Placements Northwest

The Placements North West Project is a collaborative approach to the strategic and operational activities involved in finding and purchasing Out of Authority Placements. It is accountable to the 22 Directors of Children's Services in the region who have agreed to collaborate under a single unified structure that replaces the previous sub regional projects. All future activity will be guided and monitored by a Steering Group that is chaired by Joan Feenan, DCS Cheshire County Council. Other members of the group include strategic leads from Local Authority Children Services Departments, Partnership North West (SEN) and the Strategic Health Authority.

Current Developments

During the initial implementation phase (June – December 2007) the current full time project leads (David Smith and Jean Warren) will, supported by officers from individual authorities and representatives from the Provider sector, coordinate the development and establishment of:

• A regional approach to provider registration and monitoring
• A regional approach to outcome based placement monitoring
• A regional approach to standard fees and an agreed approach to negotiating annual increases.

To support the above Placements North West is also developing a Regional Placement Management System to integrate agreed registration, organisational and outcomes monitoring processes into the system. The system is called PIMS and is accessible to Children's Services Departments via this website.

The system will provide a comprehensive regional database and placement search facility to inform and promote effective matching of children and young people and placements. This management information will also provide participating authorities and providers with a better understanding of commissioning intelligence and management information relating to placement activity. The development of the database has successfully received funding support from the DCFS for the project, specifically to develop a strategic placement management system for measuring provider outcome performance and helping better market management.

Consultation and Communication

Consultation will be achieved through the Joint Working Purchaser/Provider Groups representing all the NW authorities, agencies and specialists involved in making Out of Authority Placements. The current groupings are:

• Residential Care Providers

• Independent Foster Agencies
• Education Providers
• Leaving Care Providers

The representatives on these groups will be responsible for wider consultation and dissemination of information within their own networks. There will be an annual regional Provider Forum which will provide topical information across the region. Everyone involved in the project and these groups, whether strategic or operational, will be fully involved to ensure that appropriate information is cascaded to all relevant stakeholders. Regular updates on progress will be provided via the website to assist with the consultation and information sharing process.