Western Area Children’s Service Plan Review April 2006 This is the first Annual Review of the 2005-2008 Children’s Services Pl

Western Area Children’s Service Plan Review April 2006 This is the first Annual Review of the 2005-2008 Children’s Services Plan.

INDEX

Page

Foreword

3-4

1 Strategic Context

5-6

2 Developing and Monitoring the Children’s Services Plan –

WACYPC

7-12

3 Building on the Strengths of Families

13-16

4 Children and Young People in Public Care

17-22

5 Children with a Disability

23-25

6 Children with Emotional, Behavioural, Psychological or

Psychiatric Difficulties

26-29

7 Children in Need of Protection

30-32

8 Youth Justice

33-35

9 Homelessness – Children and Families

36-37

10 Sixteen Plus

38-41

11 The Western Area Child Care Plan

42-46

12 Domestic Violence – Children and Young People

47-49

13 Children & Young People in the Travelling Community

50-51

14 Children & Young People’s Health and Health Services

52-54

Front cover photo courtesy of Microsoft Corporation

FOREWORD

This is the first Annual Review of the 2005-2008 Children’s Services Plan. The

review is based on the action plans agreed for the respective Sub-Committees of

the Western Area Children and Young People’s Committee.

The Children and Young People’s Committees across the four Health and Social

Services Board areas in Northern Ireland have worked closely to develop a

collaborative approach to planning, commissioning and delivering services to

children, young people and their families. The context of statutory, voluntary and

community collaboration with an active involvement of children, young people and

their parents can only improve the outcomes for our children. It is important at this

time with the restructuring of public sector organisations, that these benefits are

retained and enhanced.

Dominic Burke

Western Area Children & Young Peoples Committee

WACYPC Members

Dominic Burke, WHSSB

Eamon McTernan, WHSSB

Gerry Conway, WHSSB

Mrs Pauline Leeson, Children in NI

Ms Betty Feeney, RCD

Mr John Doherty, FHSST

Ms Winnie O’Grady, Derry Travellers Support Network

Ms Marie McGale, MENCAP

Mr Vincent McCauley, Westcare Business Services

Mr Artie O’Neill, Youth Justice Agency

Ms Clionagh Boyle, Derry Children’s Commission

Mr Sean Mackie, NIHE

Mr John O’Kane, PBNI

Ms Kate Thompson, SLT

Mrs Brenda Macqueen, Dry Arch Centre

Ms Siobhan McIntyre, WHSSB

Mr Gary Matthewson, Principal, Holy Family Primary School

Ms Marie Kavanagh, Gingerbread

Ms Liz Cuddy, Extern

Insp Cindy Mackie, PSNI

The Western Area Children and Young People’s Committee welcomes comments,

views, opinions about the 2006 Review of the Children’s Services Plan.

If you wish to convey your views about:

�� Content

�� How the information is laid out

�� What is missing?

�� Ideas for further development

�� Criticism

�� How the plan can be improved

Please Contact: Gerry Conway

Principal Social Worker (Children’s Services Planning)

Western Health and Social Services Board

Area Board Headquarters

15 Gransha Park

Clooney Road

Derry BT47 6FN

Tel No: 028 7186 0086

Fax No: 028 7186 0311

E-mail: gerry.conway@whssb.n-i.nhs.uk

The Children’s Services Plan as well as a range of other planning documents and

information about need and supply in respect of services for children and young

people in the West, is available in the Western Area Children and Young People’s

Committee Website at:

www.wacy-pc.org

1 STRATEGIC CONTEXT

1.1 The current Children’s Services Plan 2005-2008 sits amidst fundamental

changes to the structure of public services in Northern Ireland and major

developments in the policy field in relation to children and young people.

The Review of Public Administration, announced in November 2005, will see

the replacement of the four Health and Social Services Board by one

Regional Strategic Health and Social Services Authority and a restructuring

of Trusts, reducing from 19 to 6 (including the NI Ambulance Service). The

restructuring will have implications in the coming year and beyond for the

process of Children’s Services Planning, its location within the new structures

and its well developed partnerships in terms of local planning and delivery.

The four Children and Young Peoples Committees have provided their own

contribution to the discussions at Government level about the future

arrangement for the joint planning and commissioning of services for children

and young people. It promotes the development of a coordinated multiagency

and cross-sectoral approach to planning and delivery at government,

regional and local levels. Its main themes are that:-

�� There needs to be a legal incentive for agencies to plan and commission

together;

�� There must be active participation of children and young people at all

levels;

�� There should be democratic accountability at all levels;

�� The multi-agency planning process should be adequately resourced.

1.2 From a policy perspective, the last year has witnessed major developments

to focus and investment on meeting the needs of children and young people.

The appointment of Jeff Rooker as Northern Ireland’s first Minister for

Children and Young People in August 2005 signalled an intention to have a

children’s champion in government to complement the role of the Northern

Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People.

A long awaited Children and Young Peoples Strategy has been launched by

the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, outlining a vision of

better outcomes for the Children of Northern Ireland over the next ten years.

Included in this strategy will be a framework for the development of services

for vulnerable children and young people.

On 7 March 2007, Peter Hain, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,

announced a significant funding package for children and young people. An

additional £61 million will be invested over the next two years to reduce

social, health and educational differentials through targeting support at

children and young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. At

this stage, it is unclear about the detail of the developments which will be

taken forward under the auspices of the Department of Education. A

collaborative approach to the developments, building on the relationships

nurtured through Children’s Services Planning, would see the best outcomes

for this significant investment. The funding Package is one of a number of

new cross-cutting funding packages which “will be underpinned by greater

co-operation between Departments and their agencies to secure more

effective services through integrated serviced delivery”. It will see a range of

actions/activities taken forward under the following key themes:-

• Extended Schools

• Extended Early Years provision

• Looked After Children and Vulnerable Young Adults

• Youth Provision

• Child Protection

• Children with Special Needs and Disabilities

In addition, the Health and Well-Being Investment Plan (HWIP) under the

Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety outlines an

additional £9.5 million in the Western Board area in 2006/07 to address the

following:-

• Implementation of the Fostering Strategy

• A Review of Residential Provision in the Western Area

• Implementation of the Children (Leaving Care) Act (Northern Ireland)

2002

• Child Protection

2 DEVELOPING AND MONITORING THE CHILDREN’S SERVICES PLAN -

WACYPC

Strategic Objective:

The Western Area Children and Young Peoples Committee will promote and

develop the Children’s Services Plan through the period 2005-2008,

concentrating on achieving progress in the areas of:

• Outcomes based on Needs and Rights

• Integrated Planning based on the “Whole Child” Model

• Supporting Families

2.1 Membership of the Western Area Children & Young People’s Committee

The membership of the Children and Young Peoples Committee represents

the key statutory agencies of Health & Social Services Board and Trusts,

Education, Probation Board, Youth Justice, NIHE and PSNI with members of

the voluntary, community and ethnic minority sectors. During 2005/06, there

was a change of representation from the voluntary/community sectors in a

process facilitated by CiNI. New members joining the Committee included.

• Marie McGale (MENCAP)

• Betty Feeney (Resource Centre Derry)

• Marie Kavanagh (Gingerbread)

• Liz Cuddy (Extern)

In addition, Winnie O’Grady replaced Margaret Boyle as the representative of

the Derry Travellers Support Network. At the end of the 2005/06, the

Committee lost the valuable support of Sheila McCaul from WELB as the

result of retirement, and a replacement is awaited.

This year also saw the passing of Joan Ross after a long illness. Joan

represented Social Services Training on the Committee and, during its

existence to date, provided an expert and supportive contribution to the

development of inter-agency and cross-sectoral planning and delivery.

