Citizenship &Self-directionexploring good practice

1. The wider context is important 2. Citizenship, not choice, is the goal 3. It’s not budgets, it’s entitlements 4. Flexible support, not brokerage, is critical 5. Collaboration and innovation, not purism

1. Context

The welfare state was created to tackle real

problems, but sometimes created

new problems…

• The growth in the economic cost of health and social services is an international problem.

• More expensive, more centralised and more institutional services grow in cost, but do not become more efficient.

• Greater value lies in supporting citizenship, families and local communities, but investment in this is reducing.

• How can we move resources upstream to solve problems earlier and more efficiently?

An international challenge

€£$

• Personal budgets offer one powerful way of moving resources out of the wrong services and back to citizens and local communities.

• Personal budgets are flexible and they let people be creative and use resources in their local community.

• Personal budgets help community organisations to get funding from people - outside the procurement systems that often leads to centralisation.

Self-directed support has been growing for 50 years

• Personal budgets are not the solution for every problem

• The need for self-directed support will reduce in fairer and more inclusive communities

• Some services are better organised by collective or professional decision-making

2. Citizenship

Value of self-direction is

• not about consumer choice

• not just about meeting needs

• not just human rights

• about meaning & love

Agency for citizens means control and cooperation

consumerism is a minimal form of agency

1. Finding our sense of purpose

2. Having the freedom to pursue it

3. Having enough money to be free

4. Having a home where we belong

5. Getting help from other people

6. Making life in community

7. Finding, sharing and giving love

Citizenship = different and equal

Human flourishing requires a sense of meaning and love

• Self-direction is about meaning, the human spirit and love

• The success of any system or innovation should be tested by those realities

• If our work is not fulfilling for ourselves then we are not doing the right work

3. Entitlements

People take control and so can become full citizens playing and active part in community life

If budgets can be used flexibly then people use money differently and connect to community

Location N ChangeEngland - 6 Sites Phase I Report 60 -18.0%England - 17 Sites Phase II Report 128 -9.0%England - 13 Sites IBSEN Report 203 -6.0%England - Northamptonshire 17 -18.7%England - City of London 10 -30.0%England - Worcestershire 73 -17.0%England - Southwark 85 -29.8%Scotland - Glasgow 12 -44.0%USA - Denver - Disabled Children - -34.0%USA - Florida - Disabled Children - -30.0%

4 strategies to ensure efficiency1. Transform how existing funding is

used - don’t spend new money while leaving the old system in place.

2. Make sure there is funding in place to make rights real - delegate money to local areas as much as possible.

3. Don’t restrict too much who can provide support or help people manage their budgets - keep the system open.

4. Make sure people can use money flexibly, so that they can build on what is already good in their life.

• Transparency and clear rights convert resources into meaningful entitlements

• Entitlements enable the agency of the citizen • Eroding entitlements is to weaken the

effective citizenship of the person

4. Support

We’ve not paid enough attention to

personalised support

• Too often independent brokerage is treated as an inevitable requirement of any system of self-directed support

• This underestimates what people and families can do

• It underestimates the positive role social workers can play

• and the positive role of good personalised support.

• Relationships matter, including relationships with professionals

• Social workers, support providers and others need to join the journey towards self-direction

• Let’s avoid adding to the complexity of the system - where we can.

5. Innovation

• The system fights back - that’s why it’s taken 50 years just to get to here

• Competition isn’t helping drive forward innovation

• It’s time to refocus on the goal and work together

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@citizen_network@CforWR @simonjduffy

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