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THROUGHCARE AND AFTERCARE OF LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN IN SCOTLAND
CHAPTER 6 FINANCING THE SERVICE
6.1 The Group was aware that additional resources of 1 million had already been made available to local authorities through the earmarked Children's Services Development Fund in 2000/01 and 2001/02 to help develop the throughcare and aftercare service. Additional funds of 10 million had been given to local authorities in 2001/02 to improve the educational attainment of looked after children. Some local authorities, in partnership with the NHS and the voluntary sector, are also applying for Changing Children Services Fund resources to improve services, including throughcare and aftercare, to looked after children.
6.2 The Group was aware that resources would be transferred from DWP to the Scottish Executive in respect of benefits currently paid to young people leaving care to take account of local authorities taking on the full support of these young people. In addition to the Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance and Housing and Transitional Housing Benefit already planned for transfer, the Group identified the need for resources to cover the ending of access to Social Fund payments through the ending of benefit entitlement. The Group understood that Social Fund payments had not been included in the equivalent transfer in England and Wales, but the Group was of the view that they should be included in Scotland as they form a proportionately larger part of the eventual funds that would be given to local authorities, particularly smaller authorities, to provide this service.
6.3 The Group also recommended that an element be included in this transfer for administrative costs that local authorities would incur in setting up the scheme, conducting needs assessment and administering payments. These had not been included in the transfer in England and Wales.
6.4 As already noted, there were difficulties in providing the Group with actual numbers of young people who would be affected by the transfer, and the potential numbers for future years. Information was provided by some local authorities, and more is becoming available. These figures require further work to form a firm basis for estimating total costs. However, on the figures available the Group concluded that the basis of the transfer in England and Wales would not provide sufficient funds for local authorities to provide a full service in due course. The Group therefore urged the Executive to include the Social Fund payments and administrative costs in negotiations with the DWP for the transfer, and that actual estimates of costs from local authorities should be used, rather than the national figures used in England and Wales.
6.5 The Group also explored the relationship with the transfer of Transitional Housing Benefit for the Supporting People Fund. Following the delay in withdrawal of DWP benefit from young people leaving care, the Group understands that current Transitional Housing Benefit payments made to these young people should form part of the transfer from the DWP to provide money for the Supporting People Fund. The Group urged the Executive and local authorities to ensure that young people leaving care should have access to this funding, preferably as part of the Supporting People Fund.
Distribution to local authorities
6.6 There are three routes whereby the additional resources from the DWP transfer might be distributed to local authorities - (a) claw back of current spend, pooling the resources and giving specific grant thereafter, (b) specific grant for new resources or (c) through Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE).
Claw Back Grant Option
6.7 From Group discussion, it became clear that local authorities were not able to disaggregate current spend on young people leaving care for any claw back option to have effect in time for delivery of the new service. One of the difficulties in this option was in separating out the various funding streams and pinpointing actual local authority spend itself. Disaggregation of funding streams also had a bearing on the choice between specific grant and GAE options.
Specific Grant versus GAE
6.8 Specific grant would favour the city councils who had most need. However, this method would disadvantage the island councils who, with small numbers of young people leaving care would struggle to deliver the integrated service envisaged by the Group. Other problems with specific grant identified were the need for local authorities to identify separate funding streams used in integrated service delivery and the perverse incentive it might give local authorities to discharge young people early from care in order to claim grant.
6.9 On balance, the Group considered the way forward, initially and subject to strong reporting requirements and review, should be through GAE. This would allow local authorities freedom to use the resources to the best advantage of the young people concerned irrespective of whether the young people remained in care up to the age of 18 or moved to independent living. This approach was consistent with the Group's recommendation that responsibility should rest with the authorities that last looked after the young person ( Paragraph 4.12).
6.10 However, use of GAE would need to be accompanied by strict reporting on and monitoring of service delivery. The Group recommends asking local authorities for a report to the Group after the first 12-month period of operation at least. The information in the report should cover at least the performance measures noted in Chapter 5 and progress which the local authority considered it was making towards the desired social justice milestones, including where the money has been targeted. This would enable the Group and Scottish Ministers to assess whether the GAE option was, in fact, the right one for delivery of this service to the most vulnerable young people or whether that finance delivery route had to be reassessed.
CHAPTER 7 ASSESSING THE NEEDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE LEAVING CARE
7.1 The amendments to section 29 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 introduce a statutory duty to carry out an assessment of the needs of young people leaving care. Scottish Ministers will in due course make regulations on how these assessments should be carried out. It is clear that the needs assessment will be a key part of ensuring that young people make a successful transition to independent living.
7.2 The Group has developed a framework for assessing the needs of young people leaving care, which is at Annex F. This framework is intended as a starting point in discussions on how best guidance can be given to local authorities on how to perform their statutory duty. The balance between regulation and guidance has already been discussed in Chapter 4, and there will be consultation on this next year.
7.3 The Group has considered the need for material to be provided to local authorities to help front line workers carry out these assessments. There is clearly a relationship between existing Looking After Children materials, especially the 15+ assessment and action records, and the assessment that young people will need on leaving care. The Group has concluded that local authorities should be provided with materials to help in carrying out assessments, and that these materials should build on the existing Looking After Children materials. The Group recommends that additional sections are developed to cover preparing for leaving care (be this at 15+ or older) and for aftercare. The section for preparing to leave care should form the throughcare plan for the young person. The aftercare section should be an update and extension of the throughcare plan and form the basis of regular reviews for the young person with their key worker/adviser. The content of these sections should be modular, based on the framework developed by the Group, and there should be a positive focus on aspirations and achievements. The Group emphasises the importance of the young person playing the central role in addressing each area (with whatever person is placed to help them) and taking ownership of their own throughcare and aftercare assessment and action plans. The Group also emphasises that the design and language of the sections should reflect the older age group that will be using them. For example, the expression "looked after child" should not be used.
7.4 The Group is aware that the Scottish Executive is pursuing the recommendation to establish a modular single assessment format in For Scotland's Children, the report on better integrated services for children. The Group believes that throughcare and aftercare of young people leaving care should be included in that exercise. However, that should not inhibit development of assessment tools for the throughcare and aftercare of today's young people, building on this Chapter and Annex F.
7.5 The Group believed that particular regulation or guidance would be required for the assessment of any cash support given to young people leaving care. This is discussed in Chapter 4.
7.6 The Group also considered eligibility for needs assessment. The duty under the amended section 29 will be owed to all young people leaving care beyond school age, not just those who have been accommodated away from home. The Group believed that the same procedure should be available to all these young people. However, the Group recognised that the action on certain elements of the assessment - for example, of accommodation and financial needs - would normally only be required for those young people who had been accommodated away from home and were not returning. The Group believed that only these young people should normally be eligible for a full support package. This focus on the most vulnerable young people leaving care would enable local authorities to build practice in assessing young people leaving care from its current level. However, the Group did not believe that regulations should exclude other young people from the possibility of the full range of support, even if they had, for example, been looked after at home, if this was thought appropriate by their key worker/adviser. The needs of some young people might also change, for example if they return home on leaving care but this does not work out. The improved contact with the young person and a structured assessment process should allow the local authority to offer different options for support if the original placement fails.
7.7 The Group was aware of Recommendation 27 of the Homelessness Task Force final report of looked after children. The needs assessment and the related materials recommended in this chapter would allow local authorities to meet much of that recommendation. The Group considered that further work was required on the implications of extending eligibility for throughcare and aftercare as recommended by the Homelessness Task Force.
CHAPTER 8 INFORMATION SYSTEMS
8.1 This chapter considers the information that will need to be kept by local authorities following full implementation of the changes to throughcare and aftercare in April 2004, in particular the withdrawal of DWP benefits. It also identifies the information that will need to be shared.
Trigger points
8.2 It may take some time for young people to realise that the new arrangements do not allow them to access payment through DWP. It will require a specific question regarding a young person's looked after status to be asked by agencies that could be trigger points for financial assistance.
Social Work
This is likely to be the most frequently used access point for financial assistance, and there needs to be a close link between those maintaining contact with young people and those authorising payments - if they are not the same. Social Work Services are the critical link in the process, as they will hold key information relating to the young persons care experience and leaving care arrangements.
Accommodation
There will be occasions where young people will require to pay for accommodation, and who are still the financial responsibility of the local authority. Housing Benefit payments cannot be recovered from central government after implementation, and there will be a requirement on accommodation providers to identify those young people for whom the local authority has financial responsibility. This will require protocol agreements between the local authority and supported accommodation providers.
DWP
The local authority will be required to inform the local DWP of a young person for whom they have financial responsibility, and DWP will require to notify all officers of the conditions where the local authority has financial responsibility.
Careers
Careers Scotland have a responsibility to assist access to education, training, and employment opportunities - and these may generate income that local authorities should take into account when assessing a young persons financial needs. There needs to be protocol agreements in place for this to occur.
Health
Access to passported health care (e.g. eye and dental treatment) has already been recognised as a potential area of difficulty, and the use of specific forms needs a locally agreed protocol.
Information held by local authority
8.3 Local authorities will be required to record the following information for all young people leaving care:
Name
Data bases should have the capacity to cope with aliases as this is the single most frequent reason for confusion regarding records.
Age
Dates of Birth can be another source of misinformation.
