Councillor Joyce took the Chair for this item
because of the interest declared by Councillor Bridgeman.
The Chairperson welcomed Tony Young (Director
of Social Services), Angela Bourge (Operational Manager Resources),
Ceri George (Improvement Project Manager – Prevention and
Partnerships), and Simon Morris (Lead Officer for the Child and
Youth Engagement project) to the meeting and to present the report.
Ceri George provided Members with a presentation which outlined the
following:
- The 6 service packages;
- The TAF approach;
- The current challenges –
maintaining delivery in face of reduced funding and the uncertainty
over the future;
- Interpretation of the data
obtained;
- Overall performance in 2016-17 and
Key achievements; and
- The next steps
Members were invited to comment, seek
clarification or raise questions on the information
received. Those discussions are
summarised as follows:
- Members queried whether there were
any plans, or would it be sensible to merge the Families First (FF)
and Family Information Service (FIS) phone lines, but were advised
that although some consideration had been given to doing that, it
was not something that is planned at the present time.
- Surprise was expressed at the high
number of self-referrals to the FF Freephone Service and the low
number of referrals from Social Workers. Officers were pleased with the high number of
self-referrals as it was hoped that this service would result in a
reduction in the number of calls to the MASH, particularly those
that results in no further action. The
FF Freephone Service was equipped to immediately respond to
families with information, advice and details of other
services.
- Members queried the current position
with the recommissioning process. Some
elements will be delivered in house, and others will be
commissioned from external providers.
There may well be staff who will come within the scope of
TUPE. Officers advised that it is
expected that there will be significant numbers of staff who will
come within the scope of TUPE and therefore a significant loss of
staff is not expected.
The Officer
Decision Report is to be signed off by the end of the week and will
then be circulated to providers. At the
present time the process is ongoing with Education; to develop the
School Model and Parenting Co-Ordinators. Hopefully this will be completed and agreement
reached by the end of this calendar year.
Some additional
funding has been received from Welsh Government; this will allow
the extension of the Vulnerability Assessment Tool to Primary
Schools as well as Secondary Schools, which can be refined to
identify and help prioritise families.
- Members asked why there had been a
drop off in the percentage of both 17 – 21 and 22 – 25
years olds accessing Families First in Cardiff and were advised
work is being done on joined up provision for 16 – 25 year
olds at the present time. It has been
accepted that there has been a gap but they are now looking to
identify risky behaviour, such as substance abuse, accommodation
and relationship issues.
- Members sought clarification as to
where the funding for schools involvement will come
from. Officers advised that a model has
been developed based on school clusters, first level Early Help
workers will be employed in the clusters and then managed by the
Education Directorate. The schools will
be approached for funding in line with the Pupil Development Grant
(PDG), or they could staff match. FF
funding would also contribute. It is
hoped that schools will buy in to the model for added
value.
AGREED: That the
Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet
Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing
the Way Forward.