Last year I took on part of Katy Donnelly's role (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People) while she was on maternity leave.
One of the things I got involved in was a joint project by the I&DeA and the NSPCC which was aimed at improving councillors (and council's) understanding of safeguarding children*.
I'm pleased to say the resource has now beenpublished and I hope the concerns I had about the format have been overcome. I certainly felt that over the meetings I attended the people working on the project were listening.
Having had a (very short) go at the CD-Rom it does look like the process may well work quite well.
* For those of you outside the world of children's service you may not have come across Every Child Matters, the government's strategy for services for children and young people. At the core of the strategy are five outcomes that service providers should help children and young people achieve. These are:
Being healthy
Staying safe
Enjoying and achieveing
Making a positive contribution
Achieving economic well-being
Safeguarding children is a significant part of how services are expected to help children and young people achieve these aims.
A number of months ago I had a conversation with someone from the advocacy service we have for looked after children and young people. I was told about a young man at college who was trying to get a work placement so that he could get a qualification, but who hadn't found one.
I promised to raise it with officers in the Environment Division, he wants to work in construction and I knew that some of them had experience of care and so might want to help out.
I was right, they did, and he is now doing the placement with the Council's Building Services team.
Yesterday I sat down with the careers adviser for the Leaving Care Service, senior officers from the Environment Division, the Head of Resources for Children and Young People and someone from the Human Relations side of the council to look at what we might do to build on that example.
We've sketched out a scheme which we'll pilot in the autumn which should offer 5 young people the chance to work with the Council in a range of roles, at a proper wage*. If this works out we'll look at whether it can be extended.
* These won't be "make-weight" jobs they should replace jobs that are currently being done by people supplied by employment agencies and the young people will have to work as hard as anyone else to keep the jobs.
Appeal for information with regards to missing local girl
I've been sent the following appeal about a missing girl, Jessica Tilbury, if you can help I'm sure it will be appreciated:
We are growing increasingly concerned about the welfare of fifteen year old Jessica Tilbury.
The last reported sighting of Jessica was on Sunday 19 March 2006 at approximately 23:15 getting off a bus in Burnt Ash Hill, London SE12. It has been reported to police by Jessica's friend who was travelling with her that Jessica left the bus to speak to two young men whom she thought she knew. It is believed Jessica may have walked in the direction of Lee, London SE12 at approximately 23:30 in the company of the two men. Jessica has not been seen or heard from since.
Jessica has gone missing before but has always kept in touch and returned after a short period of time.
Jessica is known to use public transport in London and Kent.
Acting Detective Sergeant Declan Goddard of Lewisham CID said: "We are now very concerned about Jessica as she has not been in touch with any of her family or friends. "I would like appeal directly to anyone who has seen or spoken to Jessica since Sunday or anyone who may have heard of her whereabouts to contact police as soon as possible. "I would like to assure anyone contacting the police, in particular any younger members of the community, that they will be treated with the utmost sensitivity.
"I would also like to appeal to Jessica directly and ask her to contact the police or if she prefers the National Missing Persons help line on 0808 800 70 70.
"Jessica is not in any trouble and our main concern is her welfare."
Jessica is a white and has fair complexion. She is of thin build and has black hair which she sometimes wears in a ponytail.
It is believed that on the day Jessica went missing she was wearing a white shirt, a grey fur-trimmed cardigan and blue jeans. She was also wearing a casual jacket which has fur trimming on the hood and black suede boots. It is believed that Jessica was also wearing a yellow metal teddy bear and clown on two yellow metal necklace's.
The two young men Jessica was seen with are described as:
Man one: White, approximately sixteen years old and possibly wearing a dark hooded top and Reebok Trainers. Man two: White, approximately eighteen to nineteen years old. This man has fair or ginger hair, blue eye's and was also wearing a dark hooded top and trainers.
Police are asking anyone with information to contact Lewisham CID on 020 8297 1212 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
Update - I'm pleased to be able to say I've now been told:
We are pleased to report 15 year old Jessica Tilbury, who was reported missing last week, was found safe and well on Friday by police in Lewisham. Jessica is now back in the care of her guardians.
I've been a big fan of the work The Children's Society have done with Lewisham Council ever since I first made contact with them back in 1998/99. So it was with some sorrow that I went to its closing down party this week.
The Children's Society have decided at a national level that they want to refocus their work and advocacy for looked after children is no longer a core part of the work they are looking to do.
Its been my consistent view that advocacy should be provided by someone external to the council, and so I am pleased that Barnardos will be taking it on. I was also delighted to here that Rajinder Nagra will be continuing to manage the service.
I've just come across Hidden Lives Revealed which is an archive of The Children's Society from the late Victorian period and the early part of the last century.
You can learn about the 175 homes they ran, read case histories and the correspondence that the Society has archived. They've also got photos, the one of the boys swimming is from Deptford.
As you might expect with such compelling materials there are resources for schools to use.
Connexions and the number of young people not in education employment or training in Lewisham
I've just had the figures for the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) through from Tanya, the Connexions Strategic Manager here in Lewisham, and I think they are worth sharing.
In November last year there were 9.4% of all young people were NEET, this year the figure is 8.6%, which in real numbers is 630 young people. The sub-regional figure is 9.2%.
Obviously there always remains more to be done, but it is excellent news and the people who work for and with Connexions should feel proud of what they've achieved.
A friend of mine has let me know about Lifeswap a web based piece of work that tries to bridge the gap between councillors and young people, using photos taken on mobile phones.
I can definitely see the value in this as a starting point for a conversation about how services can fit the needs of young people a bit better. Its not so much that the photos tell a compelling story (though some do) but that it is a way of getting a sense of each others lives in a relatively short period of time.
What I've found in the work I've done with young people is that often it takes a while to develop a proper sense of who we are and this might help to short-circuit that a bit.
Cllr Andrew Brown
I've just come across 
