Being heard
8. Appendix 1: where to go for information and help
Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC)
CWDC is one of five bodies forming the UK Skills For Care and Development Sector Skills Council and coordinates the Children's Workforce Network. The CWDC aims to improve the lives of children and young people. It will do this by ensuring that the people working with children have the best possible training, qualifications, support and advice. It will also help children and young people's organisations and services to work together so that the child is at the centre of all services.
CWDC works in the interests of a range of sectors covering about 500,000 workers, including early years and childcare, education welfare and social care for children and young people. Further information is available on
www.cwdcouncil.org.uk.
Every Child Matterswww.everychildmatters.gov.uk
The Every Child Matters website is a Department for Education and Skills (DfES) website which brings together current information and guidance arising from Every Child Matters across education, health, social care and youth justice. It includes sections on delivering services, on strategy and governance, information for parents and information for children and young people.
National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NACVA)
The NAVCA is the national voice of local voluntary and community sector
infrastructure in England. Its purpose is to promote local voluntary and community action nationally. NACVA does this by providing its members with information, advice, networking and learning opportunities, support and development services. It also works closely with other national bodies to ensure a collaborative approach to policy development. Further information is available at www.navca.org.uk.
National Council of Voluntary Child Care Organisations (NCVCCO)
The NCVCCO is the leading umbrella organisation whose members are all voluntary organisations that work with children, young people and their families.
It provides information such as publications and briefings, consults members on child care and family issues and represents members' views, to central, regional and local government. Its unique strength is in the collective power, voice and influence it can have to promote the childrens voluntary sector and campaign for positive change on behalf of children and families. Further information is available at www.ncvcco.org.uk.
National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
The NCVO gives voice and support to voluntary and community organisations. It is the largest umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England with sister councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is a lobbying organisation, involved with research into, and analysis of, the voluntary sector. The NCVO provides information, advice and support to others working in or with the voluntary sector; they produce books, reports, toolkits and briefing papers, run conferences, manage and facilitate networks. Further information is available at www.ncvo-vol.org.uk.
National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS)
The NCVYS is the independent voice of the voluntary youth sector in England. NCVYS’ aims include improving the quality of work with young people by developing, supporting and promoting best practice and standards within organisations. Member organisations can access information, networking opportunities, representation, and advice, training and development services. Further information is available at www.ncvys.org.uk.
SureStart
SureStart is a Government programme which aims to achieve better outcomes for children, parents and communities by:
• increasing the availability of childcare for all children
• improving health and emotional development for young children
• supporting parents as parents and in their aspirations towards employment.
SureStart achieves its aims by helping services development in disadvantaged areas alongside financial help for parents to afford childcare and by rolling out the principles driving the SureStart approach to all services for children and parents. The SureStart website contains useful information for parents, available at www.surestart.gov.uk.
TeacherNet
Information for people working in schools, but with a focus on information that is most relevant to teachers and parents is currently available on TeacherNet. Information for all those working in schools, including school support staff, will be brought together on the schoolsweb site, planned for August 2007.
www.teachernet.gov.uk.
VCS Engage
VCS Engage is an 18-month programme for engaging the Voluntary and Community Sector in Every Child Matters (ECM) ending in March 2008. The purpose of the VCS Engage programme is to engage the VCS in the new framework for planning, commissioning and delivering services for children, young people and families. This will be achieved through tailored training packages, equipping the sector with the skills and knowledge they need to engage with Local Authorities and work within the ECM agenda.
The programme is funded by the Department for Education and Skills. Further information is available at www.vcsengage.org.uk.
Workforce Hub
The UK Workforce Hub helps voluntary and community organisations make the best of their paid staff, volunteers and trustees through workforce development. Their work falls into four main areas: learning and skills, human resources and employment practice, leadership and working and volunteering in the voluntary sector.
The Hub works with partners across the sector so that:
• more people come to work in the sector
• people who already work in the sector, as paid staff or volunteers, can continuously develop their skills
• people can develop their management and leadership skills
• organisations find it easy to be good employers and manage all their human resources to the best effect.
Every Child Matters, 2003 was a government green paper (a consultation document) which was published as a result of the enquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié. It made a series of
proposals for reform of the system in place for safeguarding children in England. Every Child Matters introduced a vision for the outcomes that mattered most for children:
Be healthy Stay safe
Enjoy and achieve
Make a positive contribution Achieve economic well-being
The proposals for achieving this focused on four main areas:
• Supporting parents and children
• Early intervention and effective protection
• Accountability and integration – locally, regionally and nationally
• Workforce reform
The last two of these points are important influences in shaping workforce development now and for the foreseeable future. Every Child Matters (ECM) is linked to a series of government acts, programmes and strategies which took that consultation forward:
➢Every Child Matters: next steps, 2004 reported on the results of the ECM
consultations.
➢Children Act 2004 provides a legislative foundation for reforming of children’s
services.
➢Every Child Matters: Change for Children, December 2004: the government
programme to implement Every Child Matters, parts of which are statutory requirements under the Children Act 2004. This established a national framework for local ‘change programmes’, so that services were reorganized around children and young people. Change for Children is the programme which has re-structured local authority services and brought into being the new Children’s Services departments. Change for Children developed the ECM ‘5 outcomes’ into an ‘outcomes framework’ for the purposes of measuring success in achieving the outcomes.