New ways of supporting people, new ways of supporting the workforce

Aim of project

The increase in direct payments and individual budgets and the ideas in the White Paper Your Health, Your Care, Your Say herald major changes in the way services are provided to people with learning disabilities. These changes will also have a profound effect on the workforce. This project will explore these workforce development and support issues.

This project will:

- Take the work from the In Control Project and the Skills for Care New Roles New Ways of Working Project and look at the implications specifically for the workforce that support people with learning disabilities

- Work with eight individuals or organisations, the people they support and those who support them to identify the key issues in relation to employing supporting workers

- Find out from people with learning disabilities and their families what information and advice they might need while they are exploring new types of services and again what information and advice they would need when they had direct payments or an individual budget

- Find out from training managers, HR staff and service planners and commissioners about the opportunities and challenges they see in relation to the training and support of staff in new types of services. Information and advice will be available to this group about the issues, how they are currently being managed and to identify good practice.

The outcomes will be:

- an holistic analysis of the developing new workforce issues in relation to the support of people with learning disabilities

- information for people with learning disabilities, family carers, support workers, training managers and HR staff, training organisations and others about the workforce implications of new types of services

- information on the current workforce and HR issues (such as training, support, recruitment, retention and CRB checks) in relation to support provided through direct payments and individualised budgets. It will also explore the future staffing needs of people with learning disabilities using these types of services.

Partner organisations

The project will work with 8 individuals or organisations over a period of about 18 months as people take up the opportunities of new types of support. It will work with people to understand the opportunities and challenges in relation to the support and staffing in their new situation. The project will seek to understand the workforce opportunities and challenges from the perspectives of people with learning disabilities, family carers, support workers, support organisations, training and HR managers, workforce planners and service commissioners.

Timetable

The project will start in the summer of 2006 and run for two years. The project will work with people and organisations for 18 months to identify the opportunities and challenges as they take up new types of support. Details about the project will be disseminated through the use of electronic fact sheets, workshops and through presentations at conference.

Further details

For additional information about this project or to receive a regular e-newsletter please contact Lesley Barcham at BILD on 01562 723010 or email l.barcham@bild.org.uk. Information on the BILD website about this project will be regularly updated this can be found at www.bild.org.uk.

This project is funded by a Department of Health Section 64 grant.

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Page ref: '04projects_eleclib' Owned by: enquiries@bild.org.uk Last updated: 30/07/2007