Children in Care Councils, CiCCs, were introduced by local authorities in 2007. CiCCs, introduced by the Department for Education and Skills, allow ‘looked after’ children to contribute to service planning while in care. Camden’s CiCC is one of 22 served by London Councils.
Problems and Purpose
Children in Care Councils are deliberative forums for looked after children and care leavers. CiCCs were created when the Department for Education and Skills found a discrepancy in outcomes between looked after children and other children. Established to address this imbalance, CiCCs allow looked after children to influence service planning through clearly established links with key decision makers within their local authority, specifically with “direct links to the Director of Children’s Services and Lead Member.”[1] This enables participants to directly experience improvements while they are still in care, as found in Camden’s CiCC. There was also the aim of standardising the quality of care across the UK.[2]
As well as developing this feedback mechanism, Camden’s CiCC also uses this group as a platform to enrich and provide new opportunities for looked after children and young people in care, as well as for young people who have just aged out of the care system. Participants can become Young Inspectors and are actively encouraged to participate in Youth MP Elections.[3]
CiCCs were also developed as a platform for information created by other organisations invested in improving outcomes for looked after children, such as the National Children’s Bureau.[4]
Through these feedback and enrichment opportunities Camden’s CiCC is both improving its service and helping improve the outcomes of looked after children within the local authority.
Background History and Context
First developed in the Department for Education and Skills’ policy paper, Care Matters: Time for Change, it was expected for “every local area to develop a pledge for the children in their care and a children in care council to ensure children’s views can be put directly to those responsible for corporate parenting.”[5] This democratic innovation allows looked after children, who are under 18 and cannot vote, to influence policy within their local authority, Camden, and potentially nationwide.
While it is unclear when the first CiCC was introduced in a local authority, the first online record of Camden’s CiCC appears in the form of their first annual newsletter released in 2010.[6] This newsletter is labelled as the fourth, so it is likely that Camden’s CiCC creation can be backdated roughly to 2007.
Prior to Camden’s CiCC, there was no official feedback mechanism. However, it would have been possible to provide feedback on an individual basis during Looked After Children’s reviews, also known as LAC reviews.[7] LAC reviews are designed to evaluate care conditions and to help develop a care plan for looked after children, not to enable feedback on the system.[8] This would not have been an effective platform to suggest policy changes. Furthermore, as individuals, looked after children lack suffrage, and realistically had limited access to decision-makers within their local authority, thus limiting any traditional method of influencing policy.
Though looked after children were unable to influence policy, the Children’s Act 2004 saw the introduction of the Children’s Commissioner, which was created to represent the views of young people, with a focus on children who are less likely to voice their concerns i.e. children in care.[9]
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
There have been several bodies involved throughout the conception, development and management of Camden’s CiCC and other Children in Care Councils across the country.
The Department for Education and Skills proposed the creation of CiCCs in 2007 to enable young people to influence service planning within corporate parenting and allow local authorities to improve the outcomes of looked after children within the locality.[10]
While proposed by the Department for Education and Skills, funding is determined by individual local authorities. Camden Council funds Camden’s CiCC under their Supporting People Directorate, which has a budget of £179.54 million for 2018/2019.[11]
Since the introduction of CiCCs, several bodies have become key supporters in their development and ongoing improvement. The Office of the Children’s Commissioner supports CiCCs in attempting to link CiCCs across the country.[12] The Office of the Children’s Commissioner was created in the 2004 Children’s Act.[13] This executive non-departmental public body was created to promote the interests of children in policy and decision-making, with a particular focus on vulnerable children or those who cannot participate as easily as other children.[14]
The National Children’s Bureau provides both foundations and supportive structures for Camden’s CiCC as evidenced by annual reviews and good practice guides created.[15]
Participant Recruitment and Selection
Participation is targeted to looked after children and recent care leavers. Participation is self-selecting. Looked after children and care leavers can get involved in lots of different ways with help from foster families, social workers and schools or simply by volunteering. Current statistics show that across the 22 London Councils, CiCC membership ranges from five to 22 members.[16]
The one main point of contact across the Camden’s CiCC is Elzbieta Chandrasena, who is the main organiser and administrative contact. She directs enquiries and answers questions about upcoming events.[17]
Methods and Tools Used
The main method used to generate recommendations within Camden's CiCC is the deliberative forum. This allows members of the CiCC to discuss issues which impact them and their peers, and then develop solutions to be presented to key decision-makers within the local authority and other stakeholders.
