Do you support someone in the Glasgow area?

If so this is a chance for you to take part in a pilot training programme empowering people to shape their own lives and helping them to achieve their goals.

SCLD; VIAS and Empower have designed a 5 day course for support workers, [...]]]> Free Training Opportunity

Do you support someone in the Glasgow area?

If so this is a chance for you to take part in a pilot training programme empowering people to shape their own lives and helping them to achieve their goals.

SCLD; VIAS and Empower have designed a 5 day course for support workers, personal assistants to build on the skills of working with people who have a disability ensuring they have choice and control in accessing life opportunities. The course combines best practice in person centred planning and systematic instructional techniques.

As this is a pilot project, course costs are absolutely free.

All that we ask is that you commit to the 5 day programme and help us to research its effectiveness by answering some questions before and after you complete the training. We will do our best to make your time commitment as little as possible.

Download the training flyer for additional information. Don’t miss out on becoming part of an exciting development.

Book now to avoid disappointment.

Getting it Right (GIRFEC) Workshop

23rd May 2011

9.30am-4pm

Venue TBC

GSCPF are hosting an event on 23rd May for members to examine the policy, process, practice and expectation of GIRFEC with various [...]]]> DIARY DATE * DIARY DATE * DIARY DATE * DIARY DATE * DIARY DATE * DIARY DATE * DIARY DATE * DIARY DATE *

Getting it Right (GIRFEC) Workshop

23^rd May 2011

9.30am-4pm

Venue TBC

GSCPF are hosting an event on 23^rd May for members to examine the policy, process, practice and expectation of GIRFEC with various partners.

There will be presentations from

• Glasgow City Council Social Work Services
• Education Services
• NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
• Includem
• Jeely Piece Club

And an opportunity to network, exchange learning, share experiences AND discuss next steps.

Please note this diary date, further information will be available soon.  Places will be limited.

GSCPF will become the Social Care Ideas Factory with an official launch in April 2011, when it will concentrate on helping drive [...]]]> GSCPF Votes To Become
Social Care Ideas Factory

Members of Glasgow Social Care Providers Forum voted overwhelmingly
by 46 votes to 2, to change the organisation’s name and its role, at a special
general meeting on Wednesday March 16.

GSCPF will become the Social Care Ideas Factory with an official launch in
April 2011, when it will concentrate on helping drive social change and social
care transformation.

Director Charlie Barker said: “I am absolutely delighted that our members
have embraced this radical change, and given their overwhelming support to
our change of name and our new role.

“We are committed to becoming the leading lights in social change to ensure
that people who require supports get what they need and want to live
their ‘best lives’.

“But we can’t do it alone because successful change will depend on
participation of a wide range of people

“We plan to expand our membership from solely Glasgow’s social care
provider organisations to everyone who has a stake in how care will be
delivered in the future.

Membership of the Social Care Ideas Factory will be open to:

1. Individuals who require supports, carers, allies, supporters
2. Health, Housing, Education & Social Care Providers
3. Peer networks, advocacy, umbrella organisations and citizen
   movements
4. Individuals-professionals, sole traders, workforce
5. Corporate companies, Public sector, Government, Local Authorities,
   Unions
6. Suppliers, Industries & Trades people.

Charlie Barker added: “The practice model of the Social Care Ideas Factory
will be to encourage and involve members to work together to ‘craft innovative
responses’ to the spectrum of reshaping, transformation of social care as we
know it.

“The Ideas Factory will also support members with the theory, policy, system,
process and practice of Personalisation and Self Directed Support.

“Our current funders Glasgow City Council Social Work (Service
Modernisation and Children & Families teams), the Council’s Education
Services and the Scottish Government have fully endorsed this change of
model and approach”.

“Co-production is a new vision for public services which offers a better way to respond to the challenges we face – based on recognising the resources that citizens already have, and delivering services with rather than for service users, [...]]]> “Are You Being Served?: Disabled people’s voices & Co-production in challenging times”

“Co-production is a new vision for public services which offers a better way to respond to the challenges we face – based on recognising the resources that citizens already have, and delivering services with rather than for service users, their families and their neighbours, ” NESTA 2010.

