BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON INDEPENDENT LIVING SUPPORT SERVICE
This document gives further information onthe Independent Living Support Service (ILSS). This service will be a development of the successful Direct Payments Support Service (DPSS) currently delivered by Disability Coalition - Tower Hamlets (DCTH). We want to build on the excellent reputation and skills we already have for delivering quality support and advice.
For more information on the current DPSS, see the documents entitled "Background information on DCTH and DITO".
This expanded service should enhance LBTH’s personalisation of social services, by ensuring individual budgets are effective forlocal people. It will offer a creative and person-centred approach that ensures that each individual is empowered and enabled tobe an active participant in their own support planning process. This will be delivered through the following activities. Some of these are completely new; some of them are a natural evolution of current services already delivered effectively.
Description / ScopeIndependent Support Planning Service / The service will offer a full one to one support planning service to people with an indicative personal budget who choose to be supported by an independent organisation to complete their support plan.
We will offer a holistic and person-centred approach which ensures that the person is empowered and enabled to be an active participant in the support planning process.
The service will include supporting the person to create a support plan that is costed taking into consideration the indicative budget, and provides the necessary information that LBTH requires in order to sign off a support plan.
The service will encourage people to undertake as much of the work themselves as is possible e.g. undertaking their own research, identifying and evaluating their options and finding and negotiating resources and costs; providing the correct level of support based on the person’s needs.
Support Planning Workshops / The service will deliver a series of support planning workshops which will bring together groups of people who are creating their support plans and anyone in the person’s circle who may be supporting them with this.
They will provide a shared learning environment, where individuals can bounce ideas off one another and be mutually supportive in identifying and developing creative support plans.
The content of the workshops are likely to include:
- Introduction to support planning
- Tools for support planning
- Practice in support planning (using the tools)
- The use of peer trainers (people with a personal budget)
- Training content co-produced and designed by people with support plans
Support Plan Brokerage / The service will offer time-limited support to people with a validated (signed off) support plan to implement their plans after approval. This will be for support plans by DCTH and by support planners within LBTH.
This would typically involve bank account acquisition, PA recruitment support, training in monitoring, etc, and support to implement all activities and support options identified within a support plan.
The service will also develop training around how to be a good and effective employer, which people who are employing staff are able to attend.
Ongoing maintenance of Direct Payments and Individual Budgets / The service will offer ongoing support, as required to people with either a Direct Payment or a Personal Budget. The main areas of support will be around monitoring, re-employment, staff management, etc.
The service will develop a suite of tools to help individuals manage their own support plans, including PA timesheet management, annual leave records, monitoring templates, checklists for "when to seek help", etc
The service will deliver Training on "how to be a good employer".
The service will offer a PA issues resolution service (support in conflict resolution, managing changing circumstances, etc), delivered through central service and buddying/mentoring.
To support the metrics that LBTH require the service will provide management information on service delivery planning, based on profiling of clients and their support needs, including the development of internal management information systems to monitor where time is spent to provide LBTH with better information for future procurement.
Information and advice (helpline)
First tier support / The service will maintain a telephone helpline providing 1st level advice and information about self directed support to the public and professionals.
Technical support
Second tier support / The service will develop a core competency in employment law issues, contract development, non-discrimination in recruitment, insurance issues, health and safety, PA training issues, etc. This will be accessible by staff working in the brokerage service and ongoing support teams, and by specified individuals within LBTH and other organisations.
The service will develop resources and tools and information in response to the type of support being requested, accessed through the DCTH website.
The service will work with LBTH to identify trends in numbers and issues to help support future planning for DCTH and LBTH e.g. training needs.
Website and related digital delivery / Fully accessible website, providing a full range of information, resources, support planning tools, etc. Utilise Web 2.0 functionality, with embedded media content, RSS feeds, etc.Online discussion forums for sharing of ideas, asking questions, etc. Incorporate self referral systems within website.
Related digital strategy, incorporating presence on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
A Range of Printed Materials / Developed, in conjunction with LBTH, a range of information sheets, "how to" guides, handbooks, etc, to complement website delivery (for those without Internet access).
Training material for courses and workshops.
Fully Accessible Service Delivery / Ensure that the services accessible to all irrespective of:
- age
- user group
- impairment type
- first language
- race, cultural and faith issues
- other diversity strands (e.g. gender, sexual orientation)
Delivery of shared Learning and Development Programme / The service provider will develop training workshops with LBTH for LBTH staff and individuals from other third sector organisations around individual budgets and support planning.
