CYPSP 2023-24 Annual reportv0 Appendix
Argyll and Bute Council · 22 August 2024
Back to Community Services Committee — 22 August 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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CYPSP 2023 ‐24 Year 1 ANNUAL REVIEW 1 Argyll and Bute’s Children Strategic Group Year 1 (2023/24) Annual Review of the Children and Young People Service Plan 2023– 2026 1. Introduction 1.1 This is the first annual review of the Children and Young People’s Service Plan 2023-2026. In this review we will report on our performance and progress to date in delivering the outcomes we set out to achieve. Further detail on these outcomes can be found at: Children and Young People’s Service’s Plan 2023 ‐ 2026 | Argyll and Bute Council (argyll‐bute.gov.uk) 1.2 The review will consider: - Updates on 2023-2024 progress - Provide information on developments since the plan was published - Set out key plans for the 2023-2026 CYPSP 2. Performance Summary 2.1 The Children and Young People’s Service Plan (CYPSP 2023/26) approved by Argyll and Bute Council and the Integrated Joint Board is underpinned by Getting it Right for every Child (GIRFEC). Through adopting quality improvement methodology, we are able to evidence improvements in practice, supporting us to achieve our aim of improving outcomes for children and young people. Ensuring The Promise and United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child are embed throughout. 2.2 Improvement and Progress Update Summary Progress is steady as we reach the year mark. Tables 1 - 4 (pages 2 – 8) provide specific updates on the 2023/2024 progress. Appendix 1
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CYPSP 2023 ‐24 Year 1 ANNUAL REVIEW 2 Strategic Priority 1 - Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) Leadership and Communication Table 1 Outcomes expected at 12 months (2023/24) 2023 - 2024 Progress Update 1. Improvement programmes are designed around key priorities found in the GIRFEC support evaluation Transformational change continues to be embedded across children’s services, and this annual report will build on the success of the last Children and Young People’s Service Plan. The 2023–2026 CYPSP is supported by the following: Graphic version of the CYPSP One-page CYPSP poster A brief animation outlining key aspects of CYPSP GIRFEC has been adopted across partners and remains our core approach to working together as professionals and with our children young people and their families and communities to identify and meet the needs of all children and to ensure the delivery of real improvements in their lives, experiences and outcomes; ensuring every child is placed at the centre and has the best possible opportunities to grow up safe, loved, secure and respected so they can achieve their full potential. However what has been evaluated as we transition out of the pandemic and induct new members of the multiagency team, that a revamp and refresh of GIRFEC training is required. Multiagency training has been organised for Autumn 24. 2. Partners work collectively to review current systems and processes and reduce bureaucracy 3. The voices of children and young people are clear in all aspects of children’s service delivery Child Plans / Reviews Through work within our Corporate Parenting Board, Work was carried out with our young people to develop a more inclusive approach to their reviews, assessments and plans and now being rolled out into other areas. The Champs Boards have been established and become confident in sharing their views to the Corporate Parenting Board. UNCRC Argyll and Bute children and young people are creatively working on a graphic informatics to share. Argyll and Bute’s UNCRC Implementation Group received £53,000 from the UNCRC Innovations fund for a series of face to face engagements with children and young people across Argyll and Bute this year, looking at rights awareness raising and listening to what children and young people want to see happening. Also for a project involving children and young people that will see the development
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CYPSP 2023 ‐24 Year 1 ANNUAL REVIEW 3 of an awards scheme for departments and individuals developing and rolling out a children’s rights approach across Argyll and Bute. Planning of these events is currently taking place. ꞏ To raise staff awareness of children’s rights, an E-Learning Module “Introduction to Children’s Rights”, produced by the Improvement Service, has been placed on LEON and promoted widely. It will also be placed on TURAS and on a third sector site designated by the TSI. An information and tools page has also been set up on MyCouncilWorks Education Nurture Teachers provide support to the team around the child, which involves ongoing coach/consult, support to develop and implement curricula, develop/improve learning environments and build staff capacity/professional development in relation to supporting distressed behaviour. There has been an increase in demand for this provision over the reporting period and settings have spoken positively about it. It has also enhanced the quality of working relationships across Education. Our children their nurturing education (OCTNE) Underpinned by a leadership and implementation model and ongoing support from a link Nurture Teacher to develop and implement action plans. 