A free, half-day conference organised by Glasgow’s leading representative disabled people’s organisation, Glasgow Disability Alliance will explore Co-production as an approach in transforming public services,  consider the honest challenges of Co-production and look at ways of making it work effectively. The Conference will be followed by an Elections Hustings in the afternoon and you are warmly invited to join us for this too.

Funded by Glasgow City Council, the Conference will provide an opportunity for public sector partners and agencies to come together with disabled people who use their services, hear examples of where Co-production is working well and begin an honest dialogue about barriers and solutions for getting co-production right.

The event aims:

• to increase awareness of Co-production as a method of working together towards agreed outcomes e.g. Independent Living for disabled people
• to consider the honest challenges of Co-production in challenging times
• to advocate that Co-production should be central to improving public services and, through an open dialogue, to come up with ways of making co-production work

Who should attend: senior officers and decision makers with responsibility for planning, designing and delivering services to disabled people and aiming to involve disabled people in co-production.

When: Friday 25^th March from 10am (registration) to 12.30. This will be followed by an Elections Hustings from 1.45 to 3.45pm.

Where: Thistle Hotel, Cambridge Street, Glasgow

Speakers include:

Chair: Tressa Burke, Director, Glasgow Disability Alliance

• Councillor Matt Kerr, Executive Member for Social Care, Glasgow City Council
• Colin Mair, Chief Executive, Improvement Service
• Etienne D’Aboville, CEO, Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living
• Bill Scott, Director, Inclusion Scotland

GDA amongst other disabled people’s organisations is aware of the pressure to cut public expenditure and the negative impact of this: it is our ambition to promote Co-production, as this approach recognises that, while professional expertise is vital, it can never replace the knowledge that comes from personal experience-

real change comes from combining both these sources of knowledge (Nesta 2010).

GDA do hope you will be able to join them at what promises to be an engaging, lively and informative event – one where you will get the opportunity to deepen your understanding of co-production, hear directly from both senior officials and disabled people who have experienced this approach, and share your knowledge and insight with colleagues from across Glasgow and even further afield!

Booking Information

Please contact GDA to book a place by calling  0141 556 7103 or download and complete the Reply Form and email to shirleycoull@gdaonline.co.uk or fax it back to us on 0141 550 4937. Download event programme.

The documents are available on the Council’s Social Care Services Personalisation paperwork webpage at: http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Residents/Care_Support/Personalisation/sdspaperwork

Among the guidance is a summary of what [...]]]> Council spells out what
Personal Budgets can
And cannot be spent on

Glasgow City Council Social Work Department has published a raft of
documents on its website providing detailed guidance on Personalisation and
Self Directed Support for providers and service users.

The documents are available on the Council’s Social Care Services
Personalisation paperwork webpage at:

http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Residents/Care_Support/Personalisation/sdspaperwork

Among the guidance is a summary of what personal budget holders can
and cannot spend their money on.

For Providers the advice includes the following:

The Individual Budget remains Local Authority Funding even when
it is sitting in an individual’s bank account or with a service provider.
If the funding is paid directly to the individual, they must comply
with the Self Directed Support – Individual Budget Interim Financial
Procedures for Service Users. It is important for organisations to
familiarise themselves with the above procedures in order to be able
to support service users to comply with them.

Where an individual’s IB is held and managed by a provider, the
provider will require to account for the funding to the local authority.
The process for this is still in development.

The following principles should be borne in mind throughout. The
budget should be linked clearly to the outcomes agreed as a priority
for the individual requiring support.
An outcome is the objective or end result that the individual is aiming
to achieve. The outcomes, the means by which the individual is
attempting to achieve them and the cost of the support needed to
achieve them, are recorded in the individuals outcome based support
plan.

The SEQ highlights the areas that are eligible for social care funding
and the IB should be used to meet outcomes in these areas. There
can be several outcomes met by engaging in any one activity.

It is also important to note that the IB should not be used for
expenditure that other sources of income (such as welfare benefits)
normally pay for.

