Sufficiency Statement 2018-2020 - " Bolton Council People's Department
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» Bolton Council People’s Department
Sufficiency Statement
2018-2020
Securing Sufficient Accommodation for
Looked After Children and Care Leavers in Bolton
1. What is a Sufficiency Statement
and why do we need one?
The Sufficiency Statement is the start, As a result below are some of the factors that we might
not the end point, of how Bolton Council consider in assessing whether the local authority have
sufficient provision:
engages with providers around where we
place looked after children and care leavers. » The type of placement provision that might be
needed, from short breaks and emergency
This document has been primarily been written to shape placements through to adoption, fostering,
the way Bolton commission and deliver accommodation- residential care and secure accommodation
related support for looked after children and care leavers.
We want this to be a practical document that share policy » The particular skills, expertise or characteristics of
direction, gaps, how support can be delivered differently carers
and ways in which we can work more collaboratively in
the future. In doing this, we hope this document will both » Physical adaptations for children with disabilities,
inform how we shape the Council’s internally delivered including accessible housing stock
provision as well as that of the external market.
» A range of provision to meet the needs of care
We would like Bolton Council’s Sufficiency Statement leavers including arrangements for young people to
2018-20 to enable conversations with providers who are remain with their foster carers and other supported
currently offering placements in the borough as well as accommodation; and where possible for those
those who might be considering setting up/extending/ exiting residential care to “stay close”
adapting new businesses in Bolton and Greater
Manchester.
We are committed to working with partners across
The Children’s Act (1989) placed a duty on councils to education, health and social care to commission and
“take steps that secure, so far as reasonably practicable, deliver support for looked after children and care leavers.
sufficient accommodation within the authority’s area” With an increase in the number of children entering care
to support looked after children. This can be across a as well as those with more complex needs, it is essential
number of different settings in family homes via foster that we work together to support children and young
carers, in children homes, in residential schools and in people to lead safe, healthy and happy lives. To do this
supported accommodation options which are in place to we want to work with those who we support to design
support young people aged over 16 years old. and inform the support that Bolton Council and partners
in health offer so we can better understand “what works”
The sufficiency duty is broader than a calculation of as well as “what hurts”.
sufficient beds, it is about each Council working with
market providers to offer a range of options for children
and young people in order to ensure there is a diverse
» The Sufficiency Statement is a two
year document and will be reviewed
offer that can be personalised to meet individual needs
based on their assessment, to deliver both short-term and
on a 12 monthly basis
long-term outcomes in preparation for adulthood.
This document also links to a partnership approach that is
happening across local authorities in Greater Manchester
as well as creating a Greater Manchester Sufficiency
Strategy. By Councils and providers working together,
we can start to understand the key challenges within the
system and find solutions to overcome these. We also
hope that by coming together on a regional footprint of
Greater Manchester and the North West, we can also
start to identify how support can be offered flexibly both
locally and regionally which will enable us to deliver more
specialist support and help us develop a more cohesive
offer to placement sufficiency.
2
2. What principles drive sufficiency
in Bolton?
In Bolton there is a commitment that people
start well, live well and age well. For Bolton Looked After Children and Care Leavers,
there are other principles that must direct the type of
For children and young people, priorities have been placements we offer. They are:
developed of which providers should both be aware of
and also be able to demonstrate how they enable all » Children will be supported to stay with their families
children and young people to achieve the outcomes where it is safe to do so
described below across education, health and social
care needs. » Children should only enter care if there are no other
viable options and remain looked after by the local
authority for the minimum possible time
These outcomes are:
» Should the need for alternative accommodation be
» Our children are safe and healthy, with opportunities identified, the priority will be for children to remain
to take part in activities which support their close to their local connections
wellbeing
» When a child or young person faces a crisis, offer
» Our children arrive at school ready to learn and short-term support that will support placement
develop stability and avoid placement breakdown
» Our children have the skills and aptitudes to make » Children and young people should have a
their way in the world permanence plan in order to have a secure future
» Our looked after children will have high aspirations » Children with disabilities will have the same access
and achieve their potential and opportunity for placements as their non-
disabled peers
» People in Bolton stay well for longer, and feel more
connected in their communities » Children and young people’s placements should
also meet their education and health needs
» People can exercise choice and control, and live
independently » Where children and young people are already
engaging in education and/or receiving support
» Reducing poverty amongst families and children around their mental health locally, this should be
by removing barriers to work, increasing job considered in where they are placed
opportunities and improving skills and productivity
» Children and young people’s aspirations for the
future will be maximised and skills they needs to
have to live independently will be developed on an
ongoing basis as they grow up
» Care leavers will be able to access ‘Staying Put’
foster care, or “staying close” options within
supported lodgings or supported accommodation
3
3. What do we know about looked after children
and care leavers in Bolton – March 2018
Age
3.1 Overview - Looked after children (LAC) population of Looked After Children
50 4
During the last 10 years Bolton’s LAC population has risen from 421 (March 2008) to the current level of
45622 (March 2018).
