Analysis of Over-Budgeting Impact on Foster Care in Calderdale Council

This report analyzes the over-budgeting issues within Calderdale Council and their impact on foster care services. The student delves into the financial strains caused by government austerity, high referral rates, and staff turnover, which hinder the provision of adequate foster care. The report explores the root causes of over-budgeting, including poverty, low income, and lack of parental skills. It highlights the need for effective policies to achieve financial flexibility and implement training programs for parents. The methodology includes research on Calderdale Council's practices, data analysis using root cause analysis, and case study research to identify potential solutions. The report suggests approaches such as parenting programs, home improvement initiatives, and strategic partnerships to improve the quality of childcare. The student also discusses challenges faced during the project, such as time management and communication issues, and concludes by emphasizing the importance of foster care policies and practical application of learned skills in real-life situations.

Executive summary
Child-mother relationship is usual and aligns with the traditional conventions taught to the
public by the religious values and practices. Within this, issues like poverty, low income, lack
of awareness for the proper child care compels the families to adopt foster care. This report
undertakes the issue of over-budgeting in Calderdale Council, which aggravates the
complexities towards introducing proper foster care services for the children. Within this, I
excavated the issue of government austerity, which strains the financial resources for the
Council. I feel that strong and effective policies are needed in terms of achieving financial
flexibilities, so that effective training programs can be conducted for the parents.

1
Introduction
After conducting the project, I came to realize the importance of foster care for the
children. Foster care is an addition to the care, affection and nourishment, which a child
needs for attaining growth and development. Delving deep into the aspect, I could excavate
the reasons of family violence, illness, alcohol addiction, due to which the families opt for
foster care. I have found that demands for foster care has increased within the society. This
increase adds a negative shade to the usual connotation of care and affection, which needs to
be prevail between mother and child (Aldaba, 2017). Considering the example of Calderdale
Council has helped me to achieve an understanding about the issue of over-budgeting. The
major drives behind this were high number of referrals, high turnover rate and austerity in
case of the government personnel. Along with this, I also gained familiarity with the solutions
like practical training for the parents, home improvements for the low income families,
administering the employment of these families and volunteering programs.
Discussion
1. Methodology
Upon researching the business of Calderdale Council, I found that they conduct
extensive research for enhancing the reliability of the parents towards the data sources as well
as prepares a performance report. Publication of the data on the governmental websites
legitimates their business. Affirming with the opinions of Community Foundation for
Calderdale, (2017), I think Satisfaction survey reflects the conscious approach towards the
opinion of the customers towards the business operations. Transparency in business is
reflected from projecting the opinions of the authors in different newspapers. For me,
preparing the statistics prove beneficial for the Council in terms of comparing their market
position within the ambience of competition. We conducted critical thinking to this critical
mapping, which reflected straight forwards approach towards collection of the relevant data.
Our project activities started from receiving the documents from the clients, which
acted as approval regarding the constructed plans. After this, we created a questionnaire for
the clients. Aligning with the arguments of Eurochild. (2012) I can point out that they
exposed a caring approach towards our situation. I specially express gratitude towards the
staffs enhanced our awareness towards the ways and means for attaining improvements from
the current situation. After this, we conducted careful investigations regarding the data
available and the data required by the client. For this steps, I found that negotiation skills is

2
very important. Clearly, Clients gave us huge requirements to complete within a span of 3
months. This was inadequate as compared to the immense works, which we had to perform.
My mentor advised us should say no with the huge duties and responsibilities to client, they
would narrow down the scope and arena of the project. Indulging in group discussions, I got
to know that in the profession of consultancy, negotiation skills are vital, which reflects the
command, which I have in terms of conveying the message to the clients (Chebet & Rotich,
2015)
For analysing the data, we used root cause analysis, which proved effective in delving
deep into the root cause of the problems faced by the Council. Using wide variety of the case
study research helps in achieving an insight into the effective solutions, which can uplift the
standards and quality of foster care services (Gallagher, 2017).
Problem analysis
After conducting the project, I gained an awareness about the issue of over-budgeting,
which stalls the productivity of Calderdale Council. This includes the incapability of the
government funding and other sources for bearing the expenses for child care (Jain & Kaur,
2014). I can present the issue through the form of the following diagram:
Figure 1: Root causes of over-budgeting problem
OVER
BUDGETING
Increasing number of
referrals
Great number of
children living in
poverty
Parents's lacking of
parental skills
Better awareness of
children's alerting
situation
High rate of staff turnover
High volumes of
cases
Complicated
working process
Role ambiguity and
low social support
Government austerity

3
(Source: Community Foundation for Calderdale, 2017)
I have also found that in 2017-18 was the era when Calderdale Council encountered
an increase in the number of referrals. I felt that Child Protection Plans prove beneficial in
terms of upgrading the standards and quality of the childcare services. One of this reasons is
poverty, which reflects the incapability in terms of providing proper care and attention. As a
result of this, the children get limited learning opportunities, which stalls the process of
growth and development. Low income reflects the lack of parental skills, which adds to the
complexities regarding the provision of adequate care (Johnson, 2018). I think lack of
understanding regarding proper child care reflects the impending disaster in terms of adopting
foster cares, which are costly.
While researching, I found large number of cases, which reveals role ambiguity and
low social support from the managers. Complicated working practices leads to negative
results in terms of the childcare, adding negative connotations to the concept. According to
me, one of the striking issues in this direction is government austerity towards bearing the
expenses of childcare.
Approaches towards improving the quality of childcare
I gained knowledge about the parenting programs, which was organized by Boys
Town Family Homes. Income was no bar at these parent’s programs. Practical tests were
conducted for gaining an insight into the significant behaviour and emotional problems of the
parents (Keen, 2016). Here, I can apply social and cognitive learning theory, as the parents
were exposed to different situations and the ways to tackle it for providing better care,
nourishment and affection to the children.
I feel that Calderdale Council needs to be expose strategic approach towards the
families with low income. If effective training programs are organized for them, they would
be benefitted in terms of enhancing the skills, knowledge and expertise towards effective
childcare. Conducting the training in different locations and keeping back up sessions would
be beneficial in terms of adding innovation into the childcare services. According to the
assumptions of Ofsted, (2015), I think conducting meetings would prove effective in terms of
making plans for investing in the human resources and training them. I agree with the
recommendation of sponsorships with educational centres for getting effective supplies of
venue, facilities and trainers.