46 schools receiving support; 33 primary schools, 6 secondary schools, 7 ELC/nurseries. There are now 22 settings at Bronze, 6 at Silver and 1 at Gold. Strategic Priority 2 - Early Help and Support Table 2 Outcomes expected at 12 months (2023/24) 2023 -2024 Progress Update 1. Ensuring relevant assessments at key ages and stages are carried out. Data from Public Health Scotland reports 13/15 month assessments 609 eligible - 503 completed = 82.6% 27/30 month assessment 662 eligible, 543 completed = 82% 4/5 year 711 due, 343 completed = 48% Work is continuing to improve our data collection locally 2. Ensure there is an effective Child Poverty Action Plan in place that In the last year, 2023 – 2024 addressing child poverty in Scotland has continued to be a priority both locally and nationally. It is recognised that making progress is difficult at a time when the cost of living continues to rise and Argyll and Bute became the first of many Councils across Scotland to declare a housing emergency. The Scottish Government admit they are unlikely to meet their interim target of 18% of children in relative poverty by 2023-2024. However latest figures for 2022-2023 show a
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CYPSP 2023 ‐24 Year 1 ANNUAL REVIEW 4 finds and looks into local need. national figure of 24%, much lower than the UK National average of 30%. In Argyll and Bute latest figures show a small increase from 21.7% to 23.5% in relative poverty, which remains below the Scottish average. An important part of tackling child poverty is listening to our children, young people, their families and communities. In the past year there have been a number of consultations and engagements. For example, through groups like Youth Voice, Young Carers and through schools. Also with communities via the Community Planning Partnership and the Living Well Networks. In summary, the key areas that people have most highlighted as important are: ꞏ Transport and transport Infrastructure, ꞏ Housing, ꞏ Community Wellbeing, ꞏ Cost of living particularly in remote, rural and island places. Other things that have been happening in the past year: ꞏ Improving data that will allow us to better understand child poverty and target those in need of advice and support has been ongoing. A grant from the Child Poverty Practice Find allowed the purchase of additional data sets. Work has also been going on in conjunction with the Improvement Service to find ways in which we can use this data, within existing General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). ꞏ Flexible Food and Fuel Fund - When applications are made for the Flexible Food and Fuel Fund, applicants are also matched against entitlement for other grants for consideration. Where people are claiming Council Tax Reduction and do not appear to be claiming other grants that they may be entitled to, they are contacted to make them aware of this. People are reminded through Schools, media posts etc. that even though their child may automatically now be getting free school meals as a universal offering, they should still put in their application as they could be entitled to other benefits or grants. ꞏ School Clothing Banks - The South Kintyre scheme has 8 participating primary schools & nurseries. In Year 1 a total of 586 items were donated. 55 orders were placed for 322 items supporting 72 families which is equivalent to 1 in 7 children being supported. In Year 2 the delivery plan is to increase the impact of the project; try to encourage more schools to engage in the project including the wider area and normalise reuse so that it becomes the norm to wear pre loved
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CYPSP 2023 ‐24 Year 1 ANNUAL REVIEW 5 clothing and remove any stigma. Also to continue to promote the scheme and work with our partners to maximise the project. A community development officer is collaborating with schools to streamline the process of requesting uniforms, aiming to make it as convenient as possible for families. ꞏ Welfare Rights team – With additional funds from the Council, two additional welfare rights support workers have been recruited. This extra funding and resource has allowed the team to: Ø Increase capacity for visits and appeal representation; Ø Engage more with partners, particularly the HSCP; Ø Provide more support and for remote island communities; Ø Increase the profile of the service; Ø Increase staff development and training. The service helped the residents of Argyll and Bute to claim £4.45 million in additional benefits that may have otherwise remained unclaimed, thus assisting independent living & preventing homelessness. This an increase of around £130k from 2022/23. This demonstrates how important Advice Services are to tackling child poverty. This is also shown in the work of Bute Advice Centre. In the last year, they huge period of activity and client demand. In the period April 23 – March 24 inclusive, the client gain achieved across all projects was £2,437,939 for 1472 cases. ꞏ In 25% of our schools currently provide a Breakfast Club. 74% of these are offered as a universal provision (open to all) and in over half (53%) they also work with identified families to target the offer. 74% of the provision is funded through PEF with staffing and catering supplies being the highest committed spends. 50% of the schools have been able to access additional community funding to support their provision. Over half of the schools evidence impact in improved attendance (56%) and engagement in learning (61%) as a result of their Breakfast Clubs and all schools (100%) would like to continue their provision as a long term and sustainable feature for their establishments. ꞏ Infant Food Insecurity - This issue was raised at national Improvement and Child Poverty Lead meetings at the end of last year. Concerns had been raised that there was evidence of poverty leading to poor infant feeding, including early weaning and the watering down of baby formula.
