Be Inspired! Shirley Ayres Consulting

I first met Simon when he accepted an invitation to speak at the Social Workers Educational Trust conference. “Being Inspired by Social Work”. A big thank you to Simon for sharing his thoughts following the Personalisation Conference held in London on the 21^st May 2010.

“If we can each work together, accepting our weaknesses, we can make things happen.”

Thus spoke the social worker, reflecting on the tensions that can flare up between those who want to help other people and those they are trying to help. These words beautifully captured the spirit of Friday’s conference, at the Tavistock, on personalisation and social work. The conference organised by Skills for Care, in partnership with the Department of Health and the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust Foundation, focused on exploring changes in the role and responsibilities of the social work practitioner within transformed adult services. 

The event had “hope and purpose”, but it also revealed an array of challenges that face social workers who try to make sense of ‘personalisation’ – a word which is full of meaning and unmeaning. It is hard to remember the purpose of all these personalisation ‘technologies’ (direct payments, individual budgets, self-directed support, peer support etc.). It is very hard to recall, amidst the consultants, government milestones, and official guidance, that these ideas didn’t start in government. These new ways of working were developed by disabled people and by social workers. And they were developed in order to take forward the ambition of social work – to achieve social justice.

Keeping a focus on social justice is hard, but it is essential when it comes to making sense of all the new processes associated with personalisation. Many social workers described the insanity they face working in a system which asks them to keep running the old bureaucratic system, while also setting up and running the new system. Processes are becoming more confused and over elaborate, and they are damaging our ability to respond quickly and sensitively to people’s needs. Sometimes ‘personalisation’ is leading to less personalisation.

Senior managers need to protect their staff from this chaos; but they are struggling to make sense of the overall policy direction. How deep and serious is the government’s commitment to personalisation when these new systems are developed in ways which lack any legal, financial and policy coherence. It is easy to suspect that a system which is being developed without any clear and rational plan will, in time, fade away.

But progress is being made, despite the madness, and we must be optimistic – not because we can expect things to get better – but because we can each take responsibility for making the most of this opportunity to build a fairer world.

Simon Duffy Director of The Centre for Welfare Reform

There are a number of interesting publications which can be downloaded at www.centreforwelfarereform.org

About the author

Dr Simon Duffy is Director of the Centre for Welfare Reform. Simon created Individual Budgets, Self-Directed Support and the Citizenship Model and put these ideas into practice at Inclusion Glasgow and In Control. He was awarded the RSA’s 2008 Prince Albert Medal for his work on personalisation.

Tags: be inspired, empowerment, Learning and Development, personalisation, post qualifying awards, professional practice, simon duffy, Social Work

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The official launch of the College of Social Work took place today at Community Care Live. Moira Gibb welcomed the new College as “An opportunity for social work to gain the authoritative and influential professional voice it deserves”

Social workers and people who use social work services are today being encouraged to shape The College of Social Work by taking part in a UK-wide consultation. You can join the online consultation on the College website. Events are also being organised in several regions in England. A total of 22 consultation sessions will be held; twelve events for social work practitioners and managers and ten for users of social work services and carers.

The College of Social Work will start functioning in the coming months; at present the College Development Group is ensuring that those vital contributions are being captured and given to the Interim Board of the College once it is established. The Development Group is overseeing the consultation, which starts today and runs until October.

The College Development Group Chair, Allan Bowman, stated that

“We’ve been looking forward to today because it’s when The College’s work can really begin. We need the input of social workers, people who use social work services and their carers. Their views will shape the way the College is run. We encourage everyone with views to come forward, either at the large number of events organised so that people can discuss their views, or they can go online and help shape their College.”

Some of the issues that can be discussed in the consultation include:

• Membership
• Purpose,  functions and activities
• Working with employers, regulators, and unions
• Continuing professional development

Through these consultation activities it is hoped that a shared understanding of the purpose and key objectives of the College will be developed, built on the direct contribution of social workers and the people who use social work services. The consultation process will also ensure that the design and plans for the College will meet needs of the profession now and in the future.

Welcoming the College Moira Gibb, Chair of the Social Work Reform Board said:

“A College of Social Work is an opportunity for social work to gain the authoritative and influential professional voice it deserves. It is important that from the outset the College speaks for the breadth of the profession and represents the views of all social workers. This consultation is a major opportunity for the whole sector to set the direction and control the future of the College. I urge all social workers, and those engaged with social work, to take this chance to help shape the future of our profession.”

The College is clear that it wants to have the input of everyone involved from across the UK and that it will cover all aspects of social work.

