• Assessing the progress of children’s social care reform and identify priorities for improving outcomes for care-experienced children and young people
• Strengthening cross-government and local partnership working to deliver effective parenting and joined-up support
• Supporting the voices of care-experienced children and young people in shaping policy
• Identifying opportunities to improve education, health, housing and employment outcomes through early intervention and coordinated support

Lord Wood of Anfield, APPG for for Care-Experienced Children and Young People (CONFIRMED)

• • Developing multi-agency approaches to intervene earlier and keep more children with their adopted families
  • Expanding foster care and planning to improve placement stability and ensure children can access appropriate care in the correct setting
  • Strengthening partnership working across social care and education to deliver support for children with complex needs
  • Improving outcomes through co-production with care-experienced people and by using evidence to drive service improvement

Rachael Wardell, Executive Director for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning, Surrey County Council and President of Association of Directors of Children Services (invited)

• Addressing delays in accessing health support and the difficulty that prevents many care-experienced young people from seeking help
• Improving continuity of care by reducing repeated assessments and ensuring children and young people build relationships with health and social care professionals
• Strengthening the relationship between local authorities and the NHS services to tackle inequalities driven by housing instability, and transitions to adulthood
• Developing a system of co-production with care-experienced young people to improve service accessibility and deliver more responsive support

Dr Lynn Snow, Lead for Looked After Children, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child’s Health (invited)

• Providing immediate accommodation, food and psychological support
• Conducting a compliant age assessment for asylum seekers and ensuring an appropriate adult and interpreter are present during interviews
• Coordinating with other local authorities to initiate a voluntary transfer of responsibility due to resource constraints in the receiving area
• Continuing support beyond the child’s 18th birthday to support ongoing care needs

Nabil Ali, Senior Policy Advisor, Refugee & Migrant Children, Barnardos (CONFIRMED)

• Reducing unnecessary police involvement by ensuring trauma-informed responses to low-level incidents that would typically be managed within a family home, rather than through the criminal justice system
• Supporting collaboration between local authorities, police and youth justice services to implement the national protocol consistently and prevent children entering the justice system because of their care experience
• Entrenching relationship-based care across residential and foster settings to respond to trauma and minimise behaviours that can lead to criminalisation
• Using data to identify and challenge practices that criminalise care-experienced children, improving long-term outcomes across social care and youth justice

Dame Rachel De Souza, Children’s Commissioner (invited)

• Creating flexible support that responds to each child’s circumstances rather than relying on a standard offer, balancing academic progress with emotional wellbeing
• Building trusted relationships through designated mentors and consistent communication with carers, social workers and virtual schools
• Using Personal Education Plans (PEPs) and pupil premium plus funding to identify barriers early and support engagement and achievement
• Preparing children for transitions between schools, colleges and care placements through early planning and continuity of support

John Edgar, Virtual School Head, Essex Virtual School (CONFIRMED)

Join our breakout networking session to connect with professionals, share insights, and explore strategies for improving outcomes and supporting children in care.

• Developing trauma-informed mental health services that respond to the lasting impact of abuse, neglect, loss and adverse childhood experiences, rather than relying solely on crisis intervention
• Improving collaboration between CAMHS and children’s social care to identify emotional wellbeing needs earlier and provide coordinated therapeutic support
• Expanding access to specialist mental health provision for children with complex needs, including those in residential care and foster care
• Ensuring mental health remains a priority throughout care planning, placement moves and transitions into adulthood, reducing the risk of young people disengaging from support

• Addressing gaps in the identification and recording of disability to ensure children and care leavers receive timely support.
• Being curious about what a diagnosis means for each young person by understanding the impact on their daily lives.
• Designing services around the voices of children and young people, recognising that many experience multiple and overlapping needs that may not meet traditional thresholds.
• Building a confident workforce through specialist training that enables carers and professionals to create inclusive homes, schools and care settings.

Dr Claire Baker, Senior Practice Advisor, Coram Voice (invited)