Caring for our children and young people: corporate parenting update 2018 to 2021

Chapter 10: Impact of Corporate Parenting Activities in Scotland

Introduction

In Chapters 3 to 8, we have set out the wide range of activities advanced by Scotland’s national and local corporate parents between 2018 and 2021. Throughout, we have widely referred to the impacts of the activities in terms of their improvements to practices, support, opportunities and services for care experienced children and young people. Such impacts include:

• Empowering care experienced children and young people through their participation on Corporate Parenting Boards, leading different research and surveys, and their voices being increasingly sought and heard.
• Greater awareness and understanding of care experience among multi-agency partners and staff. including as a focus within Children’s Services Planning. Awareness raising, training, collaboration activity, multi-agency corporate parenting meetings, and greater participation of care experienced children and young people have all helped to increase staff understanding of:
  • The experiences and needs, including emerging trends, of care experienced children and young people.
  • Their duties and responsibilities as corporate parents.
• Changes made in the language and terminologies relating to care experienced children and young people, so that they are more strengths-based and child-centred. The focus has shifted to concepts such as relationships, nurture, love and belonging; while the use of terms such as ‘LAC’ or ‘case’ to refer to children and families is reducing.
• More inclusive, child-friendly meetings that enable the participation of care experienced children and young people. Examples include:
  • Meeting children and young people in advance of key decision making meetings to explain how the meetings work.
  • Providing advocacy support to children and young people to help ensure their voices are heard.
  • Adapting meetings so that they are less formal and professional in nature.
• Embedding of strengths-based practice within services, with a number of organisations, for example, embedding trauma-informed, nurture and Signs of Safety approaches to support.
• Increased attention to and investment in local, family-based placements leading to:
  • More foster and kinship carers, which in turn increases the number of foster and kinship placements available.
  • More brothers and sisters being able to live and be cared for together.
  • More care experienced children and young people living in (and returning to) their local communities.
• Enhanced supports and opportunities for care experienced children and young people through increased collaboration and dedicated corporate parenting roles and supports across Children’s Services Planning Partners in social work, health, education, housing, financial, employability, third sector and other service domains.
• Stronger relationships and understanding between senior staff and care experienced children and young people through their involvement on Champions Boards and Corporate Parenting Boards.

In this chapter, we move beyond the improvements to practices, support, opportunities and services outlined above to consider how corporate parents have been measuring the impact of their activities on the lives and outcomes of care experienced children and young people. The chapter therefore does two things:

• Provides examples of the measures and indicators contained in the Corporate Parenting Plans and the surveys of corporate parents to show how corporate parents have been monitoring the impact of their activities. As East Ayrshire Council set out in their survey response, these measures and indicators often span a ‘mixed approach of quantitative and qualitative: output measures; outcome measures; perception measures; individual testimonies; small tests of change; project specific outcomes; surveys and audits’.
• Where available, presents a series of national indicators to demonstrate the impact that Scotland’s corporate parents as a collective have had on care experienced children and young people.

In presenting the national indicators, we have used a Red-Amber-Green grading to show how performance across each indicator has changed from 2017 to 2020. Encouragingly we can see that many indicators are graded ‘green’ to reflect positive progress. However, we also recognise that the impacts presented in this chapter reflect the progress made up to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. To illustrate this, we refer to the number of Modern Apprenticeship starts by care experienced young people which had progressively increased from 328 starts in 2016/17 to 476 starts in 2019-20. However, with the proportion of care experienced starts to total Modern Apprenticeship starts unchanged, the number of starts fell to 312 in 2020/21 due to the wider labour market downturn.

A further aim behind this chapter is that the national and local indicators presented offer the basis for a more consistent approach to measuring corporate parenting outcomes and impact across Scotland’s corporate parents. We found, for example, over 200 different corporate parenting-related indicators being collected across Scotland’s corporate parents with little consistency in indicators beyond the national statistical reporting requirements to (e.g.) the Scottish Government or Scottish Funding Council. It was also unclear how some corporate parents are analysing and using the data they collect to inform future improvement activity, although the activities highlighted under the ‘Improve’ duty shows that some corporate parents are systematically reviewing and using their data.

