The Government is determined to make integrated working a reality across the whole children's workforce. All children's trusts are expected to have embedded it by 2010 and each local area is currently rolling out local training to ensure managers and practitioners are confident with the Common Assessment Framework (CAF).
CAF is a standardised approach to conducting an assessment of a child's additional needs and deciding how these should be met. Early years practitioners may be required to initiate or contribute to CAF where a child's additional needs fall outside of their focus.
As the Children's Workforce Development Council outlines it, integrated working represents a whole new approach. At its heart is the willingness to be flexible and work with other agencies to improve outcomes for children and young people and their families. It is all about knowing how and when to share information, and knowing broadly what support and services are available locally and how these can be accessed.
Hilary Ellam, national development manager for integrated working at the CWDC, says 'It will take time and management support to embed. Managers need to understand what integrated working means and be able to support their staff in implementing this agenda. This includes understanding and appreciating the role and contribution of other services, being able to provide supervision for staff working in integrated or multi-agency settings, and building links and sharing information with managers from other services. It will also mean prioritising on training so staff develop the skills they need to work in this way.'
At Coombe Valley Nursery in Launceston, Cornwall, manager Susan Ranson says that her nursery has input into local groups and has participated in meetings of Team Around the Child, designed to help devise strategies for individuals.
She says, 'As representative of my organisation I meet the local CAF advisor regularly and am given updates and current information. I am also going to be sitting on a committee piloting E-CAF.'
Ms Ranson reports that all senior staff have attended CAF training, funded by her local authority. 'We always try to keep up-to-date with training and have felt this to be important. Not all staff are conversant with CAF, but senior staff are.'
According to the recently published 2020 Children and Young People's Workforce Strategy, managers need to be able to:
- Create a culture that supports integrated working
- Make space and time for staff to understand and use integrated working approaches and tools
- Support and encourage multi-agency training and development
- Understand and manage the professional supervision and management requirements of different professions.
Hilary Ellam believes the principal challenge for managers is to establish a culture and ethos in which meeting the needs of children and young people and their families is paramount. Colleagues must be willing and able to work together to that end.
She says, 'Other challenges which we are aware of include time for new practices to embed, the continued existence of professional silos and cultures, and skills to support implementation, conflicting targets and performance agendas.'
SHARE!
In March 2009, CWDC will be launching the second set of resources to promote integrated working. Following on from last year's Share programme, CWDC has been working in close collaboration with nine other sites across the UK to highlight real-life stories of the benefits of integrated working and how the challenges of implementation can be overcome.
This year's Share focuses on areas including integrated supervision, the budget-holding lead professional, and engaging the wider workforce through arts and culture change. A magazine and DVD will be available.
For information see www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/cwdc-share
NEW GUIDANCE
CWDC is refreshing guidance on CAF and the lead professional role and is inviting managers and practitioners from all sectors of the workforce to have input. It is aiming to incorporate new policy areas such as E-CAF, implications of the Children's Plan and 2020 strategy, and the Budget-Holding Lead Professional pilot.
The review will also help CWDC identify missing areas within the guidance, or areas that could be made clearer, including how CAF fits with other assessments, or how integrated working fits with safeguarding.
For information about the guidance visit www.cwdcouncil.org.uk.