2.2 Launch of the Four Children’s Services Plan 2005-08 – “Being a Part of It”

The Children’s Services Plans for the

four Children and Young People’s

Committees were formally launched by

Paul Martin, Chief Inspector, Social

Services Inspectorate in the

Everglades Hotel, Derry on 16

November 2005. An inspirational

keynote address was provided by Con

Hogan (photograph on right) from

Vermont, USA who has worked closely

with Children’s Services Planners in the development of an outcomefocussed

approach to planning.

A Market Place of Good Practice was introduced by Barney McNeany from

the office of the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young

People. Examples of good practice from each Children and Young Peoples

Committee were presented initially through video-link to the Conference

participants by Nicola Rogers, a young person from this area. Western area

representation in this Market Place included:-

• Integrated Family Support Strategy – Carina Boyle (NCH) and John

Meehan (Foyle Trust)

• Accommodation and Support for Young People – Stephen

McLaughlin (Foyle Trust) and Louise Clarke (NIHE)

• Youth Participation Project –Bill Vaughan and Hugh Doyle (YPP) (see

photograph below on left)

2.3 Outcomes Based Planning

The Children’s Services Planners, on a regional basis, have liaised closely

with the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) in

the development of the Regional Children and Young People’s Strategy.

Extensive consultation with other stakeholders involved in the Children’s

Services Planning process resulted in the development of the 9 High Level

Outcomes contained in the Children’s Services Plan. The Regional Strategy

has concluded that Northern Ireland should work on the 5 Every Child

Matters Outcomes with an additional Rights Focussed Outcome. Whatever

the Outcomes, the overall objective remains to achieve agreement on

common statements of purpose. Through these, individual agencies will

measure their activity as a contribution to the well-being of children and

young people.

Is the Health & Well-being of

Children and Young People Improving?

Health

Achievement

Safety

Economic

Contribution

Rights

Key Feeder Indicators

(Health, Social Care, Education, Youth Justice,

other Depts – Voluntary / Community Sector)

Work is being taken forward, both on a regional and cross-border basis on

the development of core “feeder” indicators. As this work develops,

information will be gathered against these feeder indicators so that:-

• Actions and strategies are put in place to achieve improvement;

• Improvement is monitored over time;

• The “state of the health and well-being” of children in the West can be

bench-marked against other areas/regions.

2.4 Key Issues for Children’s Services Planning in 2005/06

The process of collaborative planning during this period was shaped by the

following themes which will remain as central into the future:-

• Review of Public Administration

The restructuring within the Health and Social Services arena during

2006/07 will provide challenges regionally and locally. The links between

the new structures and the evolving structures in Education and Local

Councils will require specific attention during the extended period of

transition, given the different time-scales.

• The Children (Leaving Care) Act (NI) 2002

The planned implementation of the new legislation from September 2005

has been a challenge in terms of the available funding for implementation

and the clear multi-sectoral approach to improving the outcomes of

young people who are care experienced. The 16+ Sub-Committee has

taken a lead role in developing a collaborate approach to identifying and

addressing the range of needs experienced by care-leavers.

2.5 Western Area Children & Young People’s Committee – Key Result Areas

Key Result Area Progress

Improved Outcomes for

Children and Young

People are Vulnerable or

in need.

Information systems continue to be developed

in terms of key indicators. This process will be

further developed with the launch of the 10

year Children and Young People’s Strategy

and its focus on outcome-based planning

against shared high level outcomes.

Children’s Rights

Children’s Services Planning has promoted the

integration of children’s rights into the

development of other regional strategy and the

inclusion of rights as well as needs into the

planning framework.

Key Result Area Progress

Commissioning and

Resource Targeting

The Sub-Committees have sought to improve

the targeting of services and resources on

children and young people in greatest need

and on communities with the highest levels of

deprivation. Examples of this include the work

of the Child Care Partnership in developing

proposals for the possible extension of Sure

Start, the endorsement of the strategy for

Children with a Disability and the development

of the Traveller Children enrichment

Programme.

User Participation The Children’s Services Planners has been

actively involved in the development of a policy

on User Engagement within the Strategic

Commissioning Team for Children Young

People and Parents.

The collaboration with colleagues from the

HSE (North West) to develop a Youth

Participation Project has resulted in an initial

conference for young people held at the

Everglades Hotel, Londonderry on 1

December 2005. At this conference, a number

of statutory, voluntary and community

agencies associated with Children’s Services

Planning signed up to a commitment to

develop their engagement with young people.

Subsequent training programme have been

provided to improve capacity within these

agencies. A further conference in December

2006 to be held in Letterkenny, will monitor the

level of engagement undertaken.

Key Result Area Progress

Early Intervention The last year has seen an active concentration

on the need for early intervention services

across all Sub-Committee of the Children and

Young People’s Committee but particularly in

the development of an integrated family

support strategy. The accessibility of early

intervention services in local communities is a

key element of a support strategy. A major

challenge is the safeguarding of existing

services which are increasingly vulnerable

because of the ending of fixed term funding

streams. It is necessary to identify the

pressures at an early stage and to take

appropriate steps to safeguard vital services,

where possible.

Effective Influence

The Children’s Services Planner has continued

to liaise with OFMDFM in conjunction with

other Children’s Services Planners on the

development of a Regional Strategy based on

outcomes and rights.

Integrated Family Support

Strategy

The Integrated Family Support Strategy Group

has brought together the intensive support

strategies developed in both Trusts (New

Beginnings) with the work of the Family

Support Preventative Group to seek an

integrated approach. This is explored fully in

Chapter 3 of this review.

3 BUILDING ON THE STRENGTHS OF FAMILIES

Strategic Objective:

• To develop family support as

the preferred method of

intervention in meeting the

needs of children by building

on the strengths of families

and carers.

• To provide an information base

which will enable participating

agencies to plan strategically

for the development of family

support services.

• To develop a comprehensive range of services which can meet the

needs of children and their families in a supportive way.

3.1 The development of a Family Support Strategy has been undertaken under

the overview of the Family Support Strategy Group through the development

of a coordinated “parallel” approach across the following:-

(a) Intensive support through the development of the New Beginning

initiative in each Community Trust to address the needs of levels 3&4

of the Northern Ireland Family Support Model.

(b) Preventative/Early Intervention support for children and families at

Levels 1 and 2 of the Family Support Model.

3.2 Through the first year of the Plan, activity has been focussed on further

developing the Intensive Support arrangements in the Trusts, including early

evaluation of its impact in Foyle Trust and establishing structures in local

council areas to inform the development of preventative/early intervention

services. There has been an increasing focus on the interface between

levels 2 and 3 and the need to actively develop an integrated approach which

seeks to make appropriate services available and accessible to children and

families when needed to address identified needs.

3.3 The importance of relevant information about need across the Boards’ area

has been recognised and significant efforts have been made to ensure that

information is collated and made available on the Committee’s website –

www.wacy-pc.org. The Information Officer supporting Children’s Services

Planning, has explored the range of information required to support planning

and sought to ensure its availability and accessibility. With colleagues from

other Board area, and from the Health Services Executive in the Republic of

Ireland, efforts are being made to find a common information framework to

support planning, and evaluation/monitoring of performance against shared

outcomes.

3.4 The strategy for the development of preventative/early intervention services

has been based on the initial work carried out by Huw Griffiths, University of

Ulster (Magee). To build in this work, activities have centred on the

development of Locality Action Groups in each current District Council area

(two in the Derry City Council area) funding has been secured from the

Northern Local Health and Social Care Group and WHSSB for NCH to

appoint Development Workers in each Trust area to establish and develop

Locality Action Groups. By 31 March 2006, one Development Worker was in

post in the Foyle Trust area and recruitment had begun in the Sperrin

Lakeland Trust area. The Locality Action Groups will promote a model of

child-friendly communities and will consider the needs, rights and views of

children and their families in the development and co-ordination of child and

family-friendly support services.

