Children and Young People’s Services

Directorate Leadership Team (DLT) and Extended Leadership Team (ELT)

• Julie Jenkins - Director for Children and Young People's Services
  • Paul Tinsley - Assistant Director, Education and Inclusion
    • Connie Beirne - Interim Senior School Effectiveness Officer Early Years
    • Richard Morse - School Organisation and Access Manager
    • Parveen Akhtar - Service Manager Vulnerable Learners
    • Ben Allchin - SEND Strategic Project Service Manager
  • Diane Drury - Assistant Director, Early Intervention and Safeguarding
    • Zeljko Radevic - Service Manager MAST, CAT, EDT and CE
    • David Chambers – Service Manager, Locality Teams (CSC)
    • Becky Pearson – Interim Service Manager, Children Looked After (CSC)
    • Sharon Field – Service Manager, Early Intervention Family Support, Youth Justice Service and Youth Services
    • Louise Ambler – Principal Social Worker (CYP)
  • Jill Holbert - Assistant Director, Integrated Commissioning and Partnerships
    • Lynn Powell - (Interim) Service Manager, Commissioning and Contracting
    • Cheryl Baxter, Service Manager, Safeguarding and Quality Assurance

Children's Services works with a wide range of partners to support children, young people and their families who need additional help. This includes:

• Childminders.
• Early Years Providers.
• Schools.
• Colleges.
• Sixth Forms.

When children are in need (on a child protection plan or in care) to reduce risk and help children to be Healthy, Safe and Successful we work closely with:

• NHS providers and commissioners, (includes NHS, CCG, CHFT, SWYPFT and CAMHS);
• the Police;
• and Education.

Many of our services focus on early intervention for children and families who may be at risk or vulnerable.

• Access to our services can be made through Early Intervention Panels. If you are worried that a child is at risk, contact the Multi-Agency Screening Team (MAST): (01422) 393336.
• The service supports children who have a disability, a special educational need, are at risk of offending or harm.
• Children's Services staff are trained in child centred practice. Also, working with families on their strengths and solutions to the issues they are managing.

Diane Drury
Assistant Director – Early Intervention and Safeguarding

Early Intervention and Safeguarding are focused on ensuring those families where help is required have the access to resources relevant to their needs. The request for services can come directly from the family or from childcare or adult agencies. These services work with schools, Health staff, the Police, Probation and voluntary services to offer a range of services to support families. Within the Local Authority we have a range of services on offer. They include family support, youth services and specialised services for children with particular needs. This includes young offenders, children not attending school and young carers who may be looking after an ill parent. The aim is to work alongside children and their families, helping them to become more resilient and able to cope. We listen to children's views and act on them. This is very important for children who are in the care of the Council. A team is created around the child and family to agree the best plan of support. There is individual help for children and some may attend a group where they can also get peer support.

The different service areas include:

Family Services

Family Support Workers and Family Outreach Workers give practical and emotional support to families with children with issues such as sleepless nights, behavioural problems, school-based concerns at times of crisis and complex problems. Family Support Workers and Family Outreach Workers are in locality Teams supporting families in their home, running groups and activities from Children Centres.

Family Intervention Team

The Family Intervention Team offers intensive support to families who are facing multiple problems and experiencing high levels of disadvantage. This is targeted to families with the highest levels of need, such as violence in the home and child sexual exploitation. The service offers a 'whole family' approach which considers the needs of all family members and assesses the underlying problems driving the family's behaviour in order to identify which services need to be involved.

Family Group Conference (FGC)

This brings together families, such as parents, children, grandparents, uncles, aunts, friends and relatives to discuss how they can improve family life. The conference provides an ideal opportunity for the family to develop their own solutions to current problems and encourages children to take part in discussions that affect them. FGCs are currently used with children and young people who may be facing a variety of issues, including those on the verge of coming into care and offending.

SENDIASS/KIAS

This works across Calderdale and Kirklees. They provide legally based, impartial, confidential advice, information and support, for parents of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities about their education, health and/or care needs.

