GIRFEC: Getting it Right for Every Child

GIRFEC: Getting it Right for Every Child

Juliet Hancock

https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/juliet-hancock

[email protected]

29th November 2018

United Kingdom (UK) and the

distinctiveness of Scotland

A map of Edinburgh…will not help you in Linköping!

Harry Potter

Pippi Longstocking

“Making Scotland the best place to grow up in”

Children and childhood are central to the current Government’s agenda in Scotland.

Policy tied to this:

- more early education and care provision

- investment in improving the out- comes of looked-after children

- new legislation, such as the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model (Bronfenbrenner &

Morris, 2006)

Complex layers and processes around the child:• Individual characteristics• Peers• Parents• Carers• School staff• Wider community• Social influences• Cultural influences• Government policy• Legislation

Do we listen to, and act upon, the views of children?

Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

• The Act is wide ranging and puts children and young people at the heart of planning and services and ensures their rights are respected across the public sector.

• Key elements of the GIRFEC approach have been introduced into law under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014:

• Wellbeing is described in legislation for the first time to help make sure everyone uses the same terminology and approach.

• Children and young people will have access to a local Named Person service - a single point of contact for help, support and advice for families and those working with children if they need it.

• Children and young people who need extra support which is not generally available will have a Child's Plan.

Stirling Castle

Gowan Hill Cemetery, Stirling

What is GIRFEC?Scotland’s national approach to improving outcomes and supporting the wellbeing of our children and young people by offering the right help at the right time from the right people. It supports them and their parent(s) to work in partnership with the services that can help them

The History: more than 10 years in development

The GIRFEC approach has been tested and developed across Scotland over a period of more than ten years, during which children’s services have become more integrated and child-centred. It has been endorsed by successive governments and more and more organisation are committing to its principles and practice.

Why GIRFEC?The uneven journey of many children

• Weaknesses in the child protection system

• Difficulties of achieving effective collaboration where more than one agency was involved

• Fragmented experience of families

GIRFEC – the need for whole system change at the level of culture, systems and practice – building on existing organisational structures

The Principles behind GIRFECThe GIRFEC approach:

• is child-focused.It ensures the child or young person – and their family – is at the centre of decision-making and the support available to them.

• is based on an understanding of the wellbeing of a child.It looks at a child or young person’s overall wellbeing – how safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included they are – so that the right support can be offered at the right time.

• is based on tackling needs early.It aims to ensure needs are identified as early as possible to avoid bigger concerns or problems developing.

• requires joined-up working.It is about children, young people, parents, and the services they need working together in a coordinated way to meet the specific needs and improve their wellbeing.

GIRFEC is for all children and young people because it is impossible to predict if or when they might need extra support

Every child has a right to be safe; healthy; achieving; nurtured; active; respected; responsible; and included. This is how we define ‘wellbeing’ in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

Wellbeing Wheel

GIRFEC Aims : consistent and effective support

This includes:

• a description of how people working with children, young people and parents understand and consider a child or young person’s wellbeing;

• making a Named Person available as a clear point of contact for children, young people and parents, who will provide advice, information, and support, and help to access other services if needed

• a single planning framework – the Child’s Plan – to ensure a consistent approach to how a range of extra support not generally available is planned, delivered and coordinated to a child’s specific needs and circumstances. This plan is developed in partnership with the child and their parent(s).

Through Getting it Right for Every Child and Curriculum For Excellence:

the Scottish Government has set out its ambition for services provided to children and young people, and for their learning.

An important part of this approach is the recognition that all children and young people are different. To enable them to reach their full potential some will need additional support.

Curriculum for Excellence 3 - 18

What is the curriculum?Curriculum for Excellence is Scotland's curriculum for children and young people aged 3-18.

It's an approach designed to provide young people with the knowledge, skills and attributes they need for learning, life and work in the 21st century.

• It aims to enable every child or young person to be a:

• Successful learner

• Confident individual

• Responsible citizen

• Effective contributor.

