Growing the Space for Hope and Action

The Social Care Future Council Community

It's Time to Act

Social Care Future has welcomed the Time to Act Roadmap adass-time-to-act-april-2023.pdf which starts from the SCF vision and we have played a leading role in developing a national Time to Act Reform Group with ADASS, LGA, TLAP and others including people who draw on social care. This group is focussed on how councils and partners can take the Roadmap forward locally and joining up asks of central government to support this. Our council community activity this year SCF-community-of-support-2024-25-pdf.pdf (socialcarefuture.org.uk) will have a focus on supporting councils with the Roadmap . ?This will include using the mapping work of the Reform Group to identify work of relevance to our community of support.? It will also connect to and be informed by the outcomes and products of our “Fixing the Plumbing and Wiring in Adult Social Care” and other key initiatives. In this way we will combine gathering and sharing of practical initiatives and approaches with peer support across council members.? We will also be connecting with the Work of IMPACT and the learning from the Accelerating Reform Fund initiatives.

While this will be our focus we will remember that when we set up the community people were asking for a space away from day to day pressures to be with peers for support and to aid imagination and reflection. So this is not a course, or development programme and it can be changed to reflect what is important to people – co-produced!

Sharing power through co-production at all levels

These sessions will introduce and share practical approaches to coproduction relevant to both improving lives and practice and at strategic levels for planning and assurance. We are finding the peer support across places and people are especially appreciated on co-production. In our “Fixing the Plumbing and Wiring” work we are both exploring effective local coproduction approaches and how places and CQC can better discover and use the experience and insights of local people drawing on social care.

Early action and asset-based commissioning

“Prevention” has long been a goal in social care but we have struggled to make it a reality. These sessions will explore practical approaches to ?“levels” of prevention including early action and helping people limit “acute” and long-term health and social care. Linked to joint work with the Local Government Association exploring the best approaches around the country we will gather and share the what and how of approaches that look for the win-win of better lives and sustainable local social care. We will also share great learning from the national Relationships Project, especially around early action.

Developing better support

To realise the Social Care Future vision we have to do two things at the same time. We have to create the conditions for big change while taking direct action to make lives better now. Often these things come together, building from direct action to grow motivation and energy and shift cultures These sessions will cover examples and action around widening options and choices for people and finding ways to answer two key questions; how can you offer support that is based on building genuine relationships? how can you increase the amount of choice and control people have?

Person centred practice

These sessions are for colleagues working to introduce and grow a range of person-centred practices that support progress towards our shared vision. We are delighted that this year we will be including a series of sessions with Helen Sanderson covering: conversations instead of assessments; personal outcomes based on what matters and creative approaches to get there; how to focus on being part of and contributing to your community; support based on relationships; practical approaches to wellbeing. In respect of workers and teams we will explore ?coproducing what teams do, recruiting for values, bringing your values and your whole self to work, supporting great teams, better policies and procedures, practical tech.?

People Power

Local citizens are welcome to all of our community themes and sessions. After discussions with people who are coproducing with local councils we are now offering on-line sessions to support their work. These are aimed at supporting people to be effective partners in local policy making. They will support people with the knowledge and skills needed to be most effective and impactful. As well as the on-line sessions every two months, we will connect interested people into wider Social Care Future sessions and projects to follow up issues.?

Peer Support

As mentioned above we set up the community of support after discussion with Directors of Adult Social Care supportive of the Social Care Future vision and keen to create a supportive space for their colleagues away from day to day pressures. People have clearly found these sessions useful and we will continue to offer these regular opportunities to share, celebrate, problem solve and opportunity search.