TACT s response to Welsh Government Consultation: When I am Ready scheme continuity of care

Transcription

1 TACT s response to Welsh Government Consultation: When I am Ready scheme continuity of care December 2012 For further information on TACT s policy and parliamentary work contact Gareth Crossman, TACT Executive Director of External Affairs, on / g.crossman@tactcare.org.uk, or Amanda Cumberland, TACT Parliamentary & Policy Officer, on / a.cumberland@tactcare.org.uk. 1

2 Introduction 1. TACT is a national charity for children and young people involved with children and young people looked after by local authorities. We are the UK s largest charity provider of fostering and adoption services. We also campaign on behalf of children and young people in care and on the edge of care. 2. TACT Maethu/Fostering provides foster care services for over 130 children who are in the care of Welsh local authorities. TACT has taken into account the views of young people placed with TACT foster carers in Wales in preparing our response. 3. TACT welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Welsh Government consultation on the When I am Ready scheme and supports the aims of helping young people have better choices and support around their transition to independent living. We particularly support the aim to improve the stability and continuity of placements for young people after the age of 18. TACT s own research emphasises the importance of stability to outcomes for young people, and demonstrates the importance that fostered children place on their relationship with their current foster carers. 4. TACT congratulates the Welsh Government on its commitment to tackling issues around leaving care, and would encourage the Department for Education in England to follow this example. TACT particularly welcomes the fact that this scheme places a duty on local authorities to support eligible young people after their 18th birthday, as opposed to the voluntary arrangements for Staying Put schemes in England. 5. However, in TACT s view these proposals do not go far enough. TACT believes that the whole system of leaving care needs to be reassessed. A child in care is there because the state has made a conscious decision to intervene in the life of that child and become his or her corporate parent. This relationship is unique: there is no other relationship between government and citizen like it. The obligations that flow from that decision should establish a lifelong relationship in which support is provided based on need rather than age. As the guidance, If this were my child states, it is with the corporate parent that responsibility and accountability for the wellbeing and future prospects of looked after children ultimately rests. 6. TACT appreciates that this more radical reform is outside the scope of this consultation. We will therefore focus our comments on the consultation questions and a few additional key issues TACT has identified from our social work practice and comments from young people. Question 1: Maintaining foster placement options 7. An unintended consequence of the WIR scheme will be to reduce the overall capacity of foster care placements in Wales. Rooms formerly occupied by a looked after child who is at university, or taking part in another form of education or training away from the family home, must be kept available for the young person 2

3 when they return in holidays or at weekends. This placement will not therefore be available to another young person. 8. The broader HMRC definition which allows any person to be a WIR carer, even if they are not a registered foster carer, will broaden the pool of carers and may help maintain foster placement options. The flexibility offered by this definition would allow a young person to return to a previous foster placement, to extended family such as adult siblings, or to any appropriate adult. 9. In principle, TACT supports the choice and flexibility offered to young people under this definition. However, it must be remembered that young people leaving a foster care placement at 18 are often extremely vulnerable, and that carers must be supported adequately in their role. Appropriate support is an important factor in preventing placement breakdown, and this support should be available to all WIR carers. It is therefore important that foster carers who enter into a WIR arrangement continue to receive adequate support for the duration of the WIR arrangement, regardless of any changes to their status as a foster carer. TACT also believes that WIR carers who are not foster carers (as under the HMRC definition) must also receive dedicated supervision and support. This will be particularly crucial where the WIR carer has never been a foster carer. 10. TACT recommends that arrangements under the broader HMRC definition should only be made after an assessment of the WIR carer s suitability and after a matching process has been conducted. The consultation document states that where a young person moves to a WIR arrangement that is broader than the Welsh Government definition, the local authority must ensure the arrangement meets the suitable accommodation requirements of The Children (Leaving Care)(Wales) Regulations. Under these requirements the responsible local authority must satisfy itself as to the character and suitability of the landlord or other provider. TACT would recommend that the assessment of the character and suitability of the WIR carer is accompanied by a matching process similar to the process followed when placing any young person with a foster carer. 11. Under the Welsh Government definition, a young person who wants to remain in a stable setting but not with their current foster carer must move to the new placement in sufficient time to allow the placement to become sufficiently stable prior to their 18th birthday. TACT understands the Welsh Government definition as meaning that a young person would be moving to a new foster care placement, or back to a previous foster care placement. TACT supports this aspect of the proposals and agrees that sufficient time should be allowed for a new placement to become stable. 12. The length of time needed to build placement stability will depend on the young person s individual circumstances and needs. It will also depend on factors such as the location of the new placement, and whether the young person is able to maintain existing education or training arrangements and contact with friends and social networks. The timing of any move to a new placement should be considered carefully to avoid disruption to the young person s education, particularly as moves are likely to place when the young person is 16 or 17. 3

