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Unit 10

Looked after children in Portsmouth Local authority

The term ‘looked after children’ refers to children who, for a specific reason whether that be due to neglect or due to their parent/s being unable to care for them, need to be and are cared for outside of their family unit and are cared for by the local authority. In England there are approximately 64,400 children in care. There are two ways children can become ‘looked after’. This is by a voluntary agreement from a parent, meaning the parent has agreed for their child to go into care, this can be for a short period of time or permanent and this can be for a number of different reasons such as financial difficulties, illness, bereavement or mental health illnesses. The local authorities will look after the child until the parent feels ready to look after their child again. The voluntary agreement can last for as long as the individual feels is suitable. If it is because of illness the voluntary agreement may only last a few weeks however if they have a mental health illness it may mean the agreement could last a little longer. There is also an imposition of a care order. This is imposed by the local authority deeming that the child is not safe living where he/she lives and must be cared for outside the family home. Local authorities, like Portsmouth’s local authority, have an obligation to consider the welfare of the child and if they deem it is not safe they will impose the care order, putting the child at the heart of the service. This came about by The Children’s Act (1989/ 2000) and can be imposed for reasons such as physical, sexual or emotional abuse, neglect, living conditions caused by addictions and domestic violence. A care order can be imposed meaning that the parents of the child have no say in the matter and their child will be removed from the family home. The local authority will then take over the responsibilities and make decisions in the interest of the child. The local authorities will also be responsible for finding a placement for the child. Within Portsmouth the number of children being ‘looked after’ is rapidly increasing meaning there is high demand for those willing to become foster carers or adopt. In Portsmouth alone there is currently over 300 ‘looked after children’, that being in a children’s residential home or with a foster carer. Along with this in 2009 1,101 children were placed in the care of Hampshire’s local authority however only 634 of these were placed with foster carers with this figure rising. In Portsmouth children under 1 year old are within the age group that is highest of those of ‘looked after children’, along with, at all ages, more males/boys classed as looked after children than girls/females. Within the years 2008 to 2013 56% of the ‘looked after children’ were males and 44% were females.

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Here is Sophie’s story; Sophie is 6 years old. She lives with her Mum, who is a single parent and has no contact with her Dad. She goes to a private school; The Portsmouth Grammar School and her teachers say she is performing well and excelling academically above average. Her mum works weekdays all day in a very good, well paid job; however she makes sure she always drops Sophie off to school and picks her up and is always on school trips when assistance is needed. The school know Sophie’s mum well as she helps out so much and they say for a single parent she is doing extremely well. Sophie’s mum is able to provide for Sophie very well and she is in good condition both health wise and the way she performs academically. Sophie is a very happy, cheerful little girl who jokes around but has a very polite and kind nature about her. When driving to school one day, Sophie and her Mum were involved in a serious car accident. Sophie came out of the accident shaken but uninjured, however Sophie’s Mum was badly injured meaning she had to be kept in hospital for a while so she was under the watchful eye of doctors and nurses. This meant Sophie could not go back home with her Mum as her Mum would not have been able to safely care for her. Sophie’s grandparents were on holiday abroad and could not get home as quickly as they would have liked meaning there is no one else to care for Sophie at such short notice. Therefore Sophie must be placed into emergency foster care until her Mum is well enough to look after her, herself. Sophie must be placed into emergency foster care as otherwise there will be no one else to care for her and at 6 years old she cannot look after herself. As there is no one else of immediate family, an emergency foster carer is required to carry out the duties that Sophie’s Mum cannot do whilst in hospital, such as taking her and picking her up from school, providing a safe and happy home for her to live and feel welcome in and take on everyday duties and responsibilities that Sophie’s Mum would have had to do. Various organisations were involved in providing the care Sophie required. The QA Portsmouth NHS hospital played a huge role in the involvement of both Sophie and her mum’s care. They provided Sophie with the contact and safety that she needed and reassurance that they would make her Mum well again. The NHS will have put both Sophie and her Mum at the heart of the service, ensuring that they are both the professionals’ main priority in making sure that they are well cared for. They also contacted the local Portsmouth authority to inform them that Sophie would need to be placed in emergency foster care. Local authorities and the emergency foster carer will then take over parental responsibilities until Sophie’s Mum is able to

