Research Brief: To establish the enablers which support voluntary sector providers to provide fully personalised support and to deliver the four SDS Options. Contents Contents About P&P..........................................................2 Scope..............................................................4 Research questions.................................................5 Methodology........................................................5 Budget.............................................................6 Payment schedule...................................................6 Consultant experience, skills and knowledge........................6 Support from P&P...................................................7 Deadline for proposals.............................................7 References.........................................................8 ANNEX A- National Outcomes for SDS.................................9 1 Workstream: 2015-2018 research project Document: Research brief and proposal criteria
Transcript
Research Brief: To establish the enablers which support voluntary sector providers to provide fully personalised support and to deliver the four SDS Options.
ANNEX A- National Outcomes for SDS...................................................................................................9
1Workstream: 2015-2018 research projectDocument: Research brief and proposal criteria
About P&P Providers and Personalisation (P&P) is hosted by the Coalition of Care and Support Providers Scotland (CCPS) and funded by the Scottish Government. More information on our work is available at www.ccpscotland.org/pp P&P is programme of policy and practice change working towards the following outcomes:
Providers have the systems, skills and information needed to deliver more personalised services: this leads to increased choice and control for people receiving care and support.
Providers have a stronger voice in Self-Directed Support (SDS) policy development and implementation. Policy is more effective where it is closely linked to practice and implementation is improved where policy is brought closer to the frontline.
This research project is intended to contribute to both of these outcomes by identifying:
1. The progress providers have made with changing their systems, workforce, finance, support provision and organisational culture for delivery of SDS.
2. The internal and external factors which enable voluntary sector support providers to deliver fully personalised, outcomes based support and which in turn leads to greater choice and control for individuals.
3. The different approaches taken by providers to delivering personalised support.
Background to Self-directed Support
In 2010 the Scottish Government published the Self-directed Support (Scotland) Strategy setting out a 10 year vision and plan for increasing people’s choice and control over the support they receive. The strategy defines Self-directed Support as: “Supported people, families and carers having an informed choice about the way support is provided [to them]”
The strategy describes number of ways in which choice can be exercised including choice of support provider; choice and control over an individual’s funding for care and support and choice about achieving aspirations and personal goals and commits to bringing this into statute if required.
The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland), Act, 2013, which came in to force on 1st of April 2014, places a range of new duties on local authorities, while retaining their responsibilities under the Social Work (Scotland) Act, 1968 (and the Children (Scotland) Act 1995) for assessment, assistance and the provision of services to those deemed as ‘in need’ in their area.
2Workstream: 2015-2018 research projectDocument: Research brief and proposal criteria
Commencement of the Act was staged, with the new duties applying immediately to people entering the social work system for the first time. People already in the system will not be offered the four options until their care package is reviewed.
Section 4 of the Act describes the 4 options that must be offered to an individual who has been assessed as being ‘in need’ in the local authority’s area.
Option 1 The making of a direct payment by the local authority to the supported person for the provision of support. This option has been in statute since 19961 but uptake has been fairly limited since then
Option 2 : The selection of support by the supported person, the making of arrangements for the provision of it by the local authority on behalf of the supported person and, where it is provided by someone other than the authority, the payment by the local authority of the relevant amount in respect of the cost of that provision.
Option 3 The selection of support for the supported person by the local authority, the making of arrangements for the provision of it by the authority and, where it is provided by someone other than the authority, the payment by the authority of the relevant amount in respect of the cost of that provision.
Option 4 The selection by the supported person of Option 1, 2 or 3 for each type of support and, where it is provided by someone other than the authority, the payment by the local authority of the relevant amount in respect of the cost of the support.
The statutory guidance2 provides further detail about how the Options work in practice and how local authorities should support people to make well informed choices as to how much control they wish to have over their budget.
The Act also recognises that there can be little choice if there aren’t services and providers to choose from. Section 19 of the Act sets out a duty to promote the availability of the four options, as well as a duty to promote, as far as is reasonably practicable, a variety of providers and types of support to ensure people have services to choose between.
The Act also enshrines in law certain principles for the implementation of Self-directed Support including the following rights for individuals receiving support:• Greater choice and control over their support• Outcomes based support• Involvement in assessments and support planning• Right to participate in society and the right to be treated with dignity
Implementation of Self-directed Support1 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/30/pdfs/ukpga_19960030_en.pdf 2 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/04/5438
3Workstream: 2015-2018 research projectDocument: Research brief and proposal criteria
The introduction of Self-directed Support (SDS) brings opportunities for support to become more outcomes based and personalised and to meet the needs of individuals and their families. At the same time there are multiple challenges for organisations in changing systems, preparing the workforce, costing services and shifting from funding by block contracts to Individual Budgets.
The duties of the Act fall primarily on local authorities and each area is taking a different view of how the Act should be implemented. Implementation of SDS is at different stages in different areas across Scotland and the extent to which individuals have increased choice and control over their support also varies. Variability is particularly evident in the approach to Option 2 in Scotland.3
Systemic barriers to SDS include:
The way that local authority social work systems and processes operate (e.g. referral and assessment; calculation and award of budget, eligibility criteria.)