4 13. Under the HMRC definition a young person can move to an arrangement with someone who is not (and may never have been) a foster carer. It is not clear whether the requirement to move to the new placement in time for it to become sufficiently stable before the young person s 18th birthday still applies under the HMRC definition. TACT has concerns about moving a 16 or 17 year old out of a foster care placement into an arrangement with an adult who is not a foster carer, particularly where that person has never been a foster carer, before the young person is 18. TACT would welcome further clarification on this issue. TACT would particularly welcome clarification on what arrangements would be put in place to monitor the wellbeing of the young person in an HMRC WIR placement, and what arrangements would be put in place to support both the young person and the WIR carer. 14. On the whole the young people we spoke to thought that the WIR scheme is a good idea. However, they had some concerns about how it would work in practice. Some felt the scheme is unfair as they might not be in a placement suitable for WIR on their 18th birthday. They raised the following questions: 15. What about a young person who wants to stay in a placement after 18 but their foster carers don t want them to? a. How are young people meant to find foster carers who could guarantee a WIR arrangement until 21? b. Would it be possible to build a good enough relationship with new carers, in a short space of time, to ensure that they would keep them in a WIR arrangement until 21? c. The young people we spoke to were also concerned that as the new relationship was built over a shorter time it would be more likely to break down, which is of particular concern as you only get one shot at WIR (i.e. it only lasts until the young person leaves the placement). Question 2: Guidance 16. TACT recommends that the Welsh Government issues three separate sets of guidance, aimed at: a. Local authorities b. Foster carers c. Young people 17. The guidance for foster carers should be much clearer about the financial implications of entering into a WIR arrangement. The tax and benefits implications are extremely complex, particularly if the young person contributes to the WIR arrangement. Clearer guidance is needed on exactly what contributions by the young person will establish a commercial arrangement, and how this will affect the allowances and means-tested benefits the WIR carers can claim. This 4

5 guidance will also need to reflect any changes that will result from the move to the Universal Credit system. 18. Given the importance of stability to the outcomes for young people in care, TACT believes that foster carers willing to provide on-going stable placements to young people after the age of 18 should not be penalised financially as a result of their decision. Foster carers considering entering into a WIR arrangement may either choose not to do so, or be forced to opt out for financial reasons, if they face losing a large percentage of their benefits. Foster carers considering becoming WIR carers must therefore be able to make an informed decision, supported by accurate and accessible guidance. 19. TACT would also point out that there is currently no consistency in how fostering allowances are implemented across local authorities. Therefore, even with comprehensive guidance on the financial implications of WIR arrangements, foster carers in one local authority may not end up receiving the same support as in another local authority. The Welsh Government should actively promote consistency in the application of fostering allowances across all local authorities in Wales to ensure that no foster family loses out because of regional variations. 20. It should also be noted that Supported Lodgings schemes are required to have clear policies on young people s liability for rent, which must be applied consistently whether or not young people are working. Any differences in the level of rent and charges, or differences in response to non payment, for young people who are in work may put Supported Lodging schemes at risk of a decision by the local authority that its Housing Benefit claims are contrived. It is not clear whether WIR arrangements would face the same requirement. TACT would welcome further clarification on this issue. 21. Guidance for foster carers should also be clearer on when they would have to return to a fostering panel and how that process will work. The current system would require the change in circumstances to be reported to the fostering panel. TACT agrees that it is good practice for there to be a presumption that the change in circumstances would require a return to panel. However, TACT would recommend allowing a discretion over the timing of the panel meeting so that WIR issues can be rolled in to the annual review. 22. Guidance for young people should present the options available to them in a format and language that is accessible to young people. As a minimum this must mean using plain English and offering the guidance in a language of the young person s choice. 23. On this issue, TACT was disappointed by the presentation of the consultation questions for young people. When we spoke to young people placed in foster care through TACT they found the consultation questions impenetrable and confusing. In particular, the questions on a) problems faced by local authorities in maintaining placement options, and b) safeguards for households with other foster children were phrased inappropriately and risked causing young people anxiety or distress. We therefore chose to ask young people whether they thought the WIR scheme was a good idea and, if so, what the benefits of the scheme would be. 5