44 from 529 to 622 (17.5%).
This is an increase of over 45%. Since the last report was written in 2011, the increase has been
42
The trajectory of the rise can be seen in the table below and if the trend from 2011 continued, by 2028 there would be 717
46 39 40 39 39
Looked After40 Children in41Bolton. 38
37
36
Table 1: LAC Population 34 34
31 31
700 Looked After Children at year end 29
30 29 28 27
28 27 26 26 26
26 24
622
600 579
20 572
37 561
34 539
521 530
21 517
24
25
500 481
10 19
436
421
4000
0 12009 2 20103 4 5 6 20137 8 9 102016 11 2017
12 13 14 15 16
Year End Year End Year End Year End Year End Year End Year End Year End Year End Year End Year End
2008 2011 2012 2014 2015 2018
March 2017 March 2018
Table 2: LAC Population by age
Age of Looked After Children
50 48
46 45
44
41 42
39 39 38 38
40 37 40 39
37 36 34 36
34 31 34
29 28 28 31
30 27 26 29
27 26 26
26
25 24 24
20 21
19
10
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
March 2017 March 2018
4
Following the trend of the current Looked After Children Table 3: Age of children coming into Bolton’s care
age profile, Bolton shows a significantly lower proportion compare to national average
of children aged 16yrs+ being admitted to care compared
to the National Average.
Percentage age range on admission -
The National Average shows the highest proportion of National Comparison
children being admitted to care were aged 10-15 years.
Although this is one of the higher proportion age groups
in Bolton, the highest for each year has been for children Under 1 to 4
aged under one. 1 year 18% years 18%
The proportion of children aged under 1 admitted to care
in the current year-to-date has increased by 3% and is 28% 25%
currently 13% above the National Average. This figure has
31%
remained stable with the previous two years (2014-15
18%
and 2015-16) reporting 29%.
Bolton Council will always try to place children with family
or friends, foster carers or within placements within the
5 to 9 10 to 15
borough wherever possible but due to availability, in
years 18% years
March 2018 there were 154 children placed outside of 29%
the Council boundaries. As seen in Table 4, regionally we
perform quite well in meeting this commitment but this
18%
has to be viewed with a caveat as due to the amount of
24%
placement options being based in Bolton there should be 18% 25%
sufficient to meet need.
England 2017
16
years+ 18% 5%
Bolton Mar 2017
9% Bolton Feb 2018
5
Table 4: Percentage of LAC placed outside of the borough compared to North West
60 Percentage of Looked After Children placed out of Borough
57
North West comparison - March 2017
50 48
44
40 40 40 41 42 42 42
36 36 37 37
34 35 35 35
30 28 29
24 25
21 22
20 19
10
0
al ire ton an 8 rt ia n er le m ry e s n n st rd rd n ol y ol er
irr h l g 01 kpo br efto est hda ha Bu esid elen gto rwe Ea alfo ffo alto rpo wsle kpo est
W cas Bo Wi 2 m d n a
ar toc Cu S Ch Roc Ol m H rri Da hire S Tr H ive no ac ch
La
n M S & Ta St. Wa ith e s L K Bl an
n t w Ch M
lto es n
Bo ’ rW b ur
s B’
Ch
LAC out of Borough Bolton England North West
3.2 Age and Gender of children and young people in The table also shows a spike in 14 year olds with a
Bolton we place in external provision disability supported in children homes and that 77% of
placements for children with special educational needs
This data presented below represents the 131 and disability (SEND) are for boys. If the placement trend
placements Bolton have made since April 2018 and continues there could be a peak for accommodation
August 2018 which illustrates placement matching. The options for young people with SEND going through
caveat to this is that the data is not necessarily 100% transition in the next 1-3 years but following this time,
reflective of need as in some cases due to sufficiency and demand will drop by half.
availability in the market the final placement did not match
the placement search. The data is split across age and Within mainstream children homes nearly 39% of all
gender. those placed are 16-18 years old. Indeed those aged
15-18 year olds make up 53% of those who we placed
In Table 5 and Table 6 you can see that up until and via external providers. Like with the trend for children with
including the age of 11 years old that most children are SEND, the greatest demand for 16+ accommodation
within foster care placement, which is then superseded will be over the next three years and then, with the
by children homes from the age of 14 years. Statistical caveat that there is not a significant increase in young
anomalies exist around 13 and 18 year olds linked to low people entering care at that age, demand for 16+
numbers in the data. accommodation will drop by approximately half.
