Children and Youth Area Partnerships reducing child vulnerability together Background and context Activity to date February 2012 Report of the Protecting Victorias Vulnerable Children ID: 632917
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Victoria’s Vulnerable Children – Our Shared Responsibility 2013–2022
Children and Youth
Area
Partnerships –
reducing child vulnerability together Slide2
Background and context: Activity to date
February 2012
Report of the
Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry released.May 2012 Victoria’s Vulnerable Children – Our Shared Responsibility Directions Paper released.Ministerial Committee and Children’s Services Coordination Board established.May 2013Victoria’s Vulnerable Children – Our Shared Responsibility Strategy 2013–2022 and first implementation bulletin released.Nov 2013Release of service sector reform – A roadmap for community and human services reform. December 2013 Baseline Performance Data Report and second implementation bulletin released.2014Out-of-home care: a five year plan released in Implementation of Area Partnerships. Annual performance report.Further Implementation Updates.
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Background and Context: Service Sector Reform The Service Sector Reform project aims to improve how government and the community sector work together to improve the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged Victorians.
In responding to Professor
Shergold’s
report, Government endorsed a number of principles including that there would be genuine partnership with the community sector and shared governance through joint contributions to service design and sharing responsibility for program delivery.Area Partnerships are an important first step for the Victorian Government in developing a new way of working to better join-up social services in Victoria.2Slide4
Background and context
Victoria’s Vulnerable Children – Our Shared Responsibility Strategy 2013–2022
A
shared definition “Children and young people are vulnerable if the capacity of parents and family to effectively care, protect and provide for their long-term development and wellbeing is limited.”A shared responsibility across sectors Including health, housing, education, community service organisations, justice, police and local government.
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Background and context
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Collaborative governanceSlide6
Background and context
5
Shared
accountabilitySlide7
Why Children and Youth Area Partnerships?
A collaborative approach is needed.
Vulnerability and disadvantage has a geographical context.
A practical mechanism to effect change. What will Children and Youth Area Partnerships focus on? “What will it take in your community to keep vulnerable children safe from harm and have every opportunity to succeed in life?”Key functions for Children and Youth Area PartnershipsPriority setting, service coordination, service co-design, community engagement; and performance monitoring.The partnerships will not: make policy; respond to individual cases; pool funding; commission services; or undertake holistic area planning.6Slide8
Developing the Area Partnership model
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Collective
impactLarge-scale social change comes from better cross-sector coordination rather than from the isolated intervention of individual organisations. Evidence of the effectiveness of this approach is still limited, but examples suggest that substantially greater progress could be made in alleviating many of our most serious and complex social problems if not-for-profit organisations, governments, businesses, and the public were brought together around a common agenda to create collective impact.Achieving change requires a systematic approach to social impact that focuses on the relationships between organisations and progress towards shared objectives.
This project is an opportunity to test a new way of working. It can be used across a range of public sector services to fundamentally change the way in which we provide services to Victorians. Slide9
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Making collective impact work
The Five Conditions of Collective Impact
1. Common AgendaAll participants have a shared vision for change including a common understanding of the problem and a joint approach to solving it through agreed actions2. Shared MeasurementCollecting data and measuring results consistently across all participants ensures efforts remain aligned and participants hold each other accountable3. Mutually Reinforcing ActivitiesParticipant activities must be differentiated while still being coordinated through a mutually reinforcing plan of action4. Continuous Communication
Consistent and open communication is needed across the many players to build trust, assure mutual objectives, and create shared motivation
5. Backbone Support
Creating and managing collective impact requires a separate organisation(s) with staff with a specific set of skills to serve as the backbone for the entire initiative and coordinate participating organisations and agenciesSlide10
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Collective Impact and the Area Partnership model
Five critical enablers for success
1.
Good
data
2.
Dedicated
resources
3.
Right people in the
room
4.
Local
flexibility
5.
Knowledge of leading
practice
Community and sector engagement
Information sharing
Planning and priority setting
Service coordination
Service co-design
Performance monitoring and accountabilitySlide11
Group needs to have authority to make decisions and effect change
Decisions informed by practice and grass roots experience
Members need to have necessary authority to share data, endorse priority issues, direct actvity, commit resources, and change internal operating procedures.
Members will likely be:DHS: Area Director (potential chair)DEECD: Deputy Regional Director (potential chair)VicPol: SuperIntendent.DH, DoJ: Regional Directors Local government: Director Human ServicesCommunity Sector: CEO, Deputy CEO or equivalent. 10Connecting senior management and practitioners.Achieved through working group membership, requirement that responses to any priorities engages through reform of practiceEvaluation to include extent of practice change
The right people in the room – getting the balance right
Area Partnerships bring together
Victorian Government departments, including: the Departments of Education and Early Childhood; Health; Human Services; Justice; and Victoria Police, to work with local government and the community sector to reduce child and youth vulnerability.Slide12
Each partnership will need to consider how each member organisation can act to enable change in service practices to improve outcomes for clients.
