Improving Outcomes for Looked After Children, Young People & Care Leavers

1. Improving Outcomes for Looked After Children, Young People & Care Leavers Moray Paterson Looked After Children Policy Manager

2. Looked After Children Statistics At 31 July 2010 there were: • 15,892 children looked after by local authorities. • Of those 39% were placed at home with parents, • 20% were looked after by friends or relatives, • 31% were looked after by foster carers or prospective adopters • 9% were in residential accommodation • 3,918 young people eligible for aftercare services

3. Improving Outcomes Improving Outcomes for LAC Adoption, Fostering & Kinship Care Preventing Offending by Young People Residential & Secure

4. Education Too much to cover in one presentation! Today I will focus on • Attendance • Exclusion • Attainment – Tariff Scores • Positive Destinations • What we’re doing about it!

5. Educational Outcomes for LAC ATTENDANCE • Overall school attendance rate for LAC was 87.8 % in 2009/10 compared with 93.2 % for all school children. • School attendance rates were lowest for children who are looked after at home (78.7 %). • Attendance rates for children in foster care were consistently over 90 % across all school stages, and generally higher than the national average attendance rate for all pupils across each stage.

6. Educational Outcomes for LAC EXCLUSIONS - Key statistics: • Overall exclusion rate for looked after children was 355 per 1,000 looked after children, compared with 40 exclusions per 1,000 pupils for all school children. • Exclusion rates were highest for children who were looked after in a local authority home (866 per 1,000 children), and lowest for children who were looked after in other residential settings (which includes residential schools, secure care accommodation and crisis care), at 152 exclusions per 1,000 children. • Exclusion rates were generally higher for looked after children who had more placement moves during the school year, from 316 exclusions per 1,000 children for those who only had one placement to 1,308 exclusions per 1,000 children for children who had six or more placements during the school year.

7. Educational Outcomes for LAC Attainment of School Leavers – Average Tariff Scores • The average tariff score for LAC who left school during 2009/10 was 67, compared to 372 for all school leavers. • This is influenced by the fact that around 90 per cent of looked after children who left school during 2009/10 were aged 16 years or under when they left school, compared to only 37 per cent of all school leavers being of this age when leaving school. • The average tariff scores for LAC were highest (160) for LAC in foster care and lowest (32) for children who were looked after at home for the entire school year. • The average tariff scores for LAC were generally lower for children who had more placement moves during the school year, 41 for children who had four or more placements during the school year.

8. Educational Outcomes for LAC Destination of School Leavers • 59% of LAC who left school during 2009/10 were in a positive destination, compared with 87% of all school leavers. • By the time of the follow-up survey, 44% of LAC were in a positive destination, compared with 85 % of all school leavers. • 32% of LAC who left school in 2009/10 were in a negative destination at the time of both destination surveys, compared to only 8 % for all school leavers.

9. Educational Outcomes for LAC • We know that the life chances of a young person are likely to be adversely impacted by experiences prior to and after their experience of care. These are the chaotic and destabilising influences that led to them being taken into care in the first place. • That is why we are taking a 3-part approach:

10. Educational Outcomes for LAC • Securing even earlier interventions - so that children at risk of coming into care are provided with support in their family environment to allow them to go on to lead positive lives without coming into care;

11. Educational Outcomes for LAC • Promoting the need for early decisions to be taken about permanence - so that a child or young person is found a permanent, safe and nurturing home with the least additional disruption in their lives; and

12. Educational Outcomes for LAC • Promoting good corporate parenting - so that those caring for looked after children and young people are the best substitute parents possible.

13. Recent Developments • LACSIG Learning Hub (now in 2nd year) • Attainment Debate Oct 2011 • Education & Culture Committee Inquiry Nov 2011

14. Way Forward • Continued focus on the early years; support for reading and language in the early years • Capturing wider achievements/redefining what is a success for a looked after child • Supporting parents of looked after children • Better corporate parenting; not just local authorities, but also the health boards – importance of information sharing between professionals and working together • Placement stability/permanence • Support for care leavers

15. Improving Outcomes for Looked After Children, Young People & Care Leavers