The Scottish Government

. . .

December 2008

Ministers remain committed to the Getting it right for every child approach. Adam Ingram,
the Minister for Children and Early Years describes it as 'the golden thread' through all policy,
strategy and delivery for children and young people. As we move into a new year, the
Scottish Government will continue to support, promote and enable culture, systems and
practice change across children's services and policy with the production of tools, materials,
networks and on-line resources.

Recent debates in the Scottish Parliament - 4 September on Getting it right for every child and
20 November on Looked after Children - have reinforced cross-party agreement to strengthen
policies that support all children, including the most vulnerable. The recent announcements on
Baby P and the Aberdeen inspection have re-enforced the work being undertaken to test
robustly the Getting it right for every child approach where the protection of children is an
issue. This is part of ongoing work in the Getting it right for every child programme to
strengthen the links across Scottish Government policy areas, in particular early intervention,
early years - see item in this newsletter - better health better care, Curriculum for Excellence,
More Choices More Chances.

Implementation of Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) continues to have an impact
across children's services with positive progress made in Pathfinder areas - see articles in
this newsletter - and the agreement with a new Learning Partner to test out specific
components in different environments. Progress is being made on the development of a data
sharing framework over the next two years to support the approach. This work involves not
only the technical development of the eCare framework to support detailed controls over
information being shared but also detailed discussions on what practitioners require to do to
share concerns. This work is taking place in consultation with 14 Data Sharing Partnerships
throughout Scotland established to implement data sharing between agencies at a local level.

Embedding the Getting it right approach into local practice means critically examining
procedures and practices across all agencies working with children and scrutinising whether
they fit with the principles, values and core components as set out in the national guide.
GIRFEC is not just about establishing multi-agency groups. It is about thoroughly reviewing
and streamlining processes, ensuring that all activities place the child at the centre to make
sure that children's views are sought and considered at all stages. And to make sure that all
practitioners share a common understanding and language when working with children.
Work across related policy activity is giving expression to the approach and philosophy.

Much good work is being undertaken across Scotland under the banner of integrated working.
Getting it right is more than that. We look forward in 2009 to working with you, learning more
about what you are doing and sharing a deeper understanding of what GIRFEC means in
practice.

Meantime I hope you find this newsletter of interest and may I wish you a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year.

Boyd McAdam
Head of Getting it right for every child team

The early years framework was jointly published by the Scottish Government and COSLA on
10 December. The Getting it right for every child approach and philosophy is embedded within
the framework and threads through the ten elements of transformational change referred to in
the framework.

It is during our very earliest years and even pre-birth that a large part of the pattern for our
future adult life is set. The early years are therefore a key opportunity to shape a positive
future for Scotland. This framework will maximise the opportunities for all our children to get
the best start in life, no matter what their background or circumstances. As set out in the
joint policy statement published on 18 March this year, the framework is built on the principles
of early intervention - a shift from intervening only when a crisis happens to prevention and
early intervention.

The document is published in two parts. The first part sets out the case for action in the early
years, along with our vision for giving children the best start in life; ten elements of
transformational change; priorities for action; how we will move forward with this in the
context of the National Performance Framework and Single Outcome Agreements; and a
section on realignment of resources.

This framework has been developed with the input of a large number of stakeholders from
a variety of sectors and this is reflected in the second part of the document.

A national Guide has been published to support the implementation of Getting it right for
every child. It provides an overview of the approach and developments so far, information
on emerging thinking and builds from the work of pathfinders and existing good practice.
The Guide reinforces the message that Getting it right for every child threads through
existing policy, strategy and delivery, and explains the philosophy behind the approach. It
provides the practice model and tools that can be used locally to complement practitioners'
own materials and processes to support a common approach across Scotland.

Publication of the Guide provides direction on the way forward for Getting it right for every
child and marks a significant shift from the development phase to the implementation of
Getting it right for every child. The Guide is endorsed by Ministers and COSLA and has
been produced in sections to make it as easy as possible to incorporate new thinking and
practice as it develops. The Guide to Getting it right for every child can be downloaded from
the internet or if you would like to produce your own copies, please request a CD. The CD
also contains stand alone versions of the GIRFEC diagrams and models from the Guide.
Printed versions can also be made available for events, workshops and seminars
upon request.

Action is not limited to external dissemination of the Guide. Scottish Government policy
makers are being invited to participate in a series of internal seminars and workshops over
the next few months to reinforce cross policy connections. The aim is to continue raising
awareness of the approach and build understanding to support implementation of GIRFEC
in policy across the Scottish Government as well as in practical work with children, young
people and families.

