Social Services: Follow - Up Inspection of Planning, Decision Making & Safeguards for Children Looked After - London Borough of Hillingdon 2

Social Services: Follow - Up Inspection of Planning, Decision Making & Safeguards for Children Looked After - London Borough of Hillingdon 2 - 8 December 1999

Quotes:

Mentioning 'asylum seekers', 'asylum seeking children', 'children’s asylum seekers team',

Assessment

5.3 New formats for recording assessments had become available in August and some training on undertaking assessments had taken place. Initial assessments had been well implemented in the two new referral and assessment teams and the 16+ and children’s asylum seekers team. We found thorough comprehensive assessments with well organised information on cases going before the courts amongst the cases we studied. Most managers had attended training on ‘leadership through communication’, which had addressed decision making.

Unallocated Cases

5.9 We were concerned about the high number of unallocated cases. These were predominantly asylum seeking children and young people, 37 of whom were looked after children, and further 204 of whom were young people (including care leavers) living in supported or independent accommodation. Managers subsequently told us that young people living in semi-supported accommodation did receive support from project workers and a designated link worker from the 16+ team. This could not be an effective substitute for individual allocated workers, especially for the 37 looked after children. Management systems for collating data about these children and young people had not been properly co-ordinated, acted upon or reported to DH. Staff trying to manage this work appeared to be under considerable pressure. While a system for managing these cases through action planning and delegation of key tasks had been recently introduced, it had only just begun to be implemented for some looked after children. Young people were housed and systems were in place to provide them with finance. Their other needs for support, particularly emotional support could not however be properly met. By contrast, children and families awaiting an allocated social worker in the area teams appeared to be appropriately managed, with the very recent recruitment of a team of locum staff in west area to cover a backlog.

Resources

7.2 The corporate council had made £800,000 available to the SSD to shore up services for asylum seeking children and families. There were still resource problems in meeting the needs of this group.

Implementing procedures

2.31 Practice guidance on asylum seekers should be amended to include more detail on dealing with age, and then be launched and implemented by all staff. (See 5.5)

2.32 Consideration should be given to the ways in which expertise on asylum seekers could be brought together and shared more widely among practitioners. (See 7.4)

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Source: http://www.doh.gov.uk/