The Locality Action Groups will contribute to the planning of services

through:-

• The use of recent research and information about outcomes and feeder

indicators of need in their area to identify where needs are being met,

where gaps and opportunities exist and where there may be duplication

in services.

• Promoting the participation of children, young people and parents in the

process.

• Producing Local Action Plans for the development of early intervention

services, which will create more opportunities for children and their

families to achieve their full potential.

• Pursuing resources for the development and coordination of early

intervention services.

• Strengthening interface links with intensive support services.

3.5 Building on the Strength of Families – Key Result Areas

Key Result Area Progress

New Beginnings Initiative –

Foyle Trust

Foyle Trust has been consolidating its

structural and practice changes during the

year. An evaluation has been carried out by

NUI Galway which endorses the conceptual

framework underpinning the initiatives and

affirms the development of Panels to allocate

resources to individual families, of Family

Group Conferencing (now a central

government Priorities for Action target), and of

the need to ensure a range of earlyintervention

services to prevent the need for

intensive levels of support. The evaluation

also pointed up pressure – points within the

system which the Trust is now seeking to

address eg resources available at Duty &

Assessment Team stage of Trust involvement.

New Beginnings Initiative –

Sperrin Lakeland Trust

Sperrin Lakeland Trust has progressed its

implementation of the Intensive Family Support

agenda with the development of organisational

structures and service redesigns to reinforce

the cultural shift to build on the strengths of

families. The evaluation of Foyle Trust’s

progress will have a major impact of the

consolidation within Sperrin Lakeland.

Key Result Area Progress

Preventative/Early

Intervention

The Locality Consultation process carried out

by Huw Griffiths has been further developed

through the creation of Locality Action Groups

which will help to determine prioritised

development plans based on robust needs

assessments. The initial process, which will

be further developed, identified key themes for

inclusion in the development:-

• Locality based early intervention services

• Home based services

• Participation of Children Young People

and Parents. The Development Workers

will be linking closely with the Youth

Participation Project to address this

theme.

• Utilising existing community infrastructure.

• Improving Quality. Work has now started

on developing a quality assurance

framework including the setting of baseline

standards.

• Funding Strategy. The development of a

collaborative approach to funding streams

has been identified and initial efforts have

been made to establish relationships with

funding bodies.

• Preventative Mental Health Services. This

theme is being addressed through the

Sub-Committee for Children with

Emotional, Behavioural, Psychiatric and

Psychological Difficulties.

4 CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE IN PUBLIC CARE

Strategic Objective:

To develop a range of services for children and young people in public

care which will increase the capacity of WHSSB and Trusts to

comprehensively assess their needs, in collaboration with other agencies

and to ensure that Care Plans can drawn upon appropriate placements and

other support and treatment services.

4.1 The Looked After Children Sub-Committee has continued to be chaired by

Godfrey Young, Sperrin Lakeland Trust. At 31 March 2006, 426 children

were looked after in the WHSSB area.

Foyle

Trust

Sperrin

Lakeland

Trust

TOTAL

Residential 34 22 56

Foster Care 216 82 298

Placed with own family 30 28 58

Other 9 5 14

TOTAL 289 137 426

• The number of children in care in the WHSSB area has fallen over the

past two years, from 501 at 31/03/04 to 426 at 31/03/06.

• There has been a decrease of 62 children in care in Foyle Trust over the

past year (18%).

• There has been an increase of 15 in the number of children in care in

Sperrin Lakeland Trust during the same period.

• In Foyle Trust 75% of children were in foster care on 31/03/06, followed

by 12% in residential care, and 10% in family placements.

• In Sperrin Lakeland HSC Trust, 60% of children were in foster care at

31/03/06, 16% were in residential care and 20% were in family

placements.

• With Foyle Trust, 42% of children had 3 or more placement moves by

31/03/06. in Sperrin Lakeland Trust, 48% of children had 3 or more

placement moves (note that this figure includes planned respite care).

• In relation to Health Care, 7% of children in Foyle and 2% of children in

Sperrin Lakeland had not had their immunizations up to date, 74% of

Foyle children had their annual health assessment, and 77% of Sperrin

Lakeland children had their annual assessment.

• In relation to education, children in care in Foyle Trust missed, on

average 21 days in he current year. The equivalent figure in Sperrin

Lakeland Trust is 19. 15% of Foyle children and 19% of Sperrin

Lakeland children had a SEN. 7% of children in Foyle and 13% of

children in Sperrin Lakeland had experienced suspension from school.

4.2 Residential Provision

The most significant event relating to residential provision has been the

decision of Care NI to announce the closure of the 6 bed Intensive Support

Unit at Brindley House with effect from June 2006. The withdrawal of the

Brindley House Unit has created a significant gap in specialist residential

provision in the WHSSB area.

The WHSSB is conducting a strategic review of placement ‘sites’ for Looked

After Children. This review requires to take into account the following factors:

(a) The impact of the withdrawal of Brindley House on available specialist

beds.

(b) The systems capacity to respond to the complex needs of a number of

young people.

purpose and function.

(d) Consideration of the potential for intensive support fostering to provide

better outcomes for young people with very complex needs.

(e) The strategic emphasis on intensive family support, and the implications

of this focus for the role of residential care and its interface with other

services (eg the development of outreach models of work, to support

foster carers and/or children and young people placed at home etc).

(f) The need to finalise the WHSSB position relating to bids for funding for

Intensive Support Units under phase two of Children Matter.

4.3 There are currently 208 foster-carers in the WHSSB area with 415 places

available.

No of Foster

Homes

No of

Foster

Places

No of Children

in Foster Care

Foyle Trust 125 218 216

Sperrin Lakeland Trust 83 197 82

TOTAL 208 415 298

DHSSPS have announced the availability of funding to support the

implementation of the NI Fostering Strategy. This will amount to a total of

£6m regionally in 06/07, rising to £8m regionally in 07/08. It is proposed that

a proportion of this funding will be deployed to fund regional services, to

include:

(a) Recruitment and marketing

(b) Training

Boards have been requested to submit bids for the local application of

funding, and the following areas are under consideration in the WHSSB area:

(a) Development of a RPA Trust wide recruitment and assessment team

(b) Enhanced Training Capacity

(d) Enhancement of Link Work service.

4.4 Adoption and Permanency Planning

Adoption and Permanency Planning during 2005/06

• No of “Best Interest” recommendations 13

• No of these without Parental Agreement 12

• No of children placed for adoption 8

• No of children matched and placed with approved prospective

adopters

• No of children matched and placed with foster carers who

became approved prospective adopters

• No of approved prospective adopters awaiting domestic

placement at 31/03/06

4.5 Children and Young People in Public Care – Key Result Areas

Key Result Area Progress

Base Line Data on Need

The Information Officers at the Board and

Trust have collaborated to ensure that

accurate and timely information is gathered in

relation to outcomes/indicators for looked after

children. The information system will enable

progress against outcomes to be tracked and

to compare outcomes of Looked After Children

with Outcomes for the general population of

children and young people.

Educational Outcomes

The joint protocol for Looked After Children is

at early stage of development between

WHSSB and WELB. The Children and Young

People’s Funding Package announced by the

Secretary of State in March 2006 has outlined

funding arrangements under the Department of

Education to “improve the education provision

and support for looked after children and

vulnerable young adults”. The immediate task

is to coordinate the implementation of this

package with the Department of Education.

Health Outcomes The issue of improving health outcomes is

recognised as needing a particular focus for

the work of this Sub-Committee. Previous

dedicated programmes finished with the

cessation of funding. Direct links have been

established with Health Promotion staff to build

on the earlier work.

