Im an Outcomes Monitoring Officer Get Me Out of Here

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Im an Outcomes Monitoring Officer Get Me Out
of Here!
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The South West Peninsula Outcomes Monitoring
System

• John Holman
• Peninsula Commissioning Project Manager, Devon
  County Council
• Charlie West
• Peninsula Commissioning Officer, Devon County
  Council

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Background

• The Peninsula Project
• The Options Appraisal Process

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Generic/Specific
Outcomes-based
Placement Objectives
Performance Indicators
Soft Outcomes
Outputs
Qualitative
Types, Levels, Timescales
S.M.A.R.T.
Holistic
Service Requirements
ECM
Quantitative
Hard Outcomes
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Principles

• Meeting the needs of all children is one thing
  (and is covered by contract terms, minimum
  standards and individual care plans) achieving
  individual-specific, holistic outcomes is another
• We are interested (as you would expect any
  parent to be) more in those changes in the self
  and behaviour of the child which indicate
  positive adjustment, and point to wholesome
  personal development
• Any outcomes monitoring system should be simple,
  easy to operate and involve all parties
  (including the child)
• Our outcomes monitoring system is designed to be
  complementary to, not a substitute for, existing
  methods of measuring outcomes

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The Voice of the Young Person

• We are working with
• Devons Children in Care Council to devise a
  suite of suitable forms/other media for capturing
  childrens views on how well their placements are
  going
• Use will be made of the same ECM framework but
  the exercise will be more of an inquiry after
  their well-being than a probing into their person
  
• And we are talking to
• A national provider of advocacy services with a
  view to every child in care being able to sit
  down with an independent adult to feed back their
  views
• The exact nature of this arrangement, how it will
  work on the ground, and what use to make of the
  information gathered is yet to be worked out

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What To Do With the Information?

• The Outcomes Monitoring Officer communicates with
  the care management team it is the latters
  responsibility to follow up on concerns with
  individual cases (the system serves as an early
  warning of placements going awry)
• Wearing a contract monitoring hat a single
  figure can be generated and set
• beside the providers name, and analyses can be
  done into
• How well providers are doing against one another
• How well providers as a whole are doing over time
• How well different types of providers are doing
• Achievement in relation to each of the ECM
  outcomes
• Achievement in relation to age, gender,
  ethnicity, location, needs profile and period in
  care
• Forming a key plank in an overall
  contract/provider monitoring system

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Pilot Findings

• An early study of 47 cases in Devon found that
• Where scores were poor, a typical profile was
  found a child aged 15 or 16, with an alcohol
  and/or drug problem, receiving or recommended for
  treatment for significant emotional problems
• A more in-depth study involving 19 cases found
  that factors commonly present where
• scores were high were
• A record of regular contact with the same social
  worker
• Regular attendance at school/engagement with
  education
• Four or more options for placements were
  originally put forward
• Findings from both studies were inconclusive
  regarding
• The link between cost of placement and outcomes
• Performance of fostering vs. residential
  providers

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Making It Happen The Challenges

• Setting good outcomes in the first place
  (individual-specific, holistic and reasonable
  considering the starting point of the child)
• Accurately recording placements information
• Compliance of parties in completing/returning
  forms
• Defining and funding the post of Outcomes
  Monitoring Officer
• Key Question Where does the responsibility of
  the Outcomes Monitoring Officer end, and the care
  management team/social worker begin?
• Capturing the young persons voice
• Ongoing (not one-off) outcomes monitoring

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Exercise

• Clarity of Roles
• Prep For Tendering for the Placement - Outcomes
  Setting
• Placement Planning - Confirming Outcomes
• Outcomes Scoring and Comments
• Analysis by Outcomes Monitoring Officer
• Action by Commissioners