Issue - meetings

The Board was presented with a report from the Strategic Director – People, that gave an update on support provided to children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Appended to this was the Team Around the Family – Our Service Response during COVID-19 report.

Members were advised that throughout the lockdown the iCART had been in operation and although most staff were working from home, there had been a rota of social work staff in the office ready to respond to any immediate safeguarding concerns.  Similarly, early help staff had been operating from children’s centres and providing day care when needed along with other forms of family support, either virtually or by visiting and observing social distancing guidance.

The report provided summaries for each of the service areas as follows:

§  Early Help Services;

§  Disabled Children’s Services (DCS);

§  Daycare at Warrington Road and Ditton;

§  Safeguarding and children in care;

§  Children in care and care leavers;

§  Fostering Service;

§  Inglefield;

§  Placements Team;

§  Educational outcomes and effective practice for children in care and care leavers;

§  Personal Education Plans; and

§  Safeguarding Unit.

Further to Members questions the following responses were provided:

Where you able to visit children at high risk – yes we were able to do this, at times working with the Police to gain access if needed.  Social distancing measures were adhered to and no infection transmissions were reported.

How are we coping with mental health issues and do we have the resources to manage any increases in demand for the service – Public Health England had invested in online learning courses around mental health first aid for staff, to help them identify when mental health is a problem with an individual.  The specialist CAMHS help was also still available.  There was also extra work done in house, training staff to support and guide parents; the Education Psychologist Service was also available and the Health Improvement Team had many resources accessible on the Council’s website.

Are the Court hearings up and running again for adoptions -  yes they are back and one was completed last week.  There was still a small backlog to clear however the cases were being heard via hybrid court hearings across Cheshire and Merseyside, which enabled parents to attend whilst some officials dial in, so that social distancing can be observed in the courts.

RESOLVED:  That the report and comments made be noted.