Improving and GettingIt Right for Every Child

Learning Session 6October 2014

Getting it right for every child:A framework for improvement

GIRFEC is the Scottish Government approach to improving the wellbeing of all children and young people. It does so by finding better ways:

• to keep the child/young person at the centre of policy and service delivery;

• for professionals to work together with each other and with children, young people and their families; and

• to embed early and primary intervention.

GIRFEC and the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

• Named Person

- the role of the Named Person

- who’s responsible for the service• Information sharing

- sharing information with/by the NamedPerson

• Child’s Plan

Implementing the GIRFEC duties

• Commencement: 1 August 2016

• Publication of final statutory guidance: mid-2015

• Consultation on draft statutory guidance: 1st quarter of 2015

• Publication of support materials for GIRFEC change management: end 2014

GIRFEC and the Collaborative ambition and aims

• Named Persons: improved support for developmental milestones through partnership working around the Named Person, including pre-birth

• Information sharing: better early identification of those children experiencing difficulties with developmental milestones

• Child’s Plans: more consistently coordinated multi-service intervention for children needing help with developmental milestones

Improvement and GIRFEC

• Key motivation for legislating on GIRFEC: consistency across Scotland. Hence, the challenge of balancing national prescription with local flexibility.

• Two types of improvement may offer this balance:- improving how to meet the requirements

under the Act and the statutory guidance- improving what is not required but which

makes best use of the Act/guidance

Improvement and the Named Person

Examples of aspects where the improvement methodology could support the Named Person:

• Raising awareness of the Named Person among families

• Understanding what should be treated as a concern

• Responding to a concern

Improvement and information sharing

Examples of aspects where the improvement methodology could support information sharing:

• Working with children, young people and their families

• Sharing information appropriately within services• Sharing information appropriately between services

Improvement and the Child’s Plan

Examples of aspects where the improvement methodology could support the Child’s Plan:

• Determining a common format for the Child’s Plan

• Initiating the Child’s Plan

• Managing the Child’s Plan

‘IRFEC’

• What aspects of implementing GIRFEC can benefit from the improvement methodology?

• What kind of small tests of change can be devised and how could success be scaled up?

• How much can your area benefit from using the improvement methodology in this way?