Aims, Impact and Outcome of Integrated Ways of Working in Childrens Services - Research Paper Example

 Aims, Impact and Outcome of Integrated Ways of Working in Children’s Services Down the last decade the UK has seen the burgeoning of support system within organisations devoted to children services and their families. Apparently they show promise of bringing positive changes in the life of the child in suffering and his or her family that shares part of the trauma, but in reality have been of little help. The real picture is anything but ironical. The problem lies in the fact that it becomes hard for the child and the family to constantly withstand the influx of agencies with their battalion of professionals in their lives. It could be best described by the saying ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’. The need of the hour that could be truly beneficial to the child and the family is a consorted attempt coming from all the agencies involved in it to work together. In this paper I would like to analyse the process and objectives, impact and outcome of an integrated working style. Aims Cause of integrated working A survey of the children and families in need of help is enough to be disillusioned about their pathetic condition. They want a little relief but on the contrary have to face more trouble. In some cases the constant intervention of numerous agencies and practitioners literally make it impossible to have some real breather as both the child and the family pass through repetitive processes, questions and tests. ‘There are times that having all different people in my life is too much. I spend a lot of my time up the hospitals. I wish there were less appointments and less doctors to see.’ (Child quoted in Turner, p.21) There are such instances where the family of the child is at a loss of whom to go to. And this has been detrimental to the mental and physical well-being of the child. Therefore it calls for an increasing demand of a coordinated way of working between the different agencies. (Stone & Rixon, ch3, p.88-89) The common goal of integration It is important for the agencies to come together and decide upon the ruling ideology and the common goal towards which they would conjointly work. In this particular issue it is needless to say that the goal is the betterment of the child in all respects. Whatever mode of cooperation and coordination they might adopt all should be child-centric in approach. (Stone & Rixon, ch3, p.90) The practitioners or agency workers should first and foremost prepare themselves to enter into the life of a child needing help and partake of the child’s problems with the sole aim of finding a resolve to alleviate it. The agency representatives must make it a point to listen to their problems, demands and needs. If necessary they could provide suggestions but leave it on the child and the family for consideration. Their aim should be to extend as much of help as possible trying to cover all necessary fields for the optimum growth of a child, safe-guarding his needs and giving him protection. Getting professional help from diverse fields is most desirable for a holistic healing mechanism on the part of the child and the family. This explains the positive side of a whole lot of professionals providing support to the requirements of the child. (Stone & Rixon, ch3, p.93) Specialisation should not tend to treat a child in fragments (Frost, p.12) but unfortunately that is what happens to the utter dismay of the child and the family and the result is a total failure. However, what would be welcomed and appreciated by the child and the family is a close interaction with only one personnel rather than the entire crowd who would forward them the provisions on behalf of all the professionals. In a way it implies a relationship to be built up with the child. (Cohen, p.10) The policy base With the realisation of the necessity of an overhauling of the educational, health and social service infrastructure (Stone & Rixon, ch3, p.100) at the policy level, government made it mandatory that the different agencies work in collaboration with each other in an atmosphere of integrated work culture. Time and again emphasis was given on the concept of ‘working together’ through sharing of information. The attempt was to modernise these fields of public service and to this purpose integrated joint ventures were considered as part of the refurbishing policy. (Lister) It was expected that the private organisations would join hands with the local bodies to deliver services to the children and the family (Stone & Rixon, ch3, p.100). The government’s Social Exclusion Unit has specifically marked out areas like teenage pregnancy, youth crimes and drugs that have its roots in early childhood besides health issues that call for an integrated professional help at the earliest stage and sort to resolve them at the family level. (Clode, p.4-5) Aim of partnership and multi-agency working Cooperation, coordination, collaboration among different agencies and organisations finally leads to successful integration. (Frost, p.13) But the basis of it all is the building up of a partnership between agencies of diverse disciplines like health care, social care that enables to deal with issues like accountability, mobilisation of funds and task distribution. (Hudson, p.6) In this context the concept of interprofessional working could be explicated. Interprofessional approach is the exchange of significant data, knowledge and perspectives among professionals and non-professionals in the understanding of the problem areas and to the ultimate benefit of the child. (HM Government) It is inherent to the process of agency integration process. This integration of such multi-disciplinary agencies with each of their specialised professionals and front liners is the ideal version of a packaged service, something based on trans-disciplinary as explicated by Malin & Marrow (p.447) which if materialised would be milestone step. The child and the family would get all the desired requirements incorporated within one body. Communication and information sharing are the key aspects to keep the interagency services going. (Laming, p.365) In the first place the joint body of service should establish a distinct and steady mode of communication with the child and the family. The configuration of service provision would depend on the needs and requirements of the victims. (Stone & Rixon, ch3, p.97) There is no generalised configuration and it varies