Young People's Service (YPS)

This offers a range of services for young people in Calderdale, such as:

• Targeted Youth and Family support with individual young people around any issue affecting the young person usually through referral via the Early Intervention panel. The service also delivers detached Youth Work sessions across the borough and targeted group work sessions on key issues affecting young people.
• The Youth Work hub of Calderdale at the Orange Box Young Peoples Centre offering a range of support, activity, artistic and sporting opportunities through a partnership of Council delivered services and voluntary/charitable organisations.
• Play Service sessions and programmes across the borough offering universally accessible to children across Calderdale including short breaks provision for those with additional needs.
• Calderdale Young Carers Service offers support to young people between 8 and 18 years, who care for someone at home through an initial assessment followed by the offer of individual support, groups sessions or referral to other specialist services. Young Carers support family members suffering from a range of issues including physical or mental health problems, learning difficulties, drug and alcohol issues or long enduring illnesses.
• Youth Voice opportunities via out Youth Parliament, Youth Council, Children in Care Council and Care Leavers Council as well as other bespoke consultation mechanisms.
• Commissioning of Youth Centre offers in areas of need across Calderdale.
• Information about what is available for young people, including the YoYo Calderdale website and the YPS digital and Social Media offer via the Orange Box web site.

Early Help Team

This team gives advice, guidance and support to multi agency professionals in the Borough. Children/young people and families who may have multiple unmet needs can benefit from being supported by an Early Help Pathway, a collaborative process enabling partner agencies to ensure they work effectively together to offer the best support possible to the family. The Early Help Pathway is a key element of our Early Intervention Strategy in delivering more effective, early intervention and prevention.

Youth Justice Service (YJS)

This service works with young people whose behaviour results in a criminal justice system intervention. They are all subject to an assessment to identify their needs and issues and a plan is agreed to support the young people to make a positive contribution to the community. They also:

• Run prevention programmes. Child to parent abuse and the dangers of carrying and using weapons.
• Help young people at the police station if they are arrested.
• Help young people and their families at court.
• Supervise young people serving a community sentence.
• Support a young person if they are sentenced to custody.

Youth Justice Service is part of the Council, but is separate from the Police and the Courts. They work with the Police, Probation Officers, Health, Housing, children's services, schools and the local community.

The Multi-Agency Screening Team (MAST)

This team is based at Princess Buildings (Halifax). There is a Team Manager, Practice Managers, Social Workers, Business Support, Police Officers, Health and Early Help team.

It works Borough wide and is the first point of contact for referrals regarding children and young people. Each referral is screened within strict timescales and involves the gathering and sharing of information which is analysed so that an appropriate decision and response can be made to ensure children and young people in Calderdale are safeguarded effectively. If it is deemed by MAST that a statutory involvement is required, the family are transferred to one of our short, medium or long-term social work teams for further assessments and intervention.

The Children's Assessment Team (CAT)

This team is based at Princess Buildings (Halifax). There is a Team Manager, four Pods that are managed by Practice Managers, Advanced Practitioners, Social Workers and Business Support. What they do:

• Crisis and initial support to families and undertake high quality assessments/care planning.
• Conduct Section 47 enquiries.
• Attend Child Protection Conferences.
• Core Group Meetings, Child in Need Meetings, legal and professional meetings.
• Court Hearings.
• Child Looked After Reviews and undertake statutory duties.

Child Exploitation Team (CET)

This team is based at Halifax Police Station. There is a Team Manager, Social Workers, CSE Project Workers and Business Support. CET work as part of multi-agency child exploitation hub which consists of Children and Young People Services, Police, PACE, Youth Justice Service, CAMHS, Branching Out, Youth Works and Missing Persons Co-ordinator.

Its function is to make sure that there is a robust response in combating child sexual exploitation and all other forms of child exploitation. This includes: child criminal exploitation, trafficking and modern-day slavery. They also undertake Child Exploitation Risk Assessments, Single Assessments, Section 47 enquiries, direct work with children and young people, offer training in respect of child exploitation, attend multi-agency meetings and deal with historical child sexual abuse cases.

In addition, CET support children and young people from the point of allegation being made, any medical enquiries, police video interviews and throughout any criminal investigations such as ID parades and attending the Court Hearings.

Emergency Duty Team (EDT)

This team is based at Battinson Road office. There is a Team Manager and five full-time Specialist Practitioners. They give the out-of-hours emergency response for children/young people and adults who reside in Calderdale. This service is available to any child/young person or adult who has social care difficulties that are causing a serious risk or concern that cannot wait until the start of the next working day.

The service provides an appropriate response when:

• There is a serious concern for the welfare of a child/young person.
• The child/young person is placed under Police Power of Protection.
• The child/young person or an adult may require emergency accommodation.
• Missing children/young people and adults.
• Adults who are vulnerable.
• Assessment of adults with mental health problems.
• Any other crisis that, in the opinion of the Social Worker on duty, warrants a response from the team.

