One Children's Workforce tool for children's trusts
What is this tool and what is it for?
This one children's workforce online tool aims to help every children's trust establish the progress they have made in developing one children's workforce - a workforce that is integrated and high quality, and making the best contribution possible to local Every Child Matters outcomes and the Children and Young People's Plan.
By using this tool, children’s trusts are easily able to highlight areas for potential improvements, and thus focus development activity on the areas that are likely to have the greatest positive impact on all five of the Every Child Matters outcomes.
How does it work?
The One Children’s Workforce Framework is a simple vision of what an integrated workforce looks like. Each colour on the rainbow represents a different theme – they are all about things people could do or ways they could work that would improve children and young people’s lives.
The One Children’s Workforce Tool helps children’s trusts to self assess themselves against the One Children’s Workforce Framework. It takes them through a series of steps to work out where they are currently positioned on a spectrum from ‘fragmented’ to ‘integrated and high quality’. These steps include gathering the views of a wide range of people from the children’s workforce and planning what to do next to develop an integrated and high quality workforce and to improve outcomes for children and young people.
When?
The tool was launched in October 2008. All of the 152 children’s trusts have completed the tool and submitted a summary report to CWDC, setting out their current position against the framework and the actions they plan to take next to improve outcomes for children and young people.
The year 2 version of the tool was launched in October 2009. It includes a number of enhancements to the old tool, and new integrated working drill down and safeguarding sections.
Video introduction to the tool for children’s trusts nominated leads...
Other people might also find this a helpful introduction.
The Flash 9 plugin is required to view this video.Alternatively you can download quicktime or avi versions of the video.
Integrated working drill down
The new integrated working drill down section represents the merger of the integrated working self assessment tool or IWSAT (completed by trusts in 2008) with the tool. Its purpose is to provide an opportunity for children's trusts to look at how their children's workforce is currently positioned on the spectrum from fragmented to integrated and high quality, in relation to integrated working practices.
Safeguarding
The new safeguarding section of the tool provides an opportunity for children's trusts to look in more detail at where they are up to on developing a children's workforce that is making the best contribution possible to safeguarding.
Other enhancements
You will be able to download a list of other enhancements and changes launched in October 2009 once you login to the tool.
Not from a children's trust?
In 2010 CWDC will be launching a tool for individuals and groups. This tool will help them find out more about the vision of an integrated children and young people’s workforce and how they fit within it.
If you aren't from a children's trust, the framework can still help you. You can find out how it works by accessing the ‘walkthrough’ and FAQs.