Beginning with the care experienced child and young person population, each section then takes the same structure of presenting examples of the indicators being used by corporate parents, followed by an analysis of the available national data under each theme.

Care Experienced Child and Young Person Population

Many corporate parents sought to understand the demographic and current circumstances of the care experienced children and young people they support. Indicators included the number of looked after children, their placement type, and the number in receipt of aftercare services.

Examples of Indicators used by corporate parents

Looked after children

• Number / % of looked after children by placement type
• Number of children and young people who are placed in accommodation outside their local area

Care leavers

• Average age of looked after young people leaving care
• % of care leavers in continuing care arrangements
• % of care leavers accessing support up until age of 26
• % of young people in receipt of aftercare services with a Pathway Plan
• % of disengaged young people returning to service for support
• % of care leavers who are part of a network which provides ongoing practical help and emotional support after leaving care
• % of young people in receipt of aftercare services who are in education, training and employment

Where these indicators are available at a Scotland level, Figure 2 first shows the number of looked after children is on a downward trend and that there is a shift in the balance of placements towards greater use of kinship care. These trends reflect the increased attention to and investment in local, family-based placements, as well as the wider trend of investing in intensive, preventative family support services.

Figure 2: Number of Looked After Children by Placement Type, Scotland

	2017	2018	2019	2020
Number of Looked After Children	14,897	14,554	14,262	14,458
% at home with parents	25%	26%	25%	25%
% in kinship care	28%	28%	29%	31%
% in foster care	35%	34%	34%	33%
% in residential care	10%	10%	10%	10%

Source: Scottish Government Children’s Social Work Statistics 2019-20

For young people leaving or having left care, Figure 3 shows positive trends of the number of young people eligible for and in receipt of aftercare services, their uptake of support, their employability status, and the number in continuing care all increasing. These trends are likely to reflect greater promotion of continuing care, increased resource and attention to throughcare and aftercare services, greater collaboration with post-16 services and providers, and improving data recording of young people leaving care.

Figure 3: Young People Leaving Care, Scotland

	2017	2018	2019	2020	Change 2017-20
Number of young people eligible for and in receipt of aftercare services	N/A	3,777	3,710	4,129
% of young people eligible for and in receipt of aftercare services	N/A	55%	57%	57%
% of young people eligible for aftercare services in employment, education or training (where information on economic activity is available)	N/A	51%	52%	54%
Number of children in continuing care	N/A	208	286	306

Source: Scottish Government Children’s Social Work Statistics 2019-20

Care and Pathway Planning for Children and Young People

Most applicable to local authorities, a number of indicators or measures were being used to help assess care and pathway planning, and the quality of these plans and processes. These included measures around frequency of reviews, participation of children, young people, families and carers in planning, and stability of placements and professionals providing support.

Examples of Indicators used by corporate parents

Child’s Plans

• % of looked after children child’s plans reviewed every 6 months by their Team Around the Child
• % of looked after children child’s plans with SMART targets and an identified educational outcome
• Number of Child’s (Pathways) Plans that include child/young person’s views and active participation
• % of parents involved in their children’s care plans
• % of looked after children who: have contact with their parents and siblings in line with their care plan; and are satisfied with the contact they have with their parents and siblings

Placements

• % of looked after and accommodated children with three or fewer placements
• Average time taken from point of accommodation of a child to permanent placement decision

Looked After Reviews

• % of Looked After Children reviews completed within statutory timescales
• % of children where positive progress can be evidenced at the 6-month Looked After Child Review

Support from professionals

• % of care experienced young people who are clear about their: named person; lead professional; social worker; reasons for change in any of these; who to contact in the absence of these
• Number and reasons for changes in care experienced children and young people’s social worker

The nationally available indicators related to Care and Pathway Plans for care experienced children and young people show broadly positive trends with the percentage of looked after children with a current Care Plan consistently high and the percentage of young people leaving care with a Pathway Plan increasing, although the percentage with a Pathway Coordinator has fluctuated. The percentage of looked after children with three or more placements has fallen slightly.

