Agenda item
Cabinet Member: Councillor Dilwyn Morgan
To receive a report on the above.
Minutes:
Submitted - the
report of the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, noting that it was
a very exciting strategy. Historically,
there had been successful preventative work, however, there was a need to learn
from integrated working and the importance of the individual, and a prime
example of this was the implementation of the Ysbyty Alltwen Scheme. It was noted that a Parliamentary Review of
Health and Care in Wales referred to developing seamless care services that are
convenient and close to home. The
intention was to make the services much more integrated within the Council and
other partners, in the hope to focus everyone's attention on early intervention
and targeting families correctly and offering services that would reduce the
subsequent need for much more intense intervention. It was acknowledged that there was a duty on
everyone to safeguard children and young people; however, focus needed to be
placed on dealing with issues early and the hope was that we would strive to
develop the concept within the Council and the external partnerships. A
positive step that had been made was the transfer of an officer from the
Economy Department to the Children and Families Department and this provided
additional capacity within the Department.
Members were given
an opportunity to ask questions and the following points were highlighted:
(a)
Reference was made to the Families First programme
and the acknowledgement that the programme had been successful and that the
input of the third sector had been essential, e.g. Citizens’ Advice Bureau. If the programmes were successful, why did
the model have to be changed?
The Head of
Service explained that the Government had decided to abolish the grants to the
third sector for the purposes of developing financial literacy. During the
transitional year, Gwynedd was the only authority that funded last year, but
whilst accepting that it had been a success, it was not possible to extend the
resource due to the lack of financial resources and the national guidance. It was added that this did not mean that
families could not be referred to the Citizens' Advice Bureau; however, the money
used to ensure that they were given priority.
In terms of the
proposed model, a lot was learnt from the advantages and the benefits over the
past five years, that needs were not being met, specifically families where the
children were teenagers, low-level mental health, speech and language delay and
homelessness issues. The intention was to have services in their place, and
target families so that it was possible to identify children who came into care
and put a team around them, i.e. assessment of needs and realising that there
was a need to recommission and target a different cohort of families.
(b)
Did the Education
Department have input as a result of problems with children's lack of
skills?
In response, the
Cabinet Member for Children and Young People confirmed that Education was one of
the essential partners and that support had already been received from the
Department. Also, fortunately, it was
noted that the health service was a very strong partner in Gwynedd and was a
huge hub for the Children and Families Service.
The Head of Service
added that speech and language was one of the main priorities. It was
acknowledged across the age ranges, including teenagers, that it affected their
confidence, behaviour and ability to reach their potential. The intention was
to extend the provision across the County and to collaborate with the Health
Board, the third sector, as well as the Education Department in order to better
identify the families.
(c)
The strategy was welcomed and it was asked whether
there was an intention to work with Housing Associations?
The Head of
Service confirmed that more attention needed to be given to the above in its
entirety, and reference was made to a pilot example of working with Housing
Wardens in Maesgeirchen, Bangor, who had a wealth of key information.
(ch) Whilst
welcoming the report, more information was needed and they were reminded of the
need to address the needs of children with disabilities.
The Head of
Service noted that the vision was presented before the Committee and that she
was very grateful to the Leadership Team for the support to move forward. The
task of the new officer would be to refine the plan and collaborate with the
partnership and an update could be presented on the developments in a year's
time.
(d)
The importance of the trans-agency collaboration
and how successful the model had been, was noted. Hopefully, the new youth
workers would be able to contribute to the above strategy.
The Cabinet Member
for Children and Young People explained that the Youth Service only reached 25%
of youths, noting that there were missed young people in the County. Hopefully, the new model in youth work
would reach out so that more young people were reached, however, in terms of
the Children and Families Service, any additional partnership was
welcomed.
Resolved: To accept, note and
give thanks for the report.
Supporting documents: