Children and Families Service Quality Assurance Framework

Transcription

1 Children and Families Service Quality Assurance Framework [IL0: UNCLASSIFIED]

2 Document Control Version Date Summary of Changes Changes Made by Draft / V July 2016 First draft of the Quality Assurance Framework to be signed off SC Final 2 August 2016 Final document DP Approvals Name Approval Date of Issue CFSMT S Moore 2 August 2016 Version 1 Distribution Name Date of Issue Version 2

3 Content Page 1. Introduction and Aims Vision Guiding Principles.. Outcomes 2. Our Approach to Quality Assurance Definition of Quality Assurance Service User Feedback and the Child s Voice.. Equality and Diversity 3. Quality Assurance Activities Performance Data Collection and Analysis... Activity Led by the Quality Development Unit Activity Led by Services.. 4. Quality Assurance Roles 5. Appendices Appendix 1 Performance and Assurance Framework.. Appendix 2 Auditing Framework.. Appendix 3 Outcomes Framework.. Page

4 1. Introduction and Aims Vision Quality Assurance Framework Our vision is for Sandwell s children and young people to have the best start in life, for them to be nurtured and supported by those who care for them allowing them to develop into healthy, socially responsible and achieving adults who, in turn, show the same level of care when raising their own families. For those children who need our help and support, we aim to deliver the right service, at the right time. This is being achieved by taking a whole system approach to improving outcomes for children and families and through ensuring child centred practice is at the heart of what we do. Guiding Principles In order to achieve our vision, we are embedding a number of guiding principles that will underpin everything that we do: Principle 1: The voice of the child is of paramount importance and must be visible and listened to through child centred practice. Principle 2: Our services will reflect and respond to the diverse needs of our communities. Principle 3: The quality of our delivery is central to our success and improved outcomes for children. Principle 4: We take a whole family approach to our work and engage with those who will help us to meet their needs by offering early help rather than waiting until problems escalate. Principle 5: We will communicate effectively and meaningfully with our families, our staff and partner agencies. Outcomes Sandwell s ambition is reflected in the outcomes we want for children. These reflect the universal ambitions that every parent wants for their own child. We will support families to achieve these outcomes for their own children wherever possible. Being Healthy: enjoying good physical and mental health and living a healthy lifestyle and for their family to be able to provide this. Staying Safe: being protected from harm and neglect both at home and in their communities. Accomplished and successful: getting the most out of life and developing the skills for the most successful transition to adulthood including educational attainment and the personal and social skills to take care of themselves when they are older. 4

5 Be a valued member of society: being involved with the community and society and not engaging in anti-social or criminal behaviour. This includes being listened to by adults including those who work with them in a professional capacity. Getting the best start in life: not being prevented by economic disadvantage from achieving their full potential in life. This includes their families being able to access sufficient resources to take care of themselves and their children and improving their employment prospects if reliant on the state for support. The aim of this document is to create a framework which is easily understood by all workers and managers across the Children and Families Service with mechanisms and markers to Quality Assure practice and services delivered. 5

6 2. Our Approach to Quality Assurance Definition of Quality Assurance Quality assurance defines everything that we do in Sandwell Children and Families Services and is the process by which we assess our work to understand if it is effective and making a difference. There are 3 key elements of our approach to Quality Assurance: Fig 1 Quantitative: Regular monitoring of performance data to ensure that we are meeting our performance indicators and targets and delivering good quality services to be delivered. Qualitative: Regular measuring of the quality of the work being carried out, utilising audit, observation and management oversight. Outcomes: Utilising an outcome focused approach wherever possible to measure the impact of services delivered to service users. The combination of these three elements enables the Children and Families Service to review work carried out and provides learning and areas of focus for improvement. Regular monitoring also enables Senior Managers to ensure that children and families are receiving the right help at the right time. 6

