Plans for new children's residential homes taking shape

As part of the council’s Inclusion strategy and as agreed in the Capital Programme in February 2019 work is progressing with the development of two new four-bed children’s residential homes. We have identified suitable locations for the homes in Penrith and Kendal and are progressing with developments required to ensure we deliver fit for purpose and suitable accommodation as soon as we can.

The new homes will help to support our looked after children and young people by ensuring more are able to live in Cumbria, closer to their home communities. The homes will help to support young people to move out of residential care in a timely way either to return home, be matched with foster carers or to live independently as care leavers. Further updates will be provided as the projects progress and opportunities for recruitment into the new residential home manager positions and wider roles will be advertised shortly.

People First's Pam takes over for the day

As part of National Learning Disability Week (17-23 June), the council was involved in a project with People First Cumbria called 'Takeover' with the idea of someone with a learning disability shadowing someone who has some influence over the lives of people with a learning disability.

Pam from People First spent the day with Mark Humble one of the council's senior managers. Pam was supported by a colleague from People First, Louise Giovannini. Pam started the day with Mark in Cumbria House looking at his diary for the day and the rest of the week. Mark talked through a typical week and told Pam about the meetings he attended and the reports he needed to write, and after a drink and a biscuit, the rest of the day was spent at the Learning Disability and Autism Partnership Board. The Board started at 10am, however Mark and Pam needed to be there at 9:30 to make sure everything was in place and ready to go. The main theme of the Board was reflecting on its work over the last year and then planning its work for the next year.

Mark said:

“I enjoyed having Pam spend the day with me, it made me think about how I communicate and she asked some pretty challenging questions about how people with a learning disability are supported by the council.”

Pam said:

"It was really good and I would like to do it again to find out what other people do. We met each other and other staff at Cumbria House. Mark showed me all the different work he does for people with learning difficulties and autism. He talks to different people about lots of different things and he has to get lots of information from people to make sure we all get the help we need. When I first meet people it takes time to get to know them and now I feel that I know Mark better and he does a really good job."

+ MORE INFORMATION: MARK.HUMBLE@CUMBRIA.GOV.UK

Transition Fair offers advice for SEND next steps

An event this week in Penrith (3 July) is set to help young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities from around the county take the next steps after leaving school.

The Transition Fair is being hosted by Cumbria County Council, local NHS and the Cumbria Parent Carer Forum. Over 50 different organisations that provide services and support, including local colleges, health services, social care, supported living and social projects will be represented at the event. Parents, carers and young people will be able to drop in and have face to face conversations with key organisations that will help them negotiate what can sometimes be a challenging move into the adult world.

The day will also feature “Ask us anything!” sessions from senior leaders at Cumbria County Council and the local NHS.

The event is taking place at the North Lakes Hotel, Penrith on 3 July from 10am to 6pm and transport is being provided from around the county for those who need it. 

+ MORE INFORMATION: www.cumbria.gov.uk/transitionfair

National success as HAWCs win NHS Parliamentary Award

Our very own Health and Wellbeing Coaches (HAWCs) have been selected as regional winners in the 2019 NHS Parliamentary Awards, winning The Health Equalities Award. Well done!

The Team have also been shortlisted for the national awards which will be held on Wednesday 10 July in the House of Commons, so let’s all cross our fingers for them.

+ READ MORE.

Focus Family team amongst national top performers

New figures have placed the Focus Family team among the best 10% of performers nationally, with the team having secured over £2m of income for the authority to support complex families.

The team are responsible for ensuring the delivery of the national Troubled Families programme. This 'payment by results' approach aims to incentivise whole family working with some of the most complex families in each authority. The team work with partners across all sectors to support this approach and gather the  evidence to secure the financial rewards. The programme funding is due to end in March 2020.

To date the programme has secured 79% (£2,156,000) of the payment by results reward money and is on track to secure the remaining finance well within the time limit of March 2020. This money has been used to support and trial new approaches to identifying and working with complex families who have multiple issues.

+ MORE INFO: GILL.SCHWER@CUMBRIA.GOV.UK

An art exhibition that was produced at the Florence Art Centre, Egremont, in February, came to The Settlement on Saturday 15^th June. The art work was created by young people that had resettled here on the West Coast from overseas. Most of the young people were originally from Syria and are now living in and around Workington and Whitehaven. Over 35 people attended the event, including families of the young people, town councillors and Allerdale Borough Councillors and Youth Council members from Allerdale and South Lakes.

Anna Todd, along with Elspeth Dennison, Member of Youth Parliament, presented some of the young people involved with a certificate of achievement, for positive contribution to their community and representing youth voice, raising awareness of issues faced by them.

Anna said “Youth Council aims to represent Young People’s voices, regardless of their background. We celebrate the unique, the talents, the passions and the perseverance that young people have and use those skills to get their message across.”

The exhibition will be moved around the West Coast over the next few months and will end it’s tour at the Comic and Art festival, Kendal, in October.

Recruiting experienced children's social workers

Don't forget we're recruiting to some exciting children's social work roles, including Children's Team Managers, Children's Social Workers and Children's Enhanced Social Workers.

