Agenda item

[Andrew Wolverson, Head of Children’s Strategy and Partnerships, to present report]

Andrew Wolverson, Head of Children’s Strategy and Partnerships introduced the presentation detailing the range of work being done to improve the health and mental wellbeing of children young people and their families. The Head of Children’s Strategy outlined the specific aims of the presentation and the link to the overarching outcomes in the Council’s ‘Relighting Our City’ strategy.

The Head of Children’s Strategy commented on the importance of supporting the parents and adults within families as much as supporting the children and young people themselves.  The Head of Children’s Strategy listed the speakers who would be contributing to the presentation during the meeting. The importance of creating job opportunities for young people by supporting local businesses and stimulating our vibrant high streets and communities was highlighted.

Kush Patel, Children’s Innovation Lead, briefed the panel on the highlights of the Youth Engagement Strategy (#YES) programme and the work undertaken during 2020. The Children’s Innovation Lead commented on the next phase of the #YES programme and advised that future youth provision services to be commissioned would be based on three key themes, for example, delivering training on coproduction to key stakeholders.

The Children’s Innovation Lead commented on the work done to get young people involved in the implementation, delivery and monitoring of services aimed at supporting them during the pandemic. There are 18 members of the Youth Engagement Board and the level of participation has increased among young people wanting to get more involved through the establishment of locality boards. Each of the locality groups have started working on their respective work plans. The Children’s Innovation Lead commented on the current virtual offer and advised the panel that there had been 23,000 visits to the website and over 33,000 young people engaging with 100 activities online.

The Children’s Innovation Lead advised the panel that the rollout of health and wellbeing sessions continues, the offer includes face to face sessions in schools and online sessions. The service will continue to develop opportunities to further support young people.

Denise Williams, Partnership Manager Children's Services, commented on the parenting support offer and briefed the panel on work during 2020 and the plans for developing the service in the future. The Partnership Manager advised the panel that the provision of parenting support is available across the City, but it is variable, and the current offer is not considered to be co-ordinated. In response to this issue work is being done through the Strengthening Families Together Board to deliver services from the different service providers in a more consistent way. 

A task and finish group has been set you to review provision across the City and members of the group will be consulting with families to help the shape service delivery in the future. The group will be developing materials to ensure a more consistent approach that supports the current offer.

The Partnership Manager commented on the work being done to promote parenting across the city. A parenting coordinator role was created in February 2020 to support this work and is part of the Strengthening Families Service. The parenting coordinator will also provide support, advice, and guidance to Strengthening Families workers, Parent Champions, and the voluntary sector.

The Partnership Manager commented on the impact on changes to the parenting support offer in response to Covid. The service developed a virtual offer for families who were experiencing difficulties in parenting or who contacted the MASH team for support. In addition, a four-week online e learning programme for parents was developed to provide more targeted approach as an alternative to parents having to spend hours online.

If a parent needs support after completing the course they can contact the service and ask to be referred to the Family Learning Champion. The service will also accept referrals made by other professionals and also self-referrals. The service has received very good feedback from parents and there has been a very low dropout rate.

Mags Courts, Children’s Commissioning Manager, Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group, briefed the panel on the work done to offer children and young people needing specialist emotional and mental wellbeing support during the pandemic. The number of referrals to the Single Point of Access service remained fairly static during the first lockdown. This process determines where the case should be referred to. The number of referrals has increased since September 2020. There has been reduction in capacity of the service to meet this demand due to social distancing rules and also a reluctance from schools on occasions to allow other health professionals to access the building.

The Children’s Commissioning Manager advised the panel that Base 25 were originally commissioned to do 120 referrals and achieve a 90 contacts month. However, during some months Base 25 were getting 350 referrals. The number of referrals has declined since this peak of activity, but this has started to increase recently. The capacity of the service has been reduced due to staff being ill during the pandemic and the situation was further complicated by the reluctance of people who were following Government health advice to shield to meet in person. 

The Children’s Commissioning Manager advised that remote meetings using Zoom has been used as an alternative. However, there were concerns from some parents who did not want the young person being online or the financial ability to access services digitally.

The Children’s Commissioning Manager detailed the range of work being done to increase young people’s access to mental health support services in the future. There has been an increase in number of referrals relating to eating disorders during the pandemic and also an increase in the number of young people who have been referred to the service late.

In some of these situations an admission into hospital has been only option. However, the service is working hard with young people and their families to avoid hospital admission.

The Children’s Commissioning Manager advised the panel that in response to increase in the number of eating disorder referrals a new service has been introduced to provide rapid early intervention in response to a first reported episode. The service is also aimed at helping young people who have a short history of eating disorders and there are plans to expand the offer across Wolverhampton. The service is also working hard to ensure that no young person with a recognised learning disability or autism is admitted to a mental health unit. There has been a reduction in the number of people who have been admitted during the year which has been a success.