Quality of Care Planning The Board and Trusts will await the

recommendations of the (current) SSI

Inspection in Foyle HSS Trust and Sperrin

Lakeland HSC Trust, to establish the baseline

position in order to adopt a consensus

approach to raising care planning standards.

Key Result Area Progress

Permanency Planning The Priorities for Action target of increasing the

rate of children adopted to 7% of the Looked

After Population in each Trust by 31 March

2006 was not met. Consideration is given to a

permanence plan for each child who is

"Looked After" at the 3 and a half month

Looked After Children Review with a view to

clarifying which permanence option is most

appropriate taking into account a range of

factors which include the child's family

relationships, age, level of behavioural

difficulties, capacity to attach and the need for

continuing contact. A chapter on Permanency

is contained in the Adoption - Regional Policy

and Procedures which will be implemented

with effect 1/10/2006. The Department's

Adoption Strategy provides a very helpful

framework.

Fostering Strategy Following availability of funding from DHSSPS

to support Fostering Strategy Implementation,

a number of projects are under consideration,

including:-

• Uplift of BO Model rates

• Regional recruitment/marketing

• 24/7 Support line

• Regional and local training support

• Local recruitment/assessment

• Family Group Conferencing

• Enhanced Link Workers

“Children Matter” Task

Force

The WHSSB plans to carry out a strategic

review of placements ‘sites’ for LAC Children,

to address:

• Current configuration of residential places

• Intensive support fostering

• Interfaces between residential care,

fostering and fieldwork

• Need for ISU

• Emphasis on intensive family support

Key Result Area Progress

Partnership Working and

Collaboration

The Sub-Committee accepts that the range of

needs of Looked After Children can only be

met through collaborative working and are

seeking to build on existing arrangements in

the areas of health, mental-health and

educational needs. The implementation of the

initiatives under the Children and Young

People’s Funding Package will provide

opportunities for collaborative working.

Young Persons

Participation

The Cross Border Youth Participation Project

has been working with Trust staff to improve

engagement with young people who are

looked after in the planning and monitoring of

services. VOYPIC has also undertaken

research with young people on the operation of

Care-Reviews which contributes to discussion

within Trusts about different aspects of the

Review arrangements. The Secretary of

State’s Funding Package has made available

£0.66 million in 2006/07 and 2007/08 to

develop on independent advocacy and peer

mentoring service for care-experienced

children and young people to help them

engage actively with the looked after system.

Range of Support Services Trusts have been auditing the services

available to them to support Looked After

Children and Young People specific services.

Janus Projects provided by Extern have had

current funding extended until March 2007

(Foyle Trust) and March 2008 (Sperrin

Lakeland Trust). Continuation beyond this

from existing sources depends on funding

priorities for the respective funders.

Arrangements are being made to have an

independent evaluation of Janus carried out in

the Foyle Trust area.

Short-term funding was available until 31

March 2006 for a support service for

children/young people in Foster Care (provided

by SOLIS).

5 CHILDREN WITH A DISABILITY

Strategic Objective:

To develop a range of services in the Western area, which build on

children’s strengths, provide integrated and linked services, involve those

who use the services, support families and carers, and promote the rights

of disabled children and young people.

5.1 The Children with a Disability Sub-Committee has continued to be chaired by

Noel Quigley, Commissioner, WHSSB and has increased its membership to

include additional representation from voluntary organisations providing

services to children with a disability and from parents themselves.

5.2 In terms of a policy back-drop to the Sub-Committees activities, two main

issues were of particular interest:-

i) The implementation of the Special Education Needs and Disability (NI)

Order, 2005 which addressed the duties and responsibilities to meet the

specialist educational needs of children and the issue of disability

discrimination in education.

ii) The Children and Young People Funding Package announced by Peter

Hain in March 2006 indicating additional funding in 2006/07 (£5.9

million) and 2007/08 (£6.675 million). This funding will be used to:

• Establish multi-disciplinary support teams to provide support

services to schools and other settings within the extended schools

and early years arrangements.

• Establish 2-3 Child and Adolescent Crisis Response Teams.

• Provide Support with the transition to adulthood through the

development of age-specific day care and improved social and lifeskills

training.

5.3 Key Result Areas

Key Result Area Progress

Transition Planning

Within the Children Package funding will be

secured to appoint Transition Workers and

develop transitional services to ensure that

every young person will have transitional plan

developed.

Key Result Area Progress

Common Assessment

Framework

Planners continue to seek to influence the

DHSSPS to develop a Common Assessment

Framework.

Integrated Service

Provision

The Barnardos Key Worker Project (funded by

Executive Programme funding) has been

developing the concept of key worker during

this period.

Information The Sub-Committee through WHSSB

Commissioned an information booklet for

parents from Family Information Group.

Awareness Training Through the Western Area Child Care

Partnership, a programme of training has been

undertaken for staff working in the Early Years

sector to increase awareness of the rights and

needs of children with a disability. This was

supported in the Omagh/Fermanagh areas

with the employment, through MENCAP, of a

Play Development Worker whose role was to

support the integration of Children with a

Disability into Sure Start and Early Years

Project.

Young People’s

Participation

Through Children’s Services Planning, the

Sub-Committee has been in liaison with the

cross-border Young Peoples Participation

Project to explore the methods of improving

young people’s participation and to identify

opportunities to actively involve young people

in planning/monitoring services.

Short-Term Support The Sub-Committee is currently completing an

audit of available short-term support services

with their funding streams to:-

i) identify gaps;

ii) identify funding pressures in existing

services;

iii) identify examples of good practice from

elsewhere.

Key Result Area Progress

Assistive Technology A DHSSPS Regional Group has been set up to

develop a strategic framework to guide the

development of assistive technology across

programmes of care.

DID YOU KNOW THAT

At 31 March 2005, there were 2,198 children/young people on Module V of the

Child Health System. Each child/young person on the system may have several

types of disability.

This represents a rate of 24.7 per 1000 of the population aged 0-19.

1,571, 71% of those registered have a learning disability.

The number of children/young people on Module V has risen from 1,892 at 30

November 2001 to 2,198 at 31 March 2005, an increase of 306 or 16%. During the

same time, the number of learning disabled has risen from 1,345 to 1,571 an

increase of 226 or 17%

At May 2006, there were 323 children diagnosed with ASD and included on the

Child Health System. 107 of these have ASD only; 216 have ASD and a Learning

Disability. At 30 June 2006, 194 children were waiting ASD Assessment.

The Western Education & Library Board had 1,945 Statemented children at

October 2005.

6 CHILDREN WITH EMOTIONAL, BEHAVIOURAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL OR

PSYCHIATRIC DIFFICULTIES

Strategic Objective:

To achieve better outcomes for children and young people with emotional,

psychological, psychiatric and behavioural problems through better

collaborative planning and practice by the key agencies, and with

particular emphasis on prevention

6.1 The Sub-Committee for Children with Emotional, Behavioural, Psychological

or Psychiatric difficulties has continued to meet during this year under the

chair of Jim Simpson, Service Planner, WHSSB.

6.2 A continuing concern of the Sub-Committee has been the service gap in

terms of mental health services for young people aged 16-19 years with

issues around capacity and appropriate location of accountability.

6.3 There has been a number of continuing developments and new initiatives

which provide positive progress in this area:-

(i) The development of early intervention services in schools through the

NSPCC School Counselling Programme and the Chance for Change

Project. The Children and Young Peoples funding package launched

in March 2006 indicated an additional funding of £1.75 million in

2006/07 and £1.8 million in 2007/08 to expand school-based

counselling support.

(ii) The cross border project “Getting It Together”, led by NCB with support

from the Youth Participation Project, has been helping a group of

young people from both sides of the border to address the issue of

emotional well-being. The group is in the process of designing

material/resources for use in peer-led work on promoting positive

emotional health.

