Concurrent Planning Subscription Scheme

Concurrent Planning Subscription Scheme

Concurrent Planning Subscription Scheme

Coram

What

Workforce Development

A significant motivation for recruiting and retaining high quality staff in the sector is the opportunity for developing professional skills that are valued and which demonstrably improve the quality of practice and of the offer to children and families. Coram has developed a model of practice development and sharing which has been popular and successful amongst both VAAs and LAs – thereby also strengthening relationships both within and across professional networks.

How

Concurrent Planning Subscription Scheme

Membership entitles subscribers to receive a menu of training and consultation for their own staff, and also to attend three Network days pa. The network days provide a forum to enable sharing of experience, problem solving and new research and information, ensuring that key staff are kept up-to-date.

The format for the Network days is simple

The morning is devoted to presentations on themes – e.g. preparing and assessing dually approved carers (as both foster carers and adopters), specialist preparation groups for CP carers, managing supervised contact, support for carers and their support networks, early permanence options – the current legal options (CP, SGOs, F4A), liaising with the range of professionals involved – Legal Departments, Guardians, IROs etc. These presentations may be made by Coram staff, staff from other concurrent planning/ F4A programmes, invited speakers etc.

Speakers from agencies may include LA or VAA legal advisers, contact supervisors, front line managers and social workers who identify cases going through proceedings as well as dedicated concurrent planning practitioners. This gives agencies and workers the opportunity to showcase their work, receive recognition and to embed learning form their own practice.

The afternoon is devoted to small group discussion where we combine agencies which have similarities in terms of size or function.

Benefits

  • The Network meetings are well attended by staff from 16 LAs across the regions of England and 5 VAAs, including an agency in Scotland.
  • Over 50 children pa are being placed in concurrent planning /foster 4 adoption placements by subscribing agencies.
  • Popular and successful amongst both VAAs and LAs – thereby also strengthening relationships both within and across professional networks.
  • The event improve and embed good practice and enhance confidence
  • Builds confidence and relationship between LAs and VAAs
  • A range of staff from Coram and other agencies (VAAs and LAs) have the opportunity to share their expertise and gain recognition for their own practice and that of their agency.
  • Low cost, easy maintenance and demonstrates significant benefit.

Issues

  • There can be a turnover of membership but this is not necessarily and issue. Members stay for as long as it meets their needs.
  • There is generally a natural life for such groups – they meet a need for a time, and then some other issues become the focus. This means that the organisations contributing expertise need to keep up-to-date. Again this can be a positive in making sure staff are well versed in the important topics of the day.

What next?

There has not been a problem in setting up and resourcing this programme and there appears to be a thirst amongst practitioners – and managers – for opportunities for practice development which may be better met by establishing a learning set of people with a common area of responsibility than by organising one-off training opportunities

The kinds of areas which might be covered include a range of practice and policy concerns – assessing children’s needs, assessing adopters, matching, support programmes, managing contact, BME issues, birth records counselling etc. It might be possible for other VAAs with expertise in some area/s which are able to offer leadership to set up a scheme, arrange a programme and take responsibility for planning and evaluating.