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All for One
During the last twelve months, the individual teams that make up Children’s Services departments have come together with the aim of delivering improved outcomes for children and young people. Many services are now working alongside each other and sharing information freely to deliver services more effectively.

However, are the directors at the top of Children’s Services departments able to measure the impact of these changes and their investment in service delivery easily?

In the Know
In many cases, we are still a long way away from a situation where a director or senior manager can get an instant snapshot of the impact their entire team is having on children locally or measure this over time. To ensure they are making a difference to young people’s lives, both directors and the practitioners on the ground need access to information on children that is accurate, accessible, immediate and confidential to help them understand where they are adding value.

This will become even more relevant with the greater emphasis on workforce productivity and performance management. Children’s Services Directors will need to ensure their team’s productivity is effectively and regularly measured based on improving outcomes for children at both the micro and macro level across the authority.

Accuracy
The accuracy of information is important because you must be sure when sharing data between services that you are talking about the same child, and not a child with a similar name. If you are measuring performance as a department overall, you need to ensure you have accurate figures on the number of children in receipt of services and how this has improved outcomes for them. Historically it has been the data teams in education departments which have performed an outstanding role in ensuring data cleanliness. In the new joined up times, this approach should be replicated across all agencies with a single record of the child.

Accessibility
Accessibility of information is also a major consideration. Systems need to be internet based, easy to set up and locally available so that those who work in the field are not cut off from key details about children that will help them do their job effectively. Information needs to be stored, shared and accessed easily so all practitioners can make informed decisions about children under their remit and can report on any changes to a child’s circumstances without difficulty.

Immediacy
Immediacy is crucial because without the most current data on a child, you cannot make an informed decision that takes into account their true circumstances. It is also crucial for a child’s lead professional, team managers and directors to see on a dynamic basis whether their efforts are leading to an improved situation for an individual child or all the children in the authority.

Confidentiality
Confidentiality is also key. It is crucial that information is shared seamlessly with those who are authorised to see it and entirely inaccessible to those who are not. Any requests from a young person or their family not to share data with certain services must be respected and managed.

The Result
Making sure that we keep these four considerations uppermost in our minds will go some way to helping Children’s Services directors meet improved outcomes. Better information flow can help provide improved service delivery from practitioners as the systems can record and report on all contacts made with children. It will also allow productivity to be measured as details such as which staff members were present and the time and duration of contact with a child can be reported on. The data can then support performance management initiatives regionally, helping Children’s Services directors measure the direct impact of their team’s efforts and support decisions on where future investments will have the greatest impact.

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