Identification

Identification of the child and matching their needs is the single most important act that a Local Authority can undertake on behalf of its looked after children population. For Providers, especially those who offer very specialist services, it is not enough to rely on commissioning teams to clearly identify and match a single child with the correct service 100% of the time. This is especially important, when behavioral evidence on its own, does not always provide the best indicator as to where the child should be best placed to support their needs.

Much work has now taken place in identifying sectors and segments within the Looked after Children market in order to understand the demographic mix at national, regional and sub-regional levels. This work is beginning to enable Local Authorities to identify children with very specialist needs within their own region and service those needs with the correct placement using public, independent and third sector support. The 'Windscreen' model developed by Telford and Wrekin highlights the continuum of need, as does the East Midlands Regional Partnership (EMRP) Nottingham Preventative model. In addition, the Nottingham Preventative Model also shows how the Government intends to change the demographic of the Looked after population by retaining more children in the universal mainstream sector, predominantly with their families through the use of support such as Children's Centres. Both models draw attention to and underscore the dynamic and progressive nature of each child's needs.

Nottingham Preventative Strategy Model

The Nottingham Preventative model shows in detail that SACCS services sit at the very apex of the Looked after Children demographic providing recovery to just 1 in every 200 looked after children.

The model also shows, over time, how the Government intends to change the demographic mix from the current structure (the coloured triangle) to the new more broad based structure (the dotted triangle). This new mix will look to retain as many children as possible within their own homes using services such as children's centres in order to significantly reduce the looked after children's sector.

United Kingdom Regions showing the 1 in every 200 Looked after Children Demographic

Following our own research of the Looked after Children’s sector, SACCS has identified approximately 300 children or 0.5% that would benefit from our services. This 0.5% or broadly 1 child in every 200 is situated at the very apex of the EMRP triangle (see Regional Demographic Map). The SACCS Recovery Programme, through its Treatment Levels 1 - 4 aims to support these children on their journey back to Targeted Services before returning to the Universal and Mainstream sector.

The following map shows the number of children who require Treatment Level 1 based on the demographic population of Looked after Children within each region*

Please click on a region for further information

* Based on SACCS Market Research partly sourced from DCSF Statistical Volume 2007-2008 Local Authority Tables; specifically A3, LAA2, A6, LAA16 and NI62