Care Act

This programme is a full comprehensive day covering the key principles and duties of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, in relation to assessment, eligibility and care and support planning. The training is tailored accordingly to accommodate a mixed group of staff, including social workers, social care officers/support workers, occupational therapists and students. The training is supported by a comprehensive workbook comprising all slides, many with additional notes, plus case studies and a list of suggested strengths based questions to support practice. The course will cover the person with care and support needs and carers equally throughout the day. The programme begins by looking at the background of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and covers the key principles and spirit of the Act, including the emphasis on maximising choice and control, harnessing the existing strengths within a person’s life and focusing on what is important to that person. The course continues with coverage of the core principles of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. These principles emphasise the importance of supporting people who have care and support needs to achieve well-being, the person being at the heart of all social care arrangements and the centrality of partnerships, co-operation and prevention across the social and health care system. The course will explore the key duties of Prevention, Information, Advice and Assistance (IAA), Advocacy and Assessment, emphasising the importance of a ‘what matters’ conversation to identify and achieve well-being outcomes. Exercises include two quizzes, one on assessment, the other on eligibility and a case study to test out a range of strengths based questions that underpin collaborative conversations in assessments. The course will also consider assessment and eligibility decisions focusing on all five elements of assessment and will include reflection on what a good ‘what matters’ conversation looks like as part of the assessment process and how staff can work with people to achieve personal outcomes. This includes accurate recording, professional opinion and providing sound evidence for assessment and eligibility decisions. The course will also draw from a recent independent evaluation of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales)Act 2014, commissioned by the Welsh Government, as well as relevant Ombudsman cases and Judicial Reviews. The remainder of the afternoon session will cover the essential components of refining and embedding a personal outcomes approach in the care and support planning process, it will include a quiz and reflective learning on innovative and creative ways to support a person’s wellbeing outcomes, including the use of direct payments. The course explores how Direct Payments can be used and considers guidance and public law principles to help steer practice.

This programme is a half day course which will be a refresher of the key principles and duties of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, in relation to assessment, eligibility and care and support planning. The programme, specifically designed for managers, will focus on how they can ensure their team members meet team objectives and consistently achieve legal compliance and high standards of quality practice. This will include reflective supervision, ensuring that ‘what matters’ conversations are taking place and overseeing recording. It will also include focus on how to effectively manage performance in teams and how to build further on managerial financial and legal literacy. The training is supported by a comprehensive workbook comprising all of the slides, many with additional notes, plus case studies and a list of suggested strengths-based questions to support staff with collaborative conversations. The course will cover the person with care and support needs and carers equally throughout the session. The programme is a refresher course and will cover the spirit and principles of the Act, including the emphasis on how to support staff to maximise individual choice and control, harness the existing strengths within a person’s life and focus on what is important to that person. Exercises will include a quiz on assessment and a case study to practise strengths based questions and to reinforce the importance of identifying the person/carer’s personal outcomes. The assessment and eligibility section of the training will focus on how to support staff to undertake all five elements of assessment and make sound and confident assessment and eligibility decisions. This includes the importance of creative solutions, accurate recording, professional opinion and providing evidence. The remainder of the course will cover how managers can support staff to deliver on the key duties of care and support planning through undertaking a quiz and reflecting on how their teams can provide creative support options, including how Direct Payments can be used. The course will also draw learning and a practice steer from the recent independent evaluation of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales)Act 2014, commissioned by the Welsh Government, as well as relevant Ombudsman cases and Judicial Reviews.

This programme is a half day course intended for those with a good working knowledge of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and an understanding of the key duties and principles, in relation to assessment, eligibility and care and support planning. The course will include a refresher of the key duties and principles followed by an examination of what a good assessment looks like, especially when working with complexity, drawing from relevant case law, Ombudsman cases and good practice principles. The training is supported by a comprehensive workbook comprising all slides, many with additional notes, plus relevant case studies, a list of strengths based questions to support collaborative conversations in assessment, planning and review and summaries of relevant Ombudsman cases/Judicial Reviews. The course will cover the person with care and support needs and carers equally throughout the session. The programme will include a refresh of the core principles of wellbeing, the strengths based approach and personal outcomes, the key duties of Prevention, Information, Advice and Assistance (IAA), Advocacy and Assessment, including how participation can be maximised. The emphasis will be on the application of the law in relation to these duties and principles and the learning derived from various judicial judgements. The assessment and eligibility section of the training will focus on how to undertake all five elements of assessment and make sound and confident assessment and eligibility decisions, particularly regarding complex cases. The course will also draw from a recent independent evaluation of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales)Act 2014, commissioned by the Welsh Government, as well as relevant Ombudsman cases and Judicial Reviews to help steer complexity.

