The Scottish Government

. . .

December 2007

There is much to report since our last Update in October. First we would like to welcome North
and South Lanarkshire as learning partners who will explore the developments taking place in
Highland to see what can be adopted or adapted and identify how transferable the models of
practice are.

You will be aware of the announcement of a concordat with local government that heralds a new
way of working between central and local government based on collaboration, partnership and
mutual respect. The concordat moves us to an outcome-focused approach which brings
benefits to children, young people and families and empowers local authorities and their
partners to focus on delivering high quality and integrated services. This is an ideal platform
on which to implement Getting it right for every child and we welcome the opportunity this
offers. Further information on the concordat can be found on the Scottish Government
website.

Ministers continue to underline the priority they are giving to the programme as a common
co-ordinated approach across all agencies that supports the delivery of appropriate,
proportionate and timely help to all children and young people as they need it. Ministers'
focus on early years and early intervention along with the overarching nature of Getting it
right for every child combine well to provide for progress in these areas. Getting it right
offers the cohesion and momentum for collaboration and a child centred approach across all
professions and policies, contributing to the delivery of several national outcomes.

Guidance on the December 2007 child's plan target, plus annex, was issued in October
that recognised local areas were at different stages of development in integrated working and
that this had to be taken into account in progressing towards an integrated plan for every child
going to a Children's Hearing. Importantly, reporters and children's panel members have to
be involved in discussions and awareness raising and training before introducing new
arrangements.

We are keen to keep in touch and know about other issues that are of interest to you and in
particular we would be very interested to know how you are involving children and young
people as part of your practices. The Getting it right for every child email address is:
gettingitrightforeverychild@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Thank you - and may I wish you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Boyd McAdam
Head of Getting it right for every child team

Getting it right for every child both complements and is complemented by existing
legislation, policy and good practice. It applies both to universal services and specialist
services. We need to make sure that the programme is relevant and appropriate to all
sectors, including social work, health, education, police, voluntary sector, adult services
and most importantly to children, young people and families.

Getting it right is about every child in Scotland and links with other policy areas continue to
strengthen. The recently released national fostering and kinship care strategy is called
Getting it right for every child in kinship and foster care. We have worked very closely
with our colleagues to ensure the principles of Getting it right are integral to the proposals.

The Scottish Government is developing an early years strategy that will cover the period from
pre-conception to age 8 and which will have a time horizon of 10 years. Ministers announced
four themes for the early years strategy on 31 October. They are

• Building parental and family capacity
• Creating communities that provide a supportive environment for young children and their
  families
• Delivering services that meet the needs of children and families in a more holistic way; and
• Workforce
  

The strategy will build on Getting it right for every child and will aim to improve outcomes for all
children, with a particular emphasis on ensuring that those with higher needs receive an
appropriate intensity of support. The focus will be on prevention and capacity building, but also
effective action to deal with risks before they cause harm.

In November, Ministers announced that the early years strategy would be the first to be
developed in full partnership with local government and this has been included in the concordat
agreed with COSLA. The Scottish Government is now working with COSLA and others to develop
a process to make that commitment to partnership a reality. The aim is to publish the strategy by
Autumn 2008.

Work is on-going with the Additional Support for Learning team on the interface between Getting
it right for every child and ASL, see the update below.

Work is progressing with the eCare framework as the mechanism through which information will
be shared electronically in a safe environment and subject to clear levels of control and access to
support Getting it right for every child. There will be a series of workshops in the New Year for
eCare partnerships and associated practitioners to help progress the framework.

The eCare framework has been recognised in an awards ceremony on good practice in data
protection. On Tuesday, 11 December, the Data Protection Agency of the Region of Madrid
awarded the eCare framework one of two "special mention" awards. The aim of the annual prize
is to expand the awareness of best practices in data protection by government bodies across
Europe.

Ken Macdonald, Assistant Commissioner (Information Commissioner's Office, which supported
the eCare application) said, "It is wonderful to see UK expertise in data protection being officially
recognised in Europe for the second year running. Recent events have highlighted the need to
comply with the principles of the Data Protection Act and I am delighted to see the eCare
Framework and the Scottish Government setting such a fine example to others not just in the UK
but throughout Europe".

Getting it right for every child supports all children by reinforcing the message that education is
about more than just academic achievement, social work is about more than child protection,
health is about more than administering to illness, police action is more than dealing with crime,
the work of adult services impacts on children through their parents and the voluntary sector will
make a significant contribution across all these areas.

Evaluation in the Getting it right for every child Pathfinder areas has been ongoing throughout
2007 and a number of evaluative themes have emerged in relation to:

• Readiness for Getting it right for every child across a range of different target groups
  including early years, child concerns identified by the police, children experiencing domestic
  abuse and children in transition;
• Implementation of changes in practice;
• Piloting of the new children's concerns forms and data capture tools in Pathfinder areas;
• Monitoring children and families' experiences of children's services;
• Identifying and testing appropriate outcomes indicators for Getting it right.