A national Strategic Group is supporting the national implementation of Getting it right for
every child. The Group has been established to provide oversight and direction. The Group
represents a wide range of policy and practice interests to ensure the Getting it right
approach is appropriately connected and represented in children's policy, strategy and
delivery. Representatives covering the interests of ADSW, ADES, ACPOS, the third sector,
health and policy are participating. Updates on the work of the Group will be made available
in the next newsletter.

West Lothian recently became the second Getting it right for every child learning partner to
be confirmed. West Lothian will work closely with Scottish Government teams to develop,
consult on and test the components of chronology that single agencies need to collect to
inform their action. This will enable the creation of a relevant and proportionate, multi-agency
summary record in the child's virtual shared record. They will also consider how that
information is structured, recorded and shared, and what is needed to enable it to be securely
shared and restructured for multi-agency use.

This work will be fully consulted on through a forum of practitioners, the Children's
Information Sharing Group (eCHiSG.). This group of practitioners and staff from all involved
agencies and services will quality assure the proposals as they are developed. Learning
outcomes will be shared widely through Getting it right communication channels to ensure a
process and practice that works for all Scotland's children's services, and their practice staff.
We look forward to working with our new partner on this vital component of Getting it right.

A significantly more robust technical platform for hosting the Learning Community's site is
currently under review. We are at an advanced stage of negotiation with partners and hope
to reach an agreement very shortly. The technical platform will include an enhanced, more
advanced version of Microsoft SharePoint. This alternative solution will be considerably more
flexible and adaptable to the needs of the Learning Community as it evolves over time. Once
technical aspects have been accounted for, a swift and simple migration can take place early
in the New Year. Although this means a further short term delay, the benefits in the long term
will be considerable.

We realise the preparatory work has taken longer than anticipated and would ask all those
who have expressed an interest in participating in the Learning Community to bear with us.
We are confident that the preparation we are completing will provide a solid, robust and
flexible foundation on which to build. Further information is being sent to Learning
Community champions.

During the first phase of evaluation activity the main focus has been on the implementation
of changes in children's services within the Getting it right for every child pathfinder areas.
The initial findings have already been disseminated through the Roadshows held across
Scotland in the spring and summer of this year. A fuller report summarising these findings
will be made available in 2009.

The report will focus on the extent to which changes in systems, practices and professional
cultures have been implemented as intended and highlight where further development work
is still needed and where various constraints and other structural factors have delayed or
otherwise impacted negatively on the implementation process.

To summarise the key findings in the report to date, while important improvements in
practice have already been implemented, there are further areas for development. These
include more work to:

• integrate the third sector and adult services into the strategic management and planning
  process;
• bring about a significant shift from output-focused to outcome-focused thinking and
  practice;
• address the balance between prevention and crisis intervention;
• address the residual referrals culture in some areas of the universal services;
• demonstrate the benefits to children and families of the changes that have been
  introduced.

Implementation of GIRFEC is complex and multi-layered. Developments in systems, practices
and professional cultures need to be initiated simultaneously, even though they may change
at different rates. This is because they interact with and reinforce each other.

The focus of the evaluation is now shifting increasingly towards the analysis of outcomes for
children and families and towards mapping the outcomes of Getting it right onto the wider
landscape created by the National Performance Framework, the Concordat, the post-Crerar
Review of Scrutiny and various initiatives which have implications for children's services,
such as Curriculum For Excellence.

The implementation of Getting it right for every child in the Highland pathfinder area is
bedding down in many areas following extensive training, the production of guidance and
awareness raising. The roll-out is taking place across geographic areas as part of a managed
process to orientate children's services around the GIRFEC approach. As part of the
pathfinder experience, lessons learned by Highland are being shared via the Learning
Overview section of Highland's website. The following provides a summary:

Increasing equality for service users:

• Families and services feel involved, informed, included and understood though using my
  world triangle as an assessment
• For many children where child protection activity has taken place, child's plan meetings
  have been held to discuss a range of issues. For many of these children, registration has
  not been deemed to be necessary but multi agency plans have been drawn up

More focused and inclusive professional activity:

• Now services share a common language and approach, it is easier to agree what a child's
  plan is and what services can be provided
• Having a lead professional as point of parental contact decreases the stress for parents
  in multi-agency working (National Autistic Society)

More clarity about targeted services are needed:

• Working together helps practitioners cut down inappropriate requests for services and
  keeps an open channel for sharing risks and concerns