from case to case. Impact Positive impact The impact that the increasingly developing integrated working has brought about in extending services to children and their families is evident from the number of partnership projects that have come into being. Partnership has taken a front seat ever since the idea of interagency working has been affirmed by the government policies in providing service to disabled children. Project ‘Sure Start’ is based on the partnership of stakeholders in the statutory, voluntary and private sectors including parents and care givers. Forming partnership with the parents and care givers has a positive impact in meeting with the actual needs of the child. (Stone & Rixon, ch3, p.97) It is a trailblazing project (Stone & Rixon, ch5, p.170) that has worked in providing the children and their families, reasons to hope. Children’s Fund that came up in 2000 has had a considerable influence in making a difference to the lives of underprivileged children. It looks into and ensures that the overall needs of the disabled children have been provided for. The impact could be positively felt in more number of such services including extended schools, community schools and child centre being formed to aid children by addressing different types of problems and tackling them. (Stone & Rixon, ch3, p.106) The bigger charitable concerns like the NSPCC and the Barnardo’s could actually make their assertions and influence in the strategy making at higher authority levels. The smaller concerns however fares better when it comes to casting a positive impact on the child and the family who tends to rely on them more than the larger ones. (Stone & Rixon, ch3, p.102-103) It has made easy for the family to get in touch with different professionals through one organisation based on integrated working of different agencies. It has boosted up a much better coordination between the professionals and the family. Moreover the front liners help parents of being well informed. (NESS, p.3) ‘I was spending so much time on the ‘phone, I would be chasing up changed appointments ... so yes, that’s cut down on oodles of ‘phone calls.’ (Family member quoted in Townsley et al, p.54) BESTs (Behaviour and Education Support Teams) with a perfect multi agency lay out and with a team of multi disciplinary professionals have made a strong impact in contributing to the development of behaviours, educational interest in children who were at the verge of suffering from disruptive behaviour and emotional imbalance. (Halsley, p.iv) Negative impact There has been much debate over the successful implementation of integrated working in multi agency context. Though theoretically the dos and don’ts of an effective process of integrated service delivery has been making headlines yet doubts have been lurking about putting them in practice. (Stone & Rixon, ch5, p.168). One of the main issues of debate centres on the success of integration in reaching out to the children and their families. As opposed to the claim of the positive influence of interagency services, there are researchers who have drawn attention to a vital flaw in its strategy framing. They opined that for different multi agency functioning, the planning of execution becomes the primary issue than the real execution. The professionals get lost in the maze of sorting out tasks and responsibilities and in the course the actual implementation suffers badly. This has its share on the child and the parents who are gradually losing faith on the success of such an attempt. (Stone & Rixon, ch5, p.168) The evaluation procedure of the integrated working system has been a matter of debate among experts. They argue on whether the evaluation based on target achievement is reliable and universal? And whether there could be any general yardstick against which the productivity could be measured? (Stone & Rixon, ch5, p.169) ). The difficulties that surface in an interagency working system retard any kind of development in the respective field of child support service. However it has been claimed by the other group that the best way to assess its efficacy is by acknowledging the feed back of the children and the families who have experience of it. Dyson and Raffo have fuelled another debate by questioning the impact of community schools. They have criticised it to be a meaningless initiative that can hardly have any result-oriented outcome. (Stone & Rixon, ch5, p.186) Information sharing has led to much debate among professionals. As there are no specific injunctions from the government, it is left on the professionals of interagency services to decide on the type and quantity of information that could be stored as database. (Stone & Rixon, ch5, p.193) An accumulation of irrelevant information would hamper in understanding the main problem faced by the child and cast negative influence. Outcome The overall response to integrated working in the form of interagency services like the projects Sure Start, Children’s Fund and BESTs is extremely positive. Despite some minor hiccups in the role playing and functioning, their achievements in bringing changes in the lives of the children and their families are worth mentioning. Each of the initiatives has been unique in its implementation programme of catering to specific causes with a bunch of expert professionals with an appreciable attempt of a multi agency approach. Children’s Fund has created ripples by successfully incorporating active participation of children in deciding upon the activities to be undertaken by the interagency working. (Stone & Rixon, ch5, p.188) There is the development of the New Community School (NCS) that integrates education with health and social care and tends to do away with social exclusion by reaching out to the children of backward areas. (Scottish Executive, p.1) The multi agency approach has been productive in drawing positive response from different ethnic groups settled in the UK especially the Black and Asian minority groups. The families have reported in observing veritable and promising changes in their children after the intervention of the integrated support service. (NECF, p.iv) The best aspect of interagency working is that it can actually introduce parents to other associated services. For example the parents participating in the breast feeding programme are encouraged to avail baby massage services as well. (Hannon et al, p.254) Multi agency services are now arranging for pupil support professionals within the school