Key updates from May and June’s Children’s Board

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May-June Children Young People and Families Strategic Update

Here is an outline of the key strategic issues affecting the sector at the moment as well as relevant papers being presented at the Children's Board and Manchester Safeguarding Children's Board.

1) Ofsted inspection is occurring and we are awaiting the report which we expect to be published in September.

2) Understanding the Rise in Child Protection and Care Proceedings
There are many hypothesis but still a lack of systematic evidence. A sample analysis in April and May did not yield a conclusive explanation.
• There are a number of ideas about the causes:
• More outreach work is identifying issues that would have gone under the radar.
• There is strategic buy in to the early help approach but not front line buy in so cases are getting escalated.
• People are using child protection to manage risk when children could have been safeguarded differently
The key challenge remains how to make social care approach to be appropriate, proportionate and consistent when there continues to be a level of dissatisfaction with the way they manage risk.

3) Future Changes to Safeguarding Work
Heavily shaped by the Public Service Reform Agenda. Key challenges around understanding the role of vcs in safeguarding and creating structures that facilitate our engagement.
1) Greater evidence led intervention on targeted groups to reduce demand.
2) Integrated Safeguarding Unit studying a range of populations –
3) 0-5s and 15-18s to look at child protection proceedings and speed up decision making processes
4) Merging back office functions of the two boards but not one shared board.
5) The establishment of the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub. – This is being seen as a solution (or a big part ) of many of Manchester’s Safeguarding issues. It is meant to provide better, more integrated information sharing. The role of the VCS within this is not clear.

4) Domestic Abuse Services in Manchester
Key Issues

• There are a range of service reviews and cross service scrutiny in the light of recent reports. There are questions for the sector in terms of how we are included in these reviews, whether the role of the voluntary sector is recognised at all levels and whether commissioners understand the interdependencies of organisations and services who are funded from multiple sources.
• There is a clear role for the CYPL Forum in taking these strategic issues forward.
• GMP – HMIC produced highly critical reports and they are currently responding to the findings.
• Delivering Differently – Local Authority secured national government funding to review its commissioning arrangements – this review will fit in with the public service reform agenda.

From Report to Health and Wellbeing Board May 2014 –
The Delivering Differently programme will enable Manchester to focus on a new delivery model for Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA). DVA a key contributor to complex dependency with corresponding fiscal, social and economic costs to the City. The methodology and approach links directly to the Public Service Reform programme (under the complex dependency theme) and the OPCC’s strategic priority and investment in complex dependency. DVA also connects to Manchester’s work with the Early Intervention Foundation, shifting resource from reactive spend into evidence based early intervention models. The Community Safety Partnership, and safeguarding boards, are actively involved with the work-plan and governance arrangements of the programme, with the ultimate governance arrangements managed through the Manchester Investment Board.

Two Reports Highlighting Good Practice in Domestic Abuse Services
Iris - This in-depth study presents evidence from the Manchester Identification and Referral to Improve Safety (IRIS) service, which began in February 2012 and by February 2014, has received 169 referrals from 16 general practices across Manchester concerning women who have suffered from domestic violence and abuse. The majority of the women interviewed had not disclosed the violence to anyone else prior to speaking to their GP.

Operation Encompass – Information Sharing Between schools and the police regarding domestic abuse incidents in the home of school children and putting in place appropriate support.

5) Early Help and the role of the VCS.
The paper on VCS and the MCAF has gone to the Exec of MSCB and they have proposed it will be brought to the full meeting.
It has also gone to the Children’s Board and the Early Help Implementation subgroup
It has opened up a range of discussions at board level about the role of the VCS and how it can be involved and these are being taken forward by the Early Help subgroup.

Papers for the meeting

 Safeguarding Vulnerable Children and Young people in Manchester            Update Report for Scrutiny Committee