Frequently Asked Questions

Looked After Children (LAC)

Q: We simply do not have the funding for this service
A: Welfare Call Ltd understands the budgetary constraints some authorities have. Therefore, we have the ability to either pilot the scheme with a select number of children or specifically target the in or out of borough children.

Q: Welfare Call staff need educational training
A: This is not so, we are simply a reporting tool. No educational training is needed to ask a school if a particular child is present and similarly, no training is required to ask a parent or carer why a child is absent – only a pre-agreed script between the authority and ourselves. Once the absentees have been identified and the reason for their absence confirmed this is then reported back to either the education welfare department and/or the social services department who have trained staff to deal with the issues raised.

Q: We have direct software links to the schools registers
A: All this does is give you access to the attendance data. Someone then has to collect the data, collate the data and action the absences, where applicable. Welfare Call Ltd do it all and simply report the absences to you on a daily basis complete with the reason for the absence as given by the carer/parent of the child. Software cannot do this, it can only give present or absent breakdown.

Q: We have no issues with attendance
A: This service is not only about attendance issues. All authorities have a legal responsibility to report LAC attendance information back to central government on the SSDA903 document. Welfare Call Ltd provides this information, updated daily, to satisfy these requirements at a minimal cost, with no impact on existing administration procedures and staff.

Q: It contravenes the human rights of the children
A: This is totally untrue. Welfare Call Ltd is acting as the legal representatives of the corporate parent and as such has a right to check on the attendance of their wards at whatever frequency the authority sees fit.

Q: We don’t use Welfare Call because it’s cheaper to do the work in-house
A: It may well appear, at first glance, to be cheaper to collect the data in-house. We know from experience that the collection and collation of data may well occur on a half term or full term basis and that the ability to react to any developing attendance issues is lost. The collection of the data is done by either EWO’s or the dedicated LAC virtual head teacher, both of whom are expensive resources to use for a simple data collection exercise. If you are comparing like for like service delivery, then we guarantee that no authority will be able to deliver a DAILY ATTENDANCE check, and action all absentees, every day, for a similar or even lesser cost.

Q: We don’t want to aggravate the schools by calling them all the time
A: We are not in the business of trying to cause friction between the authority and schools. Once the school know who we are, we begin to build on that relationship and they become used to the call and have the information ready on demand. We currently contact 5,500 schools a day and we have less than 1% that are against this method. However, we can contact once a week as a last option if this is recommended by the authority.

Youth Offending Service (YOS)

Q: There is no legal requirement to gain attendance information for youth offenders
A: This point is absolutely right but this doesn’t or shouldn’t stop the department from wanting to check on their youth’s educational progress. We not only notify the educational establishments, parents/carers and even children themselves (if over 16) with ‘introduction to service’ letters, but we also stress that it is the will of the authority to try to improve the educational attendance of the children.

Schools – First Day Absence Service

Q: Will staff be given any specific training on educational issues?
A: This service has dedicated staff but our brief is to ascertain the reasons for absence and the expected return date and therefore training is not needed.

Q: What information do schools supply?
A: The school supplies us with a list of absentees, on a daily basis with contact numbers and registration form, direct from their SIMS or BROMCOM registration systems.

Q: Is there an escalation process?
A: All information is passed back to the school and it is their responsibility to action it further, where necessary. Secondary schools get their information returned en-mass as a complete sheet. Junior/primary schools get the same completed sheet sent back, but in addition, we inform the school immediately if we discover a pupil whose parent/carer thinks they are at school. This is done via a phone call to the school secretary.

Q: Does the service cover inbound and outbound calls?
A: We only make outbound calls for the First Day Absence Service. For schools opting for the additional Attendance Officer Service, this covers only inbound calls.

Q: How many attempts at contact are made?
A: This depends on the amount of telephone numbers and the return times that the school supply to us. In general, we make up to 6 attempts before we return the results to schools. If no response is received from a contact number that is a mobile phone, a text is sent to that mobile phone in order to improve the number of live responses that are obtained.

Connexions / Next Step Service

Q: What does the service entail and what is the cost?
A: For just £1.20 per client, we attempt to make contact with the Connexions or Next Step client 6 times to determine what they are currently doing, be it still in education, employment / unemployed or training. Template scripts are provided and can be amended at the branches discretion. Additional notes from the client are provided and reasons plus evidence for no contact being made are also highlighted.

Q: We use the Reidmark client tracking system, can we still use you?
A: There are Next Step branches that already use us whilst using the Reidmark system. The only difference being is instead of using our own system to produce the results and send back to you, we are provided with a password to use Reidmark and input our outcomes onto their system for you.