Growth and development.pdf

3. Performance: Children and familiesBalance of care – Looked afterchildren (aged 0-17)At home 71 4.0 2 103 5.7 1With friends/relatives/other community 14 0.8 3 10 0.6 3With foster carers/prospective adopters 34 1.9 3 29 1.6 4In residential accommodation 44 2.5 1 32 1.8 1Total 163 9.1 2 174 9.7 2Key performance indicators1999-2000actual1998-1999actual1999-2000per 1,0001998-1999per 1,000QuartileQuartile2000-2001actual1999-2000actual2000-2001per 1,0001999-2000per 1,000QuartileQuartileChild protection (CP) referrals 98 6.1 3 117 7.4 2(aged 0-15)Children subject to a CP case 43 2.7 2 52 3.3 1conference (aged 0-15)Children placed on CP register 24 1.5 3 42 2.7 1(aged 0-15)Adoption applications in year 5 0.3 4 3 0.2 4(aged 0-17)Stranger adopter applications 0 0 4 0.0 0.0 4(aged 0-17)The rates of children subject to a case conference and of those placed on the child protectionregister are high in Argyll and Bute. The number of children on the child protection registerincreased significantly between 1998 and 2000. It has now stabilised around the low to mid20s. There are very few adoption applications and there were no applications from strangers in1999-2001.The number of looked after children increased slightly between 1999 and 2001. The rate oflooked after children living in residential care is falling but remains high in comparison to manyother authorities. The rate of looked after children living with foster carers is low and fellbetween 1999 and 2001, but recently the numbers in foster care shifted and 48% ofaccommodated children now live in foster care.The Council has boosted its foster care service. In 5 years the number of permanent carers hastrebled to 30, and the number of temporary carers also increased to 30. The key to developmentshas been the work of 4 family placement social workers each located in a Service Centre, andan Early Years social worker. The introduction of training, carer support groups and a newsletterall contributed to the 96 placements achieved in 2001.Prompted by Learning with Care, a joint social work and education working group has been setup to enhance the education of looked after children. It is addressing:• a comprehensive assessment for looked after children; all those children currently have careplans and receive full-time education but few have individual educational plans and fewteachers are involved in reviews;• training for both social work and education staff who work with those children.The Council has established standards for an audit of the educational environments inresidential homes and foster homes, but it has not yet been carried out.36