6
Table 5: Overview of placement type based on age
External Placement Making
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
18+ 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 6-10 0-5 Sub
years years years years years years years years years years Total
Children with disabilities Foster care Residential children homes Residential School Supported Accomm
Table 6: Overview of placement type based on age and gender across all placements made
Disability Foster Care Residential Residential Supported Secure TOTAL
children homes School Accomodation Accomodation
M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M+F
18+yrs 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 2
17yrs 2 1 0 2 3 3 3 3 6 5 0 1 14 15 29
16yrs 1 0 2 0 3 2 2 2 4 1 0 0 12 5 17
15yrs 2 0 2 3 4 3 4 3 0 0 0 0 12 9 21
14yrs 4 1 0 0 3 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 10 3 13
13yrs 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 5 1 6
12yrs 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 6
11yrs 1 0 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 6 4 10
6-10yrs 0 0 8 6 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 10 6 16
0-5yrs 1 0 4 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 6 11
Sub Total 12 2 19 22 17 11 18 11 10 7 1 1 77 54 131
TOTAL 14 41 28 29 17 2 131
7
3.3
Useful information 3.4
Useful information about
about Foster Caring Residential Placements
The position around foster care in Bolton in March » Bolton places some children and young people in
2018, was as follows: residential settings unnecessarily because there is no
capacity in a fostering setting
» 98 children are placed with Kinship Carer which
has increased by 60% since March 2008 » There is sufficient capacity of residential children
homes in Bolton to meet our looked after population
» 314 children are placed Internal Bolton Foster but due to other Local Authorities placing here we
Carers which has increased by 62% since March still need to place children outside of Bolton
2008
» Bolton Council run three mainstream children homes
» 29 children are placed with Independent Fostering
Agency (IFA) Carers but as the LAC population has » Bolton Council has two homes that offer short
increased since March 2008, placements within this breaks to children with disabilities
sector have only increased by 7%
» Bolton want to look at having separate emergency
» In-house foster carers have increased as the provision and move away from providing emergency
numbers of looked after children have risen – but beds within our mainstream children’s homes to
overall it has only seen a4% growth within the last reduce disruption for children and young people who
10 years live there as part of their plan for permanence
» Bolton are linked to a Northwest approach which » Children who require residential placements to meet
has created a single front door for enquiries from complex or challenging behaviour require flexible,
people who want to be foster carers, Bolton receive packages of support which range in intensity at
the most out of Greater Manchester and the second different times – often this is not reflected in service
highest out of the 31 authorities offer or costs linked to the placements which are set
at static levels
» In the last twelve months 13 in-house fostering
families have been recruited however five have » In March 2018 there were 99 children and
resigned resulting in a net increase of eight families young people placed in external commissioned
placements. Since April 2017 the number has
» On average the average duration of a IFA placement increased from 75 to 98, which is an increase of
is just under 12 months 32% over an 12 month period
» The annual census of IFA capacity by PNW in Spring » At 31st March 2018, of the 30 children and young
17 identified that the number of IFA households had people placed in external commissioned Children’s
declined by 8% Home - 22 have been placed for less than 12
months
» Across the Northwest those who “Stay Put” within
an IFA placement represent less than 1% of the » In Bolton there are 4 Private Providers with five
total IFA population residential homes
» In Bolton there are 2 voluntary sector provider with
8 residential homes
» One voluntary sector provider also offers short
breaks for children with disabilities in Bolton
» Some Looked After Children living in children
homes
10
3.5 Useful information about 16+ and 3.6 Useful information about adoption
accommodation for Care Leavers
» Looked after children aged 16+ and care leavers are » The number of children adopted 2017/18 is 30
currently placed within a mixed economy of children which is slightly lower than the last two years
homes, supported accommodation placements
spot purchased from the Leaving Care DPS and in » In March 2018, there were 19 children subject to
provision commissioned through supporting people Placement orders in Bolton
monies
» Bolton is achieving the Government’s targets for
» Accommodation for those with low, medium and timeliness of placement for adoption (timescale
high support - with support onsite as well as from coming into care to being placed with adopters
delivered via outreach to dispersed tenancies can and timescale between placement order and match)
be accessed through the 16-25 Accommodation and the three year average continues to improve
Pathway year on year.
