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bulletin THE MAGAZINE FOR HOUSING WITH CARE, HEALTH AND SUPPORT
2013 – NO.3
Pulling together
Promoting independence
Capping care cost
Dementia challenge
Mapping housing benefit
Opening the door to personalisation www.sitra.org
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CEO’s Comment Adult safeguarding: engagement issues for housing providers Imogen Parry looks at the difficulties housing providers can face in engaging with adult safeguarding and some possible solutions.
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Why promoting independence shouldn’t be the goal of housing related support… Lawrence Miller questions whether independence is really what is needed in housing related support and shares great insights about an asset based approach to service design and delivery.
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Capping care costs Dani Cohen has produced a useful summary of the proposed measures to introduce a cap on the amount individuals have to pay toward the cost of their care and support.
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Finding housing solutions for people with dementia Amy Swan discusses how the lives of people with dementia can be improved by specialist homes with integrated care and support services.
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Client Involvement and personalisation Kittie Vicious, Val Fowles and Grant Nelson - Woolsey share how client involvement and personalisation have empowered clients of the Home Works scheme of Southdown Housing Association.
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Mapping the role of housing benefit Geoffrey Ferres presents a small piece of research which aims at adding up the amount of Housing Benefit being paid to claimants of working age living in supported and sheltered housing in a small sample of English local authorities.
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Payment-by-results: the Marmite commissioning model
Cover Story Client Involvement and personalisation
Russell Webster stimulates debate around the rapid changes in the way we deliver public services, especially in the criminal justice and substance misuse arenas. Here, Russell goes over the pros and cons of PbR.
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Matthew Wigglesworth: his name will live on Rachael Byrne tells how colleagues at Stonham, part of Home Group, have paid tribute to a much loved and respected colleague who died last year.
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Pulling together: a welfare benefit toolkit Lisa Harrison presents Pulling Together, a suite of training and resources for single homeless people that will be launched this autumn.
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EU Social Innovation award Angela Catley shares her thoughts about social innovation and what winning the award means for her organisation.
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Technology in learning Steven Embleton from My Learning Cloud shares his passion for e-learning and explains why the housing related support sector can benefit from it.
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Sitra training
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CEO’s Comment
Bottom-up June saw a series of announcements determining future direction in the form of the Spending Review 2015 -16. We knew that this would include news of more cuts, and to that end, there were no great surprises. However, the scale of cuts to Local Authorities is something that will be reverberating at a local level for many years to come. Sitra provided an active commentary on the review as details emerged, and our updated information on the review can be found online at www.sitra.org. Capital funding for housing was also part of the announcement, and a promised £3bn for affordable housing looks to be spread over the life of another three year programme to be administered by the Homes and Communities Agency. The integration of health and housing is ever more critical, and news and information about how the announced £3.8bn of funding to be jointly commissioned by Health and the Local Authority is being analysed to understand how housing support can play a critical role in this. At the CIH conference last month, it was reported that Jon Rouse, the Director General of the Department of Health, stated that this funding could be used on ‘supporting people type activities’ and it is anticipated that decisions about how this funding is spent will be made by the Health and Well-Being boards. Our experts from the Health and Social Care Partnership will be keen to support organisations who wish to understand more about these structures and how they might influence these decisions. What is clear from this ever changing picture, is that the importance of demonstrating what already exists and what will be lost will become ever more critical. I am convinced that the work carried out within the national data project will be essential, understanding what the needs of the local community are and how important it is to retain services that are supporting those most vulnerable out there. Our national data project is ongoing, and if you are a commissioner who has not yet supplied your data – please do get in touch, it is critical we get a strong picture to retain a focus and national picture. It is not yet known whether there will be a central figure showing Supporting People funding, and therefore it is all the more critical that we share and develop a picture ourselves. Regulation has also been a key part of the public agenda over the last month, and I know there was a lot of interest in the last edition on the insights into the world of Clinical Commissioning Groups from the perspective of a lay assessor. This edition continues the look into the world of health with a review of safeguarding issues with personal budgets, and in addition an overview of the key elements of the Draft Care Bill. Finally, the debate focussing on how supported housing costs will be paid in the future continues. Sitra is in the midst of a small piece of research based around eight housing benefit authorities, drawing together a local picture of all the supported housing on the ground. This research will support the next phase of work that needs to be done to fully understand the costs of supported housing to inform the long term solution, widely billed to focus on a transfer of housing costs to authorities following the introduction of a localised system. The research is highlighted in this edition, and I encourage you to get in touch if you would like to know more.
Vic Rayner Chief Executive Email: vicr@sitra.org
8 out of 10 cats Sitra issued a call to all 152 top-tier councils in England in May to collect data on housingrelated support services. We asked them for information on capacity, performance and spend. Alongside that, we’ll be adding the outcomes data provided directly by the Centre for Housing Research at St Andrews University. We are happy to have received data from a large number of authorities and if your council still hasn’t submitted the data yet, we will gladly include what you can send us before we publish it. We’re busy crunching the data and plan to publish it in late summer, so watch out for a fuller analysis in the next few editions of the Bulletin. In the meantime, see much more about housing support data at www.sitra.org/spdata.
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Adult safeguarding: engagement issues for housing providers Imogen Parry looks at the difficulties housing providers can face in engaging with adult safeguarding and some possible solutions.
‘The role of housing in preventing and addressing adult abuse is neglected in legislation, policy, practice and research’ I was delighted to see this extract from my written evidence quoted in the Report of the joint committee on the draft Care and Support Bill1. Yet disappointingly the Government rejected the committee’s recommendations for the inclusion of housing in the Care Bill’s Clauses on information and advice, partners, Safeguarding Adults Boards, integration, hospital discharge and assessment, although they have said that the last three of these will refer to housing in the guidance. The most relevant topic to the scope of this article is the issue of statutory housing representation on Safeguarding Adults Boards (SABs) which, though not accepted by the government, was encouraged: ‘We have intentionally restricted core statutory membership to a few core public bodies, leaving local areas with maximum flexibility whilst securing the statutory position of adult safeguarding. We anticipate and expect membership to be far wider. We would be most concerned if SABs did not address the role, contribution and responsibilities of housing providers in adult safeguarding. We would expect SABs to draw on the housing sector for in-put, collaboration and advice. Government will not dictate how this happens, as this will depend on local circumstances, which may vary widely across the country. For example, in some areas the SAB may operate sub-groups, including one devoted to housing-related issues that reports back to the main Board’ 2.
