nlcbf activities
Disclaimer / Terms and conditions - please read this statement carefully before accessing any of the information on the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum web pages.
Activities
Throughout the year, we carry out detailed benchmarking exercises against agreed service standards and performance indicators set by Forum members. We cover the following subject areas:
Throughcare
Financial Support
Health
Fairness and Diversity
Accommodation
Education, training and employment
Participation, advocacy & complaints
Process Report 2006-7
Click here to see the dates standards have been reviewed and proposed dates for future review.
Enquiries
We facilitate a large number of more informal benchmarking enquiries by email - around a hundred a year. Typically, a member of the Forum will initiate an enquiry by e-mailing a member of staff at NLCAS. The enquiry will be circulated to all members of the Forum. If the enquiry generates a lot of interest, the responses are collated and analysed for the benefit of Forum members. On a more informal level, Benchmarking Forum members can make contact with each other to pursue issues of particular interest such as a good or innovative practice from which other Forum members might benefit.
Annual Summary
Half year report 2006 - This report covers the work of the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum in the period from April 2006 to September 2006.
History of NLCBF
The NLCBF has existed since 2000. It is a national network of local authorities on leaving care. It aims to compare services to young people leaving care with a view to promoting the development of good practice in member authorities. Until June 2003 First Key provided coordination and support to participating local authorities. Following the transfer of First Key work to the National Leaving Care Advisory Service at Rainer, the National Leaving Care Advisory Service (NLCAS) has taken over the support of the Forum.There are currently 34 members, most of which have been members since 2000.
Representing NLCBF at a national level
The Benchmarking Forum has a truly national perspective and is bigger than any of the regional leaving care forums. It is therefore well placed to make a significant contribution to national bodies and forums concerned with leaving care issues.
The Benchmarking Forum sumitted its views on the Youth Matters Green Paper in November 2005.
A Working Group is undertaking a review of the National Standards for young people leaving care (First Key), using the Benchmarking Forum's standards on leaving care as the basis for the new national standards. Representatives of the Benchmarking Forum have been centrally involved in this process. The new national standards are currently the subject of consultation, following which it is likely that they will be used for inspection purposes by OFSTED and the Commission for Social Care Inspection.
In October 2004 the Benchmarking Forum submitted a response to the Government's review of financial support for 16-19 year olds, "Supporting young people to achieve".
In 2003 - 4 NLCBF was represented on the QP Leaving Care Project Team (now the DfES Leaving Care Project Team).
Since 2003 NLCBF has been represented on the Action on Aftercare Consortium, which also acts as a national leaving care forum.
The Benchmarking Forum is represented on the DfES Leaving Care Project Team (previously the QP Project Team). This includes the work on the production of the new national standards for leaving care.
Martin Hazlehurst and Anna Whalen (former Forum Member, Hull) contributed information about the work of the Benchmarking Forum as a good practice example in Professor Mike Stein's book "What works for young people leaving care?" (ISBN: 1 904659 08X)
The Benchmarking Forum has reviewed its objectives in light of Every Child Matters. The Forum's work promotes the provision of high quality, cost effective services to young people leaving care. In doing this it contributes to the five outcomes for children and young people set out in Every Child Matters.