Services to Children and Young People
The four main service areas within the Department of Services to Children and Young People are:
- LEARNING SERVICES
- LOCALITIES
- SOCIAL CARE
- TRANSFORMATION
Learning Services - Sue Colman, Assistant Director
Works with colleagues, partners and stakeholders to secure an education service in Bradford that not only meets the needs of all our children and young people, but provides opportunities for high quality teaching and learning and a platform for education, employment and training for all Bradford’s young adults.
Learning Services directly provides local jobs for local people through the Skills for Work Service. It also ensures that there are sufficient school places available at both primary and secondary levels. It projects and plans to meet future requirements and deals with any immediate issues presented as a result of short term cohort changes.
A key activity is to manage the Programme for the provision of services to support schools when the contract with Education Bradford ceases in July 2011.
Localities - Christine Whiley, Assistant Director
Localities is Bradford’s response of the government’s Every Child Matters agenda whereby services are integrated to provide local, seamless and joined up provision, such as Early Years, Extended Schools and Integrated Youth Service, at the point of delivery according to locally determined need with a focus on Prevention and Early Intervention.
Localities also responds to the new requirement ‘to secure sufficient and effective services’ that enables staff to work effectively with partners in the voluntary, community and private sector to ensure consistency of high quality delivery in all areas.
The key aim is to improve life chances and outcomes for children and young people, focusing on attainment and achievement. All delivery is committed to every child achieving all 5 Every Child Matters outcomes with the key goal being the raising of attainment and achievement.
Social Care - Julie Jenkins, Assistant Director
Provides statutory Council services to assess, support, care for and protect vulnerable children in the Bradford district and delivers Youth Offending Services.
Social Care has the duty to investigate children in need and at risk of significant harm and intervene to protect those children. Social Care works to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and young people ensuring they are safe and healthy, able to achieve their potential and able to enjoy and contribute to their local community and economy, whether in the care of the Local Authority or at home in the community.
The services provided derive from LA duties prescribed by principal acts of parliament, ensuing plans and statutory guidance.
Transformation Services - Richard Tipping, Assistant Director
Transformation is the Strategic Lead in the design, development and management of the business infrastructure for the department, having responsibility for ensuring that effective and efficient arrangements are in place to support continuous improvement and improved outcomes for children, young people and their families.
Transformation Services directly commissions a range of district-wide specialist services, commissions and produces strategic implementation plans for all children’s services, and provides project planning for service implementation and improvement.
Transformation facilitates the strategic development of Children’s Services in collaboration with partners and stakeholders to assess the district’s needs and plans and to prioritise actions to address them.
Transformation manages information and challenges performance, as well as designs, develops and maintains business processes, procedures, support mechanisms and a workforce strategy in order to ensure that the Department meets its statutory duties.
