Toolkit launched to help innovations and improve care leavers life chances

Care leavers are set to benefit from a new innovation toolkit designed by Warwick Business School researchers.

The Implementation Toolkit helps local authorities, care homes, charities and organisations working in the care sector to implement new ideas that will improve their service without getting stuck with ‘pilotitis’ – ie never seeing the light of day after numerous trials.

It has been produced as part of a four-year research project in collaboration with the Care Leavers Association alongside charities Barnardo’s and the National House Project.

So many innovative ideas wither away because of a lack of resource or support, while young people leaving care face the brutal reality of a system that leaves them two and a half times more likely to become a young parent; four times more likely to experience mental health issues; and less likely to achieve academically in school, attend higher education, or be in employment. 

Graeme Currie, Professor of Public Management said: “Young people leaving care face an extremely difficult transition and are often dealing with the trauma of a desperately challenging childhood.

“There are many organisations trying to improve that move out of care and give youngsters the support they need, but with many diverse stakeholders involved and the lack of resource, these good intentions often get stuck in the system and don’t come to fruition.

“We studied several projects and innovations over four years to see what was happening and try to fix this. We have identified the key ingredients needed to make good ideas stick and actually help young people.

“The Implementation Toolkit will help organisations working to support young people in particularly challenging circumstances improve their service, so that when a new innovation comes along that will help care leavers it does stay in place, and spreads to other organisations and areas of the system.

“There are too many good ideas, ones that could really improve the life chances of young care leavers, not spreading or being embedded in the system.

“This Implementation Toolkit will help charities, local authorities and care organisations work together to ensure new innovations will become part of their services on offer.”

The research identified five key ingredients for innovations to become embedded:

1. How receptive the organisation and its culture are to innovation.
2. Co-production with young people who have experienced care.
3. Shared leadership across all the organisations involved.
4. Building outcome measurements from the start for youngsters in care, the organisation and to track the innovation’s progress.
5. Adaption of the innovation as it is implemented and sustained to maintain its effectiveness.

The toolkit takes the user through a series of questions and statements for each of these ingredients, gaining an overall score for each one.

The user can then work out where their organisation and innovation are weakest and put in policies and procedures to make sure all five ingredients are in place for new ideas to take hold and get beyond the pilot stage.

Professor Currie added: “There is no template for implementing and sustaining innovation that applies to all organisations. Context influences what is appropriate. 

“Also, the ingredients are not siloed; they interact with each other, so users need to consider how they work together. For example, an innovation may sustain with more concentrated leadership or even limited co-production, within a context that has been cultivated to support innovation and includes a robust and reflective focus on outcome measures and a commitment to adaption.”

What support do care leavers need?

Rod Weston-Bartholomew, Assistant Director of Impact for Barnardo’s Care Journeys, said: “The care system is currently failing many children and families. It’s crucial that we come together to improve the system, so that we can better support children every step of the way.

“This means better support for families when they first encounter challenges, and support for young people from when they enter the care system to when they leave and take their first steps into adulthood.  

“We are proud to collaborate with Warwick Business School on this toolkit, with a goal of seeing through innovative ideas that can make real change in the care system to improve the experiences of children in care. 

“When helping to shape the toolkit Barnardo’s recognised that it is the low resource demanding ideas that have the greatest chance to grow, be embraced, and make real impact.

“This toolkit helps professionals to identify both operational and strategic ingredients that can improve the experiences of children in care, and encourages these ideas to be explored, developed and shared nationwide thanks to a safe culture and shared professional ambition that keeps children and young people at the centre of every organisation’s core goals.”

Care worker professionals working on new ideas and innovations can access and download the Implementation toolkit at the EXploring Innovation in Transition (EXIT) Study, where more resources for staff and organisations are available.

Sue Hammersley, Director at the National House Project, added: “No two organisations are the same and it is helpful for them to identify where they and their partners are up to when embarking on new ways of working.

“This toolkit provides the opportunity for internal staff and partners to establish a shared understanding of their joint position and the work that they intend to do to achieve their goals.”

Further reading:

Why we should look beyond the figures on care leavers

Five key ingredients to prepare care leavers for adult life

Substantial rise in long-term mental health hits Midlands firms

Graeme Currie is Professor of Public Management and Principal Investigator for the EXploring Innovation in Transition (EXIT) Study. He is also Deputy Director of the National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Centre West Midlands.

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