7 Service User Feedback and the Child s Voice We recognise the importance of service user feedback to quality assure practice and services. Ensuring that the child s voice is evident in practice is part of all review and audit activity carried out in the Children and Families Service. Sandwell has high standards for ensuring that children and young people are seen alone, have an opportunity to share their views and be involved in their plans and creating outcomes for their families. There are 3 levels of engagement and consultation utilised including: Individual level: Consultation by workers and managers with families through visits and meetings. Group level: Consultation with groups of children, young people and their families, through surveys and the use of existing service user forums including SHAPE, the Care Leavers Forum and the Looked After Children s Board which enable young people to influence strategy, planning, and recruitment, as well as a parent s forum. Strategic level: Consultation with groups of service users regarding strategic decisions e.g. the Looked after Children strategy with the Corporate Parenting Board. Equality and Diversity Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council is committed to delivering consistent and high quality services across children s services and to ensure that all children, young people and their families will have equal access to the services provided that meet their level of need. The Sandwell Children and Families Service recognise the diversity of the children, young people and families we work with. We recognise that each family has their specific needs and the range of specialist services that we provide reflects this, enabling families to make sustainable changes. Anti-discriminatory practice will continue to be promoted and permeate all assurance of quality carried out and all children, young people and their families views will be included in our work regardless of language, culture, disability and gender. This will include the use of the MoMo app for children in care and learning from complaints and compliments. 7

8 3. Quality Assurance Activities Quality Assurance Framework Quality assurance is intrinsic to the work we do and all managers are required to carry out quality assurance activity as part of their day to day role to ensure that children and their families are receiving a high standard of services, which meet their individual needs. Quality of practice is established as a standard agenda item at meetings across the service including supervision, team meetings, service meetings and Senior Management meetings. Each service holds Performance Quality Surgeries which reviews the dataset, audit findings and best practice. The meetings address service specific issues which are then discussed by the senior management team at the monthly CSFMT Performance Meeting. Quality Assurance Activity that will take place and its findings are communicated to the workforce through a range of methods including: Communications from Senior Management to the Workforce. The Children s Services Newsletter. Monthly quality agenda items for Team Meetings, Service Meetings and Quality Surgeries. Feedback from frontline staff regarding Quality Assurance activity such as performance data is also communicated back regularly to senior management by managers within the Service and the Principal Social Worker. The Director of Children and Families also meets bi-monthly with a group of practitioners and managers to allow and enable feedback. Performance Data Collection and Analysis Performance data is one part of the performance trio and enables managers to; Improve and maintain services. Report against targets, metrics, programmes and activities. Ensure performance meets both local and national targets and informs performance against statistical neighbours. Understand the direction of travel and evaluate the impact of change. Sandwell Children and Families Service regularly utilise performance data to analyse their performance including weekly and monthly analysis at all levels of the service. 8

9 Audit Quantitative audits consider whether the file is up to date, contains all the relevant documentation and that the documentation has been properly completed. Qualitative auditing considers the quality of the recording on file, and whether it reflects good practice. Both are necessary. The record may be up to date and contain all the relevant documentation, but the quality of the recording may be poor or inappropriate to the needs of the child, similarly the record may be of a high standard, but out of date. Source: Write enough: effective recording for children s services: Scottish Inspection Agency: 2010 A fundamental part of the Quality Assurance Framework is case file audit. Audit is not a one size fits all activity and can be used in a variety of ways. To gain an over view of a child s life To ensure that the child s voice is present in work undertaken To review social work/ manager compliance with key standards; For example, case recording/supervision notes/statutory reviews To gain a snap shot of current practice; for example, the quality of core groups To gauge the quality of practice across the service; for example, evidence of supervision To gauge the quality of practice in a certain part of the service; for example, children seen alone as part of the assessment process. To understand and analyse specific trends; for example, the numbers of out of date assessments. To review multi agency audits; for example, SSCB audits To be effective case file audit must be part of a broader quality assurance process which links audit findings to changes in practice, whether individual or organisational, and review. 9

10 The Individual Audit Cycle Case audit Review Analyse Develop individual action plan Share results This cycle involves 5 key processes: The file audit takes place, where possible with the allocated worker to facilitate learning. The auditor analyses the information from the audit and develops a set of recommendations. The audit, analysis and recommendations are shared with the worker. An individual action plan is developed for the child in order to improve outcomes and, where required for the worker if development and learning issues are identified. The plan is reviewed as part of ongoing supervision. 10

11 The Organisational Audit Cycle Individual audits Review Share results is a themed audit required? Training and development Develop action plan This cycle ensures that audit findings are embedded into organisational practice, policy and procedure. Individual case audits are completed as part of the monthly audit process. The audit results are collated and recommendations made. This may include the need for a themed audit. An action plan is developed. This should be specific, targeted, and achievable and time limited (SMART). The action plan should link directly with the training and development plan to ensure that staff are adequately supported to make changes. Learning from the audit is disseminated to the service via known communication channels. Individual cases should be reviewed to ensure that recommendations have been followed through. Where required the themed audit should be repeated to review progress. 11