Meetings have an agenda set by the members of Camden's CiCC and also other stakeholders. This allows ideas to be generated around topics set by everyone within the affinity group, which enables greater understanding of concerns to be developed between looked after children and stakeholders interested in improving the care service provided.
Camden’s CiCC also has its own website: BackChat. On this website, looked after children can contribute in the “my Voice” blog which feeds directly back to the CiCC, or even use the “Talk to Us” feature to access further information.[18]
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
In Camden’s CiCC, there are 3 groups of deliberation: Kids, Teen and Care Leavers.[19] These groups meet together once a month and discuss various topics around corporate parenting and service planning.[20] Meetings are based in the Crowndale Centre (NW1), a local authority building.[21]
Meeting agendas are set priors to meetings. For example, in July 2016, a meeting was created solely for the purpose of determining the role of Camden’s CiCC.[22]
Meetings are mediated to facilitate discussion and develop recommendations for key decision-makers. For example, in April 2017, members of Camden’s CiCC had the opportunity to provide feedback for the manager of the Independent Reviewing Service, or IRO, for looked after children in Camden.[23] The IRO audits and addresses “training and practice issues, and produces policy and guidance on relevant subjects.”[24] In this meeting, members of Camden’s CiCC suggest numerous changes, such as supplying young people minutes from LAC meetings directly and allowing the option for young people to chair their LAC meetings.[25]
Members of Camden’s CiCC are encouraged to become Young Inspectors.[26] Young Inspectors collect feedback from their peers, parents, carers and social workers about how the service can be improved and make recommendations from these consultations.[27] This enables greater evaluative discussion to occur within Camden’s CiCC as members have a greater understanding of the needs of others within the service.
CiCCs across London, including Camden’s CiCC, have become a very useful pool for external political bodies to target to gain insight and feedback. For example, as well as feeding back to Camden’s local authority, members of the Camden CiCC are invited to other forums such as New London CiCC, which is funded by Team London and Thrive LDN.[28] These grant programmes have been developed to support “community groups and small charities to run social action projects with vulnerable young Londoners who are disproportionally affected by poor mental health”, which is often the case with children in care.[29]
The London CiCC recruits members from all 22 London Council CiCCs with the aim to engage “young people in a social action project to raise awareness of three key issues which young people at the London CiCC have prioritised and chosen to focus on.”[30] These three issues are:
- Education – developing how looked after children can access support;
- Accommodation – helping looked after children prepare for independent living; and
- Money/Budgeting – helping looked after children develop money management skills.[31]
There is very limited engagement online. Articles are extremely limited and Camden’s CiCC have no social media presence.
The role of stakeholders
The Children’s Commissioner is working to introduce IMO,[32] the “first national peer-led digital platform for children in care and care leavers.”[33] The aim is to link CiCCs across the country and allow feedback and issues to be raised and discussed on one simple and accessible platform. As well as developing IMO, the Children’s Commissioner and representatives also attend stakeholder feedback events for CiCC across the country.
Camden’s CiCC also hosts stakeholder events. At these events, young people, social workers and foster carers and other professionals find out about issues recently discussed within the CiCC and propose topics to be discussed by the CiCC.[34] This two-way feedback mechanism allows direct input from both the service providers and those within the service.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
The influence, outcomes, and effects can be divided into policy impacts and outcome impacts for participants in Camden’s CiCC.
Camden’s CiCC have been able to develop and provide their own recommendations, as both of the CiCC and as Young Inspectors, to those within the local authority and to stakeholders. Numerous recommendations particularly relating to LACs have contributed to altering the way these meetings are led to enabling members of Camden’s IRO to contribute to the LAC DVD.[35]
Beyond Camden’s CiCC, members have also been able to participate in London’s CiCC, and have also been invited to contribute in All Party Parliamentary Group meetings for young people and care leavers.[36] In these meetings, industry researchers and young people who have experienced care have been able to discuss various issues affecting this minority group, though the minutes did reflect that young people should have more time to contribute at these events.
