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Commissions received

REVIEW OF PSYCHOSOCIAL SERVICES AT GREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL

A review of the work of the social work and psychology departments of this specialist tertiary hospital, to make recommendations for the integrated management of the departments and the principles needed to underpin this new service for sick children and their families.

Commissioned by Great Ormond Street Hospital Trust + Camden SSD Best Value Review Team via the NCB Completed January 2003

AUDIT OF NEED TO INFORM EDUCATION DEPARTMENT�S SOCIAL INCLUSION STRATEGY

An audit with schools in two catchment areas, using the Matching Needs and Services method, of 158 children identified by their teacher as having unmet needs. With presentation of the findings to a multi-agency conference.

Commissioned by Leicester City Council Education Department  Completed January 2003

AUDIT OF NEED TO INFORM AND PRODUCE DELIVERY PLAN FOR CHILDREN�S FUND PROGRAMME

An audit with local teachers, using the Matching Needs and Services method, of children identified by teachers across the borough as having unmet needs. The findings were disseminated at a multi-agency conference and informed the borough�s Children�s Fund Delivery Plan.

Commissioned by Thurrock Council Completed February 2003

AUDIT OF NEED TO INFORM INTER-AGENCY PLANNING FOR CHILDREN WITH COMPLEX BEHAVIOUR AND EMOTIONAL NEEDS

An audit, using the Matching Needs and Services method, of children identified on a multi-agency basis as having particularly complex needs. Many of the children were living in placements far away from home. The findings were used to provide local services for this group of children and young people.

Commissioned by Gloucestershire County Council Completed February 2003

AUDITING THE NEEDS OF CHILDREN IN RESIDENCE

Training residential unit managers in the use of needs-based, common language assessment and data collection tools to audit the needs of children in residence and to evaluate outcomes.

Commissioned by Hampshire County Council Completed March 2003

PROJECT MANAGEMENT OF THE ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK

Responsibility for the implementation of the Assessment Framework for children in need and their families by social work staff. Including the development of forms for initial and core assessments, child protection conference reports, children in need reviews, and the contribution of other agencies to assessments. Plus the production and updating of an Induction Pack for new staff, and the introduction of common assessment forms to health, education and the voluntary sector.

Commissioned by LB Camden SSD  Completed April 2003

AUDIT OF INITIAL AND CORE ASSESSMENTS

A study of 100 files of cases transferred from Camden�s Referral & Assessment Teams to the long-term Children in Need social work teams, with a focus on lessons for practice about how staff identify need, severity of need, desirable outcomes and service responses.

Commissioned by Dartington-i  Completed May 2003

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FORUM 

Facilitating a day seminar for professionals from the statutory and voluntary sectors to discuss how best to meet the needs arising from domestic violence in the Borough and the steps to be taken to develop a more effective inter-agency Domestic Violence Forum.

Commissioned by LB Sutton Community Safety Partnership  Completed May 2003

REVIEW OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 

A review of CAMHS services in two areas of the County to inform the restructuring of the service and the development of a more integrated multi-agency response to meet the needs of children with emotional, behavioural and mental health problems.

Commissioned by Mid-Hampshire Primary Care Trust, Winchester, and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust, via YoungMinds  Completed June 2003

DIRECTORY OF CHILDREN & FAMILY RESOURCES 

Compilation of a directory of local services, as part of the Borough�s IRT programme, with entries clustered under headings of the �need groups� that had emerged from a multi-agency audit of children and family needs led by RTB in the previous year. With information about the service offered, the provider agency, contact details, referral method and threshold criteria.

Commissioned by LB Harrow Children & Young People�s IRT Project Completed July 2003

CHILDREN�S PARTICIPATION IN INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS, SERVICE DEVELOPMENT, AND RESEARCH

A review of current knowledge about the involvement of children and young people in social care and the extent to which this has brought about change and improved the quality of the services they receive. With comment on gaps in knowledge and aspects that would benefit from practice guidance.

Commissioned by SCIE, via the NCB  Completed July 2003

REVIEW OF CHILDREN LOOKED AFTER BY INDEPENDENT FOSTER AGENCIES 

A study of the met and unmet mental health needs of children placed out of borough in independent foster agencies. With an audit of the case files of half of the children and young people in placement; interviews with parents, foster carers and staff from partner agencies; and group discussion with staff from relevant social work teams. Part of the CAMHS Modernisation Agenda, and to help inform the design of future services.

Commissioned by LB Hounslow SSD and the West London Mental Health Trust, via YoungMinds

Completed July 2003

RESEARCH BRIEFINGS FOR LOCAL AUTHORITY COUNCILLORS 

A series of research briefings with the aim of providing information about key research findings, good practice, and policy developments that will help councillors improve outcomes for children and families in need by ensuring that adequate and effective services are provided for them. Topics covered to date:

• Recruitment + Retention of Foster Carers;

• Family Group Conferences + Family + Friends Care

• Disabled Children

Commissioned by Research in Practice Completed July 2003 (no 1); December 2003 [no 2];July 2004 [no 3] 

 MULTI-AGENCY AUDIT OF NEED TO INFORM SERVICE PLANNING IN A SURE START AREA 

An audit, using the Matching Needs and Services method, of the files of 100 children living in the Sure Start area.  The sample was drawn from the caseloads of health visitors, the local primary school, the education psychology service and social services.