Figure 4: Looked After Children with Care Plan; Number of Placements; and Young People with Pathway Plan and Pathway Coordinator, Scotland

	2017	2018	2019	2020	Change 2017-20
% of Looked After Children with current Care Plan	95%	97%	94%	96%
% of Looked After Children with 3 or more placements in past year	5%	5%	5%	4%
% of young people leaving care with a Pathway Plan	73%	73%	71%	79%
% of young people leaving care with a Pathway Coordinator	75%	68%	60%	70%

Source: Scottish Government Children’s Social Work Statistics 2019-20

Early Years

By different age groups, there were few measures relating to care experienced children of pre-school age. Some local authorities had measures relating to 2 year olds’ attendance and uptake of early learning and childcare and family centres, but overall, both at the national and local level, data relating to this age group is a notable gap, particularly given that 37% of looked after children in Scotland are aged 4 or under.

Examples of Indicators used by corporate parents

Early Years

• % of eligible looked after children 2 year olds attending an early learning and childcare place
• % of eligible looked after children 2 year olds attending a family centre

Schools

Compared to early years children, there is greater data collection for school age care experienced children. corporate parents provided examples of indicators relating to school attendance and exclusions, attainment, and wider supports such as Individual Education Plans, Co-ordinated Support Plans, and participating in school Champions Boards.

Measures around staff awareness and understanding of care experience were also being used. Such measures were found across schools, colleges, universities and other services, which reflects the level of training activity within the ‘Alert’ duty.

Examples of Indicators used by corporate parents

Care experienced pupils

• % school attendance of looked after children
• Number of care experienced children and young people attending school on a part time basis
• % of care experienced children and young people with an Individual Education Plan and Co-ordinated Support Plan
• School exclusions per 100,000 looked after children
• % of looked after children achieving Curriculum for Excellence levels in literacy and numeracy
• % of looked after children remaining in school beyond their school leaving age
• % of looked after school leavers achieving SCQF Level 5 or better qualifications

Staff and resourcing

• Number of schools with active Champions Board
• % of schools having a designated corporate parenting lead
• % of newly qualified teachers taking part in a learning and development session focused on the needs of care experienced children within the induction programme
• % of schools with key staff trained in nurture principles

Post-School Destinations

• % of care experienced young people in a positive post-school destination
• % of care experienced young people sustaining a positive post-school destination

The nationally available indicators focus on older children (specifically school leavers) rather than the full school pupil cohort. For example, attendance and Curriculum for Excellence attainment data for care experienced pupils of all ages is not collected or published at a national level. The educational outcomes data do, however, show positive trends with attainment and positive destinations on leaving school all increasing.

Figure 5: Educational Outcomes of Looked After Children, Scotland

	2017	2018	2019	2020	Change 2017-20
% of looked after school leavers with 1 or more qualification at SCQF Level 5 or above	36%	36%	35%	38%
% of looked after school leavers in a positive destination (3 months after leaving school)	77%	80%	81%	80%
% of looked after school leavers in a positive destination (9 months after leaving school)	72%	73%	71%	75%

Source: Scottish Government Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2019-20

Colleges and Universities

Half (49%) of care experienced young people enter further education on leaving school, and a further 7% directly enter university on leaving school (noting that more care experienced young people will later go on to higher education following college studies). With such high numbers of care experienced young people starting college and university courses, it is encouraging that attention is being paid to understanding the experience and outcomes of care experienced students. Examples of indicators used by colleges and universities are set out below and span from applications through to student experiences.

