harnessing the early intervention agenda. who are interface? we are a national provider of...
TRANSCRIPT
Harnessing the early intervention agenda
Who are Interface?
We are a national provider of specialist expertise on effective approaches to support vulnerable families.
We help partners jointly plan, design, implement, improve and evaluate services across priority areas for vulnerable individuals and families.
Training and consultancy support to enhance capacity and expertise.
Who are we?
Family Delivery Team DfE Families at risk - Grant – DfE, DCLG Associates - experience of implementing improvement programmes and training across LA’s, VCS, Schools, Early Years and CSC Skills, knowledge, and experience around working with complex and vulnerable families, change management, improvement support and evaluation
Experience and knowledge …
Implementation and support of 371 Intensive Family Support ServicesThink Family reforms Training 6,500 front line practitioners and managers in skills based and accredited learning. Evaluating projects and services.Service redesign in Early Help and Troubled Families.Creating innovative products including eLearning and the children’s’ school vulnerability audit tool, new Level 4 courseSupporting leadership and management roles- training and team building.
Experience and knowledge …
Supporting development of ‘system leadership’ across the early years sector.Providing service reviews e.g. CAHMs and Early HelpSchool improvement and leadership developmentPartnership workshopsCustomer journey mappingWorking with schools, academies and pupil referral units to identify and support / deal with children with behavioural issuesImplementing new projects and servicesSupport with business case development
So now you know about me – Who are you and why this workshop?
Today …
Harnessing the early intervention agendaAssessing how to promote the early help and troubled families agendas Discovering what this means for local authorities and their partner agencies Responding to the changing needs of the workforce
Question Zero
Troubled Families - What is Question Zero?
Herman Leonard, a professor at Harvard Business School, has a concept called Question Zero. This asks “What exactly are we trying to accomplish?” The idea being if you can’t answer Question Zero, then don’t bother with questions 1 through 99!
Question Zero
We think:
It’s do the right thing for children and families in the right way at the right time.
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Troubled Families opportunity from DCLG and PBR?
DCLG: £200m to ‘turnaround’ 120,000 families (2012)
Are involved in crime and anti social behaviour (ASB) ‐ Have children not in school Have an adult on out of work benefits Cause high costs to the public purse
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What's the opportunity from DCLG and PBR?
Huge concern and cost around those with multiple and complex needs including those with: Child protection concerns Substance misuse Domestic abuse Mental health issues.
Risked losing Payment by Results
Massive expansion of the programme, to include 400,000 more ‘troubled families’, with wider-ranging criteria (July 2013)=6.5% of all families in England
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What's the opportunity from DCLG and PBR?
The right families:
Multiple complex issues Below high thresholds Cherry pick easy to reach Identify and predict families upstream
Really changing their lives?
Long term plan – across partnerships
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What's the opportunity from DCLG and PBR?
Money focussed on Local Authorities and their partners to support families in turning their lives around Secured cross party political support Broken new ground in sharing info/data
Opportunity: • Make a difference• Bigger picture• Multi agency • Long term plan
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What's the job then?
Local Authorities and partners:
Identify and reach the right families (systemic data collection..) Make the best use of the payment by results opportunity Share data and information safely and effectively Work effectively with partners Right culture and leadership Services are effective for families Have a skilled workforce Demonstrate successful outcomes for families Demonstrate good value for money and reduce local cost
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Progress
May 2015, the government published figures that showed that local authorities had ‘turned around’ 99% of ‘troubled families’
David Cameron called it a ‘real government success’ and announced that he was looking to expand the approach to other areas, such as child protection. Spending Review ‘plans to deliver £20 billion of savings will be developed, states that the government will continue to support the TFP ‘and similar cross-cutting initiatives that generate efficiencies and bring together public services at local level’
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Where are we now? No social policy can expect to be 100% successful, especially one involving some of the most disadvantaged families whilst tied to such a short timescale. LAs informed (2014) - not be eligible for Phase 2 if not ‘turned around’ all of their families. Many local authorities have ‘turned around’ some of their ‘troubled families’ not through ‘family intervention’ work but through data matching exercises. Only 10% gained work.
The government’s ‘troubled families’ story is too good to be true. The near perfect symmetry between government predictions of numbers of ‘troubled families’ in each local authority area and the numbers that local authorities then found, worked with, and ‘turned around’ is hard to believe……Centre for Crime and Justice
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It would be interesting to know what you are seeing?
What are we seeing?
Identify and reach the right families?
DCLG criteria for phase 1 – improved with phase 2 - huge concern and cost around those with multiple and complex needs including those with:
• Child protection concerns• Substance misuse• Domestic abuse• Mental health issues
Issues of identifying early – schools and early years Systematic data collection ? Or scramble for info from
partners? Planned interventions after profiling and predicting upstream
or data rush from partners for anyone who meets PBR?
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Question Zero
It’s do the right thing for children and families in the right way at the right time.
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Schools - family stress and children’s outcomesThe Department of Education published its research into ‘Family stressors and Children’s outcomes’ in January 2013.
The research tells us there is potentially a direct link between the vulnerability and attainment or achievement of children.
A number of contextual factors that are associated with doing ‘less well’ in some way are identified in the research report.