Commissioned by Abbey Sure Start, LB Barking and Dagenham  Completed August 2003

COUNSELLING SERVICES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN

A study to elicit the views of service providers about the need for counselling services for children aged 4 to 13 who fall below the threshold for social services intervention, and to identify messages from the research evidence. To help inform the commissioning of Children�s Fund services in relation to two strands of activity � counselling services, and services using counselling skills.

Commissioned by Sefton Children�s Fund  Completed September 2003

INFORMATION FOR FAMILIES ABOUT EDUCATION RESEARCH

A leaflet that tells young people and families what research says about the education of children in need � at home and in care. With information about what teachers, social workers and families can do to help children do best in school. A family version of RiP�s Quality Protects Research Briefing on this topic.

Commissioned by Research in Practice Completed September 2003

BEST VALUE REVIEW OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR CHILDREN 

An examination of the need for services across the County for children with mental health needs, with a particular focus on services provided by CAMHS. To cover service capacity and organisation and, in relation to user perspectives, the views of a sample of the general population, group discussion with vulnerable groups, and one-to-one interviews with children and parents who have recently used CAMHS.

Commissioned by Lincolnshire County Council and the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust, via YoungMinds Completed April 2004

PARENTAL MENTAL HEALTH AND ITS IMPACT ON CHILDREN 

A review of impact and intervention studies that explore parental mental health and its effect on children. With particular focus on relevant aspects of the Assessment Framework, evaluated programmes and lessons for policy and practice developments with children and their families.

Commissioned by Research in Practice

EVALUATION OF PARENTING PROGRAMMES

An evaluation of the effectiveness of parenting programmes for parents of adolescents, in circumstances where family relationships have broken down and/or where young people are offending.  Parents attending the programmes include those subject to Parenting Orders.

Commissioned by LB Sutton Community Services

DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING A COMMON ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING MODEL FOR USE ACROSS CHILDREN�S SERVICES

Drawing on the Dartington Paperwork and other assessment models to design and produce forms for assessment including adaptations for child protection conference reports, court reports and reviews. Followed by producing a format, using the same concepts as the assessment forms, for collecting and aggregating data on individual children for planning and evaluation purposes. Training social workers, social work managers and other children�s services� workers in the use of the forms and the underpinning concepts. Providing work-based, post- training support for social workers. Applying the concepts to a sample of children coming to the notice of the SSD, in order to understand the seriousness of children and family needs.

Commissioned by Gloucestershire County Council SSD

TRAINING � ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK 

Designing and delivering training for newly-appointed workers in the use of the National Assessment Framework.

Commissioned by Hampshire County Council SSD

SERIOUS CASE REVIEWS

Chairing five serious case reviews under the auspices of Working Together and undertaking independent reviews of two other cases which fell outside the criteria for serious case review but where authorities were keen to learn lessons for single and multi-agency practice.

Commissioned by 6 local authorities in England and Wales

TRAINING IN ASSESSMENT FORMS COMPLIANT WITH THE AF

A rolling programme of half day and longer courses for new social work staff and senior practitioners and team managers in Camden. A refresher about the Assessment Framework, an introduction to the staff Induction Pack, and coaching on the use of the Borough�s assessment forms.

Commissioned by Dartington-i

EVALUATION OF AN EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICE FOR ADOLESCENTS AND FAMILIES

A project to enable staff to track progress in the work of the Joint Adolescent Service, a new project in which social services and CAMHS are combining their resources to offer short-term focused intervention to young people and their families in order to try and prevent family breakdown. Using pre- and post-intervention scales to measure the extent to which identified outcomes are achieved during the first year of the service. The service was developed from an earlier, multi-agency audit of need led by RTB.

Commissioned by LB Sutton Community Services

USING NEED DATA TO DEVELOP AN OUTCOME TOOL

Using the Matching Needs & Services audit tool, with local professionals, to identify the pattern of need among young children and their families across the Borough, to complement an earlier audit of children newly referred to social services, also led by RTB. The aim is to develop an outcome tool that can be used across all agencies, to inform the commissioning of new services and help evaluate both current practice and future developments.

Commissioned by Greenwich PCT and LB Greenwich Children�s Partnership & Integration

AUDIT OF NEED TO INFORM MULTI-AGENCY CAMHS STRATEGY

An audit with health, social services and education of 124 children to inform on going CAMHS strategy with production of outcomes and service map for each of the emerging need groups.

Commissioned by Thurrock Council

BEST VALUE REVIEW OF ADULT SERVICES

An audit of the needs of people with learning difficulties, physical disabilities and mental health difficulties in residential care and an analysis of the way these needs are met.

Commissioned by Gloucestershire County Council Social Services Department

AUDIT OF NEED TO INFORM COMMISSIONING OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL SERVICES

A multi-agency audit of the needs of the children of parents misusing drugs or alcohol or both and of young people misusing drugs or alcohol or both together with an analysis of the way these needs are met; focus groups with professionals and young people; service mapping; and a review of research evidence of effective interventions.

Commissioned by London Borough of Islington

AUDIT OF NEEDS OF LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN

An audit of 100 children looked after children and more detailed file analysis of 20 cases to identify needs, analyse how these needs are met, and provide some explanation for the high number of children on care orders, in order to inform the planning of services. 

Commissioned by Brighton and Hove City Council  Completed December 2003

MULTI-AGENCY TRAINING IN IRT/ISA

A series of half-day courses in Camden, one of the DfES trailblazer authorities, to train professionals in the pilot site to use the IRT/ISA model.

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