With regards to improving the outcomes of looked after children, Camden’s CiCC provides numerous opportunities for personal development. Camden CiCC members have been involved with Care Leaver Summer Schools at the University of Greenwich.[37] BackChat newsletters highlight the direct influence the CiCC has had on individual members. For example, ‘Leevon’, a 15-year-old who has been a member of Camden’s CiCC for three years has been involved in a range of activities from meeting with Ofsted inspectors to the Mayor of London and has even had opportunities to travel.[38]
While specific data regarding the educational and welfare outcomes of looked after children in general or of those involved in Camden’s CiCC are not specifically released, through providing a range of educational and enrichment opportunities, the likelihood of outcomes improving are maximised.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
CiCCs were introduced to lessen the discrepancy in outcomes between looked after children and other children and to address the variation in the quality of care across the UK. While this value proposition is completely valid, the corresponding solution proposed in 2007 is not. The Department for Education and Skills provided a very limited foundation for local authorities to base these projects beyond their definition. There was no suggested format, methodology or standardisation between different CiCCs. This means that the quality of a CiCC is determined entirely by the amount of effort and engagement of staff in the local authority. Fortunately, Camden’s CiCC is one of the most engaged, though the development over the last decade would have been far simpler with a more developed starting point. However, by allowing Camden to develop its own CiCC, Camden local authority have been able develop a feedback mechanism which suits the area’s looked after children as it was designed specifically by them. This has provided far greater agency in developing the forum, but it has slowed down the initial production of recommendations. This, in turn, mitigates the impacts for care leavers who have aged out of the system.
While outcomes are currently very difficult to speculate as the information recorded has not been released, it is clear that effective information management has been occurring, as suggested in Care Matters.[39] By channelling enquiries to one point of contact, information is centralised and recorded by one person. This increases the likelihood of consistency and data collection reliability in the short term.
Members of Camden’s CiCC are interacting with a greater variety of opportunities than previously. This does raise the issue that the outcomes—derived from enrichment activities, such as visiting Westminster and attending stakeholder events—may be limited to only those who participate in Camden’s CiCC rather than all looked after children in the area.
Camden’s CiCC also provides a great platform to enable political socialisation of young people, particularly those without parents as they are being introduced to political discussions, norms, and bureaucracy. Participating in Camden’s CiCC is a method of instilling a sense of duty to engage politically as members are perceived to be far more likely to be politically active in the future.
However, while the impacts of participation seem great, there is a large issue with engagement, with the average London Council ranging only 5 to 22 members. In turn, this is likely to have had a financial impact as funding is dedicated to projects where social impact is maximised for the lowest cost.
There may be a reason for this: Camden’s CiCC website while well intentioned is actually very difficult to navigate and find without the use of very specific terms on search engines. In addition, it’s very child-friendly, perhaps too child-friendly to the point of being perceived as patronising by young people. Information regarding Camden’s CiCC is extremely fragmented, split between many different web pages and then separated further with information from other CiCCs across the UK. This would be very daunting for the young looked after child to attempt to join. Furthermore, there don’t seem to be any structures in place to allow minority groups within looked after children to be represented, such as those with disabilities. Hopefully, the launch of the Children’s Commissioners IMO website will counter these issues, not only in Camden, but across the country linking these participatory structures.
It is unclear how successful the recommendations of Camden’s CiCC have been, but movement seems to be in the right direction and the correct connections are being made. Perhaps with the development of the London CiCC, the recommendations shall carry more weight, and perhaps even be publicised.
See Also
References
[1] Department for Education and Skills (2007). Care matters: time for change. [online] GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-matters-time-for-change
[2] Department for Education and Skills (2007).
[3] BackChat. (2016). Young Inspectors: Who Are We? [online] www.backchatonline.org/. Available on: https://www.backchatonline.org.uk/pages/young-inspectors/who-are-young-inspectors
[4] Department for Education and Skills (2007).
[5] Department for Education and Skills (2007).
