Duty & Assessment case study, Lancashire

4920

4920 children’s cases managed

32 five-week duty cycles over 9 months

98%

98% completed within timescales

Innovate Services, duty & assessment, Lancashire County Council, frontline social work, children's services, referral and assessment service, case study

The challenge

Lancashire County Council required a long-term social work partner to deliver their Referral and Assessment Service (RAS), champion change and best practice and to deliver high quality frontline social work as part of their improvement programme.

Being adept at delivering large scale social-work led transformation programmes across the UK, Innovate CYPS was well-placed to work in partnership with the Council to achieve the changes needed.

Our approach

Firstly, Innovate CYPS needed to understand the exact challenges faced by Lancashire’s RAS. We led several meetings with the Council where we carried out a thorough analysis of the current business process.

After putting forward a bespoke model, the Council agreed for us to initiate our transformation delivery programme. We promptly mobilised 5 managers and 45 peripatetic consultant practitioners inside of just four weeks; five teams of nine social workers, a manager and assistant manager. All practitioners had over 4 years’ experience, with the vast majority being ABE and court room trained.

Compliance

The mobilisation and compliance process was rigorous, with crucial aspects delivered on-site in Lancashire. Logistically, this involved face-to-face interviews with senior managers, the creation of a tailored resource pack, detailed process mapping, and a project briefing day involving all appointed practitioners, managers and project support business administrators, led by Innovate CYPS’ senior management team, followed by ICT inductions and full E-learning.

Comprehensive service

Working on a five-week duty team cycle, our teams provided a comprehensive service focused on high quality assessments and thorough case management to specific points of transfer back to Lancashire. During 32 duty cycles, our consultant practitioners collectively progressed and case-managed a total of 4920 cases inside of 9 months. Every cycle involved assessing and safely progressing 900 children, with 98% of all assessments completed to timescales, an average of 15/20 working days.

The results

Meeting all pre-agreed key performance indicators, the project was delivered on time and to budget, whilst going beyond solving purely short-term issues. We provided reliable strategic advice and support and drove best practice to help Lancashire embed improved processes and find innovative ways of working. This also involved the implementation of a strategy to strengthen multiagency partners working in compliance with Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015.

A clear exit strategy was carefully planned and actioned to leave a legacy of timely child focused outcomes underpinned by high quality practice. Our bespoke approach in Lancashire received praise from Eleanor Schooling, Ofsted’s National Director of Social Care.

What our clients say

“Innovate CYPS demonstrated a great deal of trust and confidence in their ability to provide a fully managed bespoke duty and assessment service. This has given us the opportunity to concentrate on other important practice areas, enabling us to make significant improvements.”

Linda Clegg, Director of Children’s Services,
Lancashire County Council

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