4
I felt that home improvement programs are beneficial in terms of upgrading the
standards of living for the low income families, suffering from potential risks. For this, the
Council needs to indulge in joint venture with the Children’s Deinstitutionalization Society, a
government undertaking in Bulgaria. However, affirming with Slawson, (2017), I feel that the
prospect in this programs is less, as it provides no interest loans for renovation for the small
homes.
Issues in completing the project
Time management
I was always the leader in my previous job but I still had to struggle a lot for
establishing contact with my client. We waited long for getting replies and relevant data from
the clients. This seemed to be difficult in terms of the limited time, which we had for
completing the project activities (Farrell, 2017). Backups would have helped us in saving a
lot of time in filling the time limitations. Due to our part time jobs, we could not conduct
meetings.
Communication skill
The study of Zerfass & Sherzada (2015) indicates that managers in the fields of sales,
marketing and HR are aware of strategic communication more than the other departments. 5
years’ experience in Education consultancy industry, from a sales person to management
level enhanced my awareness about the importance of communication and presentation skills
in terms of business goals within the internal and external working relationship, and getting
promoted. This project helps me to understand the contribution of foreign experts on
designing PowerPoint file (the background contrast, text font and colour, the dot position to
finish a slide) and formulating my presentation style as always deliver positive inspiration
during the talking.
Conclusion
Foster care caters to the care and nourishment, which the children require. For this,
care homes need to develop strong and effective child care policies. Within this, budgets are
important in terms of attaching proper expenses towards introducing quality products for
providing care to the children. I feel that conducting meetings would be effective in terms of
gaining an insight into the strategies, which would help in upgrading the standards of living
for the families with low income and suffering from risks.

5
After completion of the project, I realized that it is an opportunity in terms of making
practical application of the learnt skills, knowledge and expertise in real life. Discussing the
plans with the experts would help me to enhance my consultancy skills. Moreover, it would
expand the scope and arena of my knowledge network. These discussions helps me in
assessing the effectiveness of the ideas and its feasibility, if I apply them into the workplace.
According to theoretical knowledge, I would gain awareness about the feasibility of one idea
over the others. On the other hand, practical knowledge would help me gain familiarity to the
specific techniques, which are vital for completing the projects in an efficient and effective
manner.

6
References
A. Zerfass, M. Sherzada (2015), Corporate communications from the CEO’s perspective
Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 20 (3), pp. 291-309,
10.1108/CCIJ-04-2014-0020
Aldaba (2017). Children’s services: spending, 2010-11 to 2015-16. Retrieved from
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file/662767/LA_expenditure_Childrens_Services_Update.pdf
Burch K., Green C., Merrell S., Taylor V. & Wise S. (2014). Social Care Innovations in
Calderdale Council (2017). HR employment report. Retrieved from
https://www.calderdale.gov.uk/v2/sites/default/files/hr-employment-report.pdf
Chebet, W. T., & Rotich, J. K. (2015). NEGOTIATION SKILLS: KEYS TO BUSINESS
EXCELLENCE IN THE 21 ST CENTURY?. European Journal of Research and
Reflection in Management Sciences Vol, 3(3).
Community Foundation for Calderdale (CFFC). (2017). Over 8,000 children in Calderdale
are living in household which are income deprived. Retrieved from
http://www.cffc.co.uk/.
Eurochild. (2012). Early intervention and prevention in family and parenting support.
Retrieved from
https://www.eurochild.org/fileadmin/public/05_Library/Thematic_priorities/
03_Family_Parenting_Support/Eurochild/
Early_intervention_and_prevention_in_family_and_parenting_support.pdf.
Farrell, M., 2017. Time management. Journal of library administration, 57(2), pp. 215.
Gallagher, B. (2017, July 17). Fewer staff, dwindling services: how austerity has hit child
protection. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/social-care-
network/2017/jul/17/impact-austerity-child-protection
Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Evaluation Report. Oxford.
Jain, R., & Kaur, S. (2014). Impact of work environment on job satisfaction. International
Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 4(1), 1-8.

7
Johnson, J. (2018). Reframing Foster Care: Filtering Your Foster Parenting Journey Through
the Lens of the Gospel. New Jersey: Credo House Publishers.
Keen (2016). Welfare spending: what’s in £218.3 billion? House of Commons Library.
Retrieved from https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/insights/welfare-spending-
whats-in-218-3-billion/
Ofsted (2015). Calderdale Metropolitan Council. Inspection of services for children in need
of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers and Review of the
effectiveness of the local safeguarding children board. Retrieved from
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file/330332/
RR369_Assessing_parental_capacity_to_change_Final.pdf
Slawson, N. (2017, March 8). UK social care sector in crisis due to staff shortages. The
Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/mar/08/uk-
social-care-crisis-staff-shortages