This will require a mechanism to identify what needs to change in on-the-ground practice and a range of reform options for senior decision-makers to consider which will drive improved practice (for example, behaviour) in their organisations.
Level of Seniority
Level of contact with clients and residentsMinister (governor)
Area Partnership level (authoriser)
Front-line staff (practitioners)
Information on what needs to change
Action to enable changed practice
Engagement with practice?
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Engaging with the community sector
The group will be most effective where:
Values match between participants.
Individual members believe their participation makes a difference.Shared belief in positive long-term outcomes.Some individuals, agencies or networks will always be relevant and need to be atthe table.12
Representation for the sector drawn from existing structures (e.g. Child and Family Alliances).
Other members based on local priorties and needs.
We will work with the Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) to develop options. Slide14
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Area Partnership Model
with
mechanism for broad inclusionArea Partnership ForumSlide15
Developing shared work priorities
Enabling partnerships to organise around a shared set of priorities for which the members share a common ownership will be critical to success.
Action should align with the
Victoria’s Vulnerable Children – Our Shared Responsibility Strategy 2013–2022 Performance and Accountability Framework.14Centrally set broad priorities: Safety and neglect Participation in early childhood services and schools Area Partnerships determine local priorities and approach to implementation Slide16
Launch group
develops
long list ConsultationShortlist and prepare framework for action Provide for endorsementEngaging government and other key partnersLaunch group members identify key priorities and emerging issues (informed by data and local experience).Engaging the sectorLaunch group hosts workshop/ meetings to test priorities with sector and local stakeholders Refining priorities Agreed shortlist is developed based on where members can have impact and affect change. A framework for action is developed which details the theory for change and steps to achieve improved outcomes.Being accountablePriorities and framework for action forwarded to the CSCB to note.Networks provide six monthly progress reports to Children’s Services Coordination Board.
Possible process
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Possible framework for relationships with other networks
Relationships with existing networks will be tested in each launch site.
Those consulted to date have highlighted the number of networks which already exist.
Area Partnerships seek to build on existing good practice and work, not duplicate or waste effort.
The following schema provides a framework for considering these relationships.
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Area Partnerships offer an opportunity to simplify existing governance structures
Joint Service Planning
Represent
Connect
Aware
Existing entity may consolidate some, most or all of their activities into the Area Partnership.
Existing networks are represented on the partnerships either permanently or for a limited period based on current priority issues.
Existing networks that cover issues relevant to vulnerable children but are not critical or not engaged with a partnership priority
.
Existing networks that cover the same area or may address related issues. Slide18
Component
I: Initiate
II: Organise
III: SustainGovernance andinfrastructureIdentify chair and membership ,establish cross-government launch group and invite critical sector members.Agree relationship with existing networks,
finalise
membership, hold first meeting, appoint Principle Advisor.
Review membership
as priorities change over
time, 6 monthly progress updates to CSCB and VCRU.
Strategic planning
Review area data profile , assess service demands and challenges and identify potential priorities.
Endorse priorities
,
review evidence based interventions, establish Working Groups.
Partners support implementation of work and escalate any issues to CSCB
Community involvement
Hold Area Partnership Forum to test priorities.
Working group engages with community and implements framework for action.
Regular feedback on progress and impact of work.
Evaluation and improvement
Review and refine initial list of priorities, identify measures to determine
impact .
Monitor implementation activity against measures, based on implementation advise on how model could be refined.
Continue to monitor implementation activity, share learning and release data report on progress.
Potential launch process
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A backbone of support is required
Backbone provided by Vulnerable Children’s Reform Unit
During the establishment phase of all 17 Area Partnerships, the VCRU will act as the backbone of the initiative, to provide support and ensure a consistent approach is applied to implementation across the state.
Data.Facilitation.Guidance material.Accountability and monitoring.Evaluation.Principles for engagement with Aboriginal communities and groups.Divisonal and Regional partners are a critical factor to success – in particular the chair. The chair will need to acting as an influential champion to ensure the right people are around the table and engaged from the relevant sectors. This would need to at least include:The chair (likely from DHS or DEECD) actively overseeing the priority projects and relationships.Project managers – support staff funded by the Victorian Government. Driven by local championsCreating and managing collective impact requires a separate organisation or unit with staff and a specific set of skills to serve as the backbone for the entire initiative and coordinate participating organisations and agencies.
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