For service users the guidance on how the money can be spent
includes the following:

Your Individual Budget must be spent on meeting the outcomes
agreed in your support plan, and you are responsible for using these
funds wisely.

Your support plan will identify:-

• How your money will be spent.
• What the arrangements are for monitoring the money.
• How the money will be managed taking into account any risks
  which might exist.

If you are unsure about any aspect of this you should speak to your
care manager or support organisation.

What you can’t spend the money on

Your Individual Budget is Local Authority funding paid directly to you
to meet the social care outcomes agreed in your support plan.
There are therefore some areas which you cannot use your Individual
Budget for:

• Anything which is against the law, including employment law
• Gambling
• Financial investments
• Healthcare needs that should be met from the NHS
• Paying for things that other sources of income should cover
  - alcohol, tobacco, grocery shopping, clothes, personal entertainment
  (for example the purchase of your own concert ticket or sporting
  event ticket), paying for you to go on holiday (unless this is to provide
  respite for a carer), rent, mortgage payments, utility bills, home
  improvement, repairs and maintenance costs.
• You cannot normally employ your husband, wife or partner, or
  close relatives or their partner or husband or wife

If you are unsure about any aspect of this you should check with your
Care Manager or Support Organisation.

The full list of guidance documents available at:
http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Residents/Care_Support/Personalisation/sdspaperwork

• Guidance:

• Guidance for Providers
• Financial Guidance for service users
• FAQs

• Templates

• Self Evaluation Questionnaire Template (provider version)
• Financial Assessment Form
• My Support Plan Template

• And additional supporting documentation:

• What needs to be in a Support Plan
• Talking points leaflet

Further items will be added as they become available and the FAQs will
be updated for accessibility shortly.

Any queries regarding the page or contents please feel free to get in
touch with Lynn Paterson:

Lynn Paterson
, Service Modernisation
Social Work Services
Glasgow City Council 
Social Work Services,
Wheatley House, 25 Cochrane Street, Glasgow G1 1HL
Email Lynn Paterson

The paper reports that the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations informed employees on Friday that it is to make 23 of its 132 staff redundant.

Last week [...]]]> Charities hit by job losses
As the cuts start to bite

The Herald newspaper has revealed that two leading charities have
announced substantial job losses and say a third is due to follow suit.

The paper reports that the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
informed employees on Friday that it is to make 23 of its 132 staff redundant.

Last week staff at Apex Scotland, a charity which works with ex-offenders,
wrote to its employees (around 60 people) to warn them that between one-
third and a half of their jobs were to go, as a direct result of Coalition cuts to
Government employment programmes.

The paper also says that the Scottish Refugee Council is due to confirm that
44 of its 59 workers have been told they are at risk of redundancy as it seeks
to shed 28% of its staff as a result of cuts to contracts it has with the UK
Border Agency.

Citizens Advice Scotland is thought to be planning to announce a redundancy
programme next week, after its sister organisation in England announced
substantial job cuts.

About 45,000 voluntary organisations across Scotland employ more than
130,000 professionally paid staff.

SCVO is the national body for Scotland’s charities. Martin Sime, SCVO chief
executive, said: “In these tough times making difficult decisions is something
our members and the third sector as a whole are facing on a daily and weekly
basis,” he said.

“The irony is that this comes at a time when all political parties are united in
agreement that the third sector should play a greater and more central role in
re-shaping Scotland’s future. Unfortunately, the sector’s capacity to deliver on
this opportunity is being dangerously eroded by the disproportionate cuts we
face in comparison to other sectors.”

Read the full report at:

http://www.heraldscotland.com:80/news/home-news/exclusive-charities-hit-by-job-losses-as-cuts-bite-1.1082686

Scottish Ministers have announced that the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007, commonly referred to as the PVG Scheme, will commence on Monday 28 February 2011.

This is important legislation that will change the way that Disclosures are processed in Scotland. It will have a major impact on how organisations process Disclosures for volunteers. Checking [...]]]>

Scottish Ministers have announced that the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007, commonly referred to as the PVG Scheme, will commence on Monday 28 February 2011.