The findings are helpful in flagging up the areas where children may be at risk of failing badly on educational and well-being outcomes , and where interventions (by schools working in partnership with other agencies) might be justifiably targeted to help the close ‘achievement gap
Interface Schools Vulnerable Children Audit Tool
Converting that knowledge into strategies and interventions is difficult. Tracking the impact of those strategies and interventions is a further challenge.
Work with schools to develop an electronic tool to help leaders, governors, teachers and multi- agency partners identify vulnerable children and their families and work more effectively and efficiently with them
Categories of potential vulnerability4 broad categories and 17 assessment areas
PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
LEARNING AND SCHOOLING
PARENTS AND CARERS
THE WIDER FAMILY AND COMMUNITY
Health
Emotional /Social Developme
nt
Behaviour
al Developme
nt
Self Estee
m/ imag
e
Family and social relationshi
ps
Self care and independenc
e
Attendance
, punctuality
, move
s
Learning,
achieveme
nt and
attainment
Additional education
al need
s
Social relationshi
ps and
behaviour
Parent's
Attitudes and
engagemen
t
Basic care, safety and protection
Emotional
warmth
and stabil
ity
Guidance,
boundaries and
stimulation
Wider
Family
Housing/
financial
considerati
ons
Social and communi
ty resources
The right approach – service redesign? DCLG report - Whole family intensive support (FIPs) shows
positive outcomes - effective at sustaining change as systematic approach and all family member share the solution.
Good Practice Culture change in design and delivery Re commission what is working well and de commission what is
not Sustainable approaches Family engagement
Less goodLack of budget planningServices that don’t create sustainable change – dichotomy of PBR
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Workforce developmentService redesign and reform = new ways of working and new skills required Massive numbers – innovative ways- eLearning Culture Change management Leadership skills Partnership working skills Level 4 recognition Supervision• Motivational interviewing – solution focussed• Engaging families• Assessment• Goal setting
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Information sharing
DCLG and areas great strides but: Still local blocks and different in different areas Not based in law Practitioners confident – Effective and safe
• What• How• When• Who
Culture – Collect and Share Leadership – Vision and Commitment Invest in time to understand
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Measuring change
Tracking cross-agency data over time – systemic data collection?
Measure changes in behaviour resulting from services provided
Outcome tools and cost calculator
Develop more robust commissioning strategies and understand where current pathways are failing
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Evaluation and the cost effectiveness question
Part of every evaluation and increasingly the highest evaluation priority over the past five years Economic analysis”…”Economic evaluation”….”Assessment of
value for money”….”Explore the cost effectiveness”….”cashable savings” Do we simply mean “does this save money”? Or “are the
resources deployed commensurate with the outcomes seen”? We need to be precise when posing the economic question
Asking the right question – Question zero
Decision makers need to be involved from the outset
Establish and agree the critical questions that need to be
answered
If a question will make no difference to a decision then don’t
ask it but….
Don’t avoid asking the questions that do matter
• Better poor evidence on a question that matters than proof
against a question that doesn’t
Effective Training Effective Workers
With more practitioners being asked to work with individuals and whole families with complex needs, and an increasing focus on outcomes and results, there is an increased need for staff to have effective training and a wider skills base.
What are your teams/colleagues saying about Early Intervention training or
training in general for this new world and way of working?
Messages from staff
Complexities of whole family workingChange in role Skills to self reflect and problem solve Understanding wider agendas How to provide sustainable support that matches the outcomes management need
Some key considerations for staff training and development
For staff - Time away for the stress of the day job- Opportunity to network and share ideas- Safety in learning new skills together- An opportunity to reflect and consolidate- Staff feel valued and invested in
Some key considerations for staff training and development
Managers and Organisations:- Opportunity for trainers to observe staff blocks and
enablers- External challenge is easier- An investment in learning leads to greater skills - Wider multi agency buy in to local agendas - Supports service transformation - Greater knowledge of other areas and wider agendas
Developing Key skills
Workforce needs to embrace core concepts such as:Engagement / communicationResilienceAssessment skills/observationsReflectionFocus and drive
This provides the confidence and enthusiasm to learn new skills.
Developing Key skills
What to include in training:
Use local and polices and procedures and internal referral routes
Understand team structures
Include internal templates and guidance documents
Link training to personal and professional development
Understand other training opportunities
Management
Staff training is only effective if supported and understood by direct line managers
Offer the training to management Understand what the issues and blocks are Use trainers who have done the role themselves ensuring credibility in the sessionTraining that is fit for purpose Communicate well – purpose and rationale Plan your programme• Consult the workforce
• Organise in advance
• Think about the training room
• Refreshments
Meeting learners needs
Consider the range of learning styles from its attendees.It is important that the delivery meets all of the learning styles so include:
Presentations
Group discussions
Small paired discussion
Role play
Visual interaction
Challenge and solution finding
Take away learning
Meeting the organisations needs
Reenergising is as important as the content Use evaluation data – feedback and learn Seeing and feeling in the roomConcerns raised with managersBlocks in practice, systems and processes identifiedSupport workers to take ownership and responsibility – themselves and the organisation
Questions and Answers?
Question Zero
We think:
It’s do the right thing for children and families in the right way at the right time.
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