How it All Fits Together-Children’s Rights

What does GIRFEC mean for children; young people; parents (in theory!)?

GIRFEC means:

• You understand what is happening and why.

• You have been listened to carefully and your wishes have been heard, understood and taken into consideration.

• You feel confident about the help you are getting.

• You are appropriately involved in discussions and decisions that affect you.

• You can rely on appropriate help being available as soon as possible.

• You experience a more straightforward and co-ordinated response from the people working with you.

The Named Person

•Knows the child - professional capacity

•Contact for children / families

•Contact for others who have concerns

•Coordinator of support

The Named Person has an overview of a child’s wellbeing

Who will be a Named Person?

•Birth until 5 / school entry – Health Visitor

• School – Head Teacher, Depute Head Teacher, Guidance / Pupil Support Teacher

• School leavers – age 18 – Local Authorities need to make this provision available

Lead Professional Role

• When “targeted intervention” is required, the service with the most input should identify a Lead Professional

• Definition of targeted intervention?

• The LP becomes responsible for ensuring that the actions in the child’s plan are undertaken

• They should continue to liaise with the Named Person

Ryan’s Story

Getting it Right for Ryan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPnM7I7Gts8

Views of Young People

• Aware of wellbeing – not indicators specifically

• A strong focus on wellbeing in school

• Wellbeing concerns – not for EVERYTHING!

• Speak to me first

• ‘Named Person’ sounds positive – like what we already have

• Well supported

‘

The Whole Child is Important

Person Centred Planning

Listen

Plan

(organise/synthesise)

Understand

Assess

(see how it is working)

Implement

(try it)

Smull & Allen, 2000

What do you do?

• To understand how your work contributes to children and young people’s wellbeing?

• To explain to others how you support children and young people’s wellbeing?

• To plan to improve how you support children and young people’s wellbeing?

• To know where to go for further information?

Head, Heart, HandKnowing

DoingBelieving

A National Practice Model

When assessment, planning and action are needed, practitioners can draw on the Getting it right for every child National Practice Model, which can be used in a single or multi-agency context.

The National Practice Model:

• provides a framework for practitioners and agencies to structure and analyse information consistently so as to understand a child or young person’s needs, the strengths and pressures on them, and consider what support they might need

• defines needs and risks as two sides of the same coin. It promotes the participation of children, young people and their families in gathering information and making decisions as central to assessing, planning and taking action

• provides a shared understanding of a child or young person’s needs by identifying concerns that may need to be addressed.

Appropriate, Proportionate, Timelyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56uan5enaMo

There is no recipe…

... if we try to follow a “recipe”, sooner or later come across a child or a situation where the recipe does not work …

Pölsa ~ Haggis

“I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that.”

―

Points for reflection

What connections can you make to your own interests?

What challenges do you see in turning policy into practice?

What comments or questions do you have?

Further Sources on GIRFEC

Getting to know GIRFEC Part 1 - 'Maggie's Story' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHfChJ2O1S0&t=248s

Getting to know GIRFEC Part 2 - Wellbeing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0F4PEffSJs&t=3s

Getting to know GIRFEC Part 3 - The Named Person - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsiq6w-LdeI

Getting to know GIRFEC Part 4 - The Lead Professional - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zPcUdKWZR8

Getting to know GIRFEC Part 5 - The Child's Plan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zaH_0wYrs8

•

Using the Model:

• Observing and recording

• Using the Wellbeing wheel to record and share information, and to record concerns

• Resilience matrix

• The Resilience matrix helps practitioners organise and analyse information when they need to

• My world triangle

• Exploring the experience of a child at every stage, making connections between the parts of their world

• Planning, action and review

• When the child or young person’s needs are clear, they can be summarised using the Wellbeing wheel to develop a plan for action

Engage in Professional Learning with Moray House, The University of Edinburgh

Visit our website:

http://www.ed.ac.uk/education

/professional-learning

Our Twitter Account:

@MorayHouseCLPL