12 Activity Led by the Quality Assurance and Safeguarding Unit (QA-SGU) As the drivers for quality in children s services the QA-SGU lead on a number of quality assurance activities including: The Auditing Framework This framework sets out the expectations for auditing across Children s Services. This framework includes themed audits which occur at set points throughout the year with themes agreed at CSFMT. It also sets out the number of case file audits required on a monthly basis by managers and audits of audits. The Head of the QA-SGU collates information on all auditing activity carried out throughout the month and reports this to Children and Families Senior Management Team (CFSMT), identifying any themes for learning. Compliments and Complaints Compliments and complaints are monitored on a monthly basis by the Head of the QA-SGU and shared with CFSMT. Children s Services utilise all feedback and information from children and families to ensure that concerns and complaints are dealt with effectively and in a timely manner to make improvements to the service we provide. All complaints are managed in accordance with the Data Protection act 1998 and although learning is shared across the service, specific information is only shared with those parties involved in resolving the complaint. IRO Monitoring Forms An IRO monitoring form is completed by the Independent Reviewing Officer after every Looked After Children Review and Child Protection Conference. This information is collated in the QA-SGU on a monthly basis and fed back to Group Heads, the Principal Social Worker and the Team Managers. Any areas for action are discussed by Team Managers and practitioners in supervision. The information is also discussed at Quality Surgeries in all service areas, which an IRO TM attends and actions to improve practice determined. Dispute Resolution Process If an IRO becomes aware of practice concerns under the IRO Handbook, IROs can raise a Dispute Resolution (DRP) and notify the Team Manager and Social Worker immediately. The Team Manager will investigate the issues raised and take appropriate action. If the Social Worker or Team Manager does not respond in the required timescale the DRP will be escalated to the appropriate Group Head and finally the Service Director if required. Every effort is made to resolve these issues informally before the formal process is implemented. Ofsted Auditing Team In order to ensure that we are adequately able to assurance a virtual team of trained auditors is being created. Each auditor has been trained to recognise Ofsted s standards and grading, and regularly meet to discuss these and ensure consistency. Twice a year the team carry out a replica of auditing activity required by Ofsted s Single Inspection Framework. This enables senior management to understand the consistency of practice across the service. 12

13 Service User and Practice Week We will implement Service User Week. In addition, Service User Survey and the Youth Takeover Challenge will enable young people to take over a variety of roles in Children and Families Services and give direct feedback to create improvement. The Principal Social Worker and Head of QA-SGU will ensure that all relevant service user feedback is given to services and a plan developed to ensure that this is fed back into practice and service plans. Activity Led by Services Quality Surgeries Each service area has a monthly Quality Surgery, chaired by the Group Head and attended by a member of the performance reporting team to discuss the service area and team data and an IRO TM to discuss wider qualitative issues. A series of actions are developed at each Quality Surgery to improve the quality within the service. Management Oversight The service Supervision Policy sets out expectations for supervision across the service, including 4 weekly supervision for Social Workers and that every child is discussed to a minimum of every 8 weeks. Regular audit of this supervision by Group Heads, and an annual supervision audit ensure consistency in supervision for workers. Management Auditing Activity Managers within Children s Services carry out Quality Assurance auditing activity on a daily basis. This includes: The reviewing and authorising of all assessments by Team Managers. The reviewing and authorising of all Court Statements by Group Heads. The reviewing and authorising of all Child Permanence Reports (CPRs) by the Director for Children and Families Service. The utilisation of reviewing panels such as Fostering and Adoption Panel. Observational visits Observational visits are carried out by managers across children s services including the Director of Children and Families and the Principal Social Worker Team. The manager should always take the opportunity to meet with the service user alone to gain honest feedback and offer an opportunity for complaints and compliments. These help to quality assure practice carried out with service users and the strengths and weaknesses identified feed into the learning and development programme for the Children and Families Service. Targeted Services Moderation Panel The Targeted Services Moderation Panel is designed to review casework that has progressed through Early Help and Targeted Services, to review in detail, the child s journey and the impact and effectiveness of support that has been provided. The panel meets fortnightly and cases are reviewed either randomly or following a particular theme to enable the service to take an in depth, qualitative review of casework and ascertain the impact of work on the child and family. Evidence and analysis is collated by the Group Head through their 13