Examples of Indicators used by corporate parents

Applications and transitions

• Number of care experienced applicants
• Number of pre-course/college/university meetings to relieve anxiety about coming to college/university
• % uptake of applications/course starts by care experienced young people
• Student numbers
• Number of care experienced students
• Number of full-time and part-time care experienced students
• Number of credits studied per care experienced student

Course completion

• Number / % of care experienced students withdrawing early from their course
• Number / % of care experienced students completing their course

Destinations

• Number / % of care experienced HNC or HND students articulating to degree level courses
• Destinations of care experienced students

Student experience

• Awareness among care experienced students of services and support available to them
• Number of care experienced students engaging with support services (e.g. learning, careers and employability supports)
• Feedback from care experienced students of their college or university experience

Staff

• Staff awareness of challenges facing care experienced students
• Staff knowledge of actions that can be taken to support care experienced students

At the national level, the Scottish Funding Council requires colleges to report on care experienced students and the data presented in Figure 6 all show positive trends. The increase in the number of care experienced students is particularly striking and is testament to enabling young people to more easily and openly self-declaring their care experience background and the transitional supports put in place by colleges.

Figure 6: Care Experienced Students – Enrolments on college courses of more than 160 hours, and full and partial success rates, Scotland

	2017	2018	2019	2020	Change 2017-20
Number of care experienced student course starts	2,096	2,477	4,152	7,370
% of care experienced students fully completing course	57%	55%	59%	60%
% of care experienced students partially completing course	13%	13%	15%	18%

Source: Scottish Funding Council College Performance Indicators

Universities are also required to report on care experienced students and the numbers of care experienced students have similarly increased. Ease of self-declaration, Widening Access activities and articulation from further to higher education will be contributory factors here. Retention rates from first to second year of study have been largely stable at 87% of care experienced students.

Figure 7: Care Experienced Students – Number in Full-time First Degree Courses at University and All Undergraduate Higher Education (universities and colleges), Scotland

	2017	2018	2019	2020	Change 2017-20
Number of care experienced entrants in full-time first degree courses	170	255	320	370
Number of undergraduate Higher Education care experienced students	525	680	1,045	1,470
Retention rate of care experienced students (full-time first degree entrants returned to study in year 2)	87%	87%	93%	87%

Source: Scottish Funding Council (2021) Report on Widening Access 2019-20

Employability

In relation to assessing employability, there are overlaps with the post-school, college and university destinations statistics but examples of other measures used by corporate parents include not in employment, education or training (NEET) levels and the number of work experience and employment opportunities provided locally.

Examples of Indicators used by corporate parents

In Education, Employment or Training

• % of care experienced young not in employment, education or training
• Number of care experienced young people in receipt of benefits

Employability opportunities

• Number of work experience opportunities for care experienced young people
• Number of care experienced young people accessing placement via Our Family Firm
• Number of local employers providing opportunities to care experienced young people and care leavers

Skills Development Scotland publish data on the number of care experienced young people starting Modern Apprenticeships, their level of study, and their achievement rates have all increased between 2017 and 2020.

Figure 8: Modern Apprenticeship Starts, Scotland

	2017	2018	2019	2020	Change 2017-20
Number of Modern Apprenticeship starts self-identified as care experienced	328	429	415	476
% of care experienced Modern Apprenticeship starts at SCQF Level 6 or above	N/A	N/A	69%	73%
Modern Apprenticeship achievement rate of care experienced starts	58%	58%	59%	64%

Source: Skills Development Scotland Modern Apprenticeship Statistics

Other Themes: Health, Housing, Youth Justice, Sport, Leisure and Transport, Voice and Participation, and Carers and Establishments

Across the Corporate Parenting Plans and Survey Responses, there were a wide range of other indicators being collected. Examples of these are presented below under different themes, noting they contain a mix of child’s planning, service quality, participation, staffing, and outcome measures.