This programme is a half day course which is a refresher of the key principles and duties of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, in relation to assessment, eligibility and care and support planning. The training is supported by a comprehensive workbook comprising all slides, many with additional notes, plus case studies and a list of suggested strengths-based questions to support practice. The course will cover the person with care and support needs and carers equally throughout the day. The programme covers a refresher of the core principles of well-being, the strengths based approach and personal outcomes, the key duties of Prevention, Information, Advice and Assistance (IAA), Advocacy and Assessment, including how participation can be maximised. Exercises include a quiz on assessment and a case study to reinforce the importance of using a diverse range of strengths based questions to identifying the person/carer’s personal outcomes. The course will consider assessment and eligibility decisions focusing on all five elements of assessment. It includes reflection on what a good ‘what matters’ conversation looks like as part of the assessment process and how staff can work with people to achieve personal outcomes. This will also include accurate recording, professional opinion and providing sound evidence for assessment and eligibility decisions. To aid reflection and quality practice improvement, the course will draw from a recent independent evaluation of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales)Act 2014, commissioned by the Welsh Government, as well as relevant Ombudsman cases and Judicial Reviews. The remainder of the session will cover the essential components of refining and embedding a personal outcomes approach in the care and support planning process, it will include a quiz and reflective learning on innovative ways to support a person’s wellbeing outcomes, including the use of direct payments. This will include exploring collaborative and creative conversations and solutions focussed approaches, through completing the case study from the morning session

This programme is a full comprehensive practice-based day covering the key contributions that social care practitioners will make when working within the CHC National Framework (2022). It explores the statutory expectations in relation to completing the CHC checklist and engaging in the Decision Support Tool (DST) meeting, its correlation to the Care Act (2014) and the importance of keeping the person at the centre of the process. The training is supported by pre-session activities for delegates, a comprehensive workbook comprising all slides, case studies and a reflective tool for use post completion of the course and beyond. The Programme The programme begins by looking at the background of the CHC National Framework to enable delegates the opportunity to understand the importance of working within remit of legislation. This entails an overview of the key benchmark cases that have contributed to the development of the National Framework. In the pre-session activities set, delegates are offered the opportunity to explore these cases independently to enable a more thorough understanding. An overview of the National Framework is provided, including key changes following the revision of 2022, and highlights the key principles and core values which underpin it to enable delegates to mindfully apply them during the process. The main part of the day is centred around providing participants with the opportunity to undertake a detailed examination of the CHC checklist and a domain-by-domain study of the DST. Following provision of information from the trainer, small group exercises are undertaken which consists of cases studies and a breakdown of the checklist and DST to enable consideration of the main features of each process. This includes exploration of ancillary and incidental support, the four characteristics of the presenting needs of the adult, and the importance of analysis, presentation of explicit facts and appropriate evidence to support professional judgement. There is opportunity for reflection after each small group activity which enable participants to consider the key things required in working towards ‘best practice’. The day concludes with an overview of National guidelines in relation to process after the DST meeting.

This programme is a full comprehensive day covering the key principles and duties of the Care Act 2014, in relation to assessment, eligibility and care and support planning. The training is tailored accordingly to accommodate a mixed group of staff, including social workers, social care officers/support workers, occupational therapists and students. The training is supported by a comprehensive workbook comprising all slides, many with additional notes, plus case studies and a list of suggested Strengths Based Questions. The course will cover the person with care and support needs and carers equally throughout the day. The programme begins by looking at the background of the Care Act - a consolidation Act and covers the key philosophy and spirit of the Act including the emphasis on maximising choice and control harnessing the existing strengths within a person’s life and focusing throughout on what is important to that person. It continues with coverage of the core principles of wellbeing, the strengths based approach and personal outcomes, the key duties of Prevention, Information and Advice and Advocacy and Assessment, an emphasis on Think Family and how involvement can be maximised. Exercises include two quizzes, one on assessment, the other on eligibility and a case study to test out a range of strengths based questions and to reinforce the importance of identifying the person/carer’s personal outcomes. The eligibility section covers the 3 stage test for eligibility, focusing on significant impact. It includes unpicking some of the eligibility outcomes, working through specific and recent Ombudsmen cases and considering what questions need to be addressed. This section concludes with the importance of accurate recording, professional opinion and providing evidence. The remainder of the afternoon session will cover the essential components of the Care and Support Plan and include a quiz, refining the personal outcomes, clarifying what the Indicative Personal Budget is and the suggested conversation around it, understanding support options and the range of ways a Personal Budget can be taken, including how Direct Payments can be used, the three key principles (transparency, sufficiency and timeliness), Public Law Principles and adopting creative solutions through completing the case study from the morning session

This 1.5 training day Care Act Refresher Training for practitioners will cover a refresher on the key aspects and principles of the Care Act, including involving the person as much as possible during the process which highlights a number of key duties. It will look at the link between the Act and how this is translated into effective practice and explores a range of aspects in relation to good assessment and good care and support planning. The course will consider what different types of information can be used in evidence, the factors to take into account when formulating a professional opinion and examine defensible decision making. Linked to this will be a session on what constitutes ethical and effective recording. The training will finish with looking at handling difficult conversations and promoting self-resilience. The sessions are highly participative with delegates working in small groups on a range of case studies, exercises and quizzes. The programme for managers will have the same overall programme but will focus on how they can ensure their respective team members meet the objectives and consistently achieve legal compliance and high standards of practice.

The course is designed to enable participants to develop a working knowledge of the importance of understanding and managing challenging behaviours in a variety of different workplaces.