[6] BackChat. (2018). Newsletters. [online] www.backchatonline.org/. Available on: https://www.backchatonline.org.uk/newsletters
[7] Lancashire County Council. (2018). Looked After Children’s Reviews. [online] Available on: http://www.proceduresonline.com/lancashirecsc/p_look_aft_rev.html
[8] Lancashire County Council. (2018).
[9] Office for the Children’s Commissioner. (2018). Our Work: Children in Care. [online] Available on: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/our-work/children-in-care/
[10] Department for Education and Skills (2007).
[11] Camden Council. (2018). Revenue & Capital Budgets. [online] Available on: https://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/cms-service/stream/asset/?asset_id=3724228& [BROKEN LINK]
[12] Office for the Children’s Commissioner. (2018). Year in Review 2017/18. [online] Available on: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/CCO-Year-in-Review-2017-18.pdf
[13] Office for the Children’s Commissioner. (2018).
[14] Office for the Children’s Commissioner. (2018).
[15] National Children’s Bureau. (2018). Good Practice Guide. [online] Available on: https://www.ncb.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/Images_Research/A%20guide%20to%20good%20practice%20CICC.pdf [DEAD LINK]
[16] London Councils. (2011). Children in Care Councils. [online] Available on: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa... [pdf]
[17] BackChat. (2016). What is the Children in Care Council? [online] www.backchatonline.org/. Available on: https://www.backchatonline.org.uk/pages/children-in-care-council/what-is-the-children-in-care-council
[18] BackChat. (2016). What is the Children in Care Council?
[19] BackChat. (2016). What is the Children in Care Council?
[20] Cindex. (2018). Camden Children in Care Council. [online] Available on: http://search3.openobjects.com/kb5/camden/cd/service.page?id=LH-FMIX2sU0&communitychannel=1-5
[21] BackChat. (2016). Invitation to Children in Care Council event. [online] Available on: https://hellopace.com/blogs/my-voice/blog_articles/228-invitation-to-children-in-care-council-event?mode=html
[22] BackChat. (2016). Invitation to Children in Care Council event.
[23] BackChat. (2017). Children in Care Council Question Time. [online] Available on: https://hellopace.com/blogs/my-voice/blog_articles/245-children-in-care-council-question-time?mode=text
[24] Cindex. (2018). Quality Assurance Service (Camden Council Supporting People Directorate). [online] Available on: http://cindex.camden.gov.uk/kb5/camden/cd/service.page?id=XAzzaw1bYCg
[25] Cindex. (2018).
[26] BackChat. (2018). What do Young Inspectors do? [online] Available on: https://hellopace.com/pages/young-inspectors/what-do-young-inspectors-do
[27] BackChat. (2018). What do Young Inspectors do?
[28] Mayor of London, London Assembly. (2018). More support for children in care and care leavers. [online] Available on: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/education-and-youth/support-families-and-early-years/more-support-children-care-and-care-leavers#Stub-173189
[29] Mayor of London, London Assembly. (2018).
[30] Mayor of London, London Assembly. (2018).
[31] Mayor of London, London Assembly. (2018).
[32] IMO. (2018). Home. [online] Available on: https://imohub.org.uk
[33] Office for the Children’s Commissioner. (2018).
[34] BackChat. (2016). Children in Care Council stakeholder's event. [online] Available on: https://hellopace.com/blogs/my-voice/blog_articles/229-children-in-care-council-stakeholder-s-event
[35] BackChat. (2017). Review Meetings DVD. [online] Available on: https://hellopace.com/blogs/my-voice/blog_articles/253-review-meetings-dvd
[36] BackChat. (2018). Invitation to all young people in care and care leavers. [online] Available on: https://www.backchatonline.org.uk/blogs/advocacy/blog_articles/279-invitation-to-all-young-people-in-care-and-care-leavers [BROKEN LINK]
[37] BackChat. (2018). Care leaver summer school. [online] Available on: https://bristolballoons.co.uk/blogs/16/blog_articles/275-care-leaver-summer-school
[38] BackChat. (2018). Newsletter 2017-18. [online] Available on: https://www.backchatonline.org.uk/documents/1111-backchat-issue-10-2017
[39] Department for Education and Skills (2007).
External Links
https://www.backchatonline.org.uk