SSKS blog

IRISS has launched two pieces of work that will be helpful to practitioners working with children and young people.

These include:

Leading for outcomes: Children and young people – a practical guide for leaders to use with staff to promote understanding of an outcomes-focused approach with children and young people.

Child care and protection research collection – a collection of audio and video recordings concerning recent research on child care and protection issues. The project is a partnership of IRISS and MARS/SCCPN.

Comments, questions or queries on any of the above an be directed to: enquiries@iriss.org.uk.

Recognising that it can be difficult to find time to read reports, IRISS is committed to trying out different approaches to more effectively communicate evidence.

We have recently produced a creative storyboard (video animation) of our Insight 12: Measuring personal outcomes: Challenges and strategies. It provides a visual, engaging summary of the evidence review, getting the main points of it across succinctly.

Watch the storyboard: http://www.iriss.org.uk/resources/measuring-personal-outcomes-challenges-and-strategies-video

The text version is also available.

We are at the stage of thinking about projects that we may run next year and we would like to hear from anyone who works for or uses social services. What do you think IRISS could be doing to support the social services workforce to improve outcomes for people who access support?

The only caveat is that the ideas should fit within our core themes: prevention (early years intervention, reshaping care for older people, reducing reoffending); integration; and personalisation: SDS.

All ideas are welcome by the 25th November.

You can email us: enquiries@iriss.org.uk, tweet @irissorg or call 0141 559 5059.

Thank you for your time.

STRADA and IRISS are hosting a Masterclass, ‘The Road Less Travelled: A Moral Direction for Drugs Policy’. The Masterclass will be held in Glasgow on 10 November 2011 and a limited number of places are now available.

Further information and booking are available on the IRISS website.

Any queries should be addressed to vicky.hamilton@glasgow.ac.uk.

IRISS is working with Shared Care Scotland, the Coalition of Carers and the Minority Ethnic Carers of Older People Project (MECOPP) to help address the lack of evidence on carer experiences of short breaks/respite services in Scotland.

As part of the project, a survey is being conducted, which focuses on a number of areas, including carers’ experiences of services, the benefits of short breaks, the outcomes short breaks contribute to for carers and those they care for, and any evidence of improved choice, flexibility and personalisation of services.

We are looking for carers to complete the survey, which is available online or to download as a PDF or Word document. We are also conducting focus groups in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Argyll. If you would like to take part in one of these focus groups, please contact Ben Hall at ben.hall@sharedcarescotland.com.

Please circulate to any interested colleagues and carers.

Further information is available on our project page.

Do you know a future leader? Someone who will define the future developments of social services in Scotland?

IRISS is looking to develop a network of innovators and would like your recommendations for people who have the right combination of attitude and skills to create and drive positive changes for social work services in the future.

We are looking for individuals who already play an active role in social services in Scotland, and are currently working to change things for the better. Nominees can work within any field of the sector and at any level, as long as they meet the criteria.

The ideal candidate is inquisitive, experimenting, creative, reflective, assertive, dedicated, people oriented and has integrity, a positive attitude and a good mind for strategic thinking.

IRISS will offer members of the innovators’ network free coaching and an opportunity to attend regular network events, which will strengthen their abilities to drive positive changes for social services.

Please send your suggestions to Rikke Iversholt (rikke.iversholt@iriss.org.uk) who will invite nominated individuals to apply for a place in the network.

Deadline for entries is Friday 21st October 2011.

IRISS has published a report entitled, Decision-making and social work in Scotland: the role of evidence and practice wisdom, which presents the results of a small qualitative study undertaken between February and March 2011. It considers the role of evidence in decision making around risk in social work and what affects this process.

The research aims to shed light on the relationship between evidence and practice wisdom (as an evidence type or integrating vehicle) or professional judgement, and how this relationship shapes decision making.

Download the report.

Alison Petch, Director at IRISS, has authored a report commissioned by the Association of Directors of Social Work (ADSW) entitled, An evidence base for the delivery of adult services. It was commissioned to inform current debates on the future delivery of adult services, and reveals a strong body of evidence pointing to the importance of local partnerships, local leadership and outcomes-based commissioning in improving services for the people who need them.

The review has accessed a major body of literature, the majority from the last decade; the evidence from these sources is both robust and consistent. The debate is not academic, but motivated by the aspiration to establish the optimum conditions for the provision of support to the 650,000 people in Scotland who have contact with social services.

Although the report focuses primarily on adult social care, the principles and evidence relating to partnership and integrated working are equally applicable to children’s services or to partnership working in the context of criminal justice social work.

Read the report.

IRISS has created a web page of resources for students and educators – those teaching or studying social services related subjects.

The full resource list is available at: http://www.iriss.org.uk/resources-students-and-educators

Examples of the resources listed include:

• The Learning Exchange: our free online library containing thousands of learning resources specifically for social services education and training (including briefings, reports, official publications, learning resources, video clips, case studies, podcasts and radio broadcasts
• IRISS multimedia learning materials
• IRISS podcasts
• Data Visualisation tool: a web-based toolkit that allows users to create and share great visualisations from their own information.

For further information, please contact Ellen Daly or Michelle Drumm at IRISS.

IRISS has been involved in the development of a ‘Crime and justice research collection’, which contains a mixture of podcasts and videos about recent research on crime and justice related topics.

The collection contains two types of recordings. Research soundbites are short clips that highlight key findings from recent crime and justice research. Research Discussion recordings are longer pieces involving a mixture of academics, policy makers and practitioners discussing research findings and their implications for policy, practice and academia.

The collection has been designed to improve access to, and awareness of, research findings and debate. It includes a combination of videos and audio, and has been supported by the Higher Education Academy: C-SAP Network, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR), and IRISS.

Please visit the collection page on the IRISS website for further information, and to access the video and audio recordings.