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CYPSP 2023 ‐24 Year 1 ANNUAL REVIEW 6 Locally an Infant Food Insecurity Short Life Working Group was created; members come from Health, Social Work, Advice Services and the Third Sector. First steps were to create an Advice Pathway. Research shows that the people most likely to be approached by parents in infant food crisis circumstances, were Health Visitors and Midwives. A leaflet was created specifically for these groups to use to advise parents. Training on the use of the leaflet is provided. The leaflet itself was shared more widely, for example to advice services. Food banks and the Third Sector; a 1,000 in total were printed. Following a request from education, another leaflet was prepared for Family Support Officers to use alongside additional training. 3. Children and Young People have a better understanding of what safe and health relationships look like Engagement with young people across the board is required to fully understand their views. We need to gather evidence to hear directly from young people about their knowledge, experience and needs on sexual health services We can utilise and extend the survey already undertaken by pupils. Focus groups or similar are welcomed by the young people, using the planet youth approach engagement tools. Next steps are to map A+B services against the HIS sexual health standards (2022) to identify areas of good practice, areas for development and an action plan to achieve the outcomes required. Young people have a right (UNCRC) to have consistent access to relevant, accessible and accurate information about relationships, sex and sexuality. Review of the RSHP curriculum resources being delivered to align with the modern lives our young people live. Create a map of the sexual health services in Argyll & Bute. Internal and external agencies tell us they do not know where to signpost or refer young people to who present for advice, testing, treatment or support. These may be Rape Crisis Womans Aid services or similar looking to find support within Argyll & Bute. Undertake a review of how we capture and present data across Argyll & Bute to ensure we have an accurate and up to date information and a clear plan of action to target areas for improvement. 4. Children and Young People are able and equipped to make informed choices about their nutritional intake and activity levels In 2023-24, Argyll and Bute HSCP dietetic department developed and piloted the Paediatric Eating and Activity Change for Health (PEACH) programme. PEACH is an interactive, family-based lifestyle change programme aiming to support children and young people living with a higher body mass index (BMI) in managing their weight. The programme is compliant with national standards and provides comprehensive education and support around eating well, increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviours. Therefore, equipping children and young people with the knowledge to make informed choices around their nutritional intake and activity levels to optimise health. The programme will continue to be delivered virtually on a one-to-one or group basis.