6 24. Guidance for local authorities should emphasise the importance of making timely decisions to enable young people and their carers to plan effectively, and to reduce the uncertainty that can cause young people significant anxiety. One young person told us, I m 17 and I want to stay with my carers. They want me to stay too but the local authority haven t agreed to anything. This would be great for me but the local authority say I might have to leave TACT and carry on in the placement with the LA. I went to a training flat and had to leave after 10 days because I was being threatened and didn t have any money left. I m not ready to live on my own but no one seems to know what s going to happen Guidance should include a clear description of what the decision-making process for WIR placements should look like, and how long it should take. Question 3: Is When I am Ready the right title? 26. TACT s interest is in ensuring that young people in care are appropriately and adequately supported to make transitions to independent living. What is important is that the scheme works, not what it is called. Most of the young people we spoke to said they didn t care what the scheme is called as long as it happens. 27. However, the name of a scheme creates a certain impression, and the impression created by the title When I am Ready is that no young person will have to leave care before they are ready. TACT applauds the aim of the Welsh Government to make this test central to the measure of local authorities performance as corporate parents. However, while the proposed scheme is a welcome step in the right direction, it falls short of this ambition. Young people may still have to leave care before they feel ready, as they have to leave when they are 21 or when their agreed programme of education or training ends. 28. Conversely, one young person told us, I don t think that s the right title cos it gives the impression that you can live on your own when you think you are ready, and a lot of young people in care that I know might think they are ready but I can tell you, they most certainly are not!. 29. TACT would therefore suggest that the title of the scheme reflects the on-going provision of support, rather than emphasising the end of care or perceptions of readiness. Q 4: Safeguards 30. TACT agrees that where fostered children are also living in a WIR household, the checks and requirements associated with fostering legislation must remain as a prerequisite to provide a framework for safeguarding and checking arrangements for the whole household. 31. TACT recommends that the same safeguards are applied to all homes where there are other children, including homes in which the foster carer has children of 6

7 their own but no other foster children, and homes in which a WIR carer under the HMRC definition lives with children. Where the local authority is supporting arrangements for a young person over the age of 18 to live with other children it has a responsibility to ensure that those children are protected and safeguarded. 32. To facilitate this, all WIR arrangements must be accompanied by a placement agreement between the young person, the WIR carer and the social worker, including WIR arrangements under the HMRC definition. 33. Furthermore, the current proposals only require the young person to undergo a CRB check when remaining in their foster carer s home, and not under other WIR arrangements. CRB checks should apply to all WIR households where there are other children, including WIR households under the HMRC definition. Additional comments TACT would like to raise the following additional issues: a) Cost implications 34. While TACT strongly welcomes these proposals it cannot ignore the reality that the cost implications will be immense. Local Authority budget cuts mean both Local Authorities and independent and voluntary fostering and adoption agencies are being asked to do more with less. This is particularly true in Wales where the number of young people entering care outweighs the number in England. The rate of increase of children being taken into care has been almost 6 times faster in Wales than England since 2008, and a child in Wales is one and a half times more likely to be taken into care than a child in England. 35. Budget cuts are hitting support for teenagers leaving care particularly hard, and there is a lack of consistency in how local authorities are using the Supporting People fund in respect of care leavers. 36. TACT is concerned that, without additional funding, implementing these proposals will mean that services and support for other aspects of the fostering system will be reduced, both in local authorities and independent fostering agencies. Independent fostering agencies like TACT are already being squeezed by local authorities facing extreme budget cuts. For example, despite having a contract in place following the All Wales foster care tendering process in 2012, TACT has been asked by one local authority to reduce its fees below the level agreed in the contract. TACT is not alone in being asked to provide more services for less money. The detrimental effect this has on the level and quality of services independent fostering agencies are able to provide, for instance the dedicated training and support for foster carers that helps prevent placement breakdown and promote stability, should not be under-estimated. 37. TACT urges the Welsh Assembly to ensure that Local Authorities are equipped with the extra funding necessary to implement these proposals, and not expected to meet the new duty from their already dwindling budgets. Furthermore, TACT would like to see greater consistency of practice in how local authorities apply 7