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It remains to be seen whether housing related changes to the Bill are made during its passage through Parliament. In the meantime, this article summarises some of the difficulties for housing providers in multi-agency work on adult safeguarding and suggests both operational and strategic solutions. The starting point in understanding the problems for housing providers (and those agencies seeking to engage with them) is being aware of their weak legal and regulatory safeguarding responsibilities. ‘No Secrets’, the current basis for adult safeguarding in England, has two significant limitations: it is nonstatutory guidance and only refers to sheltered and supported housing staff. The former weakens the status of safeguarding adults in general and the latter limits the scope of housing’s safeguarding responsibilities in particular. Funding cuts to the Supporting People programme and the decline of the use of the Quality Assessment Framework have combined to reduce the number of sheltered and supported housing staff receiving basic and refresher training in adult safeguarding. Housing providers are not required to train staff working in general needs housing, despite the fact that policy and demographic trends have led to increased numbers of vulnerable adults living in all kinds of social housing, not just specialist housing. My recent research on housing
related adult Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) indicated equal numbers of service users who had died through abuse or neglect while living in general needs housing and those who had lived in specialist accommodation (or had received specialist housing services). This lack of legal and policy framework for housing’s involvement in adult safeguarding is exacerbated by long-standing joint working issues between housing and adult social care (ASC). My own concerns started nearly 30 years ago through hearing the repeated complaints by sheltered housing wardens (as they were then called) that ‘no-one in social services listens to us’. The tragic death in Sheffield of Margaret Panting in 2001 highlighted this problem, in which the SCR found that the warden was a lone voice in her concerns about Margaret moving out to live with her family. The case demonstrated a failure of social services to engage with housing by ignoring the warden’s concerns, despite indications of ‘self-neglect, depression, falls, lack of money, debt, poor diet, possible financial abuse and frequent fires’. The exclusion of housing agencies by ASC was demonstrated by eleven of the 19 housing related SCRs studied in my recent research and concerned information sharing and monitoring arrangements. The SCRs suggest that a significant reason for the exclusion of housing staff is negative professional attitudes by ASC staff towards housing staff. For example, the SCR regarding Gemma Hayter in Warwickshire stated that
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‘on many occasions housing support providers are missed out or their views are not taken as seriously, yet they more often than not spend the most time in someone’s property and will have detailed information that may not seem significant in isolation.’ Similarly, the SCR regarding Mr B in Buckinghamshire stated that ‘there needs to be improved sharing of information with the housing support agency and a recognition by other agencies of its role as a professional partner in the support of its tenants.’ In Cornwall, the SCR on Steven Hoskin stated that ‘Support Officers were not seen as professional by social care colleagues. Housing is outside the loop.’ A further difficulty for housing staff in adult safeguarding is problems with ASC safeguarding adults referral thresholds, which I found in a third of the SCRs that I studied. My advice if you are told that the alert or referral cannot be accepted (as it doesn’t meet their referral threshold or their definitions of abuse or vulnerable adult/adult at risk) is to consider: l Checking what their policy says on alert and referral criteria and definitions. Is their interpretation open for discussion? l Reconsidering the facts of your referral – have you left something out and/or underestimated/ downplayed the risks? l Asking if they have a mechanism for gathering information on apparently low level cases, especially where there is an emerging pattern of referrals. (quote Pilkington, Hayter). l Asking for advice on how to
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handle the situation yourself or via other agencies. If the case is not accepted and investigated, refer again if circumstances and risks change.
A further difficulty for all agencies, including housing, is when problems occur regarding inadequate assessments by ASC (which occurred in almost all of the SCRs studied). My suggestions, if you are told ‘it is the person’s choice’ (eg to refuse services/intervention/proceed with prosecution) or that ‘they have capacity and the right to make unwise decisions’ consider: l Was the person coerced? l Is anyone else at risk? l Has there been a proper and recent capacity assessment on this issue? l Could there be an over-riding duty of care? l Has the person been accurately and recently diagnosed (eg learning disability or mental health issues) and risk assessed? Particular attention should be paid if: – their circumstances have deteriorated and/or – their needs have increased or are very complex and/or – there is a sudden change in behaviour ie ‘an escalating problem’. Finally, housing staff can struggle to gain a seat on their local safeguarding forum or the Safeguarding Adults Board. I am currently researching the barriers to housing representation on SABs. My initial findings suggest that problems are particularly common in two tier authorities with several
district councils and a plethora of housing associations. My advice to housing providers includes: l Find out if your SAB has housing representation. If so, how does information get fed in and out? If housing is not represented, why is this? Could it be arranged through an existing housing provider forum? Consider requesting two housing representatives – one for the district councils and one for the housing associations. l Be assertive and ‘sell’ the benefits of housing representation to the Chair of the SAB – housing agencies can: reach into local communities; help with awareness raising; contribute to the wider domestic abuse, crime and anti-social behaviour agendas; help to address professional boundaries; remind partners of the wide range of support that housing organisations bring. l Read SCIE materials on safeguarding3. l Familiarise yourself with the local multi-agency policy document on safeguarding and with any SCRs with housing relevance in your area. l Read the SAB annual reports for your area to familiarise yourself with their work, priorities. Write to the SAB Chair with your own concerns. Adult safeguarding is a relatively new process and beset with ethical, political, legal, procedural, practice and resourcing difficulties. Housing staff are not alone in struggling to make a difference in this area. Readers are encouraged to contact me with further evidence of barriers and ways they have been overcome.
Imogen Parry works as a safeguarding adults consultant and trainer for the housing sector and is currently completing an MA in Safeguarding Adults: Law, Policy and Practice at Keele University. Her dissertation is on ‘Adult Serious Case Reviews: lessons for housing providers’. This article draws on her findings and her two recent articles: • Imogen Parry, (2013), ‘Adult safeguarding and the role of housing’, the Journal of Adult Protection, Vol. 15 Issue:1. p 15-25, available online http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17077552&show=abstract • How social workers can help housing staff understand safeguarding, Community Care, available online http://www.communitycare.co.uk/articles/02/04/2013/119061/how-social-workers-can-help-housing-staff-understandsafeguarding.htm?cmpid=NLC|SCSC|SCDDB-20130402-GLOB|news For more information on the training Imogen can offer and on her research, email imogen.parry@btopenworld.com 1
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House of Lords, House of Commons Joint Committee Report on the draft Care and Support Bill, March 2013: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt201213/jtselect/jtcare/143/143.pdf The Care Bill explained including a response to consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny on the Draft Care and Support Bill, DH, May 2013. http://www.officialdocuments.gov.uk/document/cm86/8627/8627.pdf Social Care Institute for Excellence, safeguarding resources: http://www.scie.org.uk/adults/safeguarding/index.asp
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Why promoting independence shouldn’t be the goal of housing related support… Lawrence Miller Director of Housing & Community Spaces at Barnwood Trust questions whether independence is really what is needed in housing related support and shares great insights about an asset (or strength) based approach to service design and delivery. Barnwood Trust is a Gloucestershire-based charity dedicated to improving the quality of life of people across county, particularly those with complex and challenging disabilities.
‘Our vision is to build vibrant, self-sustaining communities where everyone is welcome. It is in doing things together that barriers and stigma are broken down and confidence is built’ Supporting people to be ‘independent’ has been a central theme in the provision of housing related support. But why; and what do we mean by ‘independent’? Few, if any, of us live truly independently: we depend upon partners, relatives, friends and colleagues in a host of different ways. We value independence in the sense of self-determination or having independent means: the ability to make choices. But to be independent in the sense of not having connections with others is something that hardly anyone would seek and very few could survive. It is now widely accepted that good mental health is closely linked to the quality and range of social networks that we have; and furthermore that mental health is a major contributor to physical health. Our physical and mental wellbeing are therefore inextricably linked both with each other and with the relationships we have with those around us. It is in a state of interdependence that we thrive.