The Family Connections Team

This team organises and supports family time for children in care and their birth families (parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters). This may be whilst the case is in court or longer term following the court's decision that the children are to remain in long term care. The aim of family time for the child is to maintain a relationship with their birth family. This is a statutory service. The Council must support family time, with referrals for the service coming from children's Social Workers.

The children Looked After Team

This team work from a central base in Halifax. There is a Team Managers, Practice Managers, social workers and business support offices all working together to seek permanence for those children who are placed in the care of Calderdale Local Authority by the Courts. Permanence for children will be either within their immediate or extended family and where this is not possible in appropriate foster families or for those of a young age through adoption. A core value of the team is that just because a child can not live at home due to risk today, we believe parents can make changes that will allow children to live with their family members tomorrow.

The Child Protection and Child In Need Teams

Spread and working across Calderdale are a number of small social work teams working directly with families where there are identified needs or significant risks of harm presented towards children which have been identified following the assessment by the CAT team. Their purpose is to effect change as part of a multi agency group of professionals in making the lived experience of children in their families care safer and happier. The relationship between the social worker and the family members is viewed to be critical in achieving the change that is needed. Were change is either to slow or not happening, the team will need to consider and seek legal advice to alterative action that can be taken through the courts to safeguard children.

Paul Tinsley
Assistant Director Education and Inclusion

Calderdale Education and Inclusion Services comprise the following teams:

Virtual School

The service provides advice and support to teachers, social workers, parents and carers of children and young people aged 3-19 years who are either looked after or were previously looked after. The service monitors their educational provision, attendance, progress and attainment. This is to promote achievement, improve outcomes and make sure that there is equality of opportunity.

School Effectiveness Service

This service makes sure the Local Authority's statutory duties are met for maintained schools and undertakes a system leadership role in respect of all schools enabling effective monitoring of school performance across Calderdale. The service focuses on school improvement and engages with those schools not yet judged to be good by Ofsted providing appropriate support and challenge to evidence improvement.

16-19 Learning and Skills Provision

Strategic Planning of 16-19 learning and skills provision in conjunction with post-16 providers.

School Organisation and Access Team

This team is responsible for:

• School Place Planning. The production of pupil projections using birth data, linked to town planning and the reporting of sufficiency of provision. Liaison with the DFE over future needs relating to sufficiency.
• School Organisation. Developing statutory proposals around school expansions, closures, amalgamations etc. including management of consultation where appropriate. The team also sets term dates for maintained schools.
• Schools Capital. The management of capital maintenance spend including prioritisation of requests for support in schools. This includes the strategic allocation of funding to projects to ensure sufficient school places exist where required and involvement in the bidding process to secure funding to address condition issues or insufficiencies of pupil place provision.
• PFI. LA representative for the PFI contract, decision maker for the LA and liaison between the management company, services providers and FM company.
• Admissions. The proposal, consultation and determination of admissions arrangements on behalf of community and VC schools. Co-ordination of admissions (coordinated scheme and application of 'own admission authority' arrangements on behalf of autonomous schools) and exchange of data with other Authorities. The team arranges the publication of composite prospectuses detailing all arrangements and manages In Year Coordination and Fair Access. They provide Authority representation for the Schools Admissions Forum and support for the work of the Schools Forum.
• Admissions Appeals. Represent community and VA schools at arbitration (independent appeals). Prepare statement of case and presentation of school defence at hearings.

Early Years

• Early Years Improvement Team.
• Early Years and Childcare Sufficiency Team.

These teams support the Council to efficiently deliver its statutory duties under the:

• Children Act 2004;
• Childcare Act 2006;
• and SEN Code of Practice for pre-school-aged children and their families.

Education Welfare Service

The Education Welfare Service carries out the Councils statutory duties to prosecute parents/carers in the Magistrates' Court and issuing penalty notices for patterns of poor school attendance or an unauthorised leave of absence. The service also offers guidance and advice on a range of education related matters across the authority. In addition to the delivery of its statutory duties, the service also offers a traded service to schools and clusters enabling them to purchase a range of bespoke and tailored packages of support and intervention.

The team also deals with:

• Children Missing Education.
• Elective Home Education.
• Child Employment and Entertainment.
• Persistent Absence.

