Our ambition is for Cardiff to be a place where everyone can start well, live well and age well, and social services will play a crucial role in making this a reality. We will ensure Cardiff is a great place to grow old. We value the contribution that older people make to the life of the city and we will provide a range of opportunities to help them to stay active and connected to their community and to support their continued physical and mental wellbeing. For those who are unfortunately suffering poor health, we will do all we can to help them to remain in their own homes and communities – and out of hospital or a care setting – for as long as possible.
We will also work with partners to improve the depth and reach of our mental health services, and critically, seek to invest in a greater level of early help and counselling to prevent, not respond, to crises. We will support those with learning disabilities and their carers by ensuring that our local day services and respite support fully meet their needs. Doing all this will require continuing the ever-closer partnership working with the University Health Board, with care providers, with civic society and those receiving care. And, above all else, it will require investing in, celebrating and valuing our tireless, committed and compassionate social care workforce.
Cardiff should be a great place to grow up for all children, without exception. Sadly, this is currently not the case. Too many children and families in our city live in poverty and the number of children coming into care is increasing year on year. Helping families stay together will be our first priority, because we know that outcomes for children are best when they are supported to grow up within their own families. When children do need our care, we will do all we can to keep them with their families and as close to home as possible. Again, we know that this leads to better outcomes for children and young people, and is a far more cost-effective approach, making sure that the resource we have goes to the place it is needed most – supporting young people and their families.
We will continue our work with partners to improve services for those children who are in, or have come into, the youth justice system, reducing the number of children entering the system and those re-offending. At the heart of our work will be the knowledge that these are first of all children and only secondly are they children in the youth justice system. We are committed to working alongside all the people in the city – our social workers, teachers, youth workers, nurses, doctors and police officers- who work each day with children and young people, particularly those children who are most vulnerable, to help make Cardiff a great place to grow up.
We will:
- Provide children and families with the best start in life through our Early Help and Support Programme.
- Work to keep children safely with their families, supporting their growth and development needs and helping to prevent the need for care.
- Increase the number of children looked after who are placed with their wider families or community, and reduce the number of children placed in out of county, residential care placements.
- Increase the number of Local Authority Foster Carers and reduce our reliance on independent fostering agency placements.
- Continue to develop and embed a locality approach to service provision across case management teams.
- Celebrate the work of our children’s social workers and promote social work as a great career.
- Continue to develop and support the Children’s Services’ workforce, recruiting and retaining more social workers in Cardiff.
- Work with schools and the health service to deliver an enhanced and joined-up approach – from school counselling to crisis support – for children and young people who are suffering with poor mental health.
- Complete the delivery of ‘All Our Futures’ development plan and set a new strategy for continuing to improve the Youth Justice Service.
- Protect vulnerable young people from exploitation and address the recent rise in serious youth violence through developing a robust, integrated, data-led approach across Council and partner services that work with young people.
- Deliver the Corporate Parenting Strategy 2021- 24 to ensure children in our care are safe, receive the support they need, have high aspirations, can express their views and are ready for independent living.
- Enable all young people who are known to Children’s Services to be empowered to play an active and central role in planning for their transition to adulthood.
- Use the information, intelligence and data we have across the Council and public services to develop a ‘single view’ of the contacts each child or young person has with our services.
- Work closely with Welsh Government to reform the children social care market, driving up quality and removing profit from looking after children.
We will:
- Work with partners to ensure that Cardiff is an Age Friendly City, where older people can enjoy all aspects of life and continue to play a valued and active role.
- Promote and celebrate Cardiff becoming the first Welsh city to join the World Health Organization’s Global Network for Age-friendly Cities, and work across all Council and partner services to deliver the action plan for making the city a great place to grow older.
- Ensure effective adult protection systems are in place across the city.
- Build resilient and vibrant communities, providing opportunities for all people to get involved, volunteer and support others to stay connected.
- Deliver a city that is open and accessible to all, and work towards a transport system that all people have the confidence to use.
- Continue to work towards becoming a Dementia Friendly City which helps people living with dementia and their families to thrive.
- Listen to the voices of older people, providing the right help at the right time to support them to live independently at home and be active in their communities for as long as possible, including the use of technology, aids and adaptations.
- Improve access to early help and wellbeing services for people suffering with poor mental wellbeing, identifying those who need help and providing a wide range of support to prevent crisis.
- Support those with significant mental health issues to regain their confidence and rebuild their lives, enhancing current services and using best practice from elsewhere to identify and develop the support required.
- Support people with learning disabilities to live as independently as possible and to engage in their communities by developing a range of local accommodation and support options, also supporting their carers by expanding our complex needs day services and overnight respite provision.
- Improve awareness and further develop services for people with autism, ensuring appropriate help is available and tailored to individual needs.
- Support care experienced young people as they transition to adulthood, enhancing our services as a corporate parent to support them to reach their full potential.
- Listen to unpaid carers and families to better provide the help they need.
- Celebrate and support the social care workforce, recognising the value of the work that they do and ensuring that the way we commission services provides opportunities for job satisfaction and career development.
- Further develop the successful Cardiff Cares Academy to build capacity in the care sector.
- Continue to move towards locality working, bringing together multi-disciplinary services based in local communities to promote health and wellbeing, support independence and prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.
- Work with care providers to actively shape the care market, ensuring that it meets the needs of the people of Cardiff today, and responds to the needs of tomorrow, including increasing the amount of high-quality specialist care for people living with dementia or other complex health conditions.
- Put in place additional support to recruit and retain social workers, occupational therapists and other specialist staff, involving them in the development of good quality and effective social care services.