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Safeguarding children:
peer review of progress
07th - 11th November 2011
Feedback
11/11/11
www.idea.gov.uk
Safeguarding peer review of progress:
programme for today
• The peer team
• The process
• Feedback
– Strengths
– Areas for further consideration
• Discussion
The peer team
• Sue Williams – Director of Safeguarding Operations,
Hertfordshire County Council
• Allan Cadzow – Assistant Director, Integrated Service
Delivery, Suffolk County Council
• Rebecca Price – Head of Performance and Improvement,
Children’s Services, Hertfordshire County Council
• Bernadette Halford – Independent Health Peer
• Tim Beach – Independent Chair, Barnet Safeguarding Board
• Jonathan Trubshaw – Associate, Local Government Group
(Peer Review Manager)
Peer review
• Peer review focusing on progress
• Not an inspection – invited in as “critical
friends”
• Consideration of issues across partnership
• Information is confidential and non attributable
• People were open and honest
Overall progress
•Stable senior management team
•Significant drive, effort, energy and clear direction
•Establishment of performance management and
quality standards
•Improving partnership participation and challenge
However:
•Quality of case work and management direction
remain variable
•Lots of progress within a short time period that needs
“time to grow”
Progress in: Leadership and
management
•CSF and Children’s Leadership Group are seen
to provide clear direction, change, structure,
order and relentless focus on improved
practice/delivery of promises
•High level of staff morale and energy with
confidence about the direction of travel
•Elected Member support for the improvement
journey
Progress in: Leadership and
management 2
•Evidence of challenge to partners to increase
accountability and contribution to improve
outcomes for children
•Workforce issues being addressed including
reducing reliance on agency, vacancy
management, L & D plan, sickness absence and
implementation of agreed workforce plan
•Investment in staff and management training
and reward package
Areas for further consideration in:
Leadership and management
•Ensure level of challenge continues to be
strengthened, such as LSCB, Members, IRO /
CP Chairs and managers
•Put in place measures to ensure continuity of
scrutiny and challenge for post Improvement
Board era, including future role of LSCB chair
•Quality of and investment in first line managers
•Relentless focus on quality of case work by
managers at all levels in social work services
Areas for further consideration in:
Leadership and management 2
•Move on from compliance to good professional
judgement and shared leadership
•Embed culture of continuous improvement, not
‘quick fix’
•Consideration of nomination of deputy lead
member with focus on safeguarding given
priority for Council
Progress in: Quality of provision
•Management analysis informed rationale
for programme of continuous
improvement
•Out of timescale assessments completed
and reasonable caseloads established
•Staff and managers engaged in project to
make Frameworki fit for purpose and a
better social work tool
Progress in: Quality of provision 2
•Creation of SRU welcomed by partners and
assessment teams to establish consistent
thresholds and provide feedback to agencies
•Tools and practice aids put in place to support
improvements in practice
•Chronologies largely in place but quality needs
continuing management focus
•Some good and adequate examples of case
work
Progress in: Quality of provision 3
• Investment in mobile technology to ensure staff can
access support and direction
• Clear focus on requirement for management of risk
• Increasing evidence of strengthening of challenge to
practice via IROs and Chairs
• Improved partnership working to protect children via
co-location with Police in assessment and SRU
• Positive service user and professional survey in
September 2011
• Some evidence of improved action to address risk on
repeat referrals
Areas for further consideration in:
Quality of provision
•Change of emphasis in practice
standards to address additional areas of
child and parent views
•Further detail required in 121a to aid risk
assessment
•Promotion of ‘professional scepticism’ in
casework as many assessments audited
were superficial
Areas for further consideration in:
Quality of provision 2
•Further clarify Cornwall’s assessment
framework procedures around s47/CA and
thresholds for ICPCC
•Consider realignment of locality services to
better support those children who do not require
social work services and to strengthen ‘step
up/step down’
•Greater focus on equality and diversity issues
•Explore development of standardised format for
community based parenting assessments
Areas for further consideration in:
Quality of provision 3
• Consider use of template for recording supervision
and management direction to support management
standards
• Develop use of risk assessment tool by embedding
triggers for escalation
• Analyse numbers and sources of CAFs and review
support provided to lead professionals
• Consider establishment of Social Worker Academy
to strengthen recruitment and retention (peer visit)
Progress in: Partnership working
•Improving leadership: CSF, LSCB, growing
support from partners
•LSCB Sub-groups chaired by statutory and
voluntary agencies
•Operational service delivery – shared vision,
integrated Locality teams
•Child focused promoting positive outcomes for
children
Progress in: Partnership working 2
•Willingness to provide integrated services
within co-terminus boundaries
•Strategic partners supportive of the
improvement, recent involvement of Health in
Children’s Leadership Group
•Evidence of challenge from and to LSCB at
strategic and operational levels
Areas for further consideration in:
Partnership working
• Build and expand role of SRU to include greater skills mix,
increase efficiency by involving partner contribution and better
support step up/down (peer visit offer)
• Consideration of establishment of multi-agency audit (beyond
section 11) programme, followed through into implementation
• Clarify future provision of multi-agency training by LSCB
across partnership
• Establish Joint Strategic Commissioning for Children’s
Services
• Ensure more timely notification of case conferences to nurses
and managers
Areas for further consideration in:
Partnership working 2
• LSCB to consider:
– increasing focus on identification of and effect on
children of neglect and substance misuse across
partnership (graded care profile)
– how to support the strengthening of step up/down
procedures across partnership
– use of newsletter to disseminate findings from
audits, SCR and promote good practice examples
– structures required to scrutinise QA processes
across agencies
– embedding escalation policy across agencies
Progress in: Supervision and
Performance Management
• Some evidence of ‘golden thread’ of plans in place
from corporate priorities to service, team and
individual priorities
• Clear evidence of regular monthly supervision
• Emerging culture of performance management
• Members taking an active interest in the
improvement journey
• Trusted data is in place as a tool to drive forward
improvements, including external focus
Progress in: Supervision and
Performance Management 2
• Performance management infrastructure in
place – QAPM is changing behaviours and
improving performance
• Range of training in place to support identified
learning needs in PDS and service
improvement.
• Regular supervision of staff established to
ensure proper management of oversight of
risk to children
Areas for further consideration in:
Supervision and Performance
Management
• Consider use of template for recording
supervision and management direction to
support management standards
• Mechanisms to improve quality and timeliness
of PDS
• Strengthen involvement of C&YP and
evidence they are being listened to in shaping
improvements to service delivery (peer visit
offered)
Opportunity for questions and
clarification