Consultancy Policy - June 2009

SIRCC’s Aim

Since 2000 SIRCC has been working to ensure that residential child care workers throughout Scotland have the access to the skills and knowledge they require to meet the needs of the children and young people in their care.

The Purpose

We believe that professional consultation has a major role in improving the residential services provided for children and young people. We work with individuals, teams and whole agencies to review and improve their residential child care practice.  SIRCC is passionate about helping organisations to provide the best residential child care services for children and young people.

Definition of Consultancy

Consultancy is defined as an activity that SIRCC carries out through which their expertise is exchanged with an external organisation, but which does not involve original research work or form part of a programme of learning and teaching.

This policy applies to all such activities whether or not payment for services is involved.

Our Consultants

Our consultancy work is overseen by our Consultancy Service Manager Judy Furnivall. Many SIRCC staff are involved in regular consultancy however to meet the increasing demands of the sector SIRCC has developed the role of SIRCC Associate Consultants.  Whilst all our consultants have been selected specifically for their skills, abilities, specialist knowledge and experience of residential child care, our consultancy services will normally involve at least one member of SIRCC staff.

Our Consultancy Service & Fees

SIRCC provides a range of evidence-based professional consultation services to residential child care providers in Scotland.

SIRCC has a unique position as a centre for excellence, possessing knowledge and experience of the residential child care sectors’ needs, as well as understanding of the legislative, issues and policy framework in relation to residential child care.

The services we provide range from full service reviews to coaching and support for individual managers. We work closely with commissioning agencies to ensure that we are able to identify their needs and provide a response that is particular to their situation.

Consultancy Services include

•  A Free Telephone /email advice service: SIRCC provides this service to respond to immediate questions about any aspect of residential child care. This service is available to anyone interested in residential child care.
•  A Free Placement advisory service: SIRCC will provide information to a social worker on services which may suit the requirements of a particular young person, based on information held on its Residential Units Database.
• A Free Short Team Building/Consultancy service: SIRCC offers, free of charge, a team building package of no more than 3days to each Local Authority/agency in Scotland (restricted to one per financial year). Increased levels of team building are available at a subsidised rate.
•  In depth consultancy, such as a full service review, is provided at a subsidised rate to residential care providers throughout Scotland. This is currently £500 per day + VAT.
• We can provide consultancy services outside Scotland but this will incur a charge at a commercial rate of £800 per day +VAT.

Undertaking Consultancy

SIRCC has responsibilities to stakeholders, children and young people, SIRCCstaff and funders. Therefore we must ensure that we deliver the highest possible quality of services in a cost effective and efficient manner.

We require that all consultancy work for external bodies undertaken by our employees is appropriately recorded, in accordance with data protection legislation, using SIRCC Consultancy paperwork. (See Appendix 1)

Quality Assurance

The consultancy we provide aims to enhance the reflective capacity of staff, support the design and development of excellent residential child care resources and to ensure that children and young people receive the quality of care that protects their rights and enables them to achieve their potential. SIRCC has therefore introduced a quality assurance process which has three main components:

• Evaluation forms completed by Agency/organisation on completion of service.       The information from these evaluations will be input and stored electronically.
• Feedback to consultant and consultancy manager in the form of a summary evaluation for each piece of work.
• Quarterly review of summary evaluations by the SIRCC Assistant Director (Operations)

Complaints Procedure

SIRCC endeavours to provide everyone who receives services from us with an environment that is supportive and fair and where services are provided in an efficient and friendly manner.

However, we acknowledge that problems can occur from time to time. When they do, or when an organisation is not satisfied, it is important that SIRCC is informed as soon as possible. This may be informal or formal.

If there is uncertainty as to whether or not a formal complaint should be submitted, the Senior Management Team can be contacted (contact details on www.sircc.org.uk) to provide unbiased advice in relation to the concern.

• To notify SIRCC of a formal complaint in relation to SIRCC or the services we provide:
• Notify us in writing either using the pro-forma provided or by providing this information in a letter
• Submit your complaint marked “Private and Confidential’ to:The DirectorScottish Institute for Residential Child CareUniversity of Strathclyde76 Southbrae DriveGlasgow, G13 1PPThe complete SIRCC complaint procedure and form are on the SIRCC web site.

Liability

The Institute will use all reasonable endeavours to ensure the quality and accuracy of the consultations and advice provided, but it makes no warranty, expressed or implied, as to accuracy and will not be held responsible for any consequences arising out of any inaccuracies or omissions.

For further discussion on any aspect of our consultancy services please contact us on 0141 950 3683 or judith.furnivall@strath.ac.uk

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