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So what are the implications for support services? Whilst we value services of various kinds (whether commercial or care-related) and they may be necessary, they are not sufficient on their own to provide quality of life or wellbeing. No ‘service’ can provide us with things like a sense of purpose, or true friendship. At best they can offer human contact with a small group of paid professionals. Despite this obvious fact, much less attention is given to considering how vulnerable people can be linked with communities than how they can be linked with services! At Barnwood Trust, a charitable foundation based in Gloucestershire, we are exploring how to create the conditions to enable people with disabilities and mental health challenges to live the life they want, doing the things they enjoy. We think that the key is to be found in starting with the strengths of individuals and communities, in order to develop new connections and build relationships. This is not to suggest that ‘the community’ can replace or perhaps even reduce the
need for services in all areas, but that it is an essential component in promoting health and well-being which is often ignored. Our vision is to build vibrant, selfsustaining communities where everyone is welcome. It is in doing things together that barriers and stigma are broken down and confidence is built; so we are looking
“Individuals who are socially isolated are between two and five times more likely than those who have strong social ties to die prematurely. Social networks have a larger impact on the risk of mortality than on the risk of developing disease, that is, it is not so much that social networks stop you from getting ill, but that they help you to recover when you do get ill.” Marmot (2010)
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at ways to find out what people are interested in, or would like to contribute, irrespective of their ‘labels’, and then find ways to connect them and use those skills to build ‘community’. ‘Community’ could mean a friendship group, a community of interest (like a sports club), or a whole neighbourhood. Ideally it will be all of these. This approach, of building on the strengths, or ‘assets’, of individuals and communities is gaining momentum in health and social care. ‘A glass half-full’ [Foot and Hopkins (2010)] explains how building on strengths and resources in a community increases resilience, builds social capital and delivers better health outcomes. It contrasts with the more familiar ‘deficit’ approach which focuses on the problems and deficiencies in a community, then tries to design services to fix the problems: a topdown approach that assumes service providers have the power to fix lives, which in practice has the effect of disempowering the recipients of those services. Strength-based approaches focus on supporting and celebrating the contribution of those who are vulnerable and marginalised, whilst developing the capacity of the community to become more hospitable and inclusive. Such approaches are consistent with the personalisation agenda, but look at how people can connect and contribute, not just what services they need to purchase. Sillett (2013) describes a number of strengthbased approaches that are gaining ground in social care, including Shared Lives, Neighbourhood Networks and Time Banking. Working with partners across the county we are using a specific approach known as Asset Based Community Development, (‘ABCD’). ABCD starts by identifying the natural ‘connectors’ in a neighbourhood: ordinary people who have a knack for getting to know others and are trusted by friends and neighbours. It is through these people and their relationships that the community building process starts to identify the things people care enough about
enough to act upon, and the gifts and skills they could offer to address them. The next step is to map the other ‘assets’: the resources that are often ‘below the radar’, the informal groups and clubs and the physical assets that are under-used, and start to connect them up. With this groundwork in place people can be brought together to identify aspirations, and work together on small neighbourhood projects. The power of such projects is not, primarily, in improving the area but in building relationships and integrating those who are marginalised. It is the community builder’s task to work behind the scenes to encourage this to happen; and then promote discussion of wider themes and bigger plans that the community actually ‘owns’. The benefits of the ABCD approach are in the new relationships and connections that are created, offering opportunities for inclusion and mutual support. Alison Cameron’s article in the Sitra Bulletin last year (‘Co-production – it’s about time’) spoke eloquently about the importance of being respected as an equal with skills to contribute. Where ABCD approaches have been applied in a housing setting there has been evidence of a change in the dynamics from ‘provider’ and ‘provided for’ to a more equal partnership, with people who would previously have been passive recipients of services, taking a lead. New relationships are forged and
ABCD: any room in the housing world? Briefing session on Asset Based Community Development October 2nd 2013 / 1.30-4.30 pm for further information email sarahp@sitra.org
confidence and mental health are strengthened, outcomes that could not be delivered by services alone. Barnwood is not a service provider, so our role is to facilitate the process, challenging and mentoring both commissioners and providers in their practice as they seek to work in a more strength-based manner; and then capturing the learning, initially at eight ‘learning sites’ across the county. We have invested in a team to build the capacity and confidence of people with disabilities and mental health challenges to take part in setting the agenda and engaging with opportunities to build ‘community’ – however they define it. We will also offer support to groups who want to develop strength based models of housing, care and support. Providers of housing related support have a key role to play: encouraging genuine co-production of services; working with ‘service users’ (note the unhelpful emphasis inherent in this label!) to develop strong social networks and opportunities for mutual support; and supporting people’s confidence to use their gifts and strengths in a community setting. To do this effectively the whole emphasis needs to change: from assessing needs to nurturing strengths; from tenant participation to co-production; and from independence to interdependence. You will: • Understand the ideas and principles underpinning ABCD • Understand the ABCD process • Explore examples of ABCD in action • Engage in discussions on the potential for applying ABCD in your world of work Session by Marc Mordey, Director of Vintage Community. Vintage Communities’ purpose is to enable and support people to transform their communities as community builders, using ABCD. Marc has a background in the social housing sector, having been CEO of a homelessness charity and Director of ROCC in the past.
Marmot (2010). Fair Society Healthy Lives Final Report. Sillett (2013). The new social care: strength-based approaches (Local Government Information Unit) Foot & Hopkins (2010). A glass half-full: how an asset approach can improve community health and well-being (I&DeA – Improvement and Development Agency).
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Capping Care Costs
Following the publication of the Care Bill in May, HSCP’s Dani Cohen has produced a useful summary of the proposed measures to introduce a cap on the amount individuals have to pay toward the cost of their care and support.
The Dilnot Commission recommended a cap on lifetime care costs of £25-50,000. The government have proposed setting the limit at £72,000. The system for calculating care costs will be by way of an extended means test which will be made by the local authority. This process will follow an eligibility assessment of a person’s needs and the subsequent production of their care and support plan. People receiving state support towards their care costs through the extended means test will lose eligibility for some Personal Independence Payment (formerly Disability Living Allowance) and Attendance Allowance support. However this should be offset by the extra means tested support and the government claim no individual should be worse off under the reformed system. The cap for those who turn 18 with eligible care and support needs will be set at zero. A cap lower than £72,000 will be set for people of working age, this is likely to be a tiered cap dependent on age; further consultation will take place throughout the summer of 2013 to
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define amounts and age bands1. Following the recent spending review announcement the Department of Health have confirmed that the national minimum threshold for eligibility criteria will be set at ‘significant’ which is the level operated by ‘the vast majority of local authorities in the current system’. This will therefore mean that some people, who live in areas which currently have a lower qualifying criteria, will no longer be eligible for the support for which they would have previously qualified. The new regulations should also ensure that everyone has their finances assessed in the same way and will take into account any income they receive together with their assets. An individual will need to have a local authority assessment for the capping calculations to start. If an individual is assessed as having eligible care needs, (s)he will be
told how much it will cost the local authority to meet those needs with local services and these costs count towards their cap. However great a person’s costs become, once they have reached the cap, the state will step in and provide financial support. The Department of Health expect up to 16% of older people to have care which reaches the capping limit. Individuals will be issued with a Personal Budget, a statement of the costs of meeting their care and support plan, irrespective of who is responsible for funding them. The Personal Budget statement will show the rate at which an individual is progressing towards the care cap, and once the cap reached the local authority will become responsible for meeting the full costs of the qualifying care package. It is planned that no one will have to sell their home in their lifetime to pay for residential care. If
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people cannot afford their fees without selling their home, they will have the right to defer paying during their lifetime. The mechanics of the cap are complex and many people may not realise that not all their care costs will count towards the cap and, even after they reach the cap, the local authority may still not meet the full cost. The most financial support should still be given to those with the greatest care needs and the least in savings or home value, and the poorest people will continue to have the majority of their care costs paid. People will have clearer entitlements. The national minimum eligibility will make access to care more consistent around the country, and carers will have a legal right to an assessment for care for the first time. Many opponents of the bill, whilst welcoming reform, feel that the proposed measures do not go nearly far enough to resolve the huge pressures faced by the Social Care sector. The government however feel these reforms will define a clear and fair partnership between individual and government responsibility for care costs. They see this as a sustainable option which will also allow individuals to plan and save for possible care costs. It will also allow for the development of suitable insurance policies to cover people for their share of the costs and provide everyone with the peace of mind of knowing they will not face unlimited care costs. For further details of the proposed reforms in the Care Bill 2013 read our summary report on our website: http://www.hscpartnership.org.uk/ news/care-bill-2013-key-points/
Update by Dani Cohen, Policy and Research Officer, Health & Social Care Partnership from an original report by Jeanette Longhurst.
