Agenda item

To receive a report by the Cabinet Members for Education and Health Reform, Specialist Children’s Services, and Community Service; and the Corporate Director for Education and Young People's Services on an Early Help and Preventative Services Prospectus and an interim One Year Plan for 2014-2015 that have been developed.  These two key documents detail the strategic approach and ambitions for Early Help and begin to translate them into practice.

(Report by Mr R Gough Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform and Mr P Oakford Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services and Mr M Hill Cabinet Member for Community Services)

(Ms F Kroll, Director of Early Help and Preventative Services, and Ms Angela Slaven, Interim Director of Preventative Services were present for this item)

1.            The Corporate Director of Education and Young People’s Services, Mr Leeson, introduced Ms Florence Kroll, the newly appointed  Director of Early Help and Preventative Services  and Ms Angela Slaven, Interim Director of Preventative Services, who would continue in this role until September 2014.

2.            Mr Leeson explained that the report sets out the need for a more integrated approach in bringing together services including Education, Social Care, CAMHS services and CAF to work and support the whole family.

3.            The Director of Early Help and Preventative Services, Ms Kroll, gave a brief introduction of her previous role in the London Borough of Hackney as Assistant Director, Young Hackney.

4.            Ms Kroll explained that the Prospectus and interim one year plan sets out a clear vision and principles for her new role.  She considered that there were seven key areas that were:

·         Strong early identification system

·         Universal Services

·         Support given at schools, community settings and Youth hubs etc

·         Participation – giving young people and parents a voice

·         Work Force Development – Recruiting and retaining the right staff

·         Partnerships -  Services working holistically including Health Services, CAMHS, FE Colleges and Employers

·         Opportunities for Education and Employment – Producing strong employment outcomes

5.            Mr Leeson agreed to a progress report being submitted to this Cabinet Committee in Spring 2015.

6.            Mr Leeson, Ms Kroll and Ms Slaven responded to comments and questions by Members which included the following:

a)    Members welcomed Ms Kroll to her first meeting of the Cabinet Committee.

b)    Members welcomed the report and a comment was made that this was probably one of the most important tasks faced by the County Council.

c)    Mr Leeson concurred that there were a large amount of children that had not received an Early Help assessment and there was a need to ensure in future that children received support.  This would be carried out by providing; a Triage System, move to a Single Data Management System and review the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) process.

d)    Mr Leeson advised that the spread of resource in Early Help was not matched to need at present and work was being carried out on how the resources would be redirect to key priorities and targets.

e)    Mr Leeson confirmed that some staff within the Kent Integrated Adolescent Support Service (KIASS) had been allocated to different teams but there had been no major restructuring of staff. 

f)     Mr Leeson agreed to the request to minimise bureaucracy when monitoring feedback especially for the voluntary sector.

7.            RESOLVED that:-

a)            the responses to comments and questions by Members be noted;

b)            the vision and approach to early help and prevention, detailed in the Prospectus that had been shared with staff, schools and other key partners who were critical to delivering shared and improved outcomes for children, young people and their families be noted;  and

c)            the Early Help Plan 2014-2015 be endorsed in order to provide strategic leadership focus for Early Help, improve service delivery and effectiveness and ensure that help and support are available to families that are experiencing difficulties, quickly and effectively.