NI number
Each local authority should have a system to ensure that all young people leaving care have an NI number. There can be difficulties in the release of information from DWP to local authorities, as the release of the NI number has to go direct to the young person. This issue requires to be addressed if local authorities are to have a quick way of checking NI numbers.
Bank Details
It is proposed that local authorities should ensure that all young people leaving care should have a bank account so that income maintenance payments can be made direct to the account. There will be occasions where personal payments require to be made, but these should be kept to a minimum.
Address
This requires to be a full accommodation record for a young person since leaving care. This should include their last care placement details.
Status
This requires details of the living arrangements of the young person (staying alone or with a partner), and be able to identify when the young person is responsible for children.
Other Income
This requires to be a full record of education, training, or employment, and any associated income, since leaving care.
Payments
This requires a full record of dates and payments made in terms of income maintenance, housing, and any discretionary payments made by the local authority. The recording details of payment breakdown may require further guidance.
Key worker
There needs to be a key worker/adviser identified for the purposes of contact within the local authority who can confirm the details relating to the young person. This key worker/adviser will need some basis of contact with the young person to be able to confirm their circumstances and needs. The key worker should remain in contact with young person for at least 24 months following their departure from care. This will require minimum reporting requirements between the young person and the key worker/adviser.
Sharing of information
8.4 There will need to be an agreement between the local authority and the young person about the sharing of personal details. Local authorities will need to seek this agreement of young people prior to leaving care, so that personal information can be released to other agencies. This should include: the reasons for information sharing; the extent of it; the kind of information to be shared; and which agencies information is likely to be shared - including other local authorities.
8.5 Local authorities need to consider internal arrangements for the sharing of information on young people that will help to facilitate the issues around payments. This will need agreements amongst services and agencies within the local authority about the need to know information so that appropriate payments can be made. It is particularly relevant for Social Work Services to have arrangements in place that ensures information can be shared with Housing, Supported Accommodation Providers, Careers Scotland, and DWP (see model partnership agreement with Careers Scotland at Annex E).
8.6 It is expected that young people will move around - and the most vulnerable tend to be the most restless. As a result, local authorities will need to share information regarding young people for whom they are responsible. It may be useful for local authorities to have data sharing protocols with all neighbouring authorities so that there is a framework for this sharing of information.
8.7 There may be instances where young people refuse to agree to information sharing. However, it is difficult to see how a receiving local authority could make payments - if required - unless information regarding eligibility is made available to them. This will require the young person to agree to giving relevant information to the local authority providing funds, and where appropriate, for the local authority to check details with any other relevant local authority at the point of carrying out an assessment of financial need.
Data Protection
8.8 Any exchanges of information must comply with the Data Protection legislation. Local authorities and other agencies should ensure that they have the necessary protocols in place.
CHAPTER 9 IMPLEMENTATION
9.1 There is a need for young people to be involved in the implementation process so they are fully informed of the proposals and of the throughcare and aftercare to which they will be entitled.
9.2 Local authorities have now nominated a Lead Implementation Officer to co-ordinate activities within the authority and with other important organisations such as Careers Scotland. The aim is that these Lead Implementation Officers will act as the main point of contact between the Executive, the Group and authorities in the lead up to full implementation in April 2004.
9.3 The first seminar for Lead Implementation Officers was held by the Executive on 24 June 2002. For the seminar, Lead Implementation Officers were provided with a paper prepared by the Group on their roles and responsibilities. This is attached at Annex G. The paper provides a checklist of activities for local authorities to consider to begin improving current throughcare and aftercare services and to prepare for full implementation. This checklist will form the basis for future activities in local authorities.
9.4 It is intended that further seminars will be held for Lead Implementation Officers every three months. The Group was supplied with a timetable for future action, including training, consulting young people and work for local authorities.
9.5 There will be a considerable training requirement for local authority staff in the run up to full implementation. The Group recommends that training materials are prepared to allow local authority training departments to prepare key staff for these changes. The Group also recommends that regional training seminars, to share points of common interest, are considered.
CHAPTER 10 CONCLUSION
10.1 It is vital that young people leaving care are given proper support to make the transition to successful independent living. The Group has drawn up a list of what young people could expect, which is at Annex H. However, research has demonstrated that the current arrangements do not provide a consistent service to these young people. The enhanced service to be brought in through changes to the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 is an opportunity to put this right. There is a risk that the service might actually deteriorate unless existing services are improved to meet this challenge.
10.2 The Group welcomes the decision to delay full implementation until April 2004. It believes that this provides a welcome period to put in place the necessary changes and to prepare systems and train people to introduce the reforms fully.
10.3 The steps described in this report are the first measures that need to be taken, and the Group looks forward to working with the Executive and local authorities on these measures, and eventually to the successful full implementation of improved services and better outcomes for these young people.
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