Care costs will be calculated for personal care only and will not include accommodation or meals. For those who receive care in their own homes these elements are already paid for by the individual. In residential care individuals will be expected to pay a contribution of around £12,000 per year for general living costs. Additionally individuals will be responsible for any ‘extra’ care costs i.e. a more expensive care option and additional support which does not form part of their care package such as a cleaner or gardener etc. The upper capital limit will be raised to around £118,000 for people in residential care. This takes into account a value for property. Those with assets of less than this amount will start to get help with their care fees on a sliding scale. The threshold for this means test will have a lower capital limit set at £17,000. l l l l l
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Currently over 10% of older people face care costs of over £100,000 Approx. 1.8 million people currently receive state funded care – a third adults with disabilities and two thirds elderly Nearly 500,000 people are currently paying their own care costs Around 800,000 people are estimated to go without formal care despite being in need of help Over the next 20 years the number of over 70-year-olds will jump by 50% to top 9.6m, according to Nearly 100,000 additional people will receive state support by 2025/26 under the new proposals.
Department of Health Open consultation Caring for our future: implementing funding reform. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/caring-for-our-future-implementing-funding-reform
Resources Department of Health: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2013/02/funding-socialcare Dilnot Commission: http://www.dilnotcommission.dh.gov.uk/ Government News: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-publishes-care-bill HM Treasury, Spending Round 2013, June 2013. https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/spending-round-2013-documents
The Health & Social Care Partnership is part of Sitra.
To find out more about our work and how we might help you, visit our website: www.hscpartnership.org.uk and follow us on twitter @Health_SocialCP
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Finding housing solutions for people with dementia Amy Swan, policy officer at the National Housing Federation, discusses how the lives of people with dementia can be improved by specialist homes with integrated care and support services.
“Imagine the fear when suddenly finding yourself surrounded by strange people, in a place you don’t recognise, not knowing how you got there and why. Imagine the distress when you look into the eyes of the person in front of you, whose face you find familiar, but whose name you start struggling to remember. Imagine the confusion when they tell you that you’ve known each other for decades, yet at times you don’t recall ever meeting.” For many of the 700,000 people with dementia in the UK today and their families, this is an upsetting reality. And because we’re all living longer - thanks to massive strides in medicine, nutrition and hygiene – it is, according to the Alzheimer’s Society, an alarming scenario that is set to become more common: by 2021, one million people in the UK will have dementia. This is set to rise to 1.7 million people in 2051. Sadly, there is no cure for dementia, but as teams of worldclass scientists and doctors frantically search for a cure, or at least a treatment that significantly
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slows its onset, there’s something we can do right now to improve the lives of people with dementia: build more specialist homes with integrated care and support services. An estimated 40 per cent of hospital beds in England are occupied by people with dementia. Currently 60 per cent of them enter hospital from their own home, but just 36 per cent return after being discharged. Improving their homes and making them fit to deal with the challenges posed by people with dementia – for example, by putting in ramps and grab-rails, and considering how lighting, acoustics, layout and the design of outdoor spaces can help them around their homes - we can drive the number of people going to hospital down, and the number of people returning home up. But there is more that can be done in partnership with housing associations and home
improvement agencies. Instead of having to wait for a person to have a fall in their home or exhibit a sudden escalation in their symptoms before installing these adaptations, visiting housing staff (trained to identify early signs of dementia) can help support them and their families to get a diagnosis. This can add crucial months, if not years, before the symptoms become really difficult to cope with and will let families take collective decisions on future care. Diagnosing dementia and providing the support and advice following diagnosis can allow people to live well with their condition. Riverside Housing Association is one of the housing associations pioneering this approach. Their face-to-face health check service for people over 60 has helped to identify people with dementia, encouraging them to seek a diagnosis if they are concerned about any possible dementiarelated symptoms. Staff are trained in dementia awareness and
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communications skills. They have mapped out available dementia support services in each region and are ensuring people with dementia, as well as their families and carers, know what is available to them. Rochdale Borough Housing has also enhanced their supported housing service to better meet the needs of people with dementia. Residents with dementia can have a fall detector fitted on their waist band, which instantly alerts the housing association’s response centre if they have a fall. Staff trained in first aid respond swiftly to each alarm, and are equipped with specialist emergency lifting cushions to assist with lifting tenants who have fallen so no manual handling is involved. Property exit sensors detect when someone leaves the building and can prevent people with dementia getting lost in the surrounding neighbourhood – something that is extremely distressing for both these residents and their families, particularly when the police need to be called. So, now imagine a slightly different world. Imagine, thanks to early diagnosis, being sound of mind and making decisions on your future care for when your symptoms get worse. Imagine knowing that your home is adapted and prepared as much as possible to extend the amount of time you can stay independent. And imagine that, although you may have trouble remembering the person opposite, the home you are able to stay in is littered with years of evidence that somebody will always care for you. For more information: Dementia: Finding housing solutions, jointly published by the National Housing Federation, Dementia Services Development Centre, Housing LIN, and Foundations. Available to download http://www.housing.org.uk/ publications/browse/dementiafinding-housing-solutions
The Prime Minister’s Dementia Challenge: Intergenerational work with schools
In response to the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia and Dementia Friendly Communities, this pilot project which the Health and Social Care Partnership are helping to coordinate, began at the beginning of the 2012/13 school year with the vision to remove the stigma of dementia, achieve better community support and engagement and provide interaction and enrichment between people with dementia and children through educating children about the condition in schools and providing them with confidence and insight into a widespread condition affecting their lives and communities. A ‘Pioneer Group’ consisting of 21 schools (primary and secondary) from across the country are piloting this work with a view to phase 2 being rolled out to a much larger group of schools in the 2013/14 school year. Central to this project is work in schools with children exploring and discussing dementia and their feelings and perceptions around this subject. The Pioneer Group schools have organised a huge variety of innovative initiatives such as school choir visits to dementia care homes, dementia themed assemblies, debates, development of interactive IT and apps and a number of schools have presented their early work within their local communities. There has been local TV and press coverage at some schools and involvement of local MPs and other health, Council and third sector leaders. A ‘treasure trove’ of resources, training materials, DVDs, weblinks, media stories, lesson plans is developing and will be made available as a resource for other schools and colleges for future years. The pilot project is being evaluated throughout the first year and the University of Worcester (Association for Dementia Studies) has produced first results from the ‘pre-intervention’ stage. Early results paint a picture of dementia understanding being better than expected. For more information visit http://www.hscpartnership.org.uk/
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Client involvement and personalisation Sitra has been commissioned by East Sussex County Council to deliver an innovation and capacity building programme to increase personalisation in housing support services, by providing training, support and consultation to providers and users of housing related support services. Since the initiation of the project in January 2013, we have encountered many cases of good practice and service delivery. Home Works, a scheme of Southdown Housing Association, has exemplary practice. The goals of the service are to help people achieve the aims set out in the Supporting People outcomes framework. Kittie, Val and Grant from Home Works share their views on client involvement. Kittie Vicious writes..... I have been working for Southdown Housing Association for just over 2 years starting as a frontline worker within the Home Works service. Home Works provides short-term housing support to vulnerable people across East Sussex. When I joined the high priority given to client involvement activities quickly became apparent. There were already several involvement projects underway and a committed group of clients working with staff to help shape the service. This area of work really interested me so I jumped at the opportunity to apply to be the
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Client Involvement Champion. Being a Champion enabled me to have three hours a week dedicated to developing and embedding involvement activities for the service. This was a fantastic chance to get out and meet clients to hear their thoughts about the service and what we could do better. The key reward that I get from acting as the Involvement Champion has been the ability to not just to
listen to clients, but to support people who have used Home Works to have their ideas and opinions taken on board, be able to share their views with service managers, and then see changes in service delivery take place as a direct result. This is the same for the whole organisation, not just Home Works, and it is refreshing, exciting and a real joy to witness. I believe that involvement is ever changing; the service has to develop
Above photo taken during the Homework presentation at the ‘One Size Fits None: launch of the East Sussex Supporting People personalisation project and bursary fund 30th April 2013.
