Children’s Services: Information, Strategy and Practice

1. Children’s Services: Information, StrategyandPractice Ruth Rogan - Newcastle Roger Vaughan cSBI

2. Where we were… • Children Act • Legislative framework for what is offered to ‘children in need’ • Silo based services • Concentration on acute issues • Lack of multi agency information sharing • Service based output performance

3. Where we are going? • Green paper > new Children Bill • Good outcomes for all children/young people • Focus on prevention/supporting ‘vulnerability’ • “Joined up problems need joined up solutions” - transformed services • Multi agency working - which entails information sharing

4. The new landscape of inclusion • A rights based approach to desired outcomes for all children and young people in Newcastle: • Healthy • Safe • Fulfilled • Participating • Economicallyincluded

5. Mapping the landscape • Develop a map of existing provision. • Communicate the landscape. • Understand the resourcing of provision. • Change the landscape/resourcing responding to policy, practice, children and young peoples’ agenda.

6. Universal Targeted Specialist Hosp’t Serv’s Health ‘Hubs’ HS Connexions Drug Action Team Education DAT Family Support YOT Youth Offending Team Children’s Fund Sure Start SEN Special Educational needs LD CAMHS Learning Disabilities CWD Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service Children with Disabilities

7. ISA Rehabilitative Universal Targeted Specialist Health ‘Hubs’ HS Connexions Education DAT Family Support YOT Children’s Fund Sure Start Area Child Protection Committee SEN LD C&AMHS Child Protection CWD Adoption & Fostering Looked After Children

8. ISA Local Preventative Strategy Rehabilitative Universal Targeted Specialist Health ‘Hubs’ HS Connexions Education DAT Family Support YOT Children’s Fund Sure Start Area Child Protection Committee SEN LD CAMHS Child Protection CWD Adoption & Fostering Looked After Children

9. Understandingpractice • Ethnographic analysis - • understanding the practitioner’s world through the eyes of practitioners. • Understanding the parents and carers world through their eyes to allow practitioners to make sense of it. • Understanding the world of service managers.

10. What does this look like to different participants? We must recognise four ‘world views’ -held by: • Citizens/service users • Service delivery practitioners/managers • Corporate commissioning • National governance

11. Citizens/service users • This view includes • the public, • service users, • their families, • supporting social networks, • self-help and community groups… • It is where vulnerability is experienced. • Q - “Who can advise or help us?”

12. Service delivery • This includes service delivery practitioners including preventative, targeted, specialist and protection services, GPs, hospitals and schools, voluntary organisations, one-stop-shops.. • This is where vulnerability is observed. • Q - “Who needs help from us?” • Q – “How can we best shape that help?”

13. Corporate commissioning • Includes those who frame local political/professional priorities through understanding the demographics, making sense of national policies and who configure services. • They are accountable for ‘public value’ • Q- “How do we tackle social exclusion in Newcastle?”

15. National governance • This includes government legislation, guidance, league tables. • Professional bodies/codes of practice. • Representative organisations, lobbying. • Q- “How do we resolve national spending priorities?”

16. Common processes Each of these ‘worlds’ involves: • Making sense of what is going on in our own and other ‘worlds.’ • Making strategies for what we should do in the future. • Doing what we do today (operational practice)

17. ….and information systems? • People carrying out these processes in different ‘worlds’ need to: • Message • Publish, search and collate • Transact • Co-ordinate • How are these needs met by current information systems?

18. Typically… Sense making Strategic thinking Operational practice Citizens Web? Digital tv? ? E-booking?? Directories Service Delivery Web? Assessing outcomes? Care record ICS, IRT….. Corporate Comm’ning Web? GIS? Outcomes? Finance, HR National Governance PAF? ‘research’ ‘surveys’ Web E-pubs

19. Confidentiality in a multi agency information architecture People in each ‘world’ need to: • Recognise the role of consent to information sharing. • Be able to share information with people who need it to provide or receive care. • Be confident about the security and legality of information sharing. • Take part in the governance of information and its use.

20. …and it’s all changing! • And it always will…can we keep up? • A move away from service led provision • Silo-based policies and fixed information systems applications will hold us back! • How can practitioners make sure that they get what they want/need from information systems for their multi agency practice?

21. ….multi agency working is hard! • “Different professional cultures. • Different statutory responsibilities. • Availability of time, people, resources. • Different agency structures. • Perceptions of professional group status • Different conditions of professional work”.

22. Towards a new information architecture • We need a ‘Big Picture’ of the role of information in social care. • To reflect the different needs of different actors in their ‘worlds’. • To be sustainable in the face of continuous change. • To be achievable incrementally.

23. Governance • “Information architecture is more than technology – it’s a powerful form of governance.” • “Outsourcing architecture is effectively the outsourcing of policy making.” Do we want to outsource policy? • The governance of this continually changing landscape is essential.

24. Governance • The architecture of services and information architecture must be developed together. • But if senior managers in the world of corporate commissioning are to take responsibility for policy towards architecture they must understand the capabilities of ICT.

25. Developing systems with practitioners - VESCR • How can practitioners be sure they have seen all appropriate case information? • How can we be sure we are talking about the right/same individual(s)? • How can we collate records and documents? • Can we display complete chronologies?

26. Components of a solution • Practitioners articulate their ‘workflow’. • (processes maps are a partial answer.) • Rapid prototyping of systems. • Practitioners appropriate the process. • IT suppliers concentrate on providing the capabilities to be appropriated by practitioners. • This is an infrastructural approach.

27. Developing a strategy for children and young people • Making sense of: • the tidal waves of national policies and guidance. • local political and professional priorities. • the views of children and young people, their families and carers. • Building a strategic process

28. Participation • Children and young people have the right to be heard and describe their ‘world’. • Participation is beyond consultation - it is a means to a ‘political’ end. • The test is - what change is sought by participation by children and young people – and has it happened?

29. Governance structure • The aim of the strategy for Newcastle’s Children and Young People is to improve the lives of all children and young people significantly. • The Strategic Partnership Board is a multi agency group, independently chaired with representation from a wide range of statutory and voluntary agencies

30. Governance - Board tasks • Sustain the strategic partnership • Implement the participation strategy • Improve service configurations • Co-ordinate commissioning • Undertake Information governance • Become a learning organisation • Win funding And collaborate with other partnerships.

31. Challenges ahead • Legal basis for partnership working • Involving service users/citizens • Sustaining multi agency working • Governing information sharing • Developing a sustainable architecture of information systems and services • Linking architectures – people move - there are other partnerships out there!