

Child and Fam

ily Court A

dvisory and Support S

ervice. D

RP

D

ispute Resolution P

rocess IR

O

Independent Review

ing Officer

IRS

Independent R

eviewing S

ervice U

AS

C

U

naccompanied A

sylum Seeker C

hild

42 Independent Reviewing Service Annual Report 2014-15

Appendix 1

43 Independent Reviewing Service Annual Report 2014-15

Paul Massey Service Manager

October 2015