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Home Works is the first organisation in my life that has put faith in me and recognised my ability and potential. From the first assessment onwards, everything was about me, who I was and wanted to be. I have been given suggestions and advice but choices were ultimately mine – this is true personalisation. A major shift in my thinking and in my life emerged from this opportunity of involvement. I realised that I have a contribution to make. Leading on from that, I learnt- rather than hesitating to be involved- to say YES to all opportunities and to life, as well. Grant Nelson-Woolsey
The session was so well received that the team soon found themselves presenting an edited version at the Sitra, ‘One Size Fits None’ event in front of 100 people. But it didn’t end there; Home Works are now inviting more clients to attend focus groups to help us to make real changes to the Action Planning process.
however, the staff still had a real presence and were taking the lead in most sessions. I believe this was needed at that time; staff had that presence to encourage clients and to inspire. Staff took the role of approaching clients to look for solutions and to ask questions and to also help start discussions and debate.
as the lives of our clients change. This has been particularly true in the current economic environment as we have seen a greater diversity of people being referred to Home Works. It is vital that clients are actively involved in each aspect of the service to ensure that we are continually tailoring our approach and providing a personalised service. For Home Works, this has enabled us to meet the needs of increased referrals from some particular clients groups; those in work, families and people experiencing domestic violence. Just as important is that staff recognise that involvement is the only way we can truly provide a service that reflects exactly what our clients need at that point in time. We are fortunate to have a team of people (and Commissioners) who understand the importance of this and actively support and promote initiatives.
Activities are now co-produced with clients and we are at a point where the majority of activities are clientled. The important difference now is that clients are taking increased responsibility for all activities, from planning the meetings, facilitating groups, and tracking that changes are put into practice. Clients are now the ‘active’ party and we simply help to implement their ideas.
The Home Works involvement journey over recent years demonstrates the continued organic development of activities and achievements. Two plus years ago clients were involved in giving the service valuable information through forums, feedback and consultations,
They felt that some staff could easily work with clients to be creative around action planning whereas others struggled going beyond the paperwork. They had found a gap in staff training, so four clients began working together to design a training session and
An example of a current project is reviewing action planning for clients of Home Works. This started through a discussion between clients at a forum, where some clients expressed the view that action plan paperwork was not always the best method of recording goals, achievements and progress. Clients had instead adapted the model to meet their own needs from using diaries, timelines, and even magnets on a fridge.
I came into contact with Home Works soon after I had become immobilised in my basement flat due to arthritis and had not known who to turn. As a result of my growing dependency on others and financial problems, I was feeling upset, irritable, angry and uncooperative. But Home Works helped me in every possible way they could, provided fantastic support and I progressed at my own pace. When I came out at the other end, a few of us got together, along with a key worker and asked ourselves ‘where to, from here’- we wanted to continue to support each other, so we started meeting up for coffee. My involvement with Friends of Home Works has incredibly affected my life. I always go to meetings, talk to people, listen to and learn from their experiences. I have become a more confident person over the last three years. Our group fosters compassion, trust and friendship and I feel I am exactly where I want to be in my life. Val Fowles
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Personalisation is a comprehensive transformation of public services that aim to empower the individuals who use support services to live independently and have choice and control in their lives. Consistent with the ‘Putting People First Agenda’, personalisation replaces the ‘professional gift model’ in which the individual receives support as gift, with little or no involvement in negotiating, creating and directing support with ‘community model’ which gives individuals the opportunity to remain in their communities and more importantly the power to design and contribute to the services. By doing so, it takes service user involvement one step further by centralising their role as active actors and extending their choice and control in their lives. This includes finding new ways to work with clients, collaboratively, creatively and flexibly to ensure that their services meet each person’s needs. It also means focusing on the strengths and preferences of the individual and treating them as part of their community, which includes their family and friends. Burcu Borysik, Research and Policy Coordinator at Sitra PowerPoint presentation for a staff training day. The only input I had was supporting the group to use PowerPoint and booking a slot on the day. Clients are now playing a more significant role in all areas of the Home Works contract. One big development is ensuring we offer the opportunity for clients to be involved in every round of recruitment – whether this is on the interview panel, deciding questions or scoring. As clients take the lead on these tasks we are able to work alongside each other in an equal and meaningful way, learning from one another, sharing skills, knowledge and experience.
We will continue to listen to and act on the suggestions made by clients and push involvement forward. I have recently taken on a new role within Southdown Housing Association as the Client Quality Coordinator. Part of my role is working with our Q-Team and Quality Consultant volunteers, clients who are trained and supported to undertake independent quality reviews of Southdown services, and increasingly commissioned to undertake external reviews on behalf of commissioners and other providers. This opportunity gives clients a real voice; they are able to
talk with our service users, peer to peer, to gain invaluable information to then make recommendations which ultimately make our services better for those using them. Experts by experience, the Quality checker volunteers have a significant role within our organisation, as do all the clients who take the time to get involved and enable us to make positive changes to the way our services run. Reports produced by the teams on Southdown services include recommendations for service managers which are agreed and monitored. Reports are presented by Quality Consultants to Southdown’s Board. I am excited about getting to work in the morning and I have the clients that I work alongside to thank for this. Kittie Vicious The Supporting People Outcomes Framework’s desired outcomes are: l Achieve economic wellbeing l Enjoy life and achieve ambitions l Make a positive contribution to their community l Better manage their physical health and emotional wellbeing l Stay safe
Val Fowles is a former client of HomeWorks Grant Nelson-Woolsey is Quality Consultant and a former client of Home Works Kittie Vicious is Client Quality Coordinator at Home Works Follow Friends of Home Works: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfHomeWorks Find more information on the Home Works’ presentation at the Launch of the East Sussex Supporting People personalisation project and bursary fund http://www.sitra.org/documents/home-works-presentation/
For more info on Sitra’s work in East Sussex and access to resources please visit: http://www.sitra.org/policy-good-practice/ personalisation-work/east-sussex-personalisation-project/
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Mapping the role of Housing Benefit Sitra’s Geoffrey Ferres presents a small piece of research which aims at adding up the amount of Housing Benefit being paid to claimants of working age1 living in supported and sheltered housing in a small sample of English local authorities. Why bother? Our research will contribute to an unresolved debate as to how help with rent in supported housing is to be administered once Universal Credit has led to the abolition of all Housing Benefit departments – supposedly by the end of 20172. The Government does not believe the full cost of supported housing can ever be handled through the new benefit. Therefore, the Department for Work and Pensions has to produce a new set of proposals fairly soon following the very negative reaction to proposals it published in 20113. The Government may be keen to create a completely new system as early as April 2015 as a way of dealing effectively with the damage to some supported housing from one or more of: l The social housing size criteria (the “bedroom tax”) l The household benefit cap l Universal Credit arrangements for helping claimants with rent But as well as having to decide how any new system might work, there is also the problem that at the moment no one knows how much money would have to be put into it. Perhaps in this connection the Department for Work and Pensions has started for the first time collecting information on the Housing Benefit spent on “supported exempt accommodation”. The Department for Work and Pensions collected its first data from local authorities in April 2013 and it is clear it will be some
months before most authorities are submitting reliable data4.
Our study Our research should be available to policy makers at the end of August. It relies on the co-operation of commissioners and providers as well as Housing Benefit departments. We have a questionnaire that collects information about landlords, client groups, numbers of claimants of working and of pension age, plus rents and service charges.