If you know someone who might be interested, please encourage them to contact Sonyia.Curran@cumbria.gov.uk or Jeanette.Maye@cumbria.gov.uk for an informal chat.

+ MORE INFORMATION

Irene retires after 37 years

Irene Maxwell, Senior Manager – Cumbria Care Residential and one of People's longest serving colleagues, has retired after 37 years with the council.

Pam Duke, Assistant Director - Provider Services, said:

"I would like to offer Irene our best wishes for her retirement and say thank you for her tireless and energetic approach to managing our Residential Care homes and for her commitment and tenacity to support and deliver improvements across our services. For all our staff the priority is always our residents and this has been the drive for Irene in everything that she has done. Thank you Irene."

Want to improve your project management skills?

The Learning & Skills Team are delivering a range of new project management courses throughout the county, free to council staff.

The course, Project Thinking, will equip participants with the knowledge needed to effectively initiate and manage projects using the Cumbria County Council’s Project Methodology. It's aimed at any council staff who manage or run projects within their job role. The dates are:

• Friday 26th July Cumbria House 9:30-16:30
• Wednesday 30th October Workington Fire Station 9:30-16:30
• Thursday 16th January Penrith – venue TBC 9:30-16:30
• Thursday 23rd April Barrow – venue TBC 9:30-16:30

+ VISIT MY LEARNING TO BOOK OR FOR MORE INFORMATION

Leadership and Management Development Opportunity

The council has partnered with UCLan (University of Central Lancashire) to deliver a BA (Hons) Business Management apprenticeship. This flexible approach to learning offers an opportunity to develop your management skills whilst obtaining an internationally accredited qualification.

+ FIND OUT MORE.

New Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements - Cumbria Safeguarding Children Partnership

From 29 September 2019, The Cumbria Safeguarding Children Partnership (CSCP) will replace the current Cumbria Local Safeguarding Children Board. The new arrangements are set out in the CSCP plan which has been published today, 27 June 2019.

+ READ FULL BRIEFING UPDATE

The NHS in Cumbria urges people to take care in the sun

Although most of us like warmer weather, higher temperatures can cause as many health problems as colder temperatures. In particular, people must be careful not to leave children or vulnerable people exposed to high temperatures or strong sunlight for prolonged periods of time.

+ READ MORE.

New Integrated Care System announced

Last week NHS England formally announced the creation of the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS) – now the biggest ICS in the country, covering more than 3 million people. It’s likely that this means that North Cumbria will increasingly be referred to as one of the Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs) within that ICS, in the same way that Morecambe Bay is an ICP within the Lancs and South Cumbria ICS. 

+ MORE INFORMATION

Lynn Berryman, Assistant Director Children & Young People, visits Laura Bush and Maddie Graham, Senior Targeted Youth Support Team

Lynn Berryman

I would firstly like to thank Laura (left) and Maddie (right) for inviting me to shadow them on the 13th June to see and hear about what the Targeted Youth Support team do on a daily basis. I thoroughly enjoyed by morning, and what impressed me the most was their love of the job and the work that they do. They were both so positive and solution focussed and passionate about children and young people – that clearly came across. Initially we spent time in the office so Laura and Maddie could explain to me the work that the team do, I found this really interesting and there is certainly a couple of actions I have taken away to improve systems and practice which I would not have known about if I had not spent the time with the team. Laura and Maddie then took me to Queen Katherine School in Kendal to meet with their Inclusion Manager. It is evident from this conversation and visit the positive working relationship that exists with the school and the TYS service and how valued the service is to partners. We discussed the early help panels and how well these work in finding the right network for the children and their families. During the whole visit we talked a lot about children and the positive outcomes that are being achieved, I heard about child centred and brave practice. It was a pleasure to hear about all the positive work being done by the team and how well supported they feel by their manager. I know Laura and Maddie wished they could have me for the day and get me out and about seeing more about what they do … next time, I promise. Thanks for a great morning Laura and Maddie, I learnt a lot, and I'll be taking forward the actions that we discussed.

Laura Bush

Lynn came to visit Maddie and I on 13th June. We first met in Bridge Mills, Kendal to introduce ourselves and talked about the work that Targeted Youth Support do. We explained the Early Help process and the routes that cases are referred into the Targeted Youth Support and the support we provide to young people and their families. We explained that cases come into TYS from either a step down process from Children’s Social Care, via the Early Help panel or if we have completed a return to home interview with a young person and identified an unmet need for the young person and/or their family. We found it really enjoyable talking to Lynn about the work that we do as we are very proud of how far the TYS team have come over the past few years.

We then went to Queen Katherine School and met with their Attendance and Inclusion officer. The reason for this meeting was for Lynn to get an insight into how the agencies we work with feel about the support that Targeted Youth Support provide to the families that they are working with.

It was evident that Lynn was interested to hear about the work that we do and she asked our opinion on certain processes that our team use. It was great to feel that we were included in these types of conversations that will be fed back up to management and I have every confidence that these discussions and ideas will be acted upon.

The visit was extremely positive meeting with good feedback on both sides and we would love to be a part of work shadowing in the future.