available health, well-being and administrative data, and ultimately to put in ... CPPs will be supported to undertake a
Realigning children’s services
Caireen Miller discusses more about the latest Government development which brings together government, communities and families The vast majority of Scotland’s children and young people get the love and support they need from within their families and their wider, local communities. But even the most loving and caring families can sometimes need extra support. In children’s services, a high level of resource is invested in crisis intervention, instigated following assessment and ‘referral on’ from one service or agency to another. This pathway of service delivery is necessary and effective for some children, young people and their families, but it is a costly model which leaves less resource to invest in prevention and early intervention services. Realigning Children's Services (RCS) is a new programme involving the Scottish Government, Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs) and, importantly, communities and families. Borne out of the recognition of the need to redress that balance of investment, whilst recognising there will remain a need for crisis intervention, and the need to empower and enable staff to fulfil their roles and responsibilities to the upmost level, the programme is designed to help identify where there may be overlaps in services, where there are gaps or what services may be required in future. We want to empower and support communities to take responsibility for their own actions, and commission and deliver public services that are agile enough to enable such changes in behaviour, ultimately making a difference to children and their families. The RCS Team are working with three CPPs in this first year (Clackmannanshire, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian) to develop their local joint strategic commissioning; through mapping current service provision, identifying the needs of the population, utilising other available health, well-being and administrative data, and ultimately to put in place the right services to best meet the needs of that population. The identification of the needs of children and young people within a CPP area is a fundamental aspect of the RCS programme. Underpinned by the SHANARRI indicators (Safe, Health, Active, Nurtured, Achieving, Respected, Responsible, Included), well-being surveys will be conducted to identify where children’s strengths lie, where their needs are and whether there are any trends that cause concern, helping ensure that children’s needs are better met by the services provided. We will also be using SALSUS (The Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey) to extend
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the volume and range of information collected in the local authority areas participating in RCS. Extending the survey – from S2 and S4 classes in a sample of schools to S1 to S4 classes in all schools – means it will offer much larger local sample sizes and opportunities for analysis. Pupils who participate will also be asked an additional set of questions, about a broader set of risk and protection factors relating to wellbeing. To better understand how parents feel about parenting, their child’s wellbeing and the services available to them in their communities, there will be a parent sample survey consisting of a face to face interview in a sample of homes of children aged 0-8 years. These surveys will provide a baseline both to inform future service delivery and to reassess needs in future years. The RCS programme is founded on the importance of data as evidence and strongly promotes the advantages of using evidence supported by other sources of information e.g. professional knowledge. The involvement of children, young people and parents in the surveys is therefore crucial, as well as powerful, in engaging families and communities in local action and decisions that result. Whilst the children and parent surveys are taking place CPPs will be supported to undertake a mapping exercise of current children's services, together with associated investment, and of existing community assets. In order to help CPPs find out if they provide services to the right children, data will be linked anonymously from what is known about the services the local authority provides to a child and the child’s answers to the survey results. This evidence collection forms another important element of the evidence base used by RCS programme. Shifting towards more prevention and early intervention focussed services is not easy. It requires significant transformational change that is complex and will need to be achieved in a challenging climate. Recognising the above context, the RCS Programme includes a Development and Facilitation Programme for CPPs to support their partnership work and their journey through the commissioning cycle stages. Such an approach is crucial to ensuring that the most fertile ground possible is prepared for the (survey and mapping) data to fall upon. Our aim is to develop partnership working across sectors and with the local community, and to create the conditions for service transformation. The messages from implementation science, the learning from improvement science and the contributions of subject matter experts on these topics and on joint strategic commissioning will be central to achieving that goal. Caireen Miller is Communications and Programme Support for Realigning Children’s Services at the Scottish Government For more information, visit http://transformingchildrensfutures.scot/
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