The College of Social Work website

Tags: advanced social work practice, college of social work, Leadership and Management, professional practice, research, scie, Social Work, social work is complex and challenging

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It is really refreshing to read about the contribution made by practitioners to the very challenging area of workload allocation and caseload management. Biri Yaya and Carolyn Cousins are qualified social workers, managers and published authors who take a keen interest in what really makes a difference to supporting front line social workers and practitioners.

This article shares the essence of two case allocation tools developed by the authors and implemented in a local authority. One of the most difficult aspects of front line management is knowing there is yet more work that has to be allocated to an over stretched team. The temptation can be to allocate to those who are willing, or will offer the least resistance. As all managers know, some staff will over commit and agree to take on more, while others will resist work – and these can sometimes be the very staff who the manager suspects are the least busy.

Many social work offices still rely either on a team meeting forum for allocation – where the overworked but committed social worker puts their hand up to take on more, much to the relief of the manager, while others rarely offer to take on anything new, or the alternative system usually relies on the individual manager allocating work based on their own judgment of capacity, gained from the self report of the social workers. Neither of these systems openly or transparently determines capacity.

The Weighted Case Limit sets a standard across all staff in a team or service, it requires a set case load limit and that case weighting be pre-determined. It allows for better informed judgment of worker capacity for allocation. It also helps define and distil the kind of caseload that can assist the worker’s professional development.

The Individual Capacity Planner is tailored to each worker and aims to assess spare capacity. Here work load capacity is determined using a quick case by case analysis, and rather than use case number ceilings the tool examines the amount of time required for each case. This model has been used both in safeguarding and family support contexts. This model relies on social worker report, but it does introduce some analysis and accountability, beyond a simple, ‘I’m too busy’ or ‘I can take another case’.

A systematic approach that takes optimum capacity in the notionally available time and impacting factors have proved to be effective methods of case allocation. Download the full report including an exemplar of caseload weighting here. Tried and Tested Workload Management Allocation Tools

The authors welcome feedback on these approaches and thoughts from practitioners who use them in different contexts.

About the authors

Carolyn Cousins (MSW, MEd (Adult), Dip. Mgt) is a social worker and adult educator who has worked across the statutory, voluntary and health sectors both in the UK and Australia. She is currently the Assistant Director of Education and Training at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Fountain Trust. ccousins@tavi-port.org

Biri Yaya, (PhD, M.S.W) is an experienced qualified social worker and team manager . He has published a number of peer-reviewed articles. biriy@aol.com

Tags: advanced social work practice, caseload management, encouraging innovation, professional leadership in social work, professional practice, Social Work, social work reform board

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BASW has welcomed plans to redefine the role of the General Social Care Council (GSCC) in a move that would restrict its activities to social work, but warned that a further proposal to make the body ‘financially independent’ of government will mean social workers bearing the cost.

The Department of Health revealed yesterday that the regulator for the profession in England is set to be renamed the General Social Work Council, losing responsibility for the wider social care workforce and itself becoming regulated by the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence.

The plans, outlined in the social care white paper, Building the National Care Service, stated: ‘As with the health regulatory bodies, over time the GSWC will move to financial independence and become independent of government’.

Responding to the news, BASW’s chief executive Hilton Dawson said the ‘clarification and reforms of the GSCC’s role are a positive step’ but cautioned that the move would ultimately mean hit social workers in their pockets. “This move towards greater independence for the GSCC will mean that social workers will have to bear the full cost of funding the GSCC, or General Social Work Council as it will become, in the future. We regard this as inevitable, particularly given the parlous state of public finances.” Read the full BASW article http://ow.ly/1t8cH

Tags: basw, funding, gscc, regulation, Social Work, workforce engagement

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Get the picture with Social Care TV. An online channel for everyone involved in the social care and social work sector.

“Personalisation enables me to do the things that I took for granted for so long. My personal assistants help me to achieve my independence. Managing my own budget means that I can go to concerts, for instance at the English National Opera. I feel like I’m part of the world to which I once belonged.” Stephen Page, on Social Care TV.

It’s not always easy to explain what social care is, and Social Care TV, aims to stimulate debate about the big issues in the sector. Social Care TV programmes bring real world examples to social care staff, managers, commissioners and trainers.

This is the first time that social care has had its own TV service. Films are ‘on demand’ so they can be watched in the workplace, the training room or at home. But there aren’t just films; each web page also includes lots of guidance and advice, multimedia and e-learning resources. Social Care TV can be used as a training and learning tool; it aims to understand the needs of people who use services, by presenting real life stories and linking these to easy-to-use resources, giving staff a better understanding of good practice.

Ann Macfarlane is featured on Social Care TV. Ann now works as a social care consultant but she spent the first twenty-five years of her life in residential settings and hospitals. She says this about the film which shows how she has succeeded to change her life because of personalisation:

“It makes me proud about my achievements. I was brought up in a place where other children were dying in front of me. I didn’t have a childhood and so I feel like I’ve been making up for borrowed time. The film shows that I now live at home, run my own consultancy business and crucially, have choice, voice and control. I’m sure this film will help the workforce to do a better job and understand the role that they have to play.”

