Memorandum submitted by the Children's
Services Development Group (CSDG)
SUMMARY
— This submission introduces the members
of the Children's Services Development Group (CSDG).
— It explains our general support for
the provisions of the Children and Young Persons Bill.
— It sets out our specific concerns
about the effect of the Bill on placements for children with very
complex and acute needs, and the amendments we proposed in the
Lords Grand Committee.
— The submission sets out the assurances
that have been provided by Ministers on this issue.
— It makes clear that CSDG is committed
to continue working to ensure that children with very complex
and acute needs can be provided with placements that are most
appropriate for them.
ABOUT THE
CHILDREN'S
SERVICES DEVELOPMENT
GROUP
1. The Children's Services Development Group
(CSDG) is a policy group of specialist children's services providers.
It consists of Cambian Group, Castlecare Group, Foster Care Associates,
Hesley Group, Priory Education Services and SENAD Group.
2. CSDG was formed in January 2007 to constructively
inform the development of policy around services for children
with complex and challenging behavioural problems and special
educational needs.
3. CSDG's members provide a range of specialist
education and care services to young people with Asperger's Syndrome,
Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Behavioural, Emotional and Social
Difficulties, specific learning difficulties and complex needs,
including a significant proportion of looked-after children.
4. All of the members are committed to providing
dedicated specialist care and support services to the highest
regulatory standards. They also set a leading example for the
training and development of their staff.
GENERAL POSITION
ON THE
BILL
5. CSDG is fully supportive of the spirit
and intention behind the Children and Young Person's Bill. For
too long outcomes for looked-after children have been unacceptably
poor. This has been a major factor in wider societal problems,
including increased rates of teenage pregnancy and youth offending.
We believe that robust early interventions to prevent young people
from entering care, as well as improvements to the care system,
will result in better outcomes for families and children in care.
CHILDREN IN
CARE WITH
COMPLEX AND
ACUTE NEEDS
6. We are focussed on improving outcomes
for looked-after children with acute and complex needs—a
significant proportion of the looked-after children population.
27% of looked-after children have a statement of special educational
needs, compared to only 3% of all children in the general population
(Social Exclusion Unit, 2003). Many more children in care may
not have received a SEN statement, but have experienced neglect
and abuse (62% of all looked-after children, DCSF, March 2007)
and may have developed Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties
as a result. Additionally, many others within the care system
suffer from Autistic Spectrum Disorders and/or Severe Learning
Difficulties.
7. Many children in care need highly specialised
therapeutic support to enable them to achieve a successful transition
into adulthood. It is imperative that, once in the care system,
young people are provided with the most appropriate care placement
to meet their individual needs.
8. As far as possible, children should be
placed in accommodation near to their families and homes. For
the majority of children, this would ideally be in a foster care
setting that can provide a stable "family style" environment.
However, this type of placement will not be appropriate for all
looked-after children—those with the most acute needs will
require individual packages of specialist support delivered in
a specialist setting.
9. We believe that Government should establish
a new duty on local authorities to prioritise the individual—and
professionally assessed—needs of each child when making
placementing decisions, and choose placements in settings that
are able to demonstrate their ability to improve outcomes for
the children and young people in their care.
KEY CLAUSES—NOTES
AND SUGGESTED
AMENDMENTS
Clause 8: Provision of accommodation in its area
for children looked-after by a local authority
10. We have sought, and received, assurances
from DCSF that the Bill's restrictions on placing young people
away from their local area will not be used to prevent children
with complex and acute needs being placed in settings that are
most appropriate to provide the high quality specialist services
that they need.
11. Kevin Brennan MP, Parliamentary Under
Secretary of State for Children and Families—speaking at
a CSDG Reception (9 October 2007)—made clear that the Bill
would not prevent access to specialist services for children with
complex and acute needs: " . . . the needs of each individual
child must come first. We will ensure that out of authority restriction
is not absolute, as we recognise that some young people will have
needs that require them to be placed at a distance".
12. We welcome the Bill's focus on ensuring
local authorities provide placements for the young people in their
care that are "consistent with the child's welfare"
and would like to seek more clarity on this point. In particular,
we assert that in order for placements to be truly appropriate,
the individual needs of each child must be paramount in the placementing
decision making process.
13. As stated above, our experience of working
with young people with special educational needs—including
those with severe learning difficulties and behavioural, emotional
and social difficulties—has demonstrated that with the appropriate
specialist provision, successful outcomes can be attained and
the welfare of children can be prioritised. In these cases, out
of authority placements may be the most appropriate to meet the
child's needs. Furthermore, in circumstances where young people
have been the victims of abuse or sexual exploitation, or have
been exposed to harmful influences from peer groups in their local
areas—it is essential that appropriate therapeutic services
can be provided in a setting away from the local area.
