Within this report there are learning points for the partnership to consider, and these have been brought forward and listed below.
Poverty
Poverty is a re-occurring theme that can significantly impact on children’s well-being. The Leeds Children and Young People Partnership (LCYPP) will seek assurance on the city’s strategic framework to mitigate the impact of child poverty including progress, opportunities, and challenges.
Children in Care and Care Leavers
Care leavers are more at risk of poorer outcomes than their peers. Care leavers are much more likely to be homeless or enter the prison system and may suffer from poorer mental health and higher suicide rates. The Council, as their corporate parent, has a responsibility to ensure that they have the same aspirations and interest as any parent would have for their own child. This should also include those care leavers transitioning into adulthood. This engagement will be monitored and supported by the LSCP Performance Management Subgroup to identify further opportunities for shared learning and improvement.
Early Help Systems
For the Early Help Board to present progress and updates of the city’s Early Help Strategy to the Children and Young People Partnership including opportunities and challenges for the Partnership.
All professionals across Leeds need to ensure that that they are sighted on wider social economic factors that are impacting on parenting alongside any presenting safeguarding issues. This must be considered and addressed in plans for children and families.
For the LSCP Performance Management Subgroup to seek more robust multi-agency information regarding the effectiveness of partners early help activity. Leeds Childrens Services are developing data streams to evidence this activity however, partner agencies should contribute by providing their own data and narrative that highlights evidence of change or challenge when leading on early help plans.
Engaging and Supporting the Education Sector
That the LSCP Education Reference Group to seek assurance on how those schools/academies who are not part of the cluster arrangements support children and young people in need of help and support.
The LSCP Executive does not currently have an education representative at its meetings. This is not an explicit requirement within Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 however, the National Care Review highlights the importance of involving the education sector at a strategic level.
Children and exploitation
Child exploitation is an issue that impacts on the most vulnerable children and young people in the city. The current refresh of the Child Exploitation Strategy and underpinning action plan for Leeds requires partners’ continued commitment and focus for the coming year. Close monitoring of its implementation and evidence of improvements and outcomes should continue to be a focus for the city’s Multi Agency Child Exploitation (MACE) arrangements
Child exploitation goes beyond the traditional understanding of child protection where the risks to young people are generally intra-familial. Developmentally, adolescence is a time of exploration, increasing independence, and risk taking. Young people become more engaged with, and influenced by, peer norms and relationships, and other adults, groups and communities not connected to their families, and may be more at risk of online exploitation. These extra-familial contexts can pose a set of complex risks for children, and these must be considered and addressed in all assessments. Furthermore, there needs to be a continued commitment by the wider partnership to respond to the risks children face in these contexts.
The LSCP Risk and Vulnerability Strategic group will promote and encourage organisations to sign up, and feed information into the Police Partnership Intelligence Portal (PIP). This portal is used for professionals to share information about routine criminality through to serious and organised crime that can impact on children in the city.
The Risk and Vulnerability Subgroup will review the city’s exploitation risk assessment tools acknowledging the work undertaken in the city by Carlene Firmin.
The voice of children, young people, and families
The Partnership will seek assurance through a Section 11 audit, that all agencies continue to listen and respond to the lived experiences and views of children and families and ensure that service development takes into account these views.