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look after Sophie again. The local authority would make sure Sophie is suitably cared for in a safe and loving environment. The local authority would also provide a social care worker to keep an eye on Sophie and monitor the behaviour Sophie portrays whilst she is not in the care of her mum. Together both the local authority and the social care worker will liase together to come up with a care plan for Sophie whilst her Mum is in hospital. When Sophie’s Mum comes out of hospital she may need help getting around and Sophie may become a young carer for her mum for a little while until she fully recovers. This can be a lot to take on for a 6 year old girl and as it is such a big responsibility therefore Sophie can attend Portsmouth Young Carers, an organisation that provides support and activities for young carers under the age of 18. It offers support for children like Sophie when caring for her Mum, giving her a break from the tasks she may have to do on a daily basis. Whilst Sophie is being ‘looked after’ certain professionals will be involved in the care of her. One of the most important professionals involved with Sophie is the counsellor. A counsellor will provide extra support for those going through distressing times. After the accident Sophie was vey shaken, and like any child would be, very quiet when taken into her emergency foster carer’s home. Therefore the counsellor stepped in to help with the post traumatic stress that Sophie was suffering with. A car accident can be a traumatic experience and Sophie needed help getting over what she had witnessed. The counsellor would meet with Sophie every other day in her foster carer’s home to discuss her thoughts and understand how Sophie was feeling whilst taking a child friendly approach, such as talking to Sophie through play and art, this way Sophie will feel comfortable whilst sharing her fears and thoughts with the counsellor and the counsellor can gain an understanding of how Sophie is feeling in the form of drawings and role play. An emergency foster carer is another professional that would play an important role in the caring for Sophie. The emergency foster carer will make Sophie feel safe and comfortable, as it can be a daunting process living in someone else’s home for a while. The emergency foster carer will always be prepared for a child, such as Sophie, to come and stay and will play a caring and understanding role towards Sophie. They will carry out certain duties in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle for Sophie whilst she is in their care. They will provide meals, somewhere to sleep, privacy and a loving home for Sophie to live in until her mum is well enough to take her back home. The emergency foster carer will show empathy towards Sophie and will be there, like a mother figure would be, but without trying to replace Sophie’s Mum. The emergency foster carer will take Sophie to school and pick her up, cook her meals and ensure that feels safe in the environment she is in.

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Mays Story: May is 10 years old. She lives with her Mum and her Mum’s long term boyfriend. May has never known her Dad but has been told to call her Mums boyfriend Dad, even though she doesn’t want to. May’s Mum and ‘Dad’ drink heavily both day and night causing the ‘Dad’ to become violent. He lashes out at May on regular occasions and abuses her most weeks. Although May knows this is wrong she had been told it was ‘their little secret’ and that she wasn’t to tell anybody. At 10 years old May is frightened and doesn’t know what to do. Alongside May being abused she also suffers with a mild disability meaning she suffers with bullying within her school environment. This has not yet been picked up by her teachers therefore is being bullied at school as well as being neglected and abused at home. May’s Mum and ‘Dad’ are unemployed and spend most of their money on either alcohol or food for themselves. May relies heavily on the free school meals provided for her as this may be the only form of nutrients she gets for the day and is seriously malnourished. At school one day May falls asleep in class and when her class teacher taps her to wake her up May flinches in pain. The teacher notices that for a while things haven’t been right and May is lacking both mentally and academically. May’s teacher asks May if she can stay behind for little bit before she goes to break. When break time came May stayed behind to speak to her teacher, at this point May understood that what was happening was not allowed and that she needed to tell someone. She took this opportunity to tell her teacher what was happening both at school and at home and her teacher reassured her that things would change and she’d be safe from now on. May’s teacher went to the head teacher immediately and explained that May was being severely neglected and abused at home and bullying was an issue on the school premises. The head teacher contacted social services instantly and an imposition of a care order was imposed straight away. A social worker was bought to the school and May was placed in the care of a foster carer. When May’s case was being investigated it became clear that May had been neglected and abused for a very long and therefore May was placed in permanent, long term foster care. Sophie was allowed contact with her Mum once a week, however this was a very distressing time for her and so her social worker felt it was best that she stops contact with her Mum.

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May is now very happy in her foster carer’s home and has begun to come back out of her shell and develop a personality that is her own and doesn’t have to hide her feelings. May will now stay with her foster parents until she is of an age until she can leave and live on her own. The National service framework for children, young people and maternity services is an organisation that would play a role in providing care for May whilst in the care of the local authority. It promotes the health and well-being and identifies needs when intervening early. The standards of the service promote high quality care for parents, children and families. In May’s case this would be that her care is at the heart of their service. They would ensure that May is given a chance to have a healthy lifestyle. The national service framework promotes and safeguards the welfare of children and ensures that all the staff are suitably trained and aware of actions to take if they have concerns about a child’s welfare. The social worker on May’s case will be trained to spot signs of neglect within May’s foster home, and will also be aware of what has fully occurred in May’s life. May’s future will be in the hands of the local authority and they, along with the national service framework, will ensure that May is safeguarded from danger and leads a long and fulfilling life. Local authorities will take a huge part in the care for May, as up until she is old enough to live by herself she will be in their care. They will ensure that May is properly cared for in a safe environment. The local authorities – Portsmouth City Council – will liase with different organisations and work in conjunction with people such as the police to sort out May’s matter. A case will be formed on the neglect and abuse May received. Second Chance is a local Portsmouth charity that gives those like May chances to have a bit of fun and make memories with people just like themselves. Second Chance gives children from similar backgrounds the chance to forgot about their troubles and talk about their problems with those who will understand from their own experience. Second Chance takes children that have been abused, both sexually, mentally and physically, children from poverty stricken backgrounds and those who have learning difficulties out for days doing fun, leisurely activities. Because May lives locally in Portsmouth she attends Second Chance as a way of coping with her ordeal and often comes home very happy after spending time with people she has become very good friends with. In May’s case teachers from her school would play a very important role in the involvement of care May will need. School teachers maintain good health and safety and meet child’s needs, treating them fairly and not discriminating against certain pupils that they may ‘not like’. Teachers pick up on behavioural changes and when necessary inform another professional when things aren’t right. When a child discloses personal information to a teacher a teacher has a certain level of confidentiality to keep, however, due to the severity of the situation May’s teacher’s