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CYPSP 2023 ‐24 Year 1 ANNUAL REVIEW 7 which optimise physical health A leaflet with sign posts to first line information to support families with children's healthy living was developed. The leaflet includes dietetic self referral details and will be made publicly available through NHS Highland's public facing website. The leaflet is also shared with all families referred for child healthy weight support and is available for health care professionals to hand out where appropriate Strategic Priority 3 - Mental Health and Well-being Table 3 Outcomes expected at 12 months 2023/24 2023-2024 Progress Update Early help and support are available and easily accessible through clear pathways to access nurture support, school nursing, educational psychology, school counselling and primary mental health workers. There is a shared understanding, knowledge and confidence of trauma across all partners including how it affects children and young people’s lives. Partners can begin to The Exchange (School Counselling) now embedded across authority. Quarterly reports provided, regular meeting with EPS management. Detail within each quarterly report & reported through Committee Services Committee. Increased referrals & efficacy in comparison to previous service. Multiagency meetings regarding development of a Single Point of Access for mental health & wellbeing – reps from education, SW, Health & Third Sector. Agreement from all services to progress Mental health mapping exercise undertaken Extension of 1 FTE counsellor to expand service to all primary aged pupils (original funding from SG aged 10yrs & above) Detail to be developed. STILT training NES T4Ts – trauma skilled. Educational Psychologists completed training. Plan for training implementation across 24/25. Trauma skilled training included within OCTNE (Our children their nurturing education) accreditation framework
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CYPSP 2023 ‐24 Year 1 ANNUAL REVIEW 8 demonstrate the resulting changes to service delivery. DDP support & supervision consultation sessions ongoing for staff trained to level 1 / 2. The impact of the training and group support and supervision on Dyadic Developmental Practice is very difficult to capture in terms of numbers above but has had a significant positive impact on practice across services within the context of developing a trauma responsive workforce. The objective to enhance the skill and confidence of teams within Argyll and Bute has been very successful. There has also been an additional benefit to this joint training, providing a shared language and a point of connection across professionals in different roles. Following this training and enhancement to CAMHS services, structured plans are in place to draw the externally purchased services to a close with phased transition and careful handover in place, transferring to the Care Experienced CAMHS team where intervention has not been completed. Partners work together to review and standardise pathways of care for children and young people with neurodiversity. Single Point of Access A strong focus on increasing access, equity and capacity (whole system), with an aim to ensure all CYP reach the right service at the right time. Broadening of a wider offer of early intervention for CYP with mild to moderate needs utilising a whole system approach, building on mapping exercise of available assets to ensure appropriate level of response Approaching partner agencies/community organisations/third sector to forge close working relationship to meet the need of every CYP with a strong focus on preventing mental health issues from escalating. Developing a new assessment and intervention pathway, linking to CAMHs, all aspects of collaboration recorded, interventions recorded and a deep dive into impact on CAMHs wait times RTT (excellent data management required) and outcomes (Trak) These changes provide a more consistent approach for social/clinical allocation, reducing the need for CYP to have to tell their story more than once. (GIRFEC) Interagency collaboration is critical factor, decision making at the front door ensuring referring agencies have confidence in response linked to presenting need, conversations take place to appreciate presentation, initial understanding and care/child plan developed (building on GIRFEC modelling). At point of initial contact being able to identify the appropriate level of support needed sign posting and providing resource as required ꞏ Identification of service required; What experience of previous service, level of complexity;Immediate response to risk incident, interagency liaison and solution focus Agreement in principle, that Educational Psychology Service will lead on the coordination of Single Point of Access. Amalgamation of referrals to create a database for analysis is being progressed.
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CYPSP 2023 ‐24 Year 1 ANNUAL REVIEW 9 Advocacy services are easily accessible for care experienced children and young people. Advocacy services (Who Cares Scotland) Who Cares Scotland reports on advocacy for care-experienced children and young people to the Corporate Parenting Board twice a year. In the last quarter of 2022, 70 young people actively engaged with the service, with 49 young people requesting advocacy. These young people were predominately aged 11–15 and reported a high level of satisfaction with the service provided. Strategic Priority 4 - Children and Young People’s Voice Table 4 Outcomes expected at 12 months (2023/24) 2023-2024 Progress Update Young Peoples Advisory Panel is created Work continues with the now named Youth advisory Panel to ensure their voice is heard across all aspects of the plan. An animation video was created ArgyllandButeCouncil - YouTube This group has a slightly broader remit than the previous established YAP Group. Representation from all secondary schools and the model was designed by young people themselves. This year the young people have discussed the following: -What their priorities are -Child Poverty Action Plan -UNCRC one page plan -Ideas for promoting UNCRC -Economic Growth Plan -Access to Sexual Health Services At a recent meeting in June, discussion on how we can improve the Youth Voice Group. Various members of the Local Authority, HSPC and other partners have attended meetings to listen to the young people, support and consult. We also have representation on the Children’s Commissioner Scotland Panel The Young Peoples Advisory Panel will be invited to attend a Argyll & Bute’s Although professional representation is seen at A+B steering group an invite has still to be extended to the YAP
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CYPSP 2023 ‐24 Year 1 ANNUAL REVIEW 10 Children Strategic Group development session to update them on the work of the Young Peoples Advisory Panel.