Examples of Indicators used by corporate parents

Health

• % of care experienced children and young people registered with a GP and Dentist
• Number / % of health and mental health assessments undertaken within 4 weeks of becoming accommodated
• % of completed looked after children health assessments with a health plan in place to meet identified health needs
• % of care experienced children and young people referred to CAMHS following their mental health assessment
• % of care experienced children and young people seen by CAMHS within the national standard of 18 weeks
• % of eligible looked after young people receiving support from the throughcare and aftercare nurse

Housing

• Number of care leavers accessing housing support services
• % of care leavers securing a tenancy
• % of care leavers sustaining a tenancy
• % of care leavers exempt from Council Tax
• % of young people eligible for an aftercare service experiencing one or more episodes of homelessness

Youth justice and missing episodes

• Number of care leavers identified in the Justice system
• % of care experienced young people who become involved with the Criminal and Youth Justice Service within 12 months of ceasing to be looked after
• Number of young people engaged in activity programmes aimed at diverting away from offending behaviour
• Number of care experienced children and young people appropriately diverted from the adult Criminal Justice System
• Number of Looked After Children who are reported missing to Police Scotland

Sport, Leisure and Transport

• % of care experienced children and young people offered local sport and leisure membership
• % of care experienced children and young people taking up local sport and leisure membership
• Number of care experienced young people using leisure facilities
• % of care experienced children and young people who said they exercised, played sport or did activities at least 2 times a week
• Number of care experienced young people using public transport

Voice and Participation

• % of care experienced children and young people who: are satisfied with the service they receive; say they feel safe where they live; and participate in their review
• % of care experienced young people who report feeling services are responsive to their needs
• % of care experienced children and young people who report they feel safer as a result of intervention or support
• Number of care experienced children and young people with advocacy support
• % of care experienced children who have used the Who Cares? Scotland service
• % of care experienced children and young people using Viewpoint as a mechanism to provide feedback
• Number of care experienced young people participating in events
• Number of care experienced young people who have participated in the Champions Board per year
• % of care experienced young people who are registered to vote

Carers and establishments

• Number of new foster carers
• Number of foster carers leaving the service
• % of designated people reporting confidence in being able to offer advice and guidance
• % of foster carers with access to training and development in nurture principles
• Number of residential care home workers who are aware of the Police Scotland Protocol in relation to responses to care-experienced young people
• Fostering care inspection reports judged ‘good’ or better
• Residential care inspection reports judged ‘good’ or better

Across the different indicators outlined above, there were very few for which national data is published. As Figure 9 shows, those available focus on care leavers’ interaction with homeless and criminal justice services.

Figure 9: Young People Eligible for Aftercare Services Known to be Homeless or in Custody, Scotland

	2017	2018	2019	2020	Change 2017-20
Number of young people eligible for aftercare services known to be homeless	N/A	145	126	106
Number of young people eligible for aftercare services known to be in custody	N/A	73	83	77

Source: Scottish Government Children’s Social Work Statistics 2019-20

In Summary

In this chapter we have set out how corporate parents are measuring the impact of their activities and, where available, used the corresponding national indicators to evidence improved outcomes for care experienced children and young people. Importantly, and reflecting the range of activities taken forward by corporate parents, the national data presented in Figures 1 to 9 point towards improving outcomes. However, and not presented here, significant gaps continue to exist between the outcomes of care experienced children and young people and those of their peers. Continued attention and investment to corporate parenting activities are therefore needed to continue to close the gap with their peers.

In relation to measurement of impact, we have identified gaps in measures (particularly at the national level) for younger children, and in the domains of health and housing. We also found that there is little consistency in what measures are being collected and used across Scotland’s corporate parents. A future priority, therefore, might be for corporate parents to collaborate on a more consistent and streamlined set of local and national indicators, ideally allowing comparison with the wider children and young people population to understand whether the gap with their peers is closing.

A Children, Young People and Families (CYPF) Outcomes Framework is currently being developed by the Scottish Government in collaboration with stakeholders. A Core Wellbeing Indicator set will form part of this framework, and aims to provide an overview of wellbeing at both a whole population level, and at a local level. This will support consistency across different reporting requirements in Scotland, including on Children’s Services Plans, highlight what progress is being made in ‘closing the wellbeing gap,’ and identify if further action is needed to improve outcomes for children and young people with specific wellbeing needs, such as care experience. It may be the case that this work could provide an opportunity for alignment with Corporate Parenting data collection and analysis and this is something that can be considered in the next phase of planning.