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duties were to inform the head teacher of the school straight away about the abuse and neglect May has become accustomed to so something is done immediately. Within the school the role and duty is then passed to the head teacher. May’s head teacher must have May’s best interests at heart therefore must inform social services as soon as she finds out. This would be carried out very quickly to ensure the May is safe and protected from harm, as part of their safeguarding policy. Social workers will also play an important role. A social worker will be assigned to May’s case from the local authority and works with both the individual in question, like Sophie, as well as their families. Social workers also work closely with other organisations such as the NHS and participating in multi-disciplinary teams whilst maintaining records. The social worker will oversee that May is placed in a suitable permanent foster carer’s home and ensure that May is living in a safe environment. The social worker will also provide support to May along with making sure that May is at ease and know that she is now safe. In May’s case the social worker may also liase with the police who will investigate the neglect and abuse that May has received. Toby’s Story: At the age of 15 Toby’s Dad died from a sudden heart attack. Toby found this hard to take and struggled to cope. When his Dad died Toby didn’t attend school very often and got in with the wrong crowd. He is now 16. Toby began, from 15, to drink, smoke and take drugs and eventually became out of control. He went out all day and didn’t come home until the early hours of the morning. He would bring many of his ‘friends’ back to the house he and his mum lived in and would blare very loud music to the point where the police were called on numerous occasions. Toby’s Mum still struggles, a year on, to cope with the death of Toby’s Dad, she can’t get her head around the fact that she’s now a single parent and that he’s never coming back. She’s gone into a deep state of depression and alongside this is finding it difficult to cope with Toby’s behaviour. He is slowly but surely spiralling out of control and she doesn’t know what to do with him. Toby’s Mum knew that both of them needed help. She knew she needed help because of her mental state. But most importantly she knew that Toby needed help because not only is his behaviour affecting her life it’s affecting his too. Because Toby is missing school and going out drinking, smoking and taking drugs instead, to subside the thoughts of his Dad, Toby is missing out on a relationship with his Mum and an education.

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Due to the severity of Toby’s behaviour Toby’s Mum decided to put Toby into temporary foster care. This is a voluntary agreement and so therefore Toby is taken into foster care until his Mum feels she is able to take him back. Toby has now been placed in temporary accommodation in a residential care home with very lovely workers who have set lots of boundaries. He is doing very well and has managed to get himself back on track. He is regularly attending school and has begun to make friends on a more suitable path. The National service framework for children, young people and maternity services would play a role in the care provided for Toby. The national service framework has certain standards to go by such as; Promoting health and well being, identifying needs and intervening early, supporting parenting, child, young person and family centred services, growing up into adulthood and safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. These five standards apply to Toby’s case because of his situation. Within the service framework there is a children’s bill. The bill places a duty on strategic health authorities and care trusts to assist local authorities, such as Portsmouth local authorities, in arrangements for the well being of a child; such as Toby. The service framework will give Toby and his mum information, power and choice over the support and the treatment that they both receiving and will be both involved in the planning of their care. The Portsmouth local authority will step in when Toby’s case arises and assign certain people to the case. This being people such as a social worker, counsellor, and other professionals that will be involved in the care of him. Portsmouth local authorities will take over the responsibilities of Toby’s Mum until he goes home back into his Mum’s care full time. The local authorities will also play a part in trying to get Toby back onto a good path instead of heading down the path of more drink and drugs. They’ll help liaise with the social worker to advise Toby and provide the support he needs, along with helping Toby’s mum with her mental health issues, providing her, also, with the support. HIB, short for help in bereavement, is a charitable organisation local to Portsmouth in which helps both adults and children mourn the death of a loved one. Both Toby and his mum will benefit highly from using this service as it will help them both share and discuss their thoughts and feelings and let off some steam and anger regarding the death of Toby’s dad. HIB help young people, such as Toby, and his mum and stay with the family for one to one support until they feel ready to face the situation alone. However even once they’ve stopped seeing someone from HIB if ever Toby or his mum feel they need another chat the door is always open. HIB can visit at home or a place where both the child and member of family feel safe and at ease talking. HIB also offer groups on particular mornings that both Toby and his mum can attend, to talk to others going through the same thing. This can be reassuring for them both as they can make friendships and talk about their problems to people who actually know

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how they feel. This can also be a good bonding time for Toby and his mum, as they can share their feelings with each other, bringing them, hopefully, tog...