6.4 The Children and Young People funding package announced in March 2006

is viewed as a welcome additional funding for the period April 2006 – March

2008 to improve outcomes for children. The package includes:-

• Extended Schools (£10 million per year)

• School – Based Counselling Support (£1.75 million/£1.8 million)

• Multi-disciplinary Support Teams (£4 million per year)

• Child and Adolescent Crisis Response Teams (£0.8 million/£1.6

million)

6.5 Emotional, Behavioural, Psychological or Psychiatric Disorders - Key Result

Areas

Key Result Area Progress

Supporting Schools

The Sub Committee remains committed to the

concept of the “extended” or “full service”

school. The recent announcement of funding

in the Children and Young Peoples Funding

Package provides the opportunity to

collaborate on this development when

Department of Education implementation plans

are clarified.

16-19 Year Old Mental

Health Service

The sub-group is fully convinced of the need to

fully extend access to CAMHS for young

people under 18 years.

A key number of actions are in progress.

• Setting up of Intensive Crisis Management

Service 14-18’s.

• Redesign of CAMHS to include 16/17’s

currently excluded.

• Regional commitment to Tier 4 Services.

• Commitment to Children’s Directorates.

Looked After Children The Sub-committee recognises the value of an

outcomes based approach to planning for

Looked After Children and the need for

ongoing monitoring of the impact of dedicated

mental health related staff on the Looked After

system.

Plans are to be developed to ensure regular

feedback in collaboration with the Looked After

Sub-group.

Key Result Area Progress

Autism The Sub-group are fully in support of the

development by the WHSSB, in collaboration

with other agencies, users and carers to

develop a Western Area Strategic Framework.

This will govern in the first instance, a

comprehensive approach to assessment and

diagnosis; plans to further develop services of

Early Intervention, Support and Therapeutic

Intervention will also be put in place.

Eating Disorders

The Sub-group will monitor progress made by

the Regional Eating Disorders Network; a bid

is currently being prepared on a 4 Board basis

for specific and additional investment within

CAMHS teams to develop specialist Eating

Disorder capacity.

Promoting Emotional

Health and Well-Being

• The ongoing development of school-based

services eg NSPCC School Counselling

and the Chance for Change Project has

contributed to the expansion of a range of

early intervention services. The Sub-

Committee will be monitoring the

outcomes of the Chance for Change

projects with a view to examining

possibilities for wider application.

• The Sub-Committee continues to support

the work of a CAWT Project on the

development of a youth led emotional wellbeing

programme.

Coordinating and

Developing Multi-Systemic

Programmes

The Sub-Committee wishes to consider the

potential for developing a range of

programmes within the context of emergent

planning for a Children’s Directorate which will

enshrine integrated provision for children and

young people.

DID YOU KNOW THAT

During 2004/05, there were 864 young people referred to Adult Mental Health

Teams, 362 < 20 years and 502 aged 20-24 years.

At 31 March 2005, there were 605 young people on the caseload of Adult Mental

Health Teams, 126 < 20 years and 479 aged 20-24 years.

During 2004/05, there were 317 young people admissions to Adult Wards, 130 < 20

years and 187 aged 20-24 years.

At 31March 2006, there were 282 children/young people on the waiting list for Child

& Adolescent Psychiatry and there were 500 children on their caseloads.

7 CHILDREN IN NEED OF PROTECTION

Strategic Objective:

• To ensure that children are protected from physical, sexual and

emotional abuse and from neglect.

• To ensure that preventative services are coordinated in a way that

ensures that the greatest impact and effect can be secured for the

benefit of families in the Western area.

• To fully develop an outcomes-based approach to child protection

involving all agencies.

7.1 Key Result Areas

Key Result Area Progress

Policies & Procedures for

Inter-Agency Work

The WACPC have now agreed Regional Policy

& Procedures for child protection which were

implemented on the 01/04/05. Copies were

provided to a range of disciplines and multidisciplinary

awareness training was arranged

across the Board area. The WACPC

continues to monitor the implementation of the

Policy & Procedures and have assisted

Altnagelvin Hospital develop child protection

policies based on the Regional Policy &

Procedures.

Thresholds for Intervention Throughout the year Foyle Trust have

continued to address thresholds for

intervention which has also been commented

upon in the recent SSI inspection. Sperrin

Trust have now also adopted the Foyle Model

of Duty & Assessment Team which will bring

consistency in applying the Threshold Model.

It is anticipated that the Thresholds for

Intervention will continue to be addressed by

the development of Gateway Teams in 06-07.

The DHSSPS will also lead on the

development and implementation of a Single

Assessment Tool in 2006/07.

Key Result Area Progress

Development of Child

Protection Panels

Both Child Protection Panels have reviewed

membership to be inclusive. Both Panels also

report directly into the ACPC forum on a

regular basis to inform the overall work of both

Panels. The Principal Social Worker has also

become a member of the Trust Panels.

Developing Therapeutic

Services

Family and children have access to a wide

range of therapeutic services from CAMHS,

social work intervention, psychological

services and so on _ but this will require

additional development in 2006/07.

Communication Sperrin Trust commissioned research

facilitated by VOYPIC on a child consultation

model which needs to be implemented across

the Trust area.

The ACPC also produce an annual report and

business plan. Following a recent SSI

inspection the WACPC will also produce an

abridged version for dissemination across a

wider audience. A Parents Diary has also

been produced and will be disseminated in

2006/07. Further work is required in actioning

a communication strategy.

Business Planning The business plan now forms part of the

WACPC Annual Report and forms the basis of

work throughout the year.

Monitoring The WACPC have developed an Audit Sub

Committee with the Terms of Reference

agreed. The committee is made up of staff

from the Trusts and Boards and will produce

an activity plan to inform work proposals.

Training and Development The WACPC has not been able to attract

funding to support the appointment of an

Independent Trainer for the WACPC. Training

is facilitated by the Children Order Trainer but

is not in a position to address the training

needs comprehensively.

Key Result Area Progress

Links with MASRAM The PBNI now report directly into the WACPC

on a regular basis to advise on MASRAM

activity and developments.

Public Communication

Strategy

A public communication strategy was not

actioned during the year. The WACPC did

contribute to the planning of the ACPC annual

conference.

Communication with

Children, Young People

and Families

VOYPIC have developed a child consultation

model which needs to be reviewed and

implemented across the Board area in

2006/07.

8 YOUTH JUSTICE

Strategic Objective:

To work to prevent offending by increasing the range and coherence of

services in the Western Area (along the continuum from prevention of

rehabilitation) which promote the social inclusion of children and young

people who are at different levels of risk of offending or who have been

adjudicated on by the courts.

8.1 The Youth Justice Sub-Committee during the 2005/06 period met under the

Chairmanship of Andrew Rooke, PBNI until his transfer toward the end of the

year. The Sub-Committee also experienced a change in membership with

the replacement of representation from a number of agencies including

Extern and Foyle HSS Trust.

8.2 In the 2005/06 period, the Sub-Committee was able to support a number of

Youth Justice projects or a non-recurrent basis because of “slippage” funding

within the allocation made to the Sub-Committee by the Youth Justice

Agency (previously from the Northern Ireland Office). The projects included

Galliagh ‘Off the Streets’ Initiative, Solis, NIACRO, Young Independents

Groups and Include Youth. In addition the contracts continued with Extern

for the provision of Janus Projects in the Derry, Limavady and Strabane

areas. Similar projects in Omagh/Fermanagh have been funded by

Executive Programme funding.