The project is run by The Social Care Institute for Excellence and has a number of innovative features. 

• You can watch the films, but you can also download them from the site into presentations for training
• You can watch segments of films. You can go to a specific point of a film to address a key issue in social care practice.
• You can email a film or just a segment of a film to a colleague, making the sharing of good practice very efficient
• Users won’t just see a film on a site. There are useful text and links to specialist areas. 

SCIE Chief Executive Julie Jones says:

“The films bring to life what we do every day in our work. The social care workforce is in for a treat. Along with the accompanying care and support information on the web pages, the films are thought-provoking, interesting and full of strong messages about delivering good quality, personalised social care.”

Watch Social Care TV now

Tags: education, elearning, personalisation, scie, social care, Social Care TV, Social Work

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Two publications have been launched by the Government office London ~ ‘Promoting the health and wellbeing of London’s Looked After Children – Learning from Emerging Practice and Scoping Review’ documents.

These publications came out of requests (in Spring 2009) for examples of practice from across London that increase positive health outcomes for looked after children, in order to share learning and ideas. The Scoping review provides a snapshot of how London services that promote health and wellbeing of looked after children are currently being developed and delivered.

This is supported by the Emerging Practice guide, which is a collection of examples of practice achieving positive health outcomes for looked after children across London. The case studies have been submitted from London Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts and focus on practice around:

 Annual Health assessments
 Immunisations and Vaccinations
 Access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
 Sex and Relationship Education
 Emotional Wellbeing

Download GoL Children in Care Learning from Emerging Practice Guide[1]

Download Children in Care Scoping Review[1]

Hard copies of these publications can be obtained from Amy Wilkinson amy.wilkinson@gol.gsi.gov.uk

Shirley Ayres Consulting were delighted to have been awarded the contract for the scoping review and to have identified so many innovative examples of emerging practice across London.

Tags: looked after children, professional practice, promoting health and well being, shirley ayres consulting, Social Work

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The major anger management curricula in the U.S. all use emotional intelligence as its’ core content. In addition, most models of anger management include Pre and Post Tests as well as client workbooks, DVDs , posters and other ancillary training material. The assessments are designed to determine the clients’ level of competence in recognizing and managing anger, recognizing and managing stress, primary and secondary styles of communication as well of the degree of empathy/emotional intelligence. The fifth category of the assessment is Motivation to Change. Motivation is the key to change.

Since anger is not considered a pathological (DSM) condition, it should not be subjected to psychiatric interventions. Rather, the types of practical skill enhancement interventions that are common to the Social Work profession are more effective.

The four domains of emotional intelligence are: self-awareness, self-control, social awareness and relationship management. These are the topics which form the basis of the skills that are taught in anger management classes as well as coaching programs.

Programs using these Emotional Intelligence based curricula are being used in prisons, jails, schools, businesses as well as municipal governments. The latest trends are in the areas of civility training for attorneys who are mandated by state bar associations as well as “disruptive physicians” who are mandated by their hospital administrators. Finally, executive coaching/anger management programs are rapidly becoming the intervention of choice for skill enhancement in leadership.

An excellent summary of U.S. based anger management programs can be viewed in a BBC documentary entitled Losing It 2. The link to this documentary can be found at headroom . This two hour documentary was produced for the BBC by actor and comedian, Griff Rhys Jones.

About the author

George Anderson is a Harvard University trained Psychotherapist with a specialization in executive coaching/anger management. He is a graduate of Smith College School for Social Work and former Faculty of UCLA School of Social Work.

Anderson & Anderson is the largest provider of Certified Anger Management Facilitator training in the world. http://www.andersonservices.com

Tags: anger management, emotional intelligence, human relationships, mental health, motivation to change, Social Work, social work is complex and challenging

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Perception is reality… a simple statement but one which has a powerful impact on the performance of teams and services.  Where we focus our attention becomes reality for us and all too often, as Barry Oshry argues, we are focused on the wrong things – the soap opera or the side-show in our teams, partnerships and organisations; as a result performance suffers, sometimes dramatically, often without us being aware of it.

What do I mean?  Some examples from my recent practice in Social Care…

● The service so caught up in its frustration and issues with its host organisation that a group of 60 staff couldn’t talk about the needs of the young people they provided a service for.

● The systems that produced three volumes of email communication over 11 months about the discharge of a high risk young offender – A problem which was sorted out the day before discharge by one telephone call by the young person’s solicitor in lieu of seeking a judicial review.