More consistency in decision making:

• Getting it right has helped practitioners feel confident about sharing info with other
  services
• Getting it right practice tools help Heath Visitors to understand the needs of children and
  families and gives them confidence in assessing need and accessing services
  
  

The Getting it right for every child domestic abuse pathfinders in Falkirk, Dumfries and
Galloway, Clydebank and Edinburgh are faced with two principle challenges through 2009 -
2010. Firstly, how to ensure that the lessons learned, new procedures and protocols that
they have developed are embedded and rolled out beyond the pilot areas. Secondly, how
the individual work streams are brought together to ensure the maximum benefit for the
child, recognising that meeting the needs of the parents/carers is a critical element in
meeting the needs of the child.

Work on the national Domestic Abuse delivery plan continues to progress with the
pathfinders taking on a specific role to test and confirm proposal's recommended in the plan.

Work is now underway to take the lessons learned from the initial and proper focus on the
response to domestic abuse for children and young people, to how these lessons can be
effectively applied to all aspects of children's services. The pathfinder areas are continuing
to work in partnership with service users and providers on the development of the universal
GIRFEC model in each of the areas, ensuring that needs and risks are addressed in an
integrated holistic way.

The Minister for Children and Early Years, Adam Ingram visited the Falkirk pathfinder this
month to learn more about the distinctive approach the pathfinders are taking and the
specific challenges and issues they are facing in implementing GIRFEC.

Information from the Clydebank Domestic Abuse pathfinder can now be accessed via their
website.

The first six months of Learning Partner status has been a hectic time for the newly
appointed resource team in Lanarkshire. With help from Educational Psychology an initial
engagement programme was designed to engage with staff and measure levels of
awareness and enthusiasm.

The results have been encouraging and a huge credit to those who have championed Getting
it right for every child up till now. When asked to record their agreement to the statement:
"A Getting it right for every child practice approach will make a positive difference to
children's lives"; 621 practitioners awarded 7 or above, out of 10 which is 99% of those with
an awareness of the programme. And despite practitioners reporting concerns about a
constant diet of change, 89% remain enthusiastic about changing their practice in line with
Getting it right. The baseline exercise also highlighted areas for future work particularly in
clarifying the detail of the programme including the core components and underpinning
values. These were only recently published in the Scottish Government's national guidance
and will be part of continuing awareness raising.

Both the baseline exercise and benefits analysis clearly demonstrate that professionals
across children's services have much more in common than in contrast. All professional
groups highlighted earlier, better and more effective help as the main benefits for children
and young people, and that they would be empowered, listened to and have better
relationships with adults.

"We will be able to prevent some young people from entering adulthood damaged"

"Getting it right for every child will break cycles of negative impact for the future"

Staff also identified benefits to themselves, the most common being increased job
satisfaction. Within a clearer, more streamlined and better co-ordinated system they would
feel more supported, valued and respected.

At the conclusion of the first phase of the Getting it right for every child programme in
Lanarkshire, it is clear that a positive branding exists amongst a highly engaged and
motivated workforce who are determined to work together to contribute to improving
outcomes for children and young people. The challenges will lie in the next phase working
on such a scale across a complex environment.

For fuller details on progress in Lanarkshire including the Lessons Learned Log, please
contact Mairi.Tulbure@southlanarshire.gov.uk.

A Getting it right for every child seminar was delivered at the Scottish Learning Festival this
year in partnership with the Highland pathfinder education team and Julia Swan from ADES.
The seminar was fully subscribed and provided delegates with information on how Getting it
right links with Curriculum for Excellence. Delegates heard more about the Getting it right
approach, a strategic overview of education services and how GIRFEC threads through them,
and a practical update on putting GIRFEC into practice. The presentations can be viewed on
the Scottish Learning Festival website.

In September, the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde hosted a three day event entitled,
Getting it right for every child: childhood, citizenship and children's services. Further
information about the event and the presentations can be viewed online.

In order to promote good practice in partnership working between Education Services and
Allied Health Professions (AHPs), the Scottish Government has created two development
officer posts jointly funded by the Education and Health directorates. The aim of the project
is to support and promote partnership working between education staff and Speech and
Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists. The project will include
the publication of national guidelines and CPD materials and will be supportive of current
legislation and policy including Getting it right for every child.

For more information contact:

• Nicola Robinson (0131 244 0483) nicola.robinson@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

• or Donald Ewing (0131 244 7058 donald.ewing@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

To join the debate visit www.childreninscotland.org.uk/workforce

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