Continuing education for substitute care personnel in child welfare by Outi Hamilo

1. Continuing education for substitute care personnel in child welfareby Outi Hamilo Senior Lecturer, Master of Science (Health Care), Master of Administrative Sciences

2. Topics: Methodicalness and evaluation Decision-making in matters related to the upbringing of a child Legislation in Finland: Child Welfare Act (417/2007) The parents bear the primary responsibility for the child's well-being

3. Authorities dealing with children and families must support parents in their educational task Child's right to obtain information on a child welfare issue concerning him or her and to express an opinion must be secured in accordance with his or her age and phase of development Municipality must ensure that the content and extent of both preventive child welfare and child- or family-specific child welfare meet the existing needs

4. In Finland: Act on the Status and Rights of a Client of Social Welfare Services (22 September 2000/812) Client is entitled to good social welfare services and good, non-discriminatory treatment When providing social welfare services, attention must be paid to the client's wishes, opinion, interests and individual needs, as well as his or her mother tongue and cultural background Social welfare personnel must explain the client's rights and obligations, as well as various options and their effects and factors that have a bearing on his or her case

5. Power and responsibility, structure and culture • Official and unofficial power • Powers in relation to the child • Child's power and rights • Parents' power • Primary nurse's power • Associate nurse's power • Work community's power • Unit management system and related powers, manager's power • Payer's power

6. Collection and utilisation of feedback – employee's continuous learning and development, reflection Collection of feedback from child, parents, primary nurse, associate nurse, work community, payer Social work must be based on an optimal evidence of the results of the work (accountability)

7. Questions asked prior to follow-up already contain a statement What is the object of follow-up, and what kind of information on the object is desired? Why is follow-up conducted, and on what grounds do we evaluate the client's situation (client's view)? Criterion – what distinguishes desirable from undesirable? What is sufficient?

8. Indicators are determined along with objectives Indicator must be reliable, relevant, appropriate to the problem under analysis Indicator should provide a precise, clear and comprehensive picture of the object under analysis Indicator should generate objective information, as much as possible, with as little effort and minimal costs as possible Indicator should measure things in a single dimension and show even small differences in the object under analysis

9. Individual development discussions A structured meeting between employee and superior, planned in advance Parties prepare carefully for the meeting, using a written form designed for the purpose Discussion covers a previous time period analysed through successes and challenges from the standpoint of both parties Discussion results in an agreement on future work tasks, training, development needs, unit-specific guidelines Parties deal with good practices, experiences

10. Impact assessment Balanced scorecard, BSC – a comprehensive evaluation system (Kaplan & Norton 1992) How are the organisation's values, visions and strategies carried out and materialised in the child welfare task? What must be achieved in the child welfare in order to attain the objectives (success factors)? What is the aim – what are the essential, important and desirable issues from the standpoints of the client, process, personnel resources and effectiveness?

11. Inventory of indicators, assessment of their usability Some indicators suitable for evaluating the operations in a balanced manner are chosen for the BSC matrix. Although key figures describing the operations are chosen for the matrix, a more comprehensive and detailed group of follow-up indicators is needed as a complement.

12. Evaluation system based on the Balanced Scorecard; a successful chain of child welfare services (Lumijärvi)

13. Personnel's performance capacity - sufficient number of personnel - competence and training - ability to innovate - work motivation and work satisfaction - workload to be managed and ability to work - well-functioning personal relationships - joint values

14. Procedural smoothness and cost-efficiency of child welfare work - methodicalness and schedules of care - reasonableness of operating costs per care period - optimal relation between nurse and child in relation to the need for care - number of cases in relation to the need for care / nursing costs per year - utilisation rate of places in the institution

15. Quality of child welfare work • - good accessibility of nursing staff and availability of support • well-functioning nursing situations and communication • psychosocial functionality of nurse-child relationship • - functionality of cooperation

16. Effectiveness and adequacy of child welfare work • children's, family members' and nursing staff's views of the successfulness of care • (reception of support, clarification of life situations, remedy of disturbances, decrease in adjustment problems, development of self-control, security of child's growth environment) • positive changes in the condition and behaviour of children • - decrease in number of children queuing for care

17. Evaluation of the realisation of the child care plan is part of the evaluation of the unit, and part of the development discussion with the primary nurse and the associate nurse and their evaluation Perception and understanding of child's entire life Further methods: HUOMIS barometer HUOLISEULA indicator VALMIS indicators – self-developed indicator KARTUKE project (www.kuntatyonantajat.fi) Hierarchy of indicators Self-reflection (Rousu, Sirkka ja Holma, Tupu: Lastensuojelupalvelujen onnistumisen arviointi)

18. Utilisation of analysed data Documentation and analysis of measurements and results in the light of previous theories Outcome: “GOOD PRACTICES” LET THE GOOD RESULTS SPREAD AND GROW