8.3 Key Result Areas

Key Result Area Progress

Service Model for Youth

Justice

The Youth Justice Sub-Committee has

completed and received interagency

agreement on the Youth Justice Strategy for

the West. This strategy has been delayed due

to the development of a Regional Strategy by

the Youth Justice Agency in collaboration with

the Children’s Services Planning Sub-

Committees (Youth Offending) of the four

Children & Young People’s Committees. The

models outlined in the Strategy for the West

are being considered in the context of a

Regional Strategy.

Key Result Area Progress

Community Safety The Sub-Committee has actively engaged to

differing levels with the Community Safety

Partnerships in the five District Council areas

in the western Board area and will be including

their objectives into the local implementation of

the Youth Justice Strategy.

Service Provision The Sub-Committee considers that its main

business of multi-agency planning has been

disrupted by the extensive discussion and

debate around the allocation of funding. Due

to the lack of a Regional Strategy and the

uncertainty of funding being sustained, efforts

were made to allocate available funding

(outside the standing commitments) in an open

and transparent way, recognising the

limitations of short-term funding. It is hoped

that, future funding allocations will help to

address priorities arising from a local

implementation of the Regional Youth Justice

Strategy in a joint commissioning context.

Young People’s

Participation

The Sub-Committee has liaised with the Youth

Participation project to consider the active

engagement of young people to the planning

and monitoring of services. The local

Implementation Plan in respect of the Regional

Youth Justice Strategy will be subject to a

consultation process with young people.

Information and

Awareness of Need

�� The Information Department (through the

Children’s Information Officer) has been

collating relevant information from a

number of sources including PSNI,

Probation Board, Youth Justice Agency

and Trusts and making this available on

the WACYPC website.

�� With the new Regional Youth Justice

Strategy, the information available and

required will be reviewed by the Sub-

Committee.

Key Result Area Progress

Policy Developments The Youth Justice Sub-Committee has been

actively participating in the development of the

Regional Youth Strategy which remains work

in progress.

Informal Systems The Sub-Committee has been unable to

engage with the informal youth justice sector

while awaiting a clarification from the Northern

Ireland Office in respect of a policy direction.

The Committee recognises and acknowledges

the current activities in the informal sector.

Youth Conferencing Youth Conferencing has been piloted in

Tyrone & Fermanagh by the Youth Justice

Agency with a planned expansion into the

Derry area in the immediate future.

Prisoner Families The Sub-Committee has improved awareness

of the vulnerability of children in the families of

prisoners/offenders. It is currently considering

a designated needs assessment to explore the

extent of need and the development of support

services which can be accessed as required.

9 HOMELESSNESS – CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

Strategic Objective:

To plan, coordinate and develop through interagency partnership working,

the range of housing provision and support services necessary for

children, families and young people who are vulnerable due to

homelessness.

9.1 The Sub-Committee on Homeless Children and Families met on a number of

occasions during the year under the Chair of Wendy Kirk, NIHE. With her

active leadership, the Sub-Committee continued to oversee the local

development of support services for families affected by homelessness and

to promote an inter-agency approach to meeting identified needs. Wendy’s

retirement at the end of the year saw the reins handed over to Walter Mullan,

NIHE.

9.2 The local implementation of the Supporting People initiative provided the

main focus of activity, both in terms of young people (mostly led through the

16+ Sub Committee) and of families with children. The initial development of

floating support provision across the area has provided a flexible and

responsive support framework which can help to coordinate access to a

range of appropriate service providers to meet a range of needs.

9.3 Homelessness – Children and Families Key Result Areas

Key Result Area Progress

Partnership Model for

Inter-Agency Working

The development of a Multi-Agency Steering

Group in the Foyle Trust area provided an

opportunity to develop a collaborative

approach to needs assessment, planning and

monitoring services. It is intended to further

develop this planning period.

Development of Initiatives

for Young People

See under 16+ Sub Committee

Key Result Area Progress

Systems for Monitoring

Need

Members of the Sub Committee with Tommy

Doherty, Information Department worked with

the floating support providers in Foyle and

Sperrin Lakeland Trusts to design and

implement a Management Information system

to capture needs assessment/service

throughput in relation to homeless families.

This will contribute to the identification of gaps

which need to be addressed.

10 SIXTEEN PLUS

Strategic Objective:

To promote the health & wellbeing

of vulnerable young

people aged 16-21 years by

strengthening multi-agency

working in the planning,

development and monitoring

of a range of services based

on assessed need.

10.1 The Sixteen Plus Sub-Committee, chaired initially by Deirdre Coyle (Foyle

Trust) and latterly by Vivian McConvey (VOYPIC), spent a significant part of

its time in this year on the implementation of the Children (Leaving Care) Act

(NI) 2002 from 1st September 2005. Deirdre Coyle was appointed Regional

Implementation Officer but remained in close contact with the Sub

Committee.

10.2 Key Result Areas

Key Result Area Progress

Implementation of the

Children (Leaving Care)

Act (NI) 2002

The Sub-Committee has been actively

involved in Regional Working Groups

addressing the following key developments

under the new legislation which became

operational in September 2005:-

• Policy & Procedures

• Financial Impact Assessment

• Role of Personal Advisor

• Pathway Planning

• Support & Accommodation Needs

• Education, Training & Employment

Key Result Area Progress

Accommodation & Support • The Sub-Committee has supported the

development of floating support services in

Foyle (FHASS) and Sperrin Lakeland

(NCH)

• Continuing developments to improve the

range of supported accommodation have

been progressed with the planned and

pursuing of projects in Derry (Francis

Street, Strand Road and Limavady)

developments in Sperrin Lakeland Trust

have been held up due to difficulty in

locating suitable sites within the cost

structure.

• Work is being undertaken locally and

regionally to develop protocols for NIHE

and Health & Social Services Trusts to

improve the assessment of and support for

young people presenting as homeless.

• There is currently a review being

undertaken through the Children Matter

Leaving Care Sub-Committee to extend

the 5 year strategic plan to meet the

accommodation and support needs of

vulnerable young people with an

identification of gaps and costed proposals

to meet these.

Health & Emotional Well

Being

• The Sub-Committee has been working with

colleagues in the EBPP Sub Committee to

consider possible service developments at

Tier 2 which might be located in a young

person friendly and accessible base.

• Links have been established with Health

Promotion and Investing for Health to

consider areas of mutual interest for

development eg young parents.

Key Result Area Progress

Tracking Needs and

Outcomes

The Sub-Committee with support from the

Information Department at WHSSB have

developed a Management Information System

to support the tracking of needs and outcomes.

At this time, a Regional After Care

Management Information System is being

developed which will possibly require some

amendment to the local system.

Training, Employment &

Learning

• The Sub-Committee has established close

working links with the newly appointed

DEL Social Inclusion staff within the

Training Programme.

• Funding has been available in this year to

promote training and employment

outcomes for young care-leavers and has

been used to purchase specific inputs from

Young Independent Groups and Include

Youth. The Sub Committee is currently

preparing a specification to tenders for a

designated support service to address this

area of need.

Advocacy, Representation

and Entitlement

• The Interreg- funded Youth Participation

Project has been actively involved with the

Leaving and After Care Teams to further

engage with Young People on the

implementation of the new legislation.

• The Sub-Committee is considering the

information needs of young people an their

rights and expectations under the new

legislation.

• The development of an advocacy service

is being actively promoted and the

announcement of significant funding under

the Children and Young People Funding

Package will enable this to be addressed.

DID YOU KNOW THAT

During 2005/06, 41 young people left care in the Western Board Area.

25 % of care leavers remain with Foster Parents.

A recent study of 135 care leavers in the Western Board Area showed that:

• 29% were in Training or Further Education

• 14% were in Employment

• 45% were Unemployed

• 8% were on Incapacity Benefit

• 4% were in Prison

• 22% were Parents

• 38% had been Convicted of an Offence

2.5% of the child population aged 0-19 in the Western Board have a disability; for

those young people who have left care, the figures are 13%.

