social care provision

Guide intended to assist councils, working with key strategic partners, to evaluate their performance on the strategic commissioning of care and wider supports for adults, children and young people.

It should also assist councils to evaluate joint commissioning with partner agencies. Its use is not mandatory.

The guide is designed for use in all sectors of social work. It is not prescriptive, and it is for councils to decide how to use the material. However, it contains key questions to ask when evaluating performance on strategic commissioning.

Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE) feature on dementia, exploring the effective implementation of the SCIE / NICE Dementia guidelines. SCIE’s film aims to highlight the importance of social and health care working together to help people with dementia better manage their condition.

This booklet is entitled Race Equality through Leadership in Social Care. Research has shown that organisations that are successful in this area of diversity are in that position because of effective leadership. This booklet does not question the leader’s commitment to race equality but acknowledges that the provision of culturally sensitive services and supportive employment practices can be very challenging.

This resource presents six scenarios that can be used to explore different approaches to practice with children of prisoners. For each the course of action which is felt most appropriate can be chosen and feedback on choices made is available.

Report presenting the results of a survey of children's own experiences of the social care system in England. It focuses particularly on six topics, namely bullying, having a say in what happens to them, making complaints and suggestions, education, care planning for those in care and leaving care.

This Annual Report presents evidence from the first full year of inspection and regulation undertaken by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, which came into being in April 2007. The report draws on evidence since July 2007 and reflects the first full year of inspection and regulation by Ofsted across its expanded remit, including findings from childcare, children’s social care, and education and skills provision for learners of all ages.

The Child Protection Review Team of the Scottish Executive Department commissioned MORI Scotland to conduct a programme of research. The overall aim of this research was to assess levels of public knowledge and understanding of the current child protection processes and within this, look at expectations that the public have about the role of the individual, community and public agency in child protection and the degree to which each should take responsibility or become involved.

This research study, commissioned by the Scottish Government Health Directorate, has evaluated the experience and perspectives of those with direct experience of, as well as those working with, the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (MHCT Act). A team of independent researchers including 8 mental health service users undertook the study, which lasted 2 years from September 2006.

Evidence-based policy and practice increasingly demands the use of research as a key tool to improve practice. However, little research can be directly applied to practice, many practitioners aren't equipped to digest research and appropriate support systems are lacking. What is needed is a better understanding of the relationship between social care research and the work of social care practitioners, including what organisational structures are needed to enable the use of research.

This summary of the 2007/08 annual report presents evidence from the first full year of inspection and regulation undertaken by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, which came into being in April 2007. The report covers the period from July 2007 to August 2008 and sets out findings from childcare, children’s social care, and education and skills provision for learners of all ages.