Ofsted praises progress within council's 'inadequate' care leaver service
Tristan Donovan
Monday, June 18, 2018
Services for care leavers in Southampton have improved significantly following the creation of a dedicated service within the authority, Ofsted inspectors have found.
A focused visit by the inspectorate reviewed Southampton Council's progress on improving its care leaving services, which Ofsted deemed "inadequate" in 2014, with children's services receiving an overall "requires improvement" rating.
"Since that time, a determined and stable leadership team has made positive improvements to the services for care leavers, supported by a strong commitment and financial investment from political leaders," states a letter outlining the findings of the visit, which took place last month.
Inspectors said the creation of a new service that works with care leavers and looked-after children from the age of 14 has made "a tangible difference" to young people's transition to independence.
Ofsted said social workers and personal advisers work well together to deliver a "seamless service" to young people and that care leavers are "well supported" to obtain documents such as passports and birth certificates.
However, inspectors said variability in practice remains, especially in case recording and pathway planning. While the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for care leavers is low, risks are not assessed rigorously enough and not all care leavers are given access to their health histories.
The proportion of care leavers who are not in employment, education or training also remains high and Ofsted said the council's efforts to engage young people in programmes to address this "have not been successful". Ofsted reported that the council is now introducing targeted careers support as part of a suite of measures designed to address the problem.
Ofsted's report also said some return home interviews with young people who have gone missing lack the kind of detail and analysis that could improve risk management.
John Jordan, lead member for children's social care at Southampton, said: "The most recent Ofsted review marks a significant step forward for care leavers and looked-after children in the city. We welcome Ofsted's comments and recommendations and look forward to working hard to ensure that young people in our care get the best start in life and go on to live safe, healthy, independent lives."
Ofsted has also published the findings of a monitoring visit to check progress within children's services at South Gloucestershire Council, which was rated inadequate in February 2017.
Inspectors found that while the pace of improvement is picking up, the council needs to accelerate this further. Ofsted said the council has been successful at reducing staff turnover and introducing timely supervision of social workers but warned "social work practice is not yet consistently good".