Services for children and young people in Angus are generally performing well and delivering good outcomes for children, young people and their families, inspectors have said.
However, more could be done for some very vulnerable children in order to deliver even better outcomes.
These are among the key findings of a joint inspection of services for children and young people in the Angus Community Planning Partnership.
The inspection was carried out by the Care Inspectorate with Education Scotland, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland between 16 May 2016 and 24 June 2016.
Inspectors looked at how well a wide range of services were working together to make a positive difference to the lives of children, young people and their families. Inspectors interviewed staff, senior officers and young people, visited services, and carried out a structured review of individual young people's care files.
Some specially-trained young inspectors aged 18 to 24, who have personal experience of using care, met young people, listening to what matters to them, and had the chance to probe agencies about what they were doing to improve the quality of care for other young people.
Inspectors found that partners were 'very good' at improving outcomes for children and young people, and six other areas of practice were found to be 'good'. Inspectors graded two areas as 'adequate': these were the way that the partnership assessed and responded to risks and needs; and the way support is planned for individual children.
Inspectors praised the partnership for using data well to improve outcomes for children and young people, and found many real improvements had been made in the lives of children and young people.
There were major strengths in the health and wellbeing of babies, and in children's educational achievements. There were improving trends in many aspects of the lives of vulnerable children and young people, including those who were looked after. Increasingly children and young people who were unable to live at home were living in a family setting and were able to remain within Angus.
Inspectors found that children and young people were generally safe within their communities and increasingly made responsible choices in terms of substance use.
Karen Reid, chief executive of the Care Inspectorate said: "Partners have demonstrated improvement across a wide range of services which are making a real difference to the lives of children, young people and their families and are delivering good outcomes.
"Some areas could improve further. While most children and young people were safe at home or in their care placements, inconsistencies in the quality of assessments and plans compromised outcomes for some children and young people at times when they were particularly vulnerable.
"Some children lived with the negative consequences of domestic abuse or their parents' substance misuse for too long. A few vulnerable children had too many changes of accommodation or had to wait too long for permanent placements.
"We expect that partners will now take forward the areas for improvement identified in this report."
The full inspection report is available here: http://badlink/CYPangus