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owned by providers registered with the Homes and Communities Agency but no one seems certain how much of this is or is not covered by the definition of “supported exempt accommodation”. Our research will be the first serious attempt to find out Housing Benefit data should already pick up supported housing where the landlord is a registered charity or a not-forprofit organisation There is very little information on the third type of landlord: local councils. Supported and sheltered housing of local housing authorities cannot be “supported exempt accommodation” and there is no data on the amount of it. We aim to get full data in those of our sample authorities where the council has retained its housing stock.
Generally speaking, there are very few claimants of pension age in most supported housing projects, but there are sometimes quite a few claimants of working age in sheltered housing schemes. As Universal Credit only covers claimants of working age, it is the Housing Benefit spent on these claimants which the Government may want to hand over to English local authorities.
The research is being undertaken by Geoffrey Ferres, Burcu Borysik and Rahima Begum Miah.
There are three main types of landlords providing sheltered and supported housing in England: l Providers registered with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) l Registered charities and not-forprofit organisations l Housing authorities
If you would like more information about this research or require a questionnaire, please do not hesitate to contact us: Burcu burcub@sitra.org Geoffrey geoffreyf@sitra.org Rahima rahimab@sitra.org
The amount already known about each is very different: l There is a lot of data already available on supported housing and housing for older people
We want to find out what scale of difference there is between the spending on “supported exempt accommodation” and supported housing as a whole.
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The Government distinguishes between “working age” and “pension age” according to the current state pension age for women. This currently means asking whether a person was born before 6th November 1951. For a statement explaining more about our research, see our website Department for Work and Pensions, 2011. Housing Benefit Reform – Supported Housing. Available at www.gov.uk/government/uploads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/file/176909/ consult-supported-housing.pdf.pdf The Department for Work and Pensions collects data monthly from local authority Housing Benefit databases via what is called the Single Housing Benefit Extract.
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Bromford Support
Payment by results: the Marmite commissioning model Infamous blogger and expert in the fields of substance misuse and crime, Russell Webster stimulates debate around the rapid changes in the way we deliver public services, especially in the criminal justice and substance misuse arenas. Here, Russell goes over the pros and cons of payment-by-results (PbR). PbR is all the rage
Pros and Cons
Adam Knight-Markiegi and Alison Quinn from Sitra recently published an interesting report which compared payment by results across public services with a particular focus on housing related support (www.sitra.org/ documents/comparing-pbr).
Those who support PbR argue that all commissioning should focus on buying outcomes and that PbR rewards providers who make a difference, rather than those who are merely effective at ticking boxes – it’s the difference
between finding someone a job and completing an action plan which demonstrates that they are “job ready”. This group argues that if you get the contract right, it’s perfectly possible to align the objectives of government/commissioners and
They found that PbR is spreading like wildfire across government with at least six different departments currently experimenting with PbR. However, despite all this activity, it’s getting increasingly difficult to have a productive debate about payment by results. Like Marmite, PbR incites strong feelings. For many people, PbR is merely shorthand for the privatisation of public services or even a backdoor way of funnelling public funds into multinational companies. For others, it is a potentially exciting approach to commissioning public services which can drive innovation and improved performance.
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providers. For example, by making the biggest bonus payments to providers who are successful at getting persistent, and prolific offenders to go straight. On the other side of the fence, PbR detractors say that it’s almost impossible to get the system to work in practice and that it inevitably stimulates not best practice but gaming the system with providers “creaming off” the easy profits and “parking” those service users who are harder (or less profitable) to help – in effect denying them a service. They question whether PbR can really achieve anything that couldn’t be accomplished by more traditional commissioning models.
Lack of an evidence base But whether you love PbR or hate it, the main reason why it’s difficult to have a meaningful discussion is the lack of any evidence base. It is a very new model of commissioning and we just don’t know yet in what circumstances it is likely to be effective – or counterproductive. However, there is a steady stream of interim findings from the Work Programme (seen as proof that PbR doesn’t work) and a number of pilots in the criminal justice and substance misuse fields.
I’ve been following the development of PbR in the UK very closely and have developed my list of 10 critical success factors which should shape the development of payment by results schemes.
I’m quietly confident that these “10 Commandments of PbR”,see opposite, will be proved wrong over time, but I think it’s worth sharing them now if only to try and stimulate a more interesting level of debate.
Payment by Results and Criminal Justice The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) procurement team recently published its proposed payment mechanism for the new reducing reoffending contracts. There are three elements to the payment mechanism: 1. Fee for service 2. Payment by results 3. Penalties for underperformance The proportion of the contract to be paid by PbR is not stipulated – it’s clear that providers who are prepared to risk more of their contract value against results will be more likely to win the contract. The MoJ is currently proposing that the reducing reoffending contracts will have separate measures for binary (the percentage of offenders that are convicted of an offence within a 12 month period) and frequency (the rate of offences committed by offenders within a cohort within a 12 month period) reoffending targets which will both result in performance payments for successful providers. However, providers will only get paid for meeting frequency targets if they meet their binary ones. This could lead to the following scenario: Let’s suppose a cohort of 1,000 offenders of whom 600 are expected to reoffend (binary measure), committing a total of 1400 crimes (frequency) l The MoJ sets target of 550 or less offenders to re-offend, committing a total of 1200 crimes l Provider A gets paid for 550 offenders committing 1200 crimes l Provider B gets no payment for 551 offenders committing 1100 crimes l
With PbR, the devil is always in the detail.
Are you thinking about payment by results? Sitra can help you plan, develop and implement payment by results. We can help you whether you’re a commissioner or provider. For commissioners, here is some of the work we do: l help set the purpose for PbR, decide which services to include and design your payments and monitoring system l offer a critical friend role, highlighting unintended consequences and testing your approach l carry out a feasibility study or evaluate your PbR work For providers, here’s some of the work we do: l help you assess the risks and decide whether or not to bid for a PbR contract l help shape your service to deliver the PbR outcomes, including cash flow planning l get your systems ready – eg. adapt your support plans and update collection systems l train your staff – eg. on outcomes-focused work, updating support plans, and collecting and reporting on outcomes data If you want to know more, please contact Wendy Green on 020 7793 4710 or wendyg@sitra.org. Russell Webster is an independent consultant specialising in the area of substance misuse and crime, he has particular expertise in payment by results where he has undertaken work for commissioners, providers and think tanks. He maintains a lively blog on PbR which includes a range of free resources at: www.russellwebster.com.
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Matthew Wigglesworth – his name will live on Windmill House renamed in Matthew’s memory Colleagues of Stonham, part of Home Group, have paid tribute to a much loved and respected colleague who died last year, writes Rachael Byrne, Executive Director of Care and Support. Matthew Wigglesworth, who was Area Business Manager for Oxfordshire and Reading, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last year. Matthew’s career with Stonham spanned 20 years and he was at the forefront of our work supporting clients with new initiatives. He took a hands-on approach to managing services, placing a very strong focus on equality and diversity and always working closely with clients. Matthew was well-thought-of not only by his colleagues but also by local commissioners and partner organisations across Oxfordshire.
In particular Matthew worked closely with Windmill House, which supports vulnerable young people to live independently whilst giving them the life skills they need to become part of the local community. After his many years of dedication it only seems fitting that the service become Matthew Wigglesworth House. The Lord Mayor of Oxford joined Matthew’s wife, family, friends and colleagues to unveil a commemorative plaque and pay tribute to Matthew’s 20-year career at a renaming ceremony in May. Jude Parkin, a friend and former colleague of Matthew, said: “Matthew was always there to support people, to lend an ear and to bring a smile into every situation. He always wanted to do the right thing and was passionate about making a difference.”