This is important legislation that will change the way that Disclosures are processed in Scotland. It will have a major impact on how organisations process Disclosures for volunteers. Checking staff and volunteers is an important part of safe recruitment and the PVG Scheme will make it possible for employers to do a quick and simple check to verify that a person is not known to be unsuitable to work – paid or unpaid – with vulnerable groups.

The Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme (PVG Scheme) will:

• help to ensure that those who have regular contact with children and protected adults through paid and unpaid work do not have a known history of harmful behaviour

• be quick and easy to use, reducing the need for PVG Scheme members to complete a detailed application form every time a disclosure check is required

• strike a balance between proportionate protection and robust regulation and make it easier for employers to determine who they should check to protect their client group

The PVG Scheme will affect a wide and diverse range of organisations and groups across the statutory, voluntary and private sectors that provide services, activities and amenities for children and protected adults.

More information on the PVG Scheme can be accessed via: http://www.pvgschemescotland.org

FAQs can be accessed via:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Young-People/children-families/pvglegislation/FAQs

Guidance and training materials can be accessed via:

http://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk/pvg_index.html

The keynote speaker was Dr Kevin Doughty, Deputy Director of the Centre for Usable Home Technology at the University of York.

Dr Doughty talked the delegates through a vast range [...]]]> Telecare Event Voted
A Great Success

GSCPF’s groundbreaking Telecare event, Balancing Care, People and
Technology in 2011, at the Raddison Blu was a huge success, attracting 120
delegates and almost 20 exhibitors.

The keynote speaker was Dr Kevin Doughty, Deputy Director of the Centre for
Usable Home Technology at the University of York.

Dr Doughty talked the delegates through a vast range of assistive technology
devices, including top-of the-range powersuit-style exoskeletons which can
enable people to walk up stairs without a chairlift – and have price tags to
match their versatility – as well as an animated baby seal companion robot
which melts hearts wherever it goes.

At the other end of the price scale he detailed free aps for smart phones
including one which sounds an alarm if the person carrying it suffers an
epileptic fit…and uses GPS technology to pinpoint their position.

On the telemedicine front Dr Doughty highlighted a mirror which can diagnose
common ailments when you stand in front of it.

John Owens, Head of Service (Adult Services) Glasgow City Council who leads
in Telecare for the city spoke of progress in introducing assistive technology
on a number of fronts.

Among other developments he said the council intends to set up a Telecare
Partnership Board in March, and would be looking for input from GSCPF
members.

The event concluded with a Problem Solving Panel Chaired by Lynn Blair,
and featuring Dr Doughty, Anne Conlin, Development and Training Manager
Carers Scotland, Janette Hughes Project Manager Wellness and Health
Innovation and David Williams Assistant Director of Glasgow’s Social Care
Services.

GSCPF Director Charlie Barker said: “We were delighted with interest in this
event.

“The delegates got the best of both worlds – excellent speakers and
workshops on all aspects of assistive technology, and the chance to actually
try out some of the high tech devices we were discussing.

“The feedback from both the delegates and the exhibitors was extremely positive.
The companies who took stands were really pleased with the level of interest,
and the quality of the inquiries they received”.

Delegate Bernie Molloy, Services Manager, Respite Services with The Mungo
Foundation said: “There was almost too much to take in at one time.

“I particularly liked Deaf Connections’ Sign On Screen which lets deaf people
use an on-line video interpreting service to communicate in sign language
with hearing people who are using an ordinary phone.

“I was also impressed with a device called Just Checking which allows you to
monitor the movement of vulnerable people in their own homes to determine the
sort of support they need”.

One of the exhibitors Billy Graham of Chubb Community Care said: “It’s been
a fantastic event for us both in terms of raising our profile with such a relevant
group of people, and also in terms of orders.”

To view all the presentations, including Dr Doughty’s, please go to:
http://www.selfdirectedsupportideasfactory.co.uk/content/553/from-the-balancing-care-people-and-technology-in-2011-conference