Integrated Children's Services The Integrated Children’s Service is a new department, formed as a result of the reorganisation of customer services in the County Borough in January 2004. The service brings together the previously separate departments for Education and Children’s Services. Linking the departments enables us to focus more effectively on children as a core customer group and to provide services in a strategic, cost effective and operationally-connected way (frequently called ‘joined-up’). That is why the service is referred to as an ‘integrated’ service.
Chris Abbott
Director of Integrated Children's Services
Our key aims for children and young people are based on the five key themes of:
• being healthy: promoting physical and mental health so that children and young people enjoy good health and a healthy lifestyle, for example by working through schools and other settings to ensure that they are well nourished and active;
• staying safe: protection from harm and neglect so that children’s and young people’s welfare is safeguarded and they know how to stay safe, for example by ensuring that appropriate information is held and shared about children so that their needs are identified and services are provided to prevent them from ‘falling through the net’;
• enjoyment and achievement: education and training so that children and young people enjoy and make good progress in learning, leisure and personal development, for example by ensuring that the provision of day-care, education and training meets needs;
• making a positive contribution: contribution to society so that children and young people join in, take responsibility and play a productive part in the community, for example by ensuring that children and young people are supported in making their voices heard on decisions which affect them;
• achieving economic well-being: social and economic well-being so that children and young people have a good start in life and are able to achieve their full potential and secure employment, for example through local action that helps to secure better opportunities for employment for school leavers.
Our Commitments
Our work is based on our commitment to:
• provide high quality services to children;
• place customers at the centre of service delivery;
• conduct business with integrity, ensuring that services are delivered in a transparent and accountable way that is in the public interest;
• improve the delivery of services, seeking innovative and effective ways to enhance quality and increase cost effectiveness;
• work in partnership with agencies and stakeholders, consulting and involving the community in decision-making and service delivery to ensure ownership of local issues;
• encourage a high level of parental interest and involvement in children’s learning and development;
• support our schools to raise achievement and to ensure that all our children experience the pleasure of learning and the joy of success;
• promote fairness and equality of opportunity;
• foster bilingualism;
• ensure that everyone in Merthyr Tydfil obtains fair and equal access to services and receives equitable and consistent treatment in their dealings with the Department.
Our Objectives for the Year Ahead
In the year ahead we intend to establish:
• a single multi disciplinary service designed to ensuring a holistic approach based on the needs of families, children and young people;
• a co-ordinated approach to the ways services are commissioned, governed and funded;
• a service focused on customers’ needs, informed by a programme of continuous improvement aligned to measurable outputs;
• a co-ordinated approach to partnership working, reducing the potential for duplication of effort and resources;
• a directorate that reflects the vision and strategic aims of the Council by promoting economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources and seeks best value in the provision of services to children;
• a clear sense of accountability, underlining the Authority's responsibility to act as a corporate parent;
• a focus on supporting parents and carers, early intervention and effective protection;
• a co-ordinated approach to customer consultation and feedback of results to those consulted;
• a single Merthyr Tydfil portal for Children's Services to deal with service requests or customer complaints.
We intend to ensure that this agenda for action is informed through active consultation and partnership working by:
• harnessing the contribution of all services, in particular the health services, the police and the voluntary and community sectors;
• building on existing structures, such as the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership;
• establishing priorities through active consultation with the community and our customers.
Key Strategic Plans for the year ahead are;
Key Strategy 1 Ensure that children are protected from significant harm Key Strategy 2 Reduce the need to accommodate children by improving family support services Key Strategy 3 Ensure that children are attached to carers capable of providing safe and effective care Key Strategy 4 Improve the life chances of looked after children Key Strategy 6 Enhance the progress and performance of pupils with Special Educational Needs (SESP 2) Key Strategy 7 Reduce pupil exclusions from schools and promote further inclusion (SESP 3.2) Key Strategy 8 Increase pupil attendances at schools (SESP 3.1) Key Strategy 9 Improve children's health and wellbeing Key Strategy 10 Promote effective partnership working Key Strategy 11 Promote effective pre-school provision, including quality of childcare and play Key Strategy 12 To promote further effective learning and teaching throughout from the Foundation Phase to Key Stage 5 Key Strategy 12(A) Enhance performance in the Foundation Phase (SESP 1.1,1.2) Key Strategy 12(B) Enhance performance at Key Stage 2 (SESP 1.3) Key Strategy 12(C) Enhance performance at Key Stage 3 (SESP 1.4) Key Strategy 12(D) Enhance performance at Key Stage 4 (SESP 1.5) Key Strategy 12(E) Enhance performance at Key Stage 5 (SESP 1.6)
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