Abuse of children in care

Dear Mr Gerrish

Thank you for your email.

I acknowledge your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. Assuming we hold this information, I will endeavour
to supply the data to you as soon as possible but no later than 13th July
2009 (20 working days from date of receipt).

I will advise you as soon as possible if we do not hold this information
or if there are exemptions to be considered and/or any costs for providing
the information. Please quote our reference - FOI/09/668 - in any
communication regarding this particular request.

Best regards

Corporate Access to Information Team, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 696265 or 01622 694261 - Fax: 01622 694383
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

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Dear Mr Gerrish

A reply was sent out to you on the 10th July. We are sorry you have not
received this and have been unable to ascertain why not.

We shall shortly be transmitting a copy of the response to you under
separate cover.

Best regards

Corporate Access to Information Team, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 696265 or 01622 694261 - Fax: 01622 694383
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

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Dear Mr Gerrish

Thank you for your request for information made under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

Policy, practice and procedures have changed considerably since the
1980's. In accordance with statutory requirements Kent County Council
now has in place established Children in Need, Looked After Children,
and Child Protection Policies and Procedures to ensure the safety and
welfare of children placed in residential settings and foster care.

Kent County Council takes its corporate parenting responsibilities very
seriously and encourages the participation of all children and young
people in the decisions about the care and services they receive.

As part of their practice Social Workers are required to visit
children/young people who are in residential or foster placements on a
regular basis. They are responsible for ensuring that they speak with
the child/young person alone, away from their primary carer in order to
discuss any concerns they may wish to raise about the care they are
receiving, the plans that have been made for their future, or to discuss
any other issues they wish to raise.

All children in residential or foster care in Kent are encouraged to
attend and participate in their looked after review meetings, and
particular care is taken to seek the views of disabled children who may
experience communication difficulties. Kent County Council also
commissions an independent advocacy service, who can act on behalf of a
looked after child or young person if they wish to make use of this
service.

In accordance with The Children Act 1989, in Kent a child or young
person's looked after 1st review meeting is held no later that 4 weeks
after the date on which the child began being looked after. The 2nd
review takes place 3 months later and the next and subsequent reviews
every 6 months thereafter.

In Sept 2004 new regulations came into force and amended the review of
Children's Case Regulations 1991. It is now a statutory requirement
that children and young persons Looked After Reviews are chaired by an
Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) who must be sufficiently objective
from the line management of the case. The key functions of the IRO is
to involve children and young people and key adults in the decision
making process, ensure that reviews are held within the required
timescales and to ensure that the care plan is implemented effectively.
In Kent as part of our review procedures it is the role of the IRO to
meet with the child young person prior to their review to gain their
wishes and feelings.

In addition to the above statutory requirements all children's homes are
required to be registered under the Care Standards Act 2000. Since
April 2007 Ofsted have been responsible for the inspection of children's
homes. Children homes are now subject to detailed statutory regulations
and national minimum standards.

These inspections take place every approximately twice a year and are
announced and unannounced visits. Following an inspection, Ofsted write
a report that details the main strengths and any areas of improvement
identified during the inspection. Ofsted provide a copy of the
inspection report to anyone who asks for one. In Kent our Resource
Centres who provide overnight short breaks to children also receive
monthly visits from an independent visitor who is not connected to the
service to ensure the standards of care the units provide is
appropriate.

In 2009 the government announced new inspection arrangements for all
local authorities to commence from April 2009. The Comprehensive Area
Assessments (CCA) replaces the Comprehensive Performance Assessment,
which has been the inspection and assessment framework for local
authorities since 2002.

Much of the CAA framework focuses on the new programme of inspection for
safeguarding and services for looked after children.

There are two main elements:

* annual, unannounced inspection of local authority contact,
assessment and referral centres for children's social care
* full inspection of safeguarding and services for looked after
children in each local authority area at least once every three years.

The full 3 yearly inspection of Kent's LAC/Safeguarding inspections of
safeguarding will take a comprehensive view of:

* the effectiveness of existing safeguarding systems and
frameworks
* the wider safeguarding role of public services
* how well vulnerable groups of children and young people are
safeguarded, including asylum-seeking children, children in secure
settings, looked after children and children treated by health
services
* how well the relevant agencies deal with child protection
concerns.

Findings from all inspections of safeguarding and services for looked
after children will help determine Ofsted's annual performance rating of
Kent County Council services for children and young people.

If you are unhappy with this response, and believe KCC has not complied
with legislation, please ask for a review by following our complaints
process; details can be found at this link
http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
s/complaints-procedure.htm#foi
<http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...> on our website. Please quote reference
FOI/09/668.

If you still remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Details of what you need to do, should
you wish to pursue this course of action, are available from the
Information Commissioner's website
http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...

Regards

Michelle Hunt
Access to Information Co-ordinator
Communication & Information Governance
Children, Families & Education Directorate Kent County Council Room
2.35, Sessions House Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XQ
External: 01622 696692
Internal: 7000 6692
Email: [email address]

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