Care Leavers Offer

WQ.259/2023

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR CHILDREN AND EDUCATION BY DEPUTY R.J. WARD OF ST. HELIER CENTRAL

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 5th JUNE 2023

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 12th JUNE 2023

Question

“Will the Minister state the current position of the Care Leavers’ Offer in terms of –

1. the number of young people being supported;
2. the criteria used to measure the success of the scheme;
3. any assessment undertaken of its success or otherwise; and
4. the problems, if any, that have been identified to date with the provision?”

Answer

1. There are currently 81 care leavers being supported.
2. There are a variety of measures that are used to review the success of the care leavers offer, both qualitative and quantitative measures.

Quantitative measures clarify the key aspects of the offer and how effective it is in ensuring that the basic needs of our care leavers are met.

i.Number of young people in education and employment - 65.7% (Excluding care leavers of sick

leave and those caring responsibilities)

This figure helps to understand how the service is supporting care leavers to be active members of the Island and are either developing their skills and life outcomes through education or through contributing to our society through meaningful employment.

ii.Number of young people in Appropriate accommodation – 92.6%

This figure gives us a clear understanding of young people who are in appropriate accommodation such as supported living environments or their own independent accommodation. This figure is impacted by young people who may be residing in HMP La Moye.

Qualitative measures help clarify the impact of the work being undertaken for each young person in the context of their particular assessed needs. It is acknowledged that all young people have different life experiences, and their successes are relative to their respective abilities.

iii.Feedback from young people through Mind of My Own Statements

Jersey children services have been using Mind of My Own Statements to capture the wishes and feelings of our young people. These statements are captured and stored in a centralised system and are viewed by professionals to help understand the lived experience of our young people and shape their care planning through listening to their feedback.

iv.Feedback from young people as part of their pathways planning process

Pathway plans are the documents that we use to detail the support and coordinate the services and support to help enrich the lives of our young people and plan for their futures. The pathway plans help detail the pathway into adulthood and prepare young people for when they transition out of the leaving care service.

v.Care leavers Improvement Working Group

The care leaver improvement working group is a platform to support and co-ordinate multi agency and partnership working. The working group will provide feedback to the service and will support will the delivery of 6 elements of the circle of support as outlined in the care leavers offer.

3. There has not been a formal assessment of the care leavers offer. We use the aforementioned mechanisms to review the effectiveness of the service. There was discussion about the offer at a recent Corporate Parenting Board to consider how effectiveness might be reviewed.

In addition I am proposing to commission a third party to carry out a survey with all our looked after and care leaver cohorts. . The survey is an evidenced based programme developed in partnership between the third party and the University of Oxford. The programme will focus on what young people say about their lives and what is important to them and ensure that their experiences influence service development and strategic thinking in Jersey. The plan is for the Bright Spots survey to commence in September 2023.

4. The care leavers offer that was published on the Jersey website is a positive document that outlines the broader aspects of the care leaver offer but not does not provide the specificity required for both professionals and care leavers. Therefore, a piece of work is currently being undertaken to provide a supplementary working guidance document which will elicit the specifics of the offer. It will also provide key contacts and detail how the offer is practically delivered. This document will be presented at the next corporate parenting board for review and ratification.

Support to care leavers is also a duty in the new Children and Young People’s Law due to be enacted later this year. The statutory guidance for the new law is almost complete.