Download
1 / 26
260 likes | 262 Views
Learn how Edinburgh is adopting a restorative practice approach to become a child-friendly city, inspired by the success of Leeds. Discover the key elements of this approach and the outcomes expected. Join us in incorporating a clear vision and values into a new Integrated Children’s Services Plan, focusing on family support, positive school experiences, and meaningful destinations for children and young people.
E N D
'Child friendly city' • The Children’s Practice Team Managers visited Leeds at the end of 2016 for a 3 day conference and learn how they had approached their ambition to be a “child friendly city”. • Impressed that politicians, staff and children and young people were enthused by what Leeds was doing. • Inspired by the Leeds approach and met representatives from other councils who have formed part of a community of practice, supporting each other to develop work which broadly falls under the umbrella of ‘restorative practice’. • 'Children live in families, however you define families; those families create communities and it’s those communities that create cities.' Nigel Richardson
Restorative Practice • Restorative practice essentially involves behaving in ways which tend to build positive relationships and to reduce conflict. • In Leeds it is described as doing things with people, not to them or for them (and not doing nothing). • These behaviours were evident in the reports of everyone we met in Leeds from senior managers down to children and young people. • Still have higher end percentage of work that requires protective statutory intervention, but looking to reduce that by earlier multi-disciplinary intervention.
Culture more than strategy • An emphasis on culture more than strategy. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Positive 'can do' approach. • Strong vision and values, keeping children at the centre, led strongly by senior managers and elected members. • Doing simple things better and keeping key messages simple and easy to grasp, including key documents such as the children’s services plan. • A whole city approach, all disciplines, focussed on being child friendly and celebrating their success. • High support but also high challenge.
Main elements of Leeds approach • Describing a set of behaviours to which everyone subscribes. • These were: • always listening to children; • doing things with people, not to or for them; • and always asking if what we do makes a difference. • A focus on 3 “obsessions”: reducing the need for children to be Looked After; attainment and positive destinations; and school attendance. • A whole council approach, no pilots.
Outcomes • Measuring success – are we making a difference? • Reduced number of LAAC by 250. • Reduced NEET by 570. • Schools that are engaged have seen huge drop in exclusions and increase in attendances. Pupils positive about school experience. • 400,000 more pupil days in school.
We’re in a different place from Leeds • Leeds’ transformation came from a crisis, a bad inspection, low morale, lots of agency staff. Took 5 years to show tangible improvements. • Edinburgh starting from a different place. For us it’s not about recovering, but getting better. • In Edinburgh, we have many of these components in place but could benefit from drawing them into one very clear and inspiring approach which gets staff, children, families and partner agencies on board.
We already have components in place • Inspection Reports, management information, measuring outcomes, monitoring standards – data to assess whether we are making a difference. • Qualitative evaluations consistently report vast majority of work is good and imaginative practice • FGDM, Safe & Together, Signs of Safety, GIRFEC, MST etc • Lots of work already done on getting, assessing and reflecting children’s views – e.g our work in practice teams, youth talk and pupil councils, talking mats etc • Restorative practice – some people around the city are trained, some schools already using the approach • It’s about bringing them together in one clear approach.
What we want to do • Incorporate a clear vision and set of values into a new easy to read Integrated Children’s Services Plan. • Focus this on the things we are most passionate about – • children and young people are part of a family which safely looks after and meets their needs; • they attend schools where they have a great experience which supports their learning and wellbeing; • and they achieve positive and meaningful destinations making full use of their potential. • Build on existing strengths to put in place a framework of restorative, solution focussed and strengths based practice among the whole children’s workforce in Edinburgh.
What we want to do • Build a culture of doing things with people, not to or for them. • Engage elected members in the vision and process. • Build a restorative approach to complaints • Extend the approach to the whole council and partner agencies, e.g. a multi agency screening approach to child concerns • Build on successful engagement strategies such as Youth Talk to have great conversations with young people.
What we want to do • Celebrate the achievements, skills and talents of our young people. • Use Locality Children’s Services Management Groups to promote a local joined up, multi agency restorative practice approach which enables earlier intervention using existing resources. • Build local celebrations that contribute to City celebrations of Edinburgh children and young people.
I know, I know: when you're up to your neck in alligators, it's easy to forget that the initial objective was to drain the swamp But we need to sometimes stand back and remember what it is we want to do and how we can do things better despite all the problems.
What we are doing • High support, high challenge: Getting staff to think about ‘conversations’ with children and families - working ‘with’ rather than doing ‘to’ or ‘for’ or doing nothing – in case planning, SDS, etc. That's what most of us do but we need to look at issues that obstruct that. • Taking forward more links with university, lectures for staff, academics visiting workplaces, direct links, staff opportunities to lecture at university etc. • Linking with national Restorative Practice learning community – finding out what others are doing.
What we are doing • Engaged with Scottish Government in a new approach which will see children and young people being directly involved in planning. We are committed to seeking their views, hearing their voices, and integrating their messages in to the new plan. • Council’s Corporate Parenting Leadership Team has recently been re-convened under the leadership of the Chief Executive – the aspiration would be to make the city a great place to grow up for all children and young people. • Report taken to CLT and politicians engaged.
One-off financial investment • Child Friendly City / restorative practice: 4 FTE secondees to deliver an intensive programme over one year, • including e-learning, • briefings for large numbers of staff • and full day sessions for professional staff across the organisation. • Family Group Decision Making: add capacity • to progress the extended family searching model • and to pilot the application of the model for vulnerable adults including those who need to be discharged from hospitals and those who are victims of domestic abuse and/or at risk of homelessness.
One-off financial investment • Emotional Wellbeing Academy: Explore ‘West Berkshire’ type model • recruitment of relevant graduates to support young people at an early stage where they have emotional wellbeing concerns • In West Berkshire this had the effect of meeting needs more effectively at an earlier stage and reducing the CAMHS waiting list. • Self-Directed Support: UseSDS in a way that prevents the need for higher-cost packages for children and young people. This would include shared care for those young people who may otherwise need out-of-council residential placements
One-off financial investment • Alternatives to residential care for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children. • PLUS £7m going from Scottish Government into schools to use for services for pupils.
More on Self Directed Support • Money for practice teams to use imaginatively in SDS initiatives with children and families. PTM can authorise up to £3,000 at any one time. • We need to evidence how we are using the money to save money - this is not about distributing monies to families – but what else we can do with families. • If we can prove we are achieving positive outcomes, more money can be released for use. • Families need to identify what is required, not necessarily social workers. 'What does a good day look like?' - 'how do we create more of these days?'
Getting the basics right locally • Challenge ourselves and each other • Are we doing with, for or to? • What does 'not doing nothing' mean?
Three city-wide aims • Develop all the work we are currently doing into one clear vision with children and families at the centre. • Become ‘Child Friendly Edinburgh’ • Whatever we do - Report our successes, report children’s successes, report families’ successes.
