Capacity to delivery & keep children safe

What is this about?

This is about having enough people in the right place at the right time to deliver your service. It also means having enough staff to keep children and young people safe.

What does a fragmented approach look like?

The right staff aren’t in the right jobs, and the organisation is having trouble hiring and keeping good staff. Staff aren’t sure about how to safeguard children and young people and they do not enjoy their workplace.

What does an integrated and high quality approach look like?

There are enough people with the right skills to do the job properly – they are working together in a flexible way and enjoy their workplace. Keeping children and young people safe is seen as everyone’s joint responsibility and is done well.

Success from different viewpoints

• Children’s Trust
  “Sufficient number of staff at each level appropriately deployed to meet children’s needs. Career and succession planning is in place. Diverse workforce reflects the children, young people and families it serves”
• Team view
  “The team is well resourced with appropriate skills available to support workload.
  Safeguarding issues are discussed and team members dealing with them feel well supported."
• Service
  “Enough people to provide services, supported in their work, and who are excited by the opportunities that a career in the children’s workforce offers. Safeguarding is key to their work.”
• Practitioner’s view
  “There are enough people where I work and there is enough time to meet children’s needs and to keep them safe. I have the right level of support – it’s a good place to work.”
• Child’s view
  “I see the same person every time, and they have time to listen to me. I know they take my safety seriously.”