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From let to right: Lord Mayor of Oxford Councillor Mohammed Abbasi, Alison Wigglesworth (wife of Matthew) and Rachael Byrne]
About Home Group
Home Group is one of the UKs largest providers of high quality housing and supported housing services and products. Home Group is a social enterprise and a charity (a registered Industrial & Provident Society) with a turnover of £313m, Our mission is “to help our customers and clients to open doors to new opportunities and healthy lives”. We provide general needs housing and supported housing services targeted towards helping some of society’s most vulnerable people take control of their own lives. We: l House more than 120,000 people a year in 53,000 homes across 200 local authority areas in England, Scotland and Wales l Work with almost 30,000 vulnerable people through over 500 supported housing, justice and health services each year. Care and Support services focus on housing related support, criminal justice and health services.
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Pulling Together – A Welfare Benefits Toolkit Sitra is excited to be working with SHP to create an exciting new set of learning resources for single homeless people and frontline staff in London, writes Lisa Harrison, Deputy CEO of Sitra. Commissioned by the London Housing Foundation (LHF) and coproduced with the people these tools are for. Pulling Together is a suite of training and resources that will be launched this autumn. Sitra’s CEO Vic Rayner highlighted the need for opportunities to enlighten and empower homeless people and front line workers in the face of the now established welfare benefits reforms: “Sitra and SHP recognised that the pace and scale of change to welfare had the potential to be overwhelming for both staff and clients. We felt that by bringing clients and staff together with benefit specialists, we could co produce resources that talked to people’s real experiences of the system and changes, providing them with tangible and practical information about what the changes would mean for them. For me – the key is in the title – Pulling Together.” Co-production champions Clare Davies and Sarah Clement were brought in by Sitra to work with welfare benefits expert John Shortridge to create welfare benefits training modules that would speak to the actual needs and interests of homeless people. Staff and clients from SHP joined them for a series of intensive coproduction workshops were held at the London South Bank University in April and May to create four half day training sessions. John
‘My involvement with the programme has been very rewarding – a really different way of producing training’
Sarah Clement says, “The sessions created not just another training course, but a pick and mix menu of options that can be adapted and tailored for different audiences. The co-production element of the programme, where service users and staff were engaged as peers, supported the design of some training materials and tools that cater for a range of educational experience and learning styles.” The four modules created are (as named by participants themselves): All for One: Universal Credit Homing In: Under 35s and Resettlement Work Programme Work Out: the Work Programme Goodbye DLA, Hello PIP: the new Personal Independence Payment gave participants and overview of the various facets of welfare benefits and reform, supplying them with resources to refer to. Sarah and Clare then broke the participants into groups to discuss their own experiences and concerns, and translate these into the content of the sessions. The entire programme has been christened ‘Pulling Together’ by participants, to reflect both the cooperative nature of its production and the mutual support that homeless people and support workers can give each other when navigating the challenges of the welfare benefits system. The four training modules are currently being piloted in London at SHP, Sitra and at Providence Row, a day centre for homeless people in the East End of London. Throughout this summer the training will be delivered and reviewed to a variety of people experiencing or working within homelessness so it can be said to truly reflect the needs of single homeless people in London. Sitra is also compiling online
resources and e-learning tools to be hosted online by Sitra and the LHF. Videos of training methods, exercises and role plays, as well as a record of the coproduction, will also be available online for those planning to deliver the training, or to augment learning. Videographer Jon Bryant, along with his assistant (and son) Jay, is currently editing what is both a record of the process and instructions to potential trainers. Jon said that “the overriding impression I left with was that bringing all these points of view and experiences together gave everyone real confidence when it came to delivering it to their particular clients, because they knew their viewpoints had been built in to the development of these 4 sessions.” Coproduction is central to the production of this resource. Sitra and SHP believe that learners should be consulted with rather than dictated to – and the London Housing Foundation felt that making coproduction central to the development of the training would make it both appealing and unique. The Pulling Together training and resources will be finalised this summer launched in September, with training materials and resources available through www.sitra.org and www.lhf.org.uk
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The EU Social Innovation Competition Angela Catley, Director of Operations at Community Catalysts CIC, shares her thoughts about social innovation and what winning the award means for her organisation. We recently heard that we were one of the 3 winners of the European Union (EU) Diogo Challenge Social Innovation Competition. The competition started with 605 applications from 35 EU countries. Needless to say we are flattered, excited and more than a little scared.
two-day mentoring workshop in Amsterdam alongside the other 29 semi-finalists. It was an amazing couple of days with some interesting speakers, challenging exercises and time to hear from grass roots organisations from across Europe about their innovative ideas. At the end of our workshop we were tasked with communicating our idea in no more than 90 seconds in a way that made sense to people who knew nothing about our work or our sector. Anyone who knows Community Catalysts will know what a challenge this was – our idea is complex and hard to distill into little more than a sound bite (Sian writes too much)1 and I was the one tasked with the 90 second challenge (and I definitely talk too much!).
The Diogo Challenge Competition (established in memory of Diogo Vasconcelos a respected change agent and social innovator) aimed to tackle the issue of unemployment across the EU and invited entries from people with ‘new ideas on how to unlock fresh talent, skills, experience and insights of people who have a great deal to offer to our economy and society. How can we tap into today’s potential to create new forms of work for tomorrow?’ It sought to find new opportunities to ‘unlock or tap people’s talent’, ‘create or shape new markets’ and ‘enable people to start and grow successful new businesses’
The pitch was by no means perfect but here is the result:
In March, we heard we had become a semi-finalist down to the last 30. Our reward was to attend a
‘If we win the prize we will use it to establish a web-base mentoring network that links people in big
The pitch
Community Catalysts shared at a platform with Sitra at our recent series of events on Confident Commissioning for Personalisation. Their energy and enthusiasm for micro providers and their contribution to the marketplace was invaluable in these events – and provided positive challenges to both providers and commissioners. Sitra are delighted to hear that their vital work has been recognised by this award. Vic Rayner, CEO of Sitra.
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business with people in little business. We know that this would tackle three problems: 1. People in big business want to tackle their poor image and to connect with their community. They don’t know how to do it. 2. People in communities have great ideas of how to care or support other people. They need advice to set up or develop their own little enterprise. 3. Older and disabled people want more choice of imaginative, personal, high quality care and support services. We have been working in partnership with local government across the UK for more than 3 years. We have supported 100s of small care enterprises some of them run by older or disabled people (who know what good and bad care and support looks like). Between them they have created 100s of jobs and 1000s of care or support options. To add value to our work we have recently partnered with three big businesses who have released staff to volunteer to mentor small care enterprise leaders. This face to face mentoring takes time, is limited by location and is not scalable. Our virtual network will have national (and potentially international) coverage – more big business mentors, more little care enterprises (so more jobs) and much more choice of local care and support services.’ The pitch seemed to go well and we got lots of constructive feedback and advice. We went away and refined our idea before submitting our detailed entry. Whatever we did must have been 1
Sian Lockwood is CEO of Community Catalysts CIC
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okay because last month at a huge event in Brussels we were told we had won and presented with a beautiful trophy by José Manuel Durão Barroso, the President of the European Commission.
What now? As a winner of the competition we’ll get EUR 20,000 to spend on implementing our idea. The money will come in really useful but the taking part has helped us learn lessons and make connections across Europe which is a prize in itself. Now the hard work begins, planning how to make our idea work in practice, exploring the potential for collaboration and spending the money carefully for maximum impact. We hope the idea of linking big organisations with care and support start-ups is one that will be grasped with enthusiasm by the sector. We know that times are tight and this is one way of making scant resources go further. We believe that this could have real impact if we think imaginatively, work in partnership and get the model right....so no pressure then!