1.3% of the child population aged 0-19 in the Western Board were referred to

Mental Health Services during 2004/05; for those young people who have left care,

the figures are 16%.

11 THE WESTERN AREA CHILD CARE PLAN

Strategic Objective:

The Western Area Child Care Partnership took its Objectives from Children

First, the Northern Ireland Childcare Strategy (1999) that aimed “to ensure

high quality, affordable childcare in Northern Ireland”. The policy outlined

measures to be taken to improve quality, increase access, provide better

information and make childcare more affordable.

The recent announcement of funding under the Children & Young People's

Funding Package and the OFMDFM 10 Year Strategy, “Our Children and

Young People – Our Pledge,” has provided the Childcare Partnership with

renewed objectives and an associated funding stream to build on the

achievements initiated under the Children First Policy.

11.1 The Western Area Child Care Partnership has met regularly during this

period under the Chairmanship of Eamon McTernan (WHSSB). Much of the

work of the Partnership is undertaken by a number of Sub-Groups including:-

• The Quality Assurance and Development (QUAD) Sub-Committee (Co-

Chaired by Winnie Kelly, SureStart Omagh and Danny Cassidy, Altram)

which addresses the issues of quality standards and training.

• The Planning, Information and Communication Sub Group (PICS)

(Chaired by Gerry Conway, Children’s Services Planner) which

concentrates on the development of information systems which support

a needs-led approach to planning.

• The Strategic Funding Panel chaired by Jackie O’Loughlin (Playboard)

which makes funding recommendations to the Partnership in relation to

allocations and supports their monitoring.

11.2 The Partnership continues to support the Local Early Years fora in each

current District Council. The fora are represented on the Child Care

Partnership but provide a local focal point for planning local initiatives to

support the Early Years sectors.

11.3 At the end of the review period, the Partnership was awaiting the review of

Children first and the launch of the 10 year strategy for Children and Young

People in Northern Ireland. This lack of a policy direction has inhibited the

setting of clear longer-term objectives for the development of early years in

the West.

11.4 There are currently 6 Sure Start Projects within the Western area offering a

wide-range of services to children aged 0-3 years and their parents. The

Partnership hosted a conference in 26 January 2006 at the Silverbirch Hotel,

Omagh to celebrate the Sure Start Projects in the area.

11.5 The Children and Young People’s Funding Package announced in March

2006 included an additional £10.85 million over the next two years for the

development of early years provision. Regional SureStart funding will

increase as follows:-

• In 2006/07, there will be an additional £1.75 million rising to £3 million in

2007/08 for the expansion of SureStart for children within the 20% most

deprived wards.

• £0.75 million will be available in 2006/07 for a planned developmental

programme for 2 year olds rising to £2 million in 2007/08.

• An allocation of £0.65 million will be available in 2006/07 for SureStart

projects to identify and meet the need for day care, rising to £1.2 million

in 2007/08.

Patricia McVeigh, DHSSPS with Speakers

(L-R) Paula Barr, Josephine Doherty, Martina Storey,

Winnie Kelly, Maeve Linton, Emma Breslin

• £0.6 million in 2006/07 and £0.8 million in 2007/08 will be available to

provide the facilities of the Pre-School Education Expansion Programme

in conjunction with SureStart.

The impact of this announcement will be the need to plan for developments,

ensuring that sufficient funding is made available across 27 electoral wards in

the 20% most deprived which do not have access to SureStart provision.

11.6 The Child Care Partnership continues to administer a number of funding

streams:

Building Quality Childcare – which has secured £1.3million in funding over

the last 3 years and is currently in the process of closing out. The

programme’s formal date of closing is 31/12/06.

DHSS&PS Sustainability Funding – which has secured £712,958 in funding

over the last 2 years. Sustainability funding has allowed for a transition from

the previous years when various European Union and Government initiatives

were available to establish the childcare infrastructure.

11.7 The Western Area Child Care Partnership recognises the serious issue of

sustainability in the early years sector.

While funding from various sources has been welcomed over the past

several years by the early years sector, the absence of policy direction has

lead to a difficulties in planning for the longer-term sustainability of the sector.

The Childcare Partnership sought to bridge this gap by providing training

within to all early years service providers throughout the five District Council

Areas. The programme was entitled: “Developmental Milestones to building

a Successful Childcare Service”, which covered areas such as the

importance of developing a short and long-term strategy, Marketing your

services, Financial Planning, etc. The programme was very well received and

the Childcare Partnership intends to provide further training during the current

year based on feedback obtained through evaluations of the programme.

11.8 Western Area Child Care Plan – Key Result Areas

Key Result Area Progress

Mapping and Information • Completion of a Sustainability Audit

• Updating of the Family Support Database

• Completion of the Workforce Qualifications

and Skills Audit

• Mapping of all early years and educational

services to coordinate spending plans for

the “Children & Young People’s Funding

Package.

Development of Local

Early Years Strategy

based on regional

Priorities

With the bridging of the policy gap through the

release of the Children & Young People’s

Funding Package, and the 10 year Strategy for

Children and Young People, the Childcare

Partnership has been focusing on:

• Delivery of the proposed Sure Start

Expansion Programme

• Supporting the delivery of the Extended

Schools funding.

• Ongoing development of the Early years

Workforce

• Undertaking User Involvement

consultations

• Distribution of funding to the sector

through the Early Years Small Grants

Scheme

• Provision of an Integrated Play Advisor to

support children with Special Needs and

their families.

Development of

Registered Child Minding

across the Western Board

Area

• Ongoing development of the local

Childminding Strategy to increase the

number of registered Childminders within

the WCP Area.

• Supporting the development of local

Childminding Networks alongside the Sure

Start Expansion Programme.

Quality of Child Care

Services

• Training Audit

• Consortium Training

• Workforce Planning

Key Result Area Progress

Accessibility of Early Years

Services based on Need

• Provision of training to the Workforce on

meeting Basic and Specific Special Needs

of Children.

• Provision of the services of an Integrated

Play Advisor for a third year, providing

advise and support to families of children

with special needs.

• Provision of Information Workshops on

Autism, Asthma and Eczema

Management.

• Provision of Irish Language Immersion

Programme

• Advocating for the need for additional

supports for children of immigrant

populations and how to meet their needs.

Integrated Family Support

Services

• Participation on Locality Action Groups

• Participation on Family Support

Preventative Steering Group

Consumer Involvement

Consultation

• Ongoing development of strategy to

involve consumers in the planning of early

years services.

• Plans for consultation events around the

development of the three New Sure Start

projects.

12 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE – CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Strategic Objective:

To minimise the impact of domestic violence on children and young

people in the Western area by developing inter-agency strategies for

education, prevention and intensive support

12.1 The Domestic Violence Sub Committee has met on a regular basis under the

Chair of Orla Conway, Women’s Aid. Its membership remains fairly mixed

with representation from Women’s Aid, Social Care/Health Care in the Trust,

WELB, PSNI, Barnardos and Derry Travellers Support Group.

12.2 In October 2005, the Government in Northern Ireland published “Tackling

Violence at Home”, its Strategy for addressing domestic violence and abuse

in Northern Ireland. The Strategy outlined actions under:-

• Prevention - Including the education of children and young

people about handling relationships and the

unacceptable and criminal nature of domestic

violence.

• Protection & Justice - Which seeks to ensure that victims are given

the protection they deserve and that

perpetrators are held fully accountable for their

crimes.

• Support - To ensure access by victims to a range of

support services available from different

agencies. Included in this is the provision of

support to children and young people affected

by domestic violence with the proposed

production of guidelines for professionals and

the roll-out of Barnardos Risk Assessment

Model to all Boards/relevant Trusts.

