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Children and Young People in Care Commissioning Support Group

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All documents on children and families:

March 2010 publications on children and families

This document contains summaries and links to four publications on children and families published in March 2010.

• Care Matters: Time to deliver for children in care (820 KB)

  This White Paper was published in 2007 and sets out government proposals to improve outcomes for looked after children and young people. It addresses corporate parenting, health, education and social work practice as well as better commissioning of looked after children’s services to improve placement choice and stability.

• PSA Delivery Agreement 11: Narrow the gap in educational achievement between children from low income and disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers (483 KB)

  This includes includes a focus on improving the educational achievement of looked after children at Key Stages 2 and 4.

• PSA Delivery Agreement 12: Improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people (351 KB)

  This includes a focus on improving the emotional health of children in care.

• PSA Delivery Agreement 13: Improve children and young people’s safety (392 KB)

  This PSA includes a focus on reducing the proportion of children with three different care placements per year and on improving long term stability of care placements

• PSA Delivery Agreement 16: Increase the proportion of socially excluded adults in settled accommodation and employment and employment, education or training (364 KB)

  This PSA addresses the needs of four groups, one of which is care leavers. It focuses on improving their participation in education, employment and training, and the suitability of their accommodation.

• National Indicators for Local Authorities and Local Authority Partnerships: Handbook of Definitions (424 KB)

  This set of 198 national indicators underpins the series of public service agreements (PSAs) for English local authorities and local authority partnerships. Local authorities and PCTs use the indicators to specify local priorities, as set out in the local comprehensive area assessment (CAA).

• Healthy Care Standard (220 KB)

  A national standard of healthy care that reflects best practice and contributes to the Every Child Matters national outcomes for children. It is relevant in a commissioning context because it highlights the range of factors that should be taken into account when considering whether a placement meets needs.

• Health Care Audit Tool (224 KB)

  This is based on the standard and can help local authorities and NHS services take stock of where they are in providing good quality services to looked after children.

• Looked after children: House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Committee (692 KB)

  An in-depth select committee report from 2009 which scrutinises the Care Matters proposals. It draws on oral and written evidence from looked after children and young people as well as a range of policymakers, managers, practitioners and providers in children’s social care. Chapter 4 of the report considers commissioning issues in the context of placement supply.

• The Oneplace National Overview report (4.62 MB)

  The Oneplace National Overview report looks across the whole range of local public services and complements local reporting through Oneplace. This report, has information on Comprehensive Area Assessment, or CAA, it covers what helps and hinders improvement in local public services, to guide national and local policy makers; and provides information for local leaders and highlights examples of how their peers have overcome some of the common challenges that they face.