14 management team. The first panel of the month is multi-agency, providing a forum for wider partnership discussion. Group Supervision Group supervision take place on a monthly basis for NQSW s (ASYE), Social Workers and team managers and facilitated by the PSW service and Group Heads. This will enable reflective case discussion and provide opportunities for learning to improve the quality of practice. Lunchtime Learning Sessions Lunchtime learning sessions take place on a monthly basis which will address areas of practice in need of improvement identified by audits. These will be facilitated by the Principal Social Worker Team. 4. Quality Assurance Roles Each member of the Children and Families Service has a role in Quality Assurance and an understanding of these roles is essential to the success of the framework. This section will clearly set out the roles of individuals within children s services: Cabinet Member for Children and Families Provides overall political leadership for the Directorate along with support and challenge to ensure the best possible outcomes for children, young people and their families in Sandwell. They meet on a monthly basis with representatives from the Children and Families Services to discuss Quality Assurance and Performance Data. Role of DCS The DCS has professional responsibility for the leadership, strategy and effectiveness of local authority children s services and, as such, this post should be at first tier officer level. The DCS is responsible for securing the provision of services which address the needs of all children and young people, including the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, and their families and carers. In discharging these responsibilities, the DCS will work closely with other local partners to improve the outcomes and well-being of children and young people. The DCS is responsible for the performance of local authority functions relating to the education and social care of children and young people. The DCS is responsible for ensuring that effective systems are in place for discharging these functions, including where a local authority has commissioned any services from another provider rather than delivering them itself. Source: Dfe 2013 Role of Director of Children and Families 14

15 To ensure effective operational leadership and management of individual services and the effective delivery of outcomes against the Council s Children s Services Improvement Plan. Role of CFSMT Are responsible for agreeing the performance priorities based on the scrutiny of performance data, agreeing the themed audit schedule and closing the loop on all quality reporting such as themes from audits by implementing recommendations. DMT should also offer an opportunity to discuss quality issues within services and identify solutions. Role of Group Head for Safeguarding and the Quality Assurance Unit They will lead on the Quality Assurance Framework and ensure its implementation. They will also lead on the audit framework for Children s Services ensuring that themed audits reflect the needs of children s services and the monitoring of auditing to ensure that it takes place. Role of Group Head Provide leadership and management of individual services, teams and act as themed leads for the Council s Children s Services Improvement Plan. Each Group Head is responsible for the quality of practice and services to children, young people and their families within their service area. It is their responsibility to ensure that all quality themes are fed back to their individual Quality Surgeries. Role of Principal Social Worker (PSW) The PSW is responsible for the quality of practice across children s services, its improvement and regularly providing an overview of current practice to the Director of Children and Families. They should also act as a conduit between front line practitioners and senior management, identifying any barriers to the improvement of practice and working with the service to find solutions for change. The Principal Social Worker in Sandwell is also responsible for the development of ASYE Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSW s) and workforce development. Role of Team Manager Provide operational leadership and management of individual services, teams and theme leads, and come together as a management team to scrutinise performance and share knowledge and good practice. Role of the IRO The combined statutory roles of Child Protection Conference Chairs and Independent Reviewing Officers will be the drivers for quality in the organisation in their unique to position to scrutinise assessments and plans for children and young 15

16 people who are subject to child protection plans and accommodated by the Local Authority. In addition to their day to day role, IRO TMs and IROs all contribute to the quality assurance of the service and the monthly Quality Surgery Meetings with Managers, Social Workers and safeguarding partners. LADO In accordance with Working Together to Safeguard Children (2010), the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) has management and oversight of individual cases where it is alleged that a person working with children (including a volunteer) has behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child. The LADO provides advice and guidance to employers and voluntary organisations, liaises with the police and other agencies and monitors the progress of cases to ensure that they are dealt with as quickly as possible, consistently and with a thorough and fair process. SSCB The SSCB holds the Local Authority to account through its QPP Group as well as the coordination of Section 11 compliance and multi-agency audits. Children s services regularly utilise the SSCB to consult partner agencies on the quality of their services. Multi agency audits are a key aspect of SSCB work. Workforce Development All learning from Quality Assurance activity is fed into the Workforce Development Group, chaired by the Director of Children and Families, by the Group Heads and Principal Social Worker. This will also inform the priorities of the Learning and Development Programme as well as the Workforce Development Strategy. 16

