Council failures saw care leavers living in tents, Ofsted finds
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Devon County Council has been severely criticised by Ofsted for allowing vulnerable care leavers with mental health problems to live in tents and on the street.
Inspectors expressed concern that the council is failing in its duty as corporate parents to help care leavers, who were being left in poor housing and struggling with mental illness. This is forcing some to live rough on the streets and in tents, Ofsted found.
The inspectorate also raised concerns that the council leaders “were unaware” of this situation before the inspectorate’s visit.
Following an inspection in January, Ofsted rated the children's social care at the council as "inadequate" for overall effectiveness, social work practice and its support for looked-after children and care leavers. Child protection work is rated as "requires improvement to be good".
“Until this inspection, senior leaders did not know about the extent of the failures to protect some of the most vulnerable children and young people from harm", states Ofsted’s inspection report.
“They were unaware that a very small minority of their care leavers were or had been living in tents on the streets. These are not isolated incidents. In general, care leavers with the greatest needs, including struggles with their mental health, are left in unsuitable accommodation for too long because their corporate parents do not step in and act.”
Inspectors are similarly scathing about social workers’ support for children suffering “chronic neglect and abuse” who are “being left with their families too long”.
The council's social workers and managers “lack clarity about when to turn concerns into legal action”.
Social workers are failing to effectively gather evidence of neglect. In addition, managers “lack the drive and assertiveness required for children to make progress”.
In terms of supporting care leavers, inspectors noted that there is a focus on maintaining relationships with young people, but this has been "at the expense of supporting and preparing young people for independence".
Inspectors criticised social worker support for care leavers as “a dereliction of corporate parenting responsibilities when children are at the point of most need and unable to make informed decisions for themselves”.
Council leaders are capable of improving children’s services but “have lacked grip and the pace of improvement has been far too slow”, state inspectors.
Inspectors raised concerns about the council’s care leavers’ support during their last full inspection in 2015, when support for this group of young people was also rated "inadequate". Improvements were noted during a follow-up visit three years later. “But since then there has been a further decline,” states the report.
In 2015 child protection, support for looked-after children and leadership of Devon's children's services were rated as "requires improvement".
Neighbouring Cornwall Council has been drafted in to help Devon improve support for those leaving care.
Children’s services in Cornwall were lifted from "good" to "outstanding" by Ofsted last year, with inspectors particularly impressed with support for care leavers. This followed criticism of Cornwall by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman in 2018 for housing a homeless teenager with a history of mental health problems in a tent.
Devon’s cabinet member for children’s services James McInnes said: “We are determined to put this right."
“Obviously, I am bitterly disappointed that we have let any vulnerable young person down,” McInnes added.
“Any parent will recognise that trying to help a young person to become a thriving young adult able to stand on their own two feet can be a tough job. This is especially true of the most troubled and vulnerable of our care leavers who are living chaotic lives, and struggling with things like drug and alcohol or mental health issues.
“The cases highlighted by Ofsted are clearly extreme, but we fully recognise we have a duty of care to every single care leaver and as a corporate parent we must do more to reach out and wrap support around them better.
“I have every confidence in our senior managers and frontline staff to act fast and do what is needed to turn things around.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic Ofsted has announced that it is suspending all routine inspections of schools, early years, further education and social care providers.
However, it will carry out urgent inspections where specific concerns have been raised.
"This will allow us to prioritise the immediate safety of children where necessary," said the inspectorate.