● The (fieldwork management) team grieving the departure of it’s service manager, unwilling to implement changes required for an OFSTED inspection.

What all these teams have in common was a habit, routine and perception which they were committed to as ‘real’ which was getting in the way of any kind of acceptable performance or outcome and that they were ‘stuck’ in.

How did we use a systems approach to support these situations and what was the outcome?

Barry Oshry’s work allows teams and services to develop ‘system sight’ and look at what they do as either part of the ‘side-show’ or ‘core purpose’.  It was a shock to these teams when they stood back from their situations; they could see that they were almost entirely caught up in a side-show rather than core purpose.

How does a systems understanding help teams and services to change their approach?

Systems thinking sees 95% of the problems in the way the system is configured rather than people being to blame.  John Seddon’s work – ‘Systems Thinking in the Public Sector’ (1998) has three key concepts we applied to these situations:
● An understanding of failure demand (not sorting things out the first time so they come back)
● Looking at the relationship between transactions (the number of actions it takes to get something done)
● …and Flow (how work moves through a system)

 We applied these ideas to our case studies and found that:

● The management of our ‘disinterested’ service was unavailable to lead because they were caught up in a complex financial system which generated lots of failure demand and transactions to achieve the flow required – a management of the cost of out of authority placements.  We worked with them to simplify this system which had grown up over a number of years, freeing management time to lead the service.

● The planning for the discharge of a young offender was clearly generating huge failure demand and massive levels of transaction which failed to deliver the required flow, which could have been sorted at any time by a single phone call.  We brought together the key managers of the system and agreed a new process to deal with failure demand and ensure flow, rehearsing this with young people about to be released.

● We brought the management team together to review the consequences to them and their staff of failing to engage with the new process.  As a result we were able to put in place a new internal system with the management team which made sense to them and which met the new internal and  external expectations.

What are the benefits?

It wasn’t, however just a case of sorting out the systems, there were other benefits, including restoring the reputation and career of key individuals who were being ‘blamed’ for the problems.  Other benefits included:

● The disengaged service, once reorganised, gaining regional and national recognition for its work and innovation.

● The discharge process leading to a flexible use of accommodation provision to flexibly meet the needs of a wider range of difficult and vulnerable young people.

● The management team coming together as a team, moving on and passing their unannounced OFSTED inspection.

References:

• Seddon, J (2008) ‘Systems Thinking in the Public Sector: the failure of the reform regime…and manifesto for a better way’, Axminster, Triarchy Press.
• Oshry, B (1996) ‘Seeing Systems: Unlocking the Mysteries of Organisational Life’, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.

About the author
 Brian Lawson has 20 years experience in the public and voluntary, community and faith sectors applying new science and complexity approaches to a range of challenges as a project and programme manager and consultant working primarily in the area of children and young people’s services.

As well as direct intervention support work, Consilient provides support for organisations, partnerships, companies, teams and individuals dealing with turbulent transitions to sustain successful change. Consilient Consulting

Tags: Barry Oshry, Social Work, systemic approaches, team working

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What a powerful and independent voice this would give social work in the UK. With 82,875 social workers and 16,174 students on the GSCC Social Care Register this could happen in 2010.

“Do not wait for leaders. do it alone, person to person.”  ~ Mother Teresa

Help to make it happen
It is free to join LinkedIn. Promote the group by encouraging your friends and colleagues to join the Advanced Social Work Practice Network on LinkedIn. Start discussions and contribute your thoughts and ideas, share your research and examples of good practice, post interesting events locally, nationally and internationally. Suggest sub groups for special interests.

LinkedIn is a professional networking tool whose purpose is to provide its members with a a way to search and connect with other people. Unlike the social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, LinkedIn is primarily focused on professional communities of interest.

“The insurmountable difficulties of today are the solved problems of tomorrow.”  Cardinal Heenan

The Social Work Task Force called for a a new programme of action on public understanding of social work. The phenomenal growth of social media and LinkedIn over the last few months offers us unprecedented opportunities to engage with the public debate today. Over 15 million people worldwide log on to LinkedIn every day! If you are new to LinkedIn this brief guide provides a useful overview . LinkedIn for beginners I look forward to connecting with you on LinkedIn!  http://uk.linkedin.com/in/shirleyayres

If you work with children and young people in care you may wish to join this group on LinkedIn

Interesting Resources
Managing on the front-line
Social Work Focus 
Supporting and Promoting Advanced Social Work
Social Work Task Force

Tags: a new voice for social work, advanced social work practice, be inspired, leadership, linkedin, Social Work

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The internet revolution has transformed the way in which research and professional knowledge can be accessed and used to enhance social work practice and social care services.

Tags: elearning, internet social worker, post qualifying awards, professional practice, scie, Social Work

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