17 Appendix 1: Performance & Assurance Framework Reporting Type Weekly Performance Reporting Monthly Performance Scorecard Monthly COG Scorecards Monthly Quality Surgeries Description Children and Families Services report on agreed local and National KPI weekly This information is provided to Team Managers and Group Heads Children s Services report on agreed local and National KPI monthly. These targets are reviewed and analysed by CFSMT performance and quality meeting, chaired by the Director of the Children and Families Service. Monthly scorecard is provided for each individual COG which is discussed at supervision, team meetings and service meetings. Performance data is prepared for each service area on a monthly basis which is broken down to a team level. Performance and quality is discussed with the Team Managers and Group Head at each surgery and should include relevant others e.g. Participation Team, Contact Team, IRO TM. 17

18 Appendix 2: Auditing Framework The Quality Assurance Framework incorporates a robust auditing framework and compliance with this will be a key priority in Children and Families Services. In order to ensure consistency of practice we will undertake a range of audit types and themes, collate the learning from this and ensure that this learning is utilised to improve practice. Case File Audits 2 case file audits per month will be completed by each Team Manager. These will be Peer Audits which will mean that a Team Manager, will not be auditing files held by members of their own Team; but be randomly selected from within their own service area. The findings of the Audits will be fed back to staff and managers and disseminated across the Service through the monthly newsletter. The audit template is at appendix 3. All audits assessed as inadequate will be escalated to the Team Manager for action and the Group Head notified of this escalation. All audits and the findings will be discussed in the Team Manager s monthly supervision. All audits assessed as inadequate critical will be escalated to the Team Manager and both the Group Head and the Director of the Children and Families Service alerted to this escalation Themed Audits Themed audits will take place twelve times per year and will be linked to the audit improvement plan. The audit template, which is also the OFSTED audit tool, is found at appendix 4. All audits assessed as inadequate will be escalated to the Team Manager for action and the Group Head notified of this escalation. All audits and the findings will be discussed in the Team Manager s monthly supervision. All audits assessed as inadequate critical will be escalated to the Team Manager and both the Group Head and the Director of the Children and Families Service alerted to this escalation. Audit of Audits Group Heads will undertake a minimum of one audit of Team Manager s audits per month. In addition, the PSW will randomly complete some of these audits as this will give them a clear indication about the standard of practice and so allow them to consider which areas they wish to focus on in supporting area staff. The PSW and Group Head for QA-SGU will ensure there is a clear system in place to ensure that the feedback from these audits is widely disseminated and remains 18

19 integral to the work and not a standalone process. The PSW will also be able to identify and celebrate the good practice and use this in training events. All audits deemed Inadequate will be escalated to the Group Head for follow up with the Social Worker and Team Manager. All audits assessed as inadequate critical will be escalated to the Director of the Children and Families Service. Supervision File Audits Group Head s and senior managers should look at one file per team manager each month up to a maximum of 4. This process will also be available to complete on the electronic audit tool.. All audits and the findings will be discussed in the Team Manager s monthly supervision. Governance Going forward, the Group Head for QA and SG Unit will continue to collate the findings from the monthly audits and provide a written report for the Director. The report should then be discussed in the CFSMT Quality and Performance Meeting and should be addressed at the Quality surgeries in each area. The Audit Framework will be governed through the Performance and Quality Meeting chaired by the Director for Children and Families. CFSMT will oversee the implementation and compliance with revised Audit Framework and will be responsible for capturing and disseminating learning from audits across the service. Learning from the Audits In order to improve compliance and learning from the audits the following proposals were also agreed: 1) The QA-SGU will collate the audit findings each month, and track the actions and recommendations through the monthly Quality Surgery. They report their findings to the Director and to the Performance and Quality CFSMT. 2) The themes from the audits should then be circulated via the Quality Newsletter. 3) The Audit report should be discussed at each Quality Surgery and feedback should be provided to the QA-SGU about actions against the recommendations. 4) Non-compliance with the process should be recorded in supervision with individual managers and reflected in Appraisals 5) A rolling programme of training in how to complete audits for new and existing staff will be provided. 19

20 Specialist Auditing Team Quality Assurance Framework Alongside the monthly schedule of auditing a virtual audit team has bene identified under the management of the PSW. This team will undertake audit for OFSTED and other specialist auditing as required. July