Children in Care NHS Partnership Project

Looking at the impact that accessessing health, and specifically mental health, has on the welfare of Children in Care

A smiling woman sitting on a sofa, hugging two happy, young girls

Children in Care who are placed Out of Area (OOA) have inconsistent experience of accessing health, and specifically mental health, support in their placement. This impacts directly on the welfare of Children in Care. COVID-19 Lockdown further intensified these difficulties for some children.

The  South East Children in Care Practice Development Project aims to support improved mental health through the development of a common regional framework for partnership working.

This time-limited project has the following intended outputs:

Phase 1 CIC Outputs (by December 2020) equals South East Partnership Pledge to CiC, South East defined Partnership Roles & Responsibilities, South East CIC MH Tariff System, Clinical evidence based best practice guide for Children in Care, Local Authority area CiC Summary.
Phase 2 - CIC Outputs (2021) equals Overview of learning from Commissioning/Service design Good Practice to inform Transformation Planning, Mature Systems Design Conversation (SESLIP Complex LAC)
Medium to Long Term Change
Regional MH re-design equals Tier 4 inpatient care (New Care Models), SESLIP Complex CiC discussion - health economy support
Alternative models of care equals Autism, suicide prevention
National influence equals Roll out of Pledge & Traiff nationally (safeguarding support), Adult MH new conversation (0-25 and beyond) CiC to be prioritised throughout their life

Governance & Reports

The lead partnership sponsors for this work are:

Sub-regional sponsor Directors of Children’s services

  • Lucy Butler, DCS West Sussex
  • Alison Jeffery, DCS East Sussex

Lead Member

  • Cllr Stuart Carroll, RBWM

 Social Care Assistant Director

  • Lin Ferguson, RBWM