Area Coordination Management Meeting
Hyde, Hattersley and Longdendale

Time: 9.30am – 11.30am
Date: Thursday 4th December 2008
Venue: Hyde Technology School

Present:

Ameena Ahmed 0-19 Unit SYCP
Joyce Boyd Team Manager Tameside YOT
Julie Waterhouse Education Welfare Service
Beryl Oliver  Hyde Tech
Mark Burrows Youth Service
Chris Gee  (rep for Helen Hobday) BLIS 

 Note taker: Lindsay Patchett

Item 1: Welcome

Ameena welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made round the table.

Item 2: Apologies

Janet Rathburn Primary School Rep
Gill Gibson NHS
Chris Thean

Item 3: Notes of last meeting and matter arising

Item 5: CAF Booklet – Now finalised – to be launched in January 09

The minutes of the last meeting were accepted as a true and accurate record with no matters arising

Item 4: Common Processes Update

Ameena updated the group with regards to Common Processes.
Jane-Ann Birkett in post – secondment to raise awareness and usage of CAFs.

Breakdown of CAFs logged on JASPER given for different organisations since August 2007

PCT      72
TMBC    30
SCHOOLS  32 (16 schools)
Low return for all others.

Action: To obtain breakdown for TMBC departments.

These figures do not reflect level of CAF actually taking place.

Additional to various strategies include paper to CLT – middle managers to embed CAF usage.

Strategies:-

• Jim Taylor contacted all agencies with regards to CAFs
• Safeguarding Board
• Reminder of JASPER

A discussion took place amongst meeting members with regards to their and their staffs experiences in the use of CAFs.
Some of the point raised.

• CAFs should be used to get agencies together
• Follow up referrals

Vicky commented her team have meetings with other agencies to iron out any problems and that they chase up referrals.

• A need to have well qualified staff
• Need to know who is responsible for CAFs

Ameena

• Need to develop guidelines – common standards across agencies
• Encourage each other to push the use of CAFs
• Managers should be asking staff about CAFs and the outcome after CAF undertaken.

Julie stated that in her department a review of the CAFs is undertaken on a 6 weekly basis with each practitioner.

Feedback from Officers is that they are feeling frustrated when they feel there are serious issues and referring a child to Social Care they are asked if a CAF has been done and not happy to take referral without it.

Contact Point update

• Due to come in February 09 – now May 09 due to issues with early use.
• Shielding – Names and addresses of vulnerable children will be shielded.
• Shielding will be done centrally
• Andrea Reed and John Atkinson have been recruited to act as Contact Point Training Coordinator and Contact Point Management Information Officer respectively.

Common Processes Workshop - Feedback from practitioners

• General Feedback – not found very helpful
• Many hadn’t completed a CAF
• Working on CAFs not very user friendly and often had to be explained to client group.
• Vicky felt that the workshops should concentrate on good practice and use good examples of CAFs, not poorer examples

Ameena commented:-

• There is a need to reiterate the purpose of CAFs to practitioners
• Managers need to inform their staff of the use of CAFs
• It is highly unlikely that there will be changes to the wording on the forms at present as they are created centrally.
• Staff should be encouraged to ask for assistance of other agencies when completing CAFs, details of other agency staff could be found in the Staff Directory on SID.
• Jane-Ann is willing to attend CAF interviews with staff and is eager to “recruit” CAF champions.

Joyce commented that she has found working on a multi-agency team very beneficial as further as the other agencies are directly to hand.

Item 5: Feedback from October Event

Ameena reported that the event went very well and was well attended by young people from the area.

Vicky reported that they are looking at developing a phase 3 Children’s Centre in Newton and that they would be investing in the Newton Shop and Bradley Green School.

With the hope of:

• Attracting young parents with under pre-school age children
• Opening more hours
• Offering up to date technology

Hoping for funding from Sure Start/New Charter

Consultation shows that there is a need for such provision in the area.

Item 6: Community Safety – local initiatives on Alcohol

Ameena stated that she was aware that there are lots of initiatives in place.

• Mark commented that the Youth Service between October and December runs a “Stay Safe” campaign focusing on Sexual Health, Alcohol, and launch of C. Cards leading up to Christmas closure. 
• Joyce informed the group that Glossop police have an imitative where they go out at night with Teachers from local schools and picked up any young people who were out drinking and a letter went to their parents.
• Julie commented that there were more and more reported incidents of young people attacking their parents, particularly boys.

Ameena gave the group details of contacts who may be able to assist in any campaigns.

It was suggested that Sheila Walton should be invited to attend a future meeting.

Paula Henson from Teenage Pregnancies to attend the February 09 meeting.

Item 7: Family Learning Bid

New Charter Housing – bid for Interactive Family Learning

The team were asked to consider the key questions:

• What Services already exist?
• What are the gaps?
• How would proposal fill the gap?

Responses/thoughts on the above to be sent to Lindsay - lindsay.patchett@tameside.gov.uk

Item 8: TellUs 3 – Key Messages

Ameena informed the group:-

• The survey is undertaken by primary & secondary school age children (Years 6,9, 10 & 11)
• The survey includes questions regarding lifestyle, Education and how children live their lives.
• The survey is DCFS driven and is undertaken by all authorities.
• We are compared with other authorities.
• The report shows areas where we are doing less well and areas where we do better.
  

Item 9: Staff Directories update

The Directories are being updated at present and should be ready early in the new year.

Items 10: AOB

• Julie informed the group that there is to be a truancy sweep on 15th December involving the EWO’s and Police
• Beryl informed the group that there had been a successful bid of £1.700 for cohesion work – an Asian Extravaganza to be arranged after Christmas. Beryl will send details to Ameena.
• Beryl and other members of staff had been on a visit to the Mosque in Hyde to meet members of the Mosque with a hope of breaking down some social barriers. This appears to have been a successful visit.
• Beryl stated that the Transition Information Session for the Parents of Year 7 evening had been very successful with approximately 70 families from year 7 attending.
• Hyde Tech is to have a new building in 2011 and consultation and planning is underway.
• Joyce is going on a secondment in the New Year with the police service – the team wish her every success in her new venture.
• It was suggested by Chris Lee that we invite a representative from Contour Housing to be a member of out meeting as they are one of the main social landlords in Hatterlsey – Ameena to follow up contact.
  

Items 11: Date of next meeting

5 February New Charter Building - Ashton