Redesigning support for care leavers
As a result of research conducted by IRISS on the state of innovation and improvement in Scottish social services sector, key barriers to innovation emerged. A lack of time, finance and political interests were the three main barriers that were reported by the sector – maintaining the status quo rather than focusing on the needs of service users.
This project explored how co-productive* methods can be used in the social services sector to use resources differently and consider how this process may effect the status quo by involving service users in the re-design of existing services. It was explored – with the Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum, Argyll and Bute Council, Snook, practitioners and care leavers – what a co-productive approach could look like and yield in the social work sector. These ideas were developed so that they can be piloted and tested by leaving care services.
For more information contact Gayle Rice.
* Co-production is a word that is used widely and can be interpreted in many different ways. In this project it refers to a way of working whereby service providers and users work together to create a service that works for them all. The approach is value-driven and built on the principle that those who are affected by a service are best placed to help design it.