8 funding to support care leavers. b) Lack of implementation of corporate parenting across government departments 38. On that note, the consultation proposes that the new arrangements will be monitored by the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales, through its normal inspection regime of social services departments. However, other departments such as health, education and housing are also closely involved in corporate parenting responsibilities. If these departments adequately fulfilled their corporate parenting responsibilities for care leavers there might not be such a need for a scheme like WIR. TACT is concerned that adult services are being absolved of responsibility (and the resulting financial implications) for young adults leaving care, and that fostering services are being forced to shoulder the practical and financial burdens that should be shared with other services. c) Exclusion of the most vulnerable care leavers 39. Under the Children Act 1989, local authorities have a number of duties to prepare and support young people aged over 18 to make the transition from care to independent living. These duties operate primarily until the young person reaches the age of 21, but may extend beyond this where they remain engaged in a programme of education or training (started prior to their twenty-first birthday) and continue until the completion of the agreed programme, provided that this is set out in the young person s pathway plan. 40. Similarly, the WIR scheme enables young people to remain living with their foster carers (or another WIR carer) until they are 21, or until they have completed a programme of education or training started before their twenty-first birthday. 41. Again, while TACT welcomes the additional support proposed under the WIR scheme we are concerned that, by focusing on young people who are achieving by the age of 18-21, the scheme does not extend to the young people who are most vulnerable when leaving care. TACT believes that the relationship between a young person and the corporate parent should be a lifelong relationship, with services and support provided on the basis of need not age. We appreciate that this is out of the scope of this consultation, but we would encourage the Welsh Assembly to consider how it can support all young adults who were formerly looked after children, to re-connect to care services and receive support while they undertake education and training, even where this is not started before their twenty-first birthday. d) Foster carer registration with more than one agency 42. Under current regulations foster carers cannot be registered with more than one agency. TACT currently has 117 foster carers in Wales. TACT would want to encourage its foster carers to consider entering into WIR arrangements, however this would mean that they would no longer be able to be registered with TACT as foster carers. TACT recommends that foster carers are able to register as a WIR carer with their local authority and remain registered as foster carers with an independent fostering agency to help to ensure that foster placement options are maintained and reduce barriers to placement choice. 8

9 Appendix 1 Young People s Comments on the WIR scheme What are the benefits of WIR? There are so many benefits. You ve got security and safety of family life, you ve got a support network. If they do bring in this then they should make sure you have an after care worker until 25 cos you will still need support when you leave. I was lucky cos I moved into a house where I knew my neighbour really well and he looks out for me and I had 3,500 savings and 2,500 from after care, but once I d paid for furniture, carpets etc I didn t have anything left. I ve got a job, so I m lucky but after bills and everything I ve only got 20 to spend on food each week. It was all so rushed when I moved out of care, I had to move into an unfurnished, undecorated flat & I wished I could have stayed with my foster carers until I d got it finished. It would be better for so many things you ve got more time to grow up and get the skills you need to live. I m useless with money if I ve got it I just spend it. I don t do any cooking and my carer does my washing you don t think about those things when you re a kid but you have to when you re older and you would have more time to learn these things if you could stay on with your carers. Just for having bills paid and having nice food provided. If I had to move out next year I don t know what I d do where I d be living, how to pay the bills, I d have to get a job and there aren t any jobs around here. I do want to get a good job. I know people who have left care at 18, gone to live in a scuzzy flat where they don t know anyone, they mess up bother with the wrong crowd and then end up on mates sofas or in prison or back with their family, back to square one. Happens all the time. It would just give you more time to get your head together. You come out of school and then start a college course but you don t get on with it so you pack it in, so you look for work but there s nothing up the valleys, so you go to military prep but they want you to shave everyday so you pack that in and then the next thing you know you re being told you ve got to go live in some shitty training flat for six weeks on your own when you haven t got a clue what s going on and you get lonely so you invite your mates around and they invite their mates and hangers on and it all kicks off and you go back to your carers after a couple of weeks and then you realise you only got 4 months left in care! Are you going to be ready to live on your own after that? Of course it s a good thing. I wouldn t kick my kid out at 18. What s the average age for kids leaving home these days? 30? And they re still going to get help from their parents who s going to be helping us? I haven t even got a social worker at the moment. The last one wasn t replaced and that was 4 months ago. After care? Seen her once. I do get worried about what s going to happen when I m 18. My brother s OK cos our carers have converted a flat over the road and he s going to stay on there. I wouldn t want to stay on where I am, I m grateful for them taking me in and stuff, but I think sometimes that the grass is greener. I always planned to join the Army, cannon fodder, but I saw the Warrant Officer in the summer and he said there had been loads of cuts and they were only taking in people who stood out from the crowd. It would be nice to live 9

10 with carers who were more chilled until I know what I want to do. My carers have said I ve got to move out as soon as I ve finished my GCSEs in May don t know where to yet. For me, I think WIR would be good cos I m feeling a bit mixed up at the moment. I used to just block out all the stuff that had happened before but then I started getting into fights and I was angry all the time so I wanted to do something about it I want to get some counselling but I know there s a waiting list I ve got all this shit going on in my head that I can t stop sometimes and I just don t want to think about what s going to happen when I m 18, so I try and block it out. If I could stay until 21 I d just have more time to breathe. Amanda Cumberland December