Exclusions and Reintegration

The Exclusion and Reintegration Officer provides advice and challenge to head teachers, school staff, governors and colleagues in relation to the statutory framework for exclusions permanent exclusions and fixed term exclusions of more than 15 days. If required they also provide advice on the legal process to parents of a child who has been excluded.

The Officer will represent the Local Authority at Governors' Discipline Hearings, Independent Review Panels and courts in line with The School Discipline (Pupil Exclusions and reviews) (England) Regulations 2012, to ensure that the local authority is discharging its statutory duties in relation to exclusions.

SEN Team

The SEN Team coordinates all aspects of the Education, Health and Care (EHC) assessment, planning and review process, for children and young people with SEND aged 0-25. They are also responsible for the funding and placement of children and young people with EHC plans. This involves high levels of coproduction work with parents/carers, schools and settings and other agencies to ensure there is a robust understanding of the child's needs and the provision they require to achieve their outcomes.

Medical Needs Team

The Medical Needs Team are responsible for providing the Local Authority's response to Section 19 of the Education Act 1996: to make provision for children who are unable to attend school due to medical reasons. The team of teachers works with individuals and sometimes groups of children and young people who are temporarily unable to access school due to a health or medical reason, such as hospital intervention or escalation in mental health difficulties. The team works in coordination with the home school to ensure continuation of robust teaching, learning and curriculum access.

Specialist Inclusion Team

The SIT incorporates a number of teams who provide specialist teaching, assessment, advice and support for children with a wide range of SEN. The teams include:

• Portage and Early Years;
• Autism Spectrum Disorder;
• Vision Impaired;
• Hearing Impaired;
• and Multi-Sensory Impaired.

The teams offer outreach support, training and direct interventions, depending upon the child's needs, to families at home, schools and settings. The SIT also includes a team of specialist resource technicians who source and prepare specialist equipment and resources to support access to the curriculum for schools and individuals.

Educational Psychology

We do not have an in-house service of Educational Psychologists. Instead, we commission our statutory responsibilities from a private provider: Psychology Direct.

• They undertake psychological assessments and reports for the statutory Education, Health and Care (EHC) assessments and reviews as directed by the Local Authority.
• They can also be commissioned by schools and settings to provide non-statutory work such as training, individual assessments or whole-school development work.

Jill Holbert
Assistant Director – Integrated Commissioning and Partnerships

Commissioning, Contracts and Quality

The Integrated Commissioning, Contracts and Quality Service (ICCQ) brings together all adults and children's:

• Commissioning;
• procurement;
• contracts;
• and quality monitoring functions.

The service is responsible for 402 contracts:

• 308 Adult services;
• 85 Children and Young People;
• and 9 Public Health.

This is at a cost of £86.262 million, with Adults over £59 million of that estimated amount.

The service comprises a number of smaller teams:

Commissioning Team

The Strategic Commissioning Team is responsible for the commissioning of services across adults and children's services. We commission new provision and re-commission existing provision through the commissioning and procurement process.

Quality Team

The key role is to monitor Calderdale's social care and public health services, to ensure they achieve the desired outcomes and comply with the terms of the Contract. We achieve this by evaluating a range of information and data from different sources and by conducting regular contract monitoring visits and Provider meetings. Providers are supported to improve and, where there is a failure to meet the requirements of the Contract, Providers are held to account.

Contracts Team

Is responsible for the planning and delivery of procurement of health and social care services through tenders and quotation exercises. The team also deals with contract management, ensuring sealed contracts are in place for all services including extensions to contracts. A contracts register is maintained for social care services and helps to keep the Client Information System up to date with contract and fee information. The team carries out the annual fee review process and makes sure contracted providers are paid on time and in accordance with their contract terms.

Brokerage Team

Is responsible for the brokerage of community care and support packages.

It supports people to live independently in the community and helps those that are coming out of hospital.

Placements Team

This team takes care of finding placements for all externally commissioned children's across all settings

This includes residential, independent fostering agencies and leaving care provision.

The Safeguarding and Quality Assurance Team

The team makes sure that independent advice, support and quality assurance is provided.

This is to improve outcomes and safeguard children and young people in Calderdale.

The team is made up of:

• Independent Reviewing Service. (For children who are looked after or have child protection plans.)
• Business Support Team.
• Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). (Oversees allegations against professionals working with children.
• Schools Safeguarding Service.)
• Safeguarding Children's Partnership and Adult Board management and secretariat.

They also audit across CYP, which includes case file audits, thematic and supervision audits. The learning and any corrective actions from audits are fed back to individuals, as well as examples of good practice.