Local authority finance systems. The interaction between procurement and commissioning and individual choice for
supported people.
Voluntary sector providers are also at different stages of preparation for SDS with some having delivered fully personalised support for many years and others at different stages on the journey to adapting their systems, workforce, organisational culture and their support provision to fit with a more individualised, outcomes based type of support.
Relationship barriers to implementing SDS are also becoming evident. Local authority views of voluntary sector care and support providers are also variable. Some areas hold positive perceptions and view providers as partners in delivering good care and support. Others hold negative views stating that providers are just ‘in it for the business’. (via informal communication) A particular area of contention is the idea that there is a conflict of interest at play for providers in delivering SDS with some local authorities claiming providers exert undue influence over people’s choices about how to spend their SDS budget.
Conversely some providers argue that local authorities, have an equal, or greater. conflict of interest given their multiple roles in assessment, budget setting, support provision and managing overall social work spending.
ScopeThe analysis should focus primarily on establishing what the enabling external and internal factors are which support voluntary sector providers with providing fully personalised support.
The analysis should also establish the range of different approaches taken by support providers to delivering personalised support and to demonstrate how ready providers are with adapting their systems, workforce, organisational culture and support provision for SDS implementation and to challenge the growing assumption that there is only one model that delivers ‘SDS-ready’ support.
The research should also seek to establish to what extent providers and local authorities hold a conflict of interest when managing/holding the person’s budget and when supporting the person to make decisions about their support.
Proposals should be based on the assumption that the main stakeholders in this research are voluntary sector support providers with the primary interview groups being voluntary sector providers and also individuals who are receiving support.
Gathering information from other stakeholders, including local authority staff, should be secondary.
Research questionsa. What progress is being made by providers in preparing for SDS
implementation?b. What are the range of different approaches taken by providers to delivering
SDS and personalised support? c. What does good fully personalised support provision look like and how does
it enable greater choice and control for supported people? d. What are the internal and external factors which enable providers to deliver
personalised support and what are the factors which support providers to deliver the four SDS Options?
5Workstream: 2015-2018 research projectDocument: Research brief and proposal criteria
MethodologyThis is a one year research project which may be extended for a further 2 years following review of stage 1. We are interested in hearing what methodology you would propose- the following is for guidance only.
Stage 1: online survey of voluntary sector support providers. Stage 2: interview/focus groups of staff from voluntary sector support providers in
selected areas of Scotland. Interviews/focus groups with individuals receiving support (service users) and interviews with other stakeholders: local authority staff, etc.
Stage 3: analysis and report writing: production of a short report suitable for a non-academic audience.
Stage 4: presentation and research launch event(s)
Timing Indicative timings for the project are given below:
Proposals due 5pm 25th of September 2015
Interviews (if required) 1st October 2015
Set-up meeting Week beginning 5th October 2015
Initial findings report March 2016
Review of year 1 project September 2016
Year 1 findings report published October 2016
Budget A budget of £20,000 (inclusive of VAT) for the period October 2015 – September 2016 is available. This budget is to cover direct expenses, travel expenses and transcription costs.
6Workstream: 2015-2018 research projectDocument: Research brief and proposal criteria
Payment schedule Payment will be made in two stages with the first payment (of £10,000) due at the
start of the project commencing in October 2015. The second payment (of £10,000) will be due in March 2016 before the end of the
financial year. Following a review of the project in September 2016 (and subject to parliamentary
approval) a further two years funding may be available.
Consultant experience, skills and knowledge Consultants who will work on this project should have the following skills and experience:
Research skills and experience
Experience in carrying out online surveys. Experience in conducting 1:1 interviews and focus
groups. Experience in thematic analysis of qualitative data.
Knowledge of the sector Knowledge of social care legislation and policy in Scotland
Knowledge of personalisation and different approaches of delivering personalised support
Knowledge of Self-directed Support.Values Understanding of the ethos of voluntary sector, not-for-
profit social care provision.Report writing skills Ability to write in plain English for a primarily non-
academic audience
Presentation skills Ability to give a clear presentation to a non-academic audience,
IT skills Ability to use standard Office software (e.g. Word, Excel, Outlook)
Ability to use online survey tools if required (e.g. Survey Monkey)
Support the researcher(s) with recruitment of interviewees/focus group members through the P&P provider network and other contacts.
Meet regularly with the researchers to track progress and address issues.
Deadline for proposalsProposals should be sent by email to [email protected] no later than 5pm on 25th of September 2015.. Interviews will be held on the 1st of October 2015 and you will hear if your bid has been successful by the end of the day on the 2nd of Otcober 2015.
Queries about this brief should be addressed by email to [email protected]
What your proposal should contain
Scoring %
An outline of how you would go about the work 40
Your interpretation of the context and research questions 25
A summary of your skills knowledge and experience 20
A breakdown of your proposed budget and project schedule 10
An analysis of any risks to the project and what you will do to manage these
5
A contact name, number and email address n/a
ReferencesThe Social Care (Self-directed Support) Scotland Act, 2013 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2013/1/contents/enacted
The Self- directed Support Strategy for Scotland, 2010 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/11/05120810/0
