Children and Younger Adults Department

How Derbyshire is taking integrated working forwards

Richard Corker – Planning and Project Manager

Kevin Matchett – District Manager

Children and Younger Adults Department

The Derbyshire Approach to change

“…we are evolutionary rather than revolutionary, changing where improvement was needed with a focus on service development rather than structural change except where the latter was instrumental in moving towards our strategic direction.”

From Derbyshire Children and Young People’s Plan 2006 - 2009

Children and Younger Adults Department

Integrated Working

Outcomes

for children and young people

Parents

Children and Younger Adults Department

Inter-agency governance

• Children’s Trust Board fully established to involve all partners including 2 reps from the Youth Council

• Officer Steering Group membership revamped to include health commissioners and providers, district councils etc

Children and Younger Adults Department

Inter-agency governance– district approach

• District structure established with co-terminus boundaries wherever possible to reduce barriers to integration (education, social care, district council and community health boundaries match)

• 3 senior managers in each district– Safeguarding and Specialist Services– 0 -11 years services– 11-19 years services

• PCT management also structured around districts

Children and Younger Adults Department

Inter-agency strategy– district approach

• District Partnership groups report to Children’s Trust– Focused on local delivery of County CYPP – district

versions of the CYPP developed– Understand local need and control local resources– Next phase is to concentrate on delivering LAA

targets and CYPP priorities in local super output areas of greatest deprivation

• District partnership groups link through to the district council led Local Strategic Planning groups

Children and Younger Adults Department

Integrated processes

• Wide scale delivery of multi-agency training on Common Assessment Framework and Lead Professional. Processes are more commonly used but yet to be fully established.

• Derbyshire was a Budget Holding Lead Professional pilot area. Distribution of funds based on Team Around the Child approach now being mainstreamed with a million pound investment in 08/09

Children and Younger Adults Department

Integrated process

• New commissioning arrangements– Joint appointments between County Council and

Health– Transparent commissioning with VCS in line with the

Compact

• Examples of inter-agency panels– Complex cases (pooled funding)– Early years panel– Early intervention panels in school– Youth Crime prevention panels

Children and Younger Adults Department

Integrated Frontline Delivery – disabled children

• Early co-location of learning disabilities nurse with social care

• Co-location of education, social care and health staff scheduled this year - opportunistically in new build hospital and school developments

• Successful pilot project of the ‘Team Around the Child’ approach for children with very complex needs. New investment planned to roll out the plan countywide based on commissioning approach with individual services

• My Way Project – improving transition by personalising services. Demonstrates integration with Voluntary Sector and adult services

• Aiming Higher project – approach to commissioning new short break

Children and Younger Adults Department

Integrated Frontline Delivery - Schools

• Twenty five family resource workers based in school clusters are very effective in preventative work – funded from schools grants

• Schools forum has agreed to money from DSG being used to purchase services in areas of greatest need

• Headteachers represented in district partnership arrangements

• Safer Schools Partnerships focus on improving relationship between young people and the police

Children and Younger Adults Department

Integrated frontline delivery - safeguarding

• District Safeguarding groups mirror the children’s Trust arrangements

• An explanatory booklet ‘Meeting the Needs of Children in Derbyshire’ is used to establish consistent thresholds for referrals between agencies. Common language.

• Co-location of a child protection manager with the Police has impacted on response to domestic violence.

Children and Younger Adults Department

Integrated frontline delivery – Children’s Centres

• The main point of contact for families with younger children

• Good cross agency involvement including libraries, adult education and job centre plus.

• Work is underway to ensure children’s centres meet the needs of disabled children

Children and Younger Adults Department

Integrated frontline delivery– Youth Support

• Extensive consultation with young people undertaken

• Youth Service and Connexions have joint management and strategy arrangements

• Partnership with Young People’s Forum has resulted in shifts in decision making about how the Youth Opportunity Funds are being sent

Children and Younger Adults Department

Outcomes for Childrenand Young people

• General trend of targets and performance indicators is upwards

• Evaluations and surveys of user perceptions are increasingly positive

• Still early in the change process

Children and Younger Adults Department

Next steps

• Continue the evolutionary approach

• Evaluate the district approach and change plans according to what works

• Learn from partners and other areas of the country about what is successful