Community Catalysts is a Community Interest Company that enables individuals and communities to use their gifts and skills to provide real choice of small scale, local, personalised and high quality social care and health services (in the broadest sense) for local people looking for care, support and services. We work through local partners who are principally local authorities, health trusts, provider organisations and third sector infrastructure organisations. We also support the development of Shared Lives schemes and Homeshare programmes and help larger organisations develop more personalised services by unlocking the creativity of staff and the people supported by the organisation, taking ideas and turning them into sustainable high quality enterprises.
Visit www.communitycatalysts.co.uk For more info on the competition please visit http://socialinnovationcompetition.eu/
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So why would we not bring that learning tool into the workplace, when it offers so much flexibility for front line workers who do amazing jobs and want to improve their skills in a way that suits them?
Learning in a Cloud based world “As a sector we need to be embracing what is out there, we need to be pushing the envelope of change and demanding the best for our learners, which in turn provides the best care and support for our clients.� Steven Embleton is the Chief Cloud of My Learning Cloud, he has over 10 years of experience in Learning and Development, and is always striving to ensure that he and his staff stay as cutting edge as possible. It has always been our belief that great outcomes for clients are dependent on having skilled and knowledgeable people working alongside them. This value base comes from our parent company, YOU, whose investment in learning and development not only led to them achieving IIP Gold status and becoming the first charity National Learning Champion, but also allowed me to bring My Learning Cloud into existence. People working in the housing related support sector are passionate about what they do. Their focus is on their client and, like all of us, they learn in a variety of ways. I recall many years ago when the only option was face-to-face training courses and look how the world has moved on since then. Blended approaches to learning including face-to-face courses, one-to-one teaching, reading, researching on line, videos, podcasts, webinars and e-learning are all tools available to staff and Learning and Development Managers. When choosing a method of training, you need to ensure that first you
understand your clients, your learners and, most importantly, the learning outcomes you wish to achieve. We have all been on poor face-to-face training, we have made our staff watch a boring video or read an uninspiring book. Too often e-Learning is just PowerPoint in another guise which has little or no value to the learner. What we really need to focus on is ensuring that the learning is engaging, and teaches a depth of knowledge that lasts once the learner finishes the learning. High quality e-Learning allows the learner to learn when they want to, where they want to, it’s engaging and teaches relevant subject matter expertise. There are cost advantages, but that should not be the only reason for selecting it as a method. YOU invested in My Learning Cloud because we recognised that our society is changing. People are used to spending time on the internet, using social media and playing online games as part of their social and home life. To many of them technology is an essential part of everyday life.
Most people now check their Twitter feed or Facebook account before brushing their teeth in the morning. 22 bulletin
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There is a common fear that technology is cold, impersonal and impractical: a poor substitute for human interaction. In some cases this is true; companies build their own e-Learning solutions and shape the content to cover the outcomes without considering the learner. They fail to understand how each person learns in different ways and styles. YOU and My Learning Cloud discovered that when e-Learning is developed correctly by using subject matter experts, rich multimedia content and includes real life examples that the learner can relate to, it is suddenly incredibly effective. It becomes even more so when blended with other resources such as face-to-face learning, as it adds richness and interactivity. In a climate in which organisations can afford less and less, investment in blended learning solutions, ensures service quality, promotes business growth and financial stability. If we think we now know where we are, and can sit back and rest on our laurels with so many new ways of learning, let us not forget that technology does not sit still. What was on a computer is now on our phones: where will it be in the future and what will our support staff of the future expect? As a Sitra Member, you have a unique code to access My Learning Cloud and receive your exclusive up to 15% discount on their e-learning courses. Your code can be found on your membership certificate however, if you are unsure please email centraladmin@sitra.org and we can resend your code. You can then begin to explore the multitude of courses that are available to you and your staff.
www.sitra.org
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Visit our website
www.sitra.org About Sitra
Sitra Staff
Sitra Offices
Sitra is a membership organisation championing excellence in housing, support and care.
Chief Executive Vic Rayner
Sitra London
Membership benefits include discounts on all services and events, access to free advice, an annual subscription to the bulletin and regular briefings on key policy developments in the sector.
Practice and Policy Officers Adam Knight-Markiegi Geoffrey Ferres Mike Ballard Sue Baxter
Sitra works with local and central government to ensure that the needs of its members are recognised, understood and met by resource providers. If you would like to join Sitra please contact the Membership Administrator on 020 7793 4710 and ask for an application form, or download one from www.sitra.org Content ©2013 SITR (Services) Ltd except where stated, All right reserved. All images © individual photographers & illustrators. Opinions expressed by individuals writers are not necessarily those of Sitra or the magazine’s Editorial Team. E&OE. Design: Aquatint BSC 020 8947 8571 www.aquatint.co.uk
Deputy Chief Executive Lisa Harrison
Policy and Research Co-ordinators Dani Cohen Julia Mercier-Weiner Burcu Borysik Contracts Officers Anna Robertson Wendy Green Business Support Katie Barnes Lana Lewis Sarah Pink Helen Northover
3rd Floor, 55 Bondway, London SW8 1SJ Reception: 020 7793 4710 Policy & Public Affairs: 020 7793 4711 Services: 020 7793 4713 Central Admin: 020 7793 4716 Finance: 020 7793 4717 Fax: 020 7793 4715 Email: post@sitra.org Website: www.sitra.org
Sitra Birmingham BVSC, 138 Digbeth, Birmingham B5 6DR Tel: 0121 678 8891 Email: adamk@sitra.org
Sitra Southampton Fariways House, Mount Pleasant Road, Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 0QB Tel: 023 8023 0307 Charity Reg No 290599 Company Reg No 1869208 ISSN 0956-6678 Sitra is partly funded by DCLG.
The bulletin is available in large print on request
Head of Finance & Central Services Berihu Mohammed Finance Officer Ray Naicker Finance Assistant Stephen Johnson Office Co-ordinator Gill Cotton
Health & Social Care Partnership, part of Sitra
Membership and Central Support Alison Quinn Monica Antolin (on maternity leave)
www.sitra.org THE MAGAZINE FOR HOUSING WITH CARE, HEALTH AND SUPPORT
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Sitra Training
Debt Management
Difficult, Disturbing and Dangerous Behaviour
13 August 2013, London
13 September 2013, London
You will learn: • How to identify budgeting problems • How to help service users with budget plans • When and where to get further help involving specialists • How to Identify priority debts • How to negotiate with creditors • How to dealing with debts in the courts and bailiffs’ powers
You will learn: • How to deal with aggressors in crisis • How your own feelings and reactions may help or hinder the resolution of a crisis • How to identify indicators of violent behaviour, and take appropriate preventative measures • How to identified strategies for responding effectively to uncontained behaviour
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Panic and Anxiety 29 August 2013, Southampton You will learn: • Why panic and anxiety occurs and the underlying causes • How to recognise different panic triggers • What various problems can occur as a result of panic • Panic and anxiety: the dos and don’ts • What are the available solutions and treatments available
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Introduction to the Agency Management Relationship 17 September 2013, Southampton You will learn: • Good practice in agency management contracts • Roles and responsibilities of landlord and managing agent • Working with other agencies as part of the relationship, e.g. the Local Authority • How to distinguish between housing management, care and support
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Prices
Key
New prices with increased discount for members: Half-day: Sitra members £55/Non-members £89 One-day: Sitra members £89/Non-members £149 For a full list of forthcoming courses please visit our website
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www.sitra.org
Courses suitable for new workers suitable as part of an induction programme Courses suitable for frontline staff, also suitable as refresher courses for managers Courses suitable for new managers or frontline staff moving into management Courses suitable for experienced and senior managers Courses suitable for local authority commissioning and monitoring staff
bulletin No.3 WITH CARE, HEALTH AND SUPPORT THE FOR 2013 HOUSING 24MAGAZINE
www.sitra.org www.sitra.org