» Factors linked to young people aged 16 and 17 » Sufficiency of adopters is addressed within Adoption
years old becoming looked after for the first time Now’s recruitment
and accommodated under S.20 is largely linked
to being an Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker and
Forced Marriage
» Floating support can also be offered to care leavers
to manage their first tenancy
» Placement spend for 2018-19 for looked after
children and care leavers aged 16 and above is
approximately £4.5m
» There are a lack of long-term accommodation
options for young people with complex disabilities or
challenging behaviour within Bolton
» Accessing permanent tenancies in mainstream
housing is sometimes difficult for care leavers due to
perceptions of landlords wanting to take on tenants
from the age of 18 years
» General needs housing for young people
aged 16+ does not always consider flexible
support options for people who have
experienced trauma or express challenging
behaviour which can sometimes result in
eviction and/or
11
4. How can providers respond to gaps and priorities
linked to achieving placement sufficiency
Sufficiency priority for Bolton
Foster carers, residential providers and supported accommodation based in Bolton to prioritise
placement for Bolton children and young people so they can live and receive support close to home.
» Providers seek regular feedback from children and » Prioritising matching of local children and young
young people which can be used to inform future people into placement options to ensure education
Bolton’s commissioning decisions and health services can respond to complexity
» Focus on placements and services that assist the » Improve the quality of residential provision in Bolton
authorities to reduce the length of time children so that all provision is good or outstanding
spend in our care
» To support young people with health needs offer
» Help us return children to family settings from an opt in/out model of therapeutic support so that
residential care, if this in the child’s interest where their needs can be met by core services, this
can be maintained and accessed locally without
» IFAs and Local Authorities working collaboratively to incurring further costs
recruit more foster carers
» Develop high quality and sustainable options of
» Recruit foster carers who are skilled and able to accommodation for our care leavers including use
take children in an emergency of ‘staying put’ options.
» Increase foster care placements in the following » Ensure that we start early to help young people
areas: parent and child foster carers; foster prepare for living independence by developing
carers for sibling groups; children from minority budgeting and living skills
communities; risk taking teenagers with complex
and challenging needs, (such as at risk of » Ensure care leavers with complex needs can receive
substance misuse and/or criminal or sexual support flexibly so it can be stepped down without
exploitation and/or with behaviour management them having to move home
or mental health issues)
» Accommodation/placement providers developing
» Work with foster carers to understand the strategic partnerships with other providers who
importance/benefits of offering “staying put” can offer short term support in a crisis on a spot
placements to young people in order to increase purchase basis to maintain placement stability
numbers
» Continue recruitment of adopters to respond with
» Providers and local authorities taking joint permanency plans for all children but particularly
responsibility to engage in dialogue to change how those children under five where the demand for
we respond to challenges and demands placements is increasing
» There is a role for both provider and local authorities
in understanding local need
125. Commissioners and Providers working together
to deliver change and innovation
Bolton Council is committed to Linked to gaps and priorities we would
commissioning high quality services which particularly wish to meet:
are outcome focused, deliver value for » Partners who can offer short term solutions to
money and prepare young people for children in crisis in order for them to remain within
adulthood. their family
We want to work with providers collaboratively both within » Partners delivering alternatives for supporting
the Bolton local area and across the Greater Manchester looked after children in family settings
footprint for more specialist provision. In identifying
future partners, we want to work with providers who » Organisations which are keen to form strategic
deliver enabling models of support, which grown develop alliances or consortia with others, either locally or
independence skills and links the young person to local delivery within adjoining local authorities in Greater
and sustainable networks of support. Manchester for more specialist provision
Bolton Council is a participant or named » Providers to work alongside educational settings
partner in a number of regional and sub-regional to offer alternative choices for supporting people in
frameworks for accommodation for looked Bolton with the most complex needs
after children. These are:
» Providers who have developed best practice
» North West Regional Fostering Flexible Purchasing around offering placement options to teenage
Scheme – April 2018 looked after children
» North West Residential Flexible Purchasing Scheme » Providers who work with care leavers to develop
– April 2018 sustainable, independent tenancies of their own
» North West Leaving Care Services Dynamic » Providers who wish to work with Bolton Council
Purchasing System – April 2016 to ensure Bolton children and young people are
placed locally
Information about formal tendering opportunities
are published on the North West Local Authorities » Providers with interest in developing specialist
procurement portal The Chest so interested and current services for people with complex and challenging
providers are advised to register. behaviours linked to disability and mental health
Outside of this we also want to welcome providers to » Housing providers who can offer ‘general needs’
contact Bolton’s Council’s commissioners by emailing housing for people ready to move on from
childrenscommissioning@bolton.gov.uk. Going supported accommodation
forward, we want to have more regular and ongoing
conversation with providers, via forums both in Bolton,
Greater Manchester and across the Northwest we
would like to discuss the content of this document
as well as meet providers who are keen to talk to us
about developing strategic partnerships across health,
education and social care to improve the way we offer
support to our looked after children and care leavers.
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