Innovation in Social Care Assessments for Disabled Children and Young People (2017)

As part of the Department for Education’s Social Care Innovation Programme, Coram was commissioned by the Council for Disabled Children to evaluate the effectiveness of their programme to co-design new approaches to assess disabled children for statutory and non-statutory support. The programme involved five local authorities who tested new approaches with the aim of creating a more efficient and proportionate system for families.

Overview

This research report summarises the activity and findings of Coram’s evaluation of the Innovation in Social Care Assessments for Disabled Children and Young People Programme led by the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) and funded by the Department for Education’s (DfE) Social Care Innovation Programme. The report covers the period May 2015 to September 2016. The CDC programme involved 5 local authorities developing and testing new approaches to assess disabled children and young people (DCYP) and their families for support. Each local authority utilised the CDC Learning and Innovation Model1 to co-produce new assessment approaches to test. The CDC Learning Model was comprised of 4 distinct phases – discover, define, co-design and test. The 5 local authorities involved in the programme were Cornwall Council, London Borough of Bromley, London Borough of Enfield, West Sussex County Council and City of York Council.