• Other Priorities - Which do not fall neatly within the other

strands. They include the development of

good practice standards/guidelines, a training

strategy, data collection, information-sharing,

performance monitoring and inter-agency

cooperation and communications

12.3 Domestic Violence (Children & Young People) – Key Result Areas

Key Result Area Progress

Mapping and Information

The Sub-Committee gathers information on

needs from different sources eg PSNI,

SOSCARE/CLAN (Health & Social Services

Information Systems), Women’s Aid.

Early Support

Initial discussions have been undertaken to:-

(i) Develop awareness of domestic violence

and support services available through

SureStart/Early Years projects

(ii) Work with Youth Justice Agency to deliver

Programmes on Building for Healthy

Relationships.

Training (i) Training on and the development of a

domestic violence policy has been

undertaken with Health & Social Services

Trust/Board and efforts are being made to

involve other statutory organisations.

(ii) Discussion has been held with the Western

Child Care Partnership to include Domestic

Violence Training or the range of training

programmes available to early ears staff.

(iii) Women’s Aid have undertaken training on

Domestic Violence with Contact Centre

staff.

Unmet Need The identification of unmet need is being

addressed initially through the youth

participation approach. It is recognised that

many support services remain dependent on

short-term funding and their sustainability to

always a problem.

“Tackling Violence at

Home” Strategy

The Sub-Committee has contributed through

Action Plan to raising the environment of

Agency responsibility in addressing the

Strategy’s objectives.

Key Result Area Progress

Risk Assessment

The Sub-Committee has explored the

Barnardos Risk Assessment Model. Its future

use will have to fit with the development of a

Common Assessment Framework and

appropriate screening tools. Members of the

Sub-Committee have been working with local

Inter-Agency fora on the development of

screening tools which will be completed in the

next year.

Involving Children and

Young People

The Sub Committee has considered and is

about to undertake activities which will:-

a) explore the experiences of children and

young people who have accessed services

related to domestic violence;

b) explore the awareness of the impact of

domestic violence on children and young

people through joint work with the Youth

Participation Project.

Policy Review

Members of the Sub-Committee have

encouraged agencies and employers in the

Western area to respond to the “Domestic

Violence in the Workplace” guidelines

produced by NIO and DHSSPS.

13 CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE TRAVELLING COMMUNITY

Strategic Objective:

To develop a profile of the needs of the population of Traveller Children

and Young People in WHSSB area, considering the key messages from

research and reports. To draw up a service specification and business

case for a dedicated service to support Children and Young People and

their families, taking full account of all aspects of traveller culture.

13.1 The Western Area Children and Young People Committee established a

Working Group under the Chair of Brendan Bonner, IFH Manager to develop

an initiative targeting the health and well being of traveller children. The

Working Group was a multi-agency, cross-sectoral group and developed an

initiative entitled “Travelling Children Enrichment Programme.

13.2 The Programme (TCEP) is an integrated initiative to address the core

determinants of ill-health in traveller children around the themes of:-

• Self-esteem

• Learning

• Diet/Nutrition

• Oral Health

• Safety

• Physical Activity

13.3 The target group for the initiative are the under 5’s with the programme

targeting the children’s mothers. The concept is to provide the mothers with

new skills and knowledge, which will help them lead on another child’s

development and influence the lifestyle behaviour of the wider family and

traveller community.

13.4 The Working Group developed a proposal for a pilot initiative to develop,

deliver and evaluate an integrated programme on two sites. Kay partners

would be the Derry Travellers Support Group and the Omagh Traveller

Support Network. The 26 week Programme was costed at £33,200 but the

Working Group was unable to identify an immediate source of funding. This

remains the intention of the Group.

13.5 In February 2006, the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young

People (NICCY) and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland

announced their intention to carry out research into the adequacy and

effectiveness of educational provision of traveller children and young people

in Northern Ireland. It is hoped to have a final report available by mid-

October 2006.

13.6 On 7 March 2006, the Secretary of State announced a funding package to

address the most pressing needs of children and young people. Among the

initiatives, under the leadership of the Department of Education, was

£100,000 in 2006/07 to “increase the enrolment of traveller Children in pre-

School settings. The implementation of the initiatives has not yet been

clarified.

14 CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S HEALTH AND HEALTH SERVICES

Strategic Objective:

To improve key outcomes in relation to child health, maternal health and

young people’s health, based on integrated assessment of health needs,

addressing the rights of children and young people, public expectations,

workforce planning, partnership working and the strengthening of local

infrastructures.

14.1 The Sub Committee has continued to meeting during 2005/06 under the

Chair of Siobhan McIntyre, Service Planner, WHSSB.

14.2 Key Result Areas

Key Result Area Progress

Service Planning

Integrated Service Planning has improved with

the progression of Strategic Commissioning

Teams, including collaborative approaches to

investments from the Children and Young

Peoples Funding package.

Screening and Health

Surveillance Programmes

Hall 4 has been initiated across the Board

under project management as a corporate

objective. Investment has been secured to

improve areas of Early Intervention and Family

Support.

Service Framework for

Children with Autism

The Board has identified Autism as a corporate

objective and a Board wide strategy for ASD is

currently being finalised for consultation.

Significant progress has been made in this

area with a particular focus on the

development of area wide diagnosis and

Assessment teams and Early Interventions.

Funding has also been secured from DHSSPS

to support treatment and AHP services

Key Result Area Progress

Review of Children &

Young People’s Palliative

Care Services

The Board’s Palliative Care Forum continues

to drive the action plan from the review of

services in the WHSSB.

Significant investments have been secured

through reform and modernisation and the

HWIP to enhance Paediatric Nursing input for

respite and Tier 4/out of hour’s services. The

group are currently awaiting the outcome of

Big Lottery proposals to further develop Day

Care Services.

Health Promotion The Board’s Health Improvement Advisory

Panel sets the overall direction for health

promotion and ensures that the needs of

children and young people are

comprehensively addressed in statutory and

community settings. Inter-agency steering

groups take forward the actions of the health

promotion strategies using substantial

investment to assess need and develop

models of good practice. The areas covered

by the strategies include obesity, alcohol,

drugs and smoking, accident prevention, oral

health, teen pregnancy, breastfeeding, mental

health and suicide prevention, and chronic

disease management. Through the HWIP,

capacity to deliver is enhanced when pilot

projects are mainstreamed.

Maternal Health The Board in conjunction with the Trusts are

finalising local pathways of provision, including

the identification of designated Midwives,

Health Visitor’s and CPN’s in each locality for

follow up and referral as well as the

development community partnerships.

Children and Young

People who are Ill and

those with Complex Needs

Under reform and modernisation, funds have

resourced unfunded packages of care for

children currently in community settings

including social support and respite. Additional

Paediatric Nurses and Health Care Assistants

have been secured across 3 Trusts

Key Result Area Progress

Supporting Families and

Communities

In conjunction with the family support agenda,

additional funding was identified to appoint a

temporary project manager to oversee the

development of the family support strategy. In

addition the Board also secured permanent

funding to appoint Family Support Workers for

Level 2 services across Health-Visiting

caseloads.

Breastfeeding Rates The Board continues to support Trusts with the

progression of UNICEF accreditation, under

the directions of the Board’s Breast Feeding

Strategy Group The Board has supported

investment for community development

initiatives including Peer support and the

appointment of 3 permanent Breast Feeding

Co-ordinators in each Trust.

Human Resources A review of AHP Services continues to refocus

the future requirements for Children’s services,

with additional investment for AHP. In addition

to this, Child Protection Nurse advisors are

now in place in all Trusts. The Board have

also secured investment to enhance training

and development of staff working with children

in a number of key areas.