Reports on the evaluation in the Pathfinder areas will be available by Easter and summaries of
Key Learning Points should be available before that.

Highland Pathfinder

In Highland a new pathfinding process is reducing the journey for children between identifying
need and getting the help to meet their needs by:

• streamlining assessment processes and using a common framework
• streamlining the planning process for action to meet children's needs
• streamlining procedures which are necessary to provide children with services to meet need

The team has developed a modular programme of training to equip staff in universal and targeted
services to implement the new procedures and work in an integrated way using common tools,
language and processes. They are producing guidance to support staff to practice in an integrated
way and tools to support assessment and planning across universal and targeted services. In
addition the role of the named person and lead professional have been defined and agreed.

Domestic Abuse Pathfinders: Clydebank, Edinburgh, Falkirk and Dumfries

Progress includes the development of universal Getting it right for every child Concerns Forms.
This will enable all agencies involved in the pathfinder to use a common system for the exchange
of information, streamline communications and the decision making process. The forms are now
being tested in the four pathfinder areas alongside Data Capture Forms which will enable us to
gather a comprehensive set of information with regard to the people who have experienced
domestic abuse and to gather this information across the voluntary and public sectors.

The approach being taken considers the needs of women experiencing domestic abuse and their
children. This round of testing will reflect the availability of existing resources and the local
processes. Consultation with service providers and service users will be an integral part of the
process and will be carried out by the Getting it right for every child evaluation team. The
evaluation will begin in January 2008. Feedback will be analysed and changes introduced where
necessary followed by a second stage of the consultation which will be completed by April of 2008.

Perpetrator services form a key work stream within the National Delivery Plan. It is recognised
that services for perpetrators will have to be further developed to ensure an effective approach.

Better Health, Better Care, published on 12 December sets the scene for giving children the best
possible start through integrated, cross-Government approaches to meet the individual needs of
children and their families. By getting it right in the early years and supporting good health
choices and behaviours amongst children and young people, we can set them on a trajectory
where they can sustain good health throughout their lives. Making the best possible start is at
the forefront of the future health agenda.

The main challenge for health is to re-engineer services to that they work together more
effectively, by assessing and making changes to the cultures, systems and practices in NHS
Scotland and its partner organisations with a focus on the overall needs of the child. The
Better Health, Better Care Action Plan can be found on the Scottish Government website.

The principal elements of ASL and Getting it right for every child are mutually supportive.

Getting it right for every child builds on the scope and principles behind ASL. Getting it right is
about all aspects of a child's well-being and teachers are often in the best position to recognise
concerns about a child. The Getting it right for every child principles will help and support
teachers to respond and take action if they have a broad concern about a child's well-being.

The "supporting children's learning code of practice" supports the ASL Act and provides
guidance on ways in which teachers can ensure that all children and young people receive the
additional support required to meet their individual needs and help them make the most of their
education. Other agencies have a crucial contribution to make in this and need to be involved.
The code provides guidance on ways in which agencies can support a holistic approach to
meeting children's individual needs.

We have started building up an on-line Learning Community with a small number of
'champions' who will help us develop and test the site before extending invitations more widely
as part of a phased approach to growing the community. The Learning Community will enable
learning and exchange to take place across Scotland according to the needs of those who are
using the site.

The Getting it right for every child Roadshow will travel to various venues across the
country in February 2008. We are planning to visit Edinburgh, Perth, Aberdeen and Glasgow
in the first instance, with satellite events planned throughout March and April at smaller venues.
Invitations will be issued early in January but provisional dates are as follows: Edinburgh 19th
February; Perth 22nd February; Aberdeen 26th February and Glasgow - date to be determined
depending on venue availability.

The aim is to bring practitioners and managers up to date, share learning from pathfinders and
learning partners and provide the opportunity to feed in to the national approach and influence
the Scottish Government's thinking. To ensure representation across children's services we will
approach senior managers in each Local Authority, Health Board and Police Force, in addition to
the voluntary and youth work sectors and national representative bodies.

An article from the Minister for Education and Early Years, Adam Ingram, recently
featured in the November edition of COSLA's newsletter, COSLA Connections.

In January we commence a programme of video recording featuring useful presentations
delivered by the Scottish Government team that can be used at times when we are unable to
attend in person, but really wish to ensure Getting it right for every child is represented.
Details on how to access this material will be given as part of the next Update in February.

We are aware that many areas are starting to prepare their own materials to support
implementation. The Getting it right briefing provides background and explanatory material
that you may wish to use, and the Getting it right for every child logo is attached as a j-peg file
for insertion on materials.

We are very keen to stay in touch and utilise your existing channels to deliver updates.

If you would be interested in an article about the programme, please email
lorraine.spalding@scotland.gsi.gov.uk