Policy and Consultations
Children and Young Person Act 2008
The Children and Young Persons Act came into force on 13 November 2008. It puts into legislation some of the provisions of the Care Matters White paper. This briefing details the main provision of the Children and Young Persons Act and has a particular focus on older young people in care and those making the transition from care.
Briefing on the new Children and Young Persons Act
NCAS responds to Ofsted Consultation about inspection of Children's Services
NCAS has responded to Ofsted's consultation"Comprehensive area assessment: proposals for assessing local authority services for children and young people". Our response highlighted the importance of involving young people in service assessments and to ensure that inspections cover leaving care services.
What is the consultation about
The Education and Inspections Act 2006 requires Ofsted to provide an annual performance rating for each council’s children’s services. This is currently undertaken through the annual performance assessment (APA) of councils’ services for children and young people. APA and Joint Area Reviews (JAR) of local children’s services come to an end in December 2008 and are replaced by Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) which begins on 1 April 2009. The deadline for the consultation was 3 December 2008. Read NCAS response
Introduction to leaving care briefing
NCAS has published two new briefings that give an introduction to leaving care services and the issues faced by care leavers. The briefings are aimed at giving people working in related fields an initial introduction to leaving care. Follow the links to down load the short 3-page or longer 6-page briefing.
NCAS responds to Welfare reform consultation
NCAS has responded to 'No one written off' the DWP's consultation on proposed changes to the welfare system. Our response focuses on how to create positive employment and work experience opportunities for young people leaving care, reform of the 16 hour rule around housing benefit and education and opportunities for second chance learning. Read NCAS response to DWP welfare reform consultation.
New guide on Joint working between housing and children's services
The purpose of this guide is to help the managers of Children's Services and Housing Authorities in both single tier and two tier authorities to plan and deliver changes for children, young people and families. It is aimed at senior managers in housing and children's services, read it here www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/goodpracticeguide
Children, Schools and Families Select Committee Inquiry into Looked after Children
The Parliamentary Select Committee for Children, Schools and Families are carrying out and Inquiry into Looked after Children. Their first report will be about the Children and Young Persons Bill, the second on wider issues affecting children in care. More information is available at http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/csf/csfpn181207b.cfm
NLCAS and WMTD have submitted evidence to the Committee. Available here
Border and Immigration Paper on asylum seeking young people.
The Border and Immigration Agency have published their long awaited response to the Home Office consultation on young refugees and asylum seekers. A full briefing will be available in the March KeyNotes Policy Update. It is available hereLocal Area Agreements (LAA)
To read the briefing on LAA and leaving care services click here
Children & Young Persons Bill
The Government promised in the White Paper to introduce legislation to take forward its proposals. The Children & Young Persons Bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on 14th November 2007. The following article, which first appeared in the November keynotes update, summarises the Bill.
Read the featured article- Children & Young Persons Bill summary here.
Update 20th February 2008The House of Lords completed the Committee Stage on 18th February. It is expected that all the Lords procedures will be completed by the end of March. It will then be considered by the House of CommonsCare Matters: Time for Change
On 21st June 2007, the Government launched its White Paper, Care Matters: Time for Change, which sets out measures to improve significantly the outcomes of children in care and care leavers. The document can be downloaded at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/timeforchange/index.shtml At the same time, it published the Time for Change Impact Statement, which includes the funds the Government is likely to provide to support the delivery of the different policies over 2008-11, this can be downloaded at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/timeforchange/docs/timeforchange_IA.pdf .
Read NLCAS comments here.
Read NLCAS summary here.
Care Matters - young people's response
The Government have published the responses from young people to Care Matters. This is the first step in their Next Steps process that will continue with a white paper later this year. The responses publication can be found at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/carematters/index.shtmlCare Matters - Green Paper
The National Leaving care Advisory Service, Action on Aftercare Consortium, What Makes the Difference? project and National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum submitted a joint response to the Care Matters consultation.
Read NLCAS responses here.
Read NLCAS summary document here.
Read NLCAS press release on the publication of Care Matters here.
Planning Better Outcomes and Support for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children
Home Office Consultation document on proposed changes to support for Unaccompanied asylum seeking children download.Response to the above Home Office consultation on support for UASC
AoAC, NLCAS and the What Makes The Difference? Project have submitted a collective response to the Home Office consultation document, Planning Better Outcomes and Support for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children. It can be downloaded here. We would all agree that there is a need for improvement in the support and services for unaccompanied asylum seekers. However, the Home Office proposals showed a distinct lack of consistency with broader developments for all children in care and care leavers. Our response highlights the issues specific to the leaving-care sector. The Home Office suggest that the next steps to this consultation paper will be published some time in August.Youth Matters
Youth Matters, the long awaited government green paper, was published on 18th July 2005. It was put out for consultation until 4th November 2005. You can read the National Leaving Care Advisory Service response to the Youth Matters Consultation here. The full green paper can be downloaded as a pdf file at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/youth You can also follow the government's next step at, www.dfes.gov.uk/hottopicsFostering Consultation
The government has announced plans to introduce minimum allowances for foster carers. You can read the NLCAS submission to the consultation in April 2006 click here. Or for more information, see the Fostering Network website at www.fostering.net. Following the consultation the Government announced that From April 2007, the national minimum allowance for a baby will be £100-116 per week, rising to £151-176 per week for an older teenager. See press release for more information: http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/news/?asset=News&id=43068NLCAS Policy Briefings
Throughcare briefing – This briefing looks at the concept of ‘throughcare’ which recognises that, rather than an event, leaving care is a process with no abrupt beginning or end. To read the briefing click hereAccommodation and support – This briefing looks at the needs of care leavers in accessing and maintaining safe, suitable and affordable accommodation. It outlines local authority responsibilities, corporate parenting principles and the multi-agency co-operation required if care leavers are to succeed in making successful transitions to independent living. To read the briefing click here
The Education, Training and Employment of young people leaving care - The purpose of this briefing is to provide an overview of the needs of care leavers in attaining educational, training and employment success. To read the briefing click here
Mental Health and Care leavers – This briefing aims to provide an understanding of issues relating to mental health and young people, with particular reference to looked-after children and those leaving care. To read the briefing click here