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.
