Care Act

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.