premises. School authorities too are taking keen interest in hiring professionals in the post of integration managers to supervise over proper service delivery to the children in need. (Scottish Executive) The audio transcript of pupil support officer Chris Young provides an insight into the integrated system of working in a school. Young points out that being a pupil support officer he, after studying and identifying the child’s problem areas frames the guidelines of the nature and process of instruction that the teacher follows while teaching the child. He keeps on providing alternative supports where the child fails to respond to the primary ones. At the same time he steadily and perseveringly maintains communication with the teachers and the child’s parents. As an insider he throws light on the multi agency working system. He expounds on the benefits of the child in being able to obtain a wholesome developmental experience. Young explains his point with the help of an example where a particular child is being attended by several professionals co-locating. He mentions of time constrain and the way they make up for it. His report gives a clear picture of the integrated way of working. (KE312 Audio Chris Young) Evidence Case Study I would like to put forward a case as evidence of the performance of interagency service system. The child at birth was detected with malfunctioning of the inner ear, a genetic trait, which would later result in severe hearing impairment. The parents were shocked and utterly demoralised with the doctor’s verdict of the little chances that the child had of leading a normal life. It was then that they came in touch with an organisation that runs on the lines of interagency service delivery. Over there they received advice from professionals and practitioners from different fields like audiologists and speech therapist apart from children as well as parents counsellor. With their help the child has overcome his disabilities being able to respond and communicate normally. Within one and a half years of his birth he has been talking like any other normal child. The child’s parents have expressed their satisfaction with the working and managerial procedure of the organisation. But the scenario is not so sunny everywhere. There are lots of complains about the incoherent and fragmentary services, inexpert practitioners, front liners with lack of adequate knowledge and skill of different interagency services. The reason of a dearth of standardised and uniform service system is because of government negligence. Though the government has framed policy in keeping with the growing demands and importance of such integrated services, it has not laid down any guidelines nor has been enthusiastic enough to look into the proper inflow of funds, assessing credentials of the appointed experts and the strategic evaluation of interagency organisations. In conclusion it could be said that a successful integration of agencies is difficult to attain due to professional hindrances and shortage of fund resource. But we can always work towards it. The existing structures like Sure Start, Children’s Funds have shown the effective way of employing partnership based support service organisation. Though not a total representation of multi agency, they have laid the path. The concept of integrated working by formation of interagency would serve the purpose of the single window approach which would be of great help to the child and his family by making them self sufficient in looking for the right kind of help at the right place. Works Cited Clode, D. Integrated Working and Children’s Services – Structures, Outcomes and Reform: A Briefing Paper, London, Integrated Care Network. 2003 Cohen, B. ‘Inter-agency collaboration in context: the “joining-up” agenda’ in Glaister, A. and Glaister, B. (eds) Inter-Agency Collaboration – Providing for Children, Edinburgh, Dunedin Academic Press 2005 Frost, N. Professionalism, Partnership and Joined-up Thinking, Dartington, Research in Practice 2005 Halsey, K., Gulliver, C., Johnson, A., Martin, K. and Kinder, K. Evaluation of Behaviour and Education Support Teams, London, DfES 2006 Hannon, P., Pickstone, C., Weinberger, J. and Fox, L. ‘Looking to the future’ in Weinberger, J., Pickstone, C. and Hannon, P. (eds) Learning from Sure Start: Working with Young Children and Their Families, Maidenhead, Open University Press, pp 248-262. 2005 HM Government. Working Together to Safeguard Children: A Guide to Inter-agency Working to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children, London, The Stationery Office. 2006 Hudson, B. ‘Partnering through networks: can Scotland crack it?’, Journal of Integrated Care, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 3–13. 2007 Laming, Lord. The Victoria Climbié Inquiry, London, The Stationery Office. 2003 Lister, R. ‘Investing in the citizen-workers of the future: transformations in citizenship and the state under New Labour’ in Hendrick, H. (ed) Child Welfare and Social Policy, Bristol, Policy Press. 2005 Malin, N. and Morrow, G. ‘Models of interprofessional working within a Sure Start “trailblazer” programme , Journal of Interprofessional Care, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 445–457. 2007 National Evaluation of the Children’s Fund (NECF) Preventative Services for Black and Minority Ethnic Children, Research Report No. 778, London, DfES. 2006 National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS) Towards Understanding Sure Start Local Programmes: Summary of Findings from the National Evaluation, Nottingham, DfES. 2004 Stone, B. and Rixon, A. ‘Towards integrated working’ in Foley, P. and Rixon, A. (eds) Changing children’s services: working and learning together, Bristol, The Policy Press/Milton Keynes, The Open University. 2008 Stone, B. and Rixon, A. ‘Working together for children?’ in Foley, P. and Rixon, A. (eds) Changing children’s services: working and learning together, Bristol, The Policy Press/Milton Keynes, The Open University. 2008 Scottish Executive. Insight 7: Key Findings from the National Evaluation of the New Community Schools Pilot Programme in Scotland, 2003 available online at , accessed on 9th September 2008 Townsley, R., Abbott, D. and Watson, D. Making a Difference?, Bristol, The Policy Press. 2004 Turner, C. Are You Listening? What Disabled Children and Young People in Wales Think About the Services They Use, Cardiff, Welsh Assembly 2003 Audio transcript of Chris Young. KE312 Audio Chris Young Read More