The Children’s Commissioning Manager briefed the panel on the development of the Link Programme which has been developed to ensure that the Wolverhampton offer is clear. The programme will aim to develop a network of support for teachers who are managing families with complex problems, including children and young people with emotional mental health and wellbeing issues.

The Children’s Commissioning Manager detailed other planned service changes to meet the needs of children and young people.

The panel welcomed Cllr Phil Page, Chair Health Scrutiny Panel, to the meeting and invited him to comment on the presentation. Cllr Page expressed concern about the limited coverage of the pilot mental health support scheme being delivered in sixteen schools and the high level of need. The Government funded scheme is due to end in 2021.

Cllr Page queried the work done to raise awareness of the scheme to young people and their families and the difficulties experienced by people who either did not have the devices or internet access to make use online support resources. Cllr Page also suggested the need for Base 25 to offer more outreach services to support young people.

The Children’s Commissioning Manager responded that in addition to the pilot scheme there are a number of other initiatives supporting young people, for example HeadStart and work being done to build mental health capacity within schools. This is part of an overall plan to offer targeted support to all young people across the City.

The Head of Children’s Strategy commented on the issue of the children without access to digital devices and how Councillors were using their Ward funds to buy laptops and equipment to support schools and also to provide access to online support services. There was acceptance of the importance to young people wanting face to face support rather than online.

The Head of Children’s Strategy advised the panel the HeadStart programme is a test and learn scheme which has been applied to other schools. 

The panel were advised that Base 25 do offer face to face meetings if a young person does not have access to a computer or has difficulty accessing the online services. In this situation, meetings with young people have taken place in parks or other safe spaces and also some sessions have taken place using Zoom. The feedback from some young people suggests this method has helped to reduce levels of anxiety. 

The Head of Children’s Strategy advised the panel that there are plans for a new contract with Base 25. The contract will start in April 2021. The new contract will include extending the current service to offer support to parents and families of the young person referred to the service.

A communication plan is being developed which will include videos for professionals and for parents to promote awareness of the scheme. The information will also be promoted through the social media channels and in publicity sent to local schools to explain how the new service will operate.  A new website is also being developed to make it much easier for people to find information about the range of support services available.

The Children’s Commissioning Manager commented on the mental health support teams in schools and acknowledged the limits of the service and outlined the plans to improve the service.

The panel asked for more details about the new FREED model developed to support young people with eating disorders.

The Children’s Commissioning Manager agreed to send the panel members more detailed information about the scheme. The scheme will offer specialised evidence-based treatment and support tailored to meet the needs of young people.

The Children’s Commissioning Manager commented on concerns from parents when their child with an eating disorder becomes 18 and moves automatically into the adult service and the difficulties some experience.  The Children’s Commissioning Manager reassured the panel of the work being done to develop and transform early intervention services which are suitable for young adults with a mental health psychosis.

The panel discussed ideas to counter negative press reports about the behaviour of young people in spreading Covid 19. The Head of Children’s Strategy agreed to discuss the idea with colleague in the communications team in promoting #YES campaign and the positive work of young people. A young people's communications group has been established. 

The Head of Children’s Strategy agreed to raise the issue at the next meeting of the group. Emma Bennett, Director of Children's and Adult Services, welcomed the comments and ideas in the response to the presentation and agreed to discuss them further with colleagues in the communications team.

The Director of Children's and Adult Services responded to the comments about digital poverty and advised the panel during the pandemic over 1000, laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, Wi Fi vouchers, chairs, routers were distributed to support the education of children and young people. The Director added that it was important to note issues around digital inclusion and devices has not gone away despite the return of pupils to school.

The Director praised Councillors who have used their allocated Ward Fund to pay for school equipment to support remote teaching. The Council has used funding from the national DfE scheme to buy devices and kit to connect to the internet for children and young people. In addition, an online lending scheme has been introduced which is supported by partners in the voluntary sector who supply devices to children and young people and individuals. The Council has also launched an ICT recycling scheme whereby individuals, businesses, members of the public can donate new or broken equipment which can repaired by a company. The equipment can then be given free to children and young people in the City.

The panel queried what more could be done to involve young people in developing the Youth Engagement Strategy (#YES) and the level of involvement in developing the branding of the scheme. The Director of Children's and Adult Services detailed the work done to engage and actively involve young people in developing and commissioning of services. In addition, young people have a budget to commission services. The co-production of material is a key part of the work being done and young people are encouraged to challenge decisions made.

The panel welcomed the presentation and thanked the presenters.

Resolved:

1.    The panel agreed to note the presentation.

2.    The Children’s Commissioning Manager to share details of the FREED model aimed at supporting young people with eating disorders.