To include service user led learning and development opportunities, which will be developed as part of the buddy/mentoring/peer support work.
Roles to deliver the new Independent Living Support Service
Overall, the ILSS will have the following 9 roles:
- Independent Living Support Worker (3 roles)
- Independent Living Support Worker - Bengali/Sylhetti speaking (2 roles)
- Independent Living Support Worker - Somali speaking (1 role)
- Children's Direct Payments Support Worker (1 role, initially for one year)
- Monitoring officer (1 full-time, 1 part-time)
We are currently recruiting for two Independent Living Support Worker roles, one Children's Direct Payments Support Worker and one part-time Monitoring Officer, to develop the extra capacity we need. The four current Direct Payments Workers are being given the chance to transfer to being an Independent Living Support Worker and/or apply for other roles. They have all been involved in the development of the new service over the last few months.
In addition, the following roles are being recruited at the current point in time, who will work with both the ILSS and the wider organisation:
- Service Delivery Manager
- Knowledge and Communications Manager
The following charts help explain the proposed new structures. In them, the green boxes represent teams and the blue boxes represent individual roles.
DCTH and DITO Management
DCTH Management, showing ILSS structure
These organisation structures are indicative, and may change as the organisations develop and potentially merge.
Funding position
DCTH has been running the SLA for the DPSS for several years. Over time this SLA has been rolled over and added to, in order to enable us to grow the service.
LBTH have approached DCTH to help them deliver the personalisation of social services. This is being delivered as follows:
December 2010 - June 2011 (seven months) - a pilot to evaluate independent support planning, using the service specifications and the staffing structures set out in this document.
July 2011 - November 2011 (five months) - continuation funding, at this point guaranteed, at the same rate. During this period the pilot will be evaluated formally, and a process gone through to establish a new service level agreement to be awarded from December 2011 (likely through a public, open procurement procedure).
DCTH plans to build capacity, expertise and skills over the next year to put it in the best possible place to win any ongoing service level agreement from December 2011.
The role of Children's Direct Payments Support Worker is funded by Children's Services within LBTH (which is distinct from the main Independent Living Support Scheme). Although the DPSS has historically given support to families with children on direct payments, the numbers are relatively small and Children's Services wish to expand this. The initial grant is for funding for one year. During that year the success of the role will be evaluated by LBTH, and it is DCTH's hope that that role's funding will also be continued, although there is no guarantee of this.
Equal Opportunities
DCTH is an equal opportunities employer, and subject to the following points will treat all prospective candidates on an equal basis.
Some of our posts require specific language requirements. This is because our service level agreements require us to provide a service that is accessible to and appropriate for all parts of our local communities. Other than English, the main languages spoken in the area are Bengali/Sylhetti and Somali. We reiterate that it is the ability to speak these languageswhich is specified within the criteria in the job description, not that you are necessarily a member of a particular racial group. Tower Hamlets is a diverse community with many languages spoken. For this reason other roles have a desirable (but not essential) requirement that the post holder has the ability to speak a community language other than English. We do however have access to translation services.
A key requirement of all roles is that you have an understanding of the issues facing disabled people and an understanding of and commitment to the social model of disability. We particularly welcome applications from people with personal experience of disability or long-term health conditions, but this is not an essential criteria. Currently, about 80% of our client-facing staff are disabled. We will consider reasonable adjustments to enable disabled people to fill a role wherever possible, and will support disabled people to apply to Access to Work for assistance if necessary.
Principal terms and conditions
Hours:
35 hours per week. Normal office hours 9-5pm.
You will be expected to work some evenings and weekends, with notice.
(Service Delivery Manager role expected to work reasonable overtime without TOIL).
Pension:
Employer’s contribution of 3%
Workplace:
Our offices at 40 – 50 Southern Grove, London E3 4PX, and at other places around the London Borough of Tower Hamlets as required.
Annual leave:
25 days plus Bank Holidays
Sick Pay:
Probationary period – SSP
First yr of services - 1 week at full pay
Second yr of service -2 weeks at full pay/2 weeks at half pay
Third yr of service - 1 month at full pay/1 month at half pay
Probationary period:
6 months for Service Delivery Manager and Knowledge and Communications Manager
3 months for all other posts