14. As currently drafted, the Bill states
that the Secretary of State will define the requirements that
local authorities must comply with before placing a child out
of their area. We believe that further clarification is required
in the Bill to ensure that local authorities understand that placements
must be made on the basis of each child's needs, including any
specific requirements to address their special educational needs.
We proposed the following amendment is made to
Clause 8:
Insert subsection (4);
"For the purposes of this section, the "child's
welfare" should be defined with regard to the following criteria:
(i) appropriate educational outcomes (including
those for children with special educational needs);
(ii) support for the child's social, emotional
and behavioural needs;
(iii) safeguarding requirements, whereby for
reasons of safety it is appropriate for the child to be separated
from their local environment; and
(iv) the long term stability of the potential
care placement".
Clause 9: Provision of accommodation which is
near to looked-after child's school
15. Our experience has shown that very often,
children in care with complex and acute needs will not be attending
their local school, either as a result of truancy or due to their
having been excluded due to challenging behaviour. In such cases,
the likelihood is that, if left to their own devises, children
with behavioural problems will become involved in harmful and
criminal activities.
16. We are concerned that a lack of flexibility
and understanding of the circumstances of children with complex
needs, may result in decisions to place a child in an inappropriate
placement simply because it is near to the school where they are
registered—regardless of whether or not they are actually
attending, or whether the school is able to provide the specialist
support they require.
17. Again, we assert that placementing decisions
must always be made on the basis of each child's needs. In some
cases the requirement to place a child near to the school where
they are registered will not be appropriate, and could be used
by local authorities struggling with financial pressures, to avoid
placing a child in a more costly specialist setting that would
be better suited to address their complex needs.
18. We recognise that the Bill makes an
exception for circumstances where it would not be "consistent
with the child's welfare" for the child to live near the
school at which they are registered, but we believe that further
clarity is required on this point.
We proposed that the following amendment is made
to Clause 9:
Insert subsection (5)
"For the purposes of this section, the "child's
welfare" should be defined with regard to the following criteria:
(i) appropriate educational outcomes (including
those for children with special educational needs);
(ii) support for the child's social, emotional
and behavioural needs;
(iii) safeguarding requirements, whereby for
reasons of safety it is appropriate for the child to be separated
from their local environment; and
(iv) the long term stability of the potential
care placement".
POSITION FOLLOWING
LORD'S
STAGES OF
THE BILL
19. The suggested probing amendments—outlined
above—were jointly tabled by Baroness Walmsley, Baroness
Sharp, Lord Judd and the Earl of Listowel.
20. During the debate Lord Adonis stated
that there will always be children for whom an out of area placement
is the most appropriate, in particular "children with needs
that can only be met in very specialist placements or those who
may need to be moved away from their home area for their own protection".
21. Responding to the suggestion of adding
a definition of "welfare" into the text of the Bill,
Lord Adonis said that the Government do not believe that it is
necessary or desirable to specify a definition in primary legislation.
He stated that the professionals involved in making decisions
about looked-after children would already understand what it means—namely
the "well-being, happiness, health and prosperity of a person"—and
that putting a definition into the Bill may limit the choices
that a local authority can make in a way that may be detrimental
to a child's overall welfare. He also stated that the five Every
Child Matters outcomes (set out in Section 10 of the Children
Act 2004) already cover the aspects of welfare that the amendment
suggests.
22. He reiterated that the Government would
be issuing revised guidance to local authorities on compliance
with the Children Act (1989) (which this Bill amends) which set
out the key factors that a local authority must take into account
when making care placement decisions. He confirmed that this guidance
will cover the factors highlighted in the amendments. Baroness
Walmsley then asked specifically whether the issues mentioned
in her definition of "welfare" would be covered in the
guidance, to which Lord Adonis answered "yes".
CONCLUSION
23. Our purpose in proposing amendments
that set out a definition of the "welfare" of a child
was to add clarity to the circumstances when it is right for a
child to be placed out of their local area. Lord Adonis' statement
acknowledging that in some cases it is right that children be
provided with specialist care in out-of-area placements has, we
believe, ensured that this position must be taken into account
when the statutory guidance is produced after the Bill receives
Royal Assent.
24. We would recommend therefore, that the
Select Committee presses the Government to further clarify this
situation through its evidence to this inquiry. Without a clear
understanding of the correct circumstances where a child's "welfare"
would be best served in an out-of-area placement, local authorities—struggling
to deal with exceedingly tight financial resources—will
make decisions on the basis of cost rather than the specific needs
of individual children.
25. We believe that it is essential that
a thorough assessment of each child's needs should be the driving
force behind placementing decisions for looked-after children.
The state has a duty to ensure that the children and young people
in its care—and particularly those with complex and acute
needs (including SEN)—are provided with the best and most
appropriate care placements for their needs.
26. The Children's Services Development
Group would be happy to provide members of the Committee with
further details on the role played by specialist settings for
looked-after children with acute needs. We are also currently
developing a case study library that could be useful to inform
the Committee's inquiry.
February 2008
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