On Monday we held our first session of the Central Bedfordshire Care Leaver’s Coproduction Project at our Care Leaver’s Hub in Houghton Regis. Members of the project include three of our Care Leavers in addition to professionals from the Leaving Care Team, Education Service, Housing, LAC Health Team and the Head of Corporate Parenting.

This session was very much an introductory session, aiming to build the foundations for strong working relationships and group dynamics as well as enabling the group to gain an understanding of service design. The session started with some introductions and ground rules. We talked about the importance of confidentiality and how everybody’s views, feelings and ideas within the group will always be valid, valued and respected.

We began by exploring some of the jargon that is often used when we talk about service design, such as ‘prototyping’. We discovered that this is a fancy word for a very simple concept – the word ‘prototyping’ just means testing out a new idea.

Everyone was able to think about a time where they have tested out their own new ideas, or ‘prototyped’, and we explored how this made us feel. Some of us felt happy, excited and proud but others felt anxious and worried about being judged.

After exploring some feelings that may be evoked from developing new ideas, we then moved on to an exercise where we created our own service. Everyone was really creative and it was great to hear everyone’s ideas! We heard everything from the reliable ‘Perfect Plumbers’, to the great service at ‘Mica’s Wheels’ to the great new haircuts you could get at  ‘Don’t Wear A Green Hat’ hairdressers! Each member of the group presented their very carefully-considered service design and the group then voted to choose two services to take forward to the next stage.

We then looked at the process of ‘blueprinting’. We talked about what this process refers to, which is looking at the service from the point of view of the people who actually use the service.

We then used the two chosen service designs, to look at the actions the customer would need to take when using the service. We then looked at what the service would need to do or have, to facilitate the customer’s actions – this included things like great customer service and great value for money, as well as material things such as an office space, parking, website and telephone. We soon realised that there are many different things to think about if we want a service to be a success.

At the end of this exercise, we recapped our progress for the day. In just one morning, we had managed to collectively design two services – using prototyping, servicizing and blueprinting! The services we designed were a rather fantastic looking clothes shop ‘Unique’ and a delicious sounding takeaway food shop ‘Global Tastes’.

I asked the group for feedback on how they felt the first session had gone, which overall was very positive. Members of the group commented on how they enjoyed the interactive group exercises and how they enjoyed meeting and working with people from a range of different agencies.

Areas that could be improved for the next session include providing the group with information hand-outs.

We ended the workshop by sharing lunch together; this was a great chance to sit around the table and just chat. I certainly enjoyed getting to know everyone in such an informal, friendly environment!

I look forward to seeing you all on Monday and it would be great to see some of your comments and reflections from our first session underneath.

Laura

Welcome and thank you for visiting the blog for the Coproduction Project for Care Leavers in Central Bedfordshire. My name is Laura Park and I am a Consultant Social Worker in the Central Bedfordshire Corporate Parenting Service. I am fortunate enough to be leading this very exciting project and I will be updating this blog regularly to provide updates, information and photographs of all of our activity and progress.

What is the aim of the Coproduction Project?

The aim of the project is to improve services for Care Leavers in Central Bedfordshire using a coproductive approach to service design. This involves bringing together a range of professionals from different agencies with care leavers, to share their knowledge, skills and experience. We will work as a group to identify insights, problems and opportunities that may arise throughout the journey of a young person leaving care; together we will work to plan, design and improve services and resources for Care Leavers in Central Bedfordshire.

The project has been designed through building upon the learning from a similar project conducted by the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS) in 2012. The IRISS project report can be found here https://www.iriss.org.uk/sites/default/files/2016-08/redesigning-support-care-leavers.pdf

What does Coproduction actually mean?

Coproduction is all about involving the people who use the services, to improve the services. It is about breaking down any hierarchies and ensuring that the voices of those who use the service are heard on a level playing field with those of the practitioners and managers across all agencies.

What is the structure of the Coproduction Project?

The project will run over four workshops in October and November 2016 and will be held in our Care Leavers Hub in Houghton Regis.

Workshop 1 -An Introduction to Service Design

This workshop will act as an ice breaker and ‘getting to know you’ session, aiming to build the foundations for strong group dynamics and working relationships. By the end of this session we will have explored the basic principles behind service design, to ensure that all participants have an understanding of this concept.

Workshop 2 – The Experiences of Leaving Care

This workshop will look at the timelines of both our care leavers and other group members from the ages of 15 – 25, to identify the services and support that was received during this time. We will create the persona of a care leaver, before mapping their journey as a group, identifying the insights, problems and opportunities that may arise.

Workshop 3 – Designing Services for Care Leavers

This workshop will look specifically at planning improved services for care leavers, building upon the opportunities that were identified in the previous workshop. At the end of this session, we will have strong service designs to take away and test in practice.

Workshop 4 – A Review of Ideas

This will be our final workshop, where we will review the progress from our service prototypes that have been tested in practice. At this stage we should be able to identify any tangible services that can be offered to future Central Bedfordshire Care Leavers.

Who will be involved in the Coproduction Project? 

Participants of the project will include professionals from the Leaving Care Team, Housing Department, Education Services, LAC Health Team, the Head of Corporate Parenting Service and of course our Care Leavers.

I will be facilitating the four workshops and I have also enlisted the support of an experienced independent Social Worker to act as a co-facilitator. This is to ensure that we have the input and views of a professional who is independent from Central Bedfordshire and therefore has no agenda.

What will be the outcomes of the Coproduction Project?

At the end of our four workshops, we will have collaboratively planned and designed services to improve the experiences of Care Leavers, using a coproductive approach. Our aspirations are to utilise these service designs to improve our service delivery.

Other anticipated outcomes include improved working relationships and partnerships between all of the agencies and Care Leavers involved. We also hope that this experience will greatly enhance the Care Leaver’s confidence and self-esteem, as their views and contributions will be greatly appreciated, recognised and respected.