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If you are not familiar with Quality Improvement and/or permanence, we recommend you watch these two webinars first. In PACE and Permanence, Linda Davidson, Permanence Consultant at CELCIS discusses why finding safe, secure and stable homes for children is so important. In PACE and Quality Improvement, Kirsty Doull, Acting Permanence Lead and Permanence Consultant at CELCIS, talks us through the key points of Quality Improvement and how it was used in the PACE programme.

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PACE and Permanence

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PACE and QI

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PACE: the first steps

This section is an opportunity for people interested in the PACE programme to familiarise themselves with why PACE came about, how it was set up, and hear about some of the key things learned along the way, which may help inform future change programmes.

In addition to an overview of the PACE programme with Carol Wassell, Permanence Programme and Permanence and Care Team Lead at CELCIS from 2012 – 2020, viewers will also find webinars that provide a detailed analysis of the four national PACE aims, including the key change ideas that led to improvements in permanence planning.

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The PACE programme: an overview

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What is PACE, how did it come about, who was involved and what did we learn from delivering the programme? In this webinar, Kirsty Doull, Acting Permanence Lead and Permanence Consultant at CELCIS, is joined by Carol Wassell, Permanence and Care Team Lead at CELCIS from 2012 – 2020. Together, they look back at the PACE programme from start to finish, and reflect on what the team learned along the way.

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How the national PACE Aims developed

PACE aim 1 - Children who have been looked after at home on a CSO for 2 years will have a review of their Child's Plan
PACE Aim 2 - Children who become looked after and accommodated will have a recommendation for permanence made within six months
PACE aim 3 - Children who have had a recommendation for permanence away from home will have that ratified within 14 weeks.
PACE aim 4 - Children whose permanence plan has been approved will have their application lodged in court within 16 weeks.

In the early stages of PACE, each local authority area developed one or two aims and worked on these for the duration of the programme. However, as PACE progressed, the CELCIS team realised that it would be more beneficial to have aims that covered all parts of the permanence planning process and all ‘looked after children’ under child protection legislation, as well as having aims that all local authority areas involved in PACE worked on to give a degree of consistency across Scotland. As a result, the four national PACE Aims were developed.

Whilst the PACE Aims have suggested timescales (which are in line with statutory timescales and Scottish Government guidance), these timescales were then amended in each local authority area to reflect how their local systems were operating, having been informed by their local baseline data. In this way, all local authority areas involved in PACE were working towards national aims that had been adapted to reflect their individual circumstances.

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PACE: Aim 1

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The PACE programme focused on all children, regardless of where they lived, including children who were ‘looked after’ at home on a Compulsory Supervision Order (CSO). Scottish Government guidance states that a child should not usually remain on a CSO for more than two years. Aim 1 focused on children who had been on a CSO for two years or more, and introduced a further review of their plan to determine if such compulsory measures were still necessary. In this webinar, Jimmy Paul, Permanence Consultant at CELCIS, discusses the importance of Aim 1 and its impact on children and families.

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PACE: Aim 2

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Scottish Government guidance states that there should be clarity for the direction of a child’s plan within six months of them being ‘accommodated’ i.e. living away from their parent’s care. This was the main focus of Aim 2 of the PACE programme, which looked at making a permanence recommendation about where a child should live (including a permanence return home) within these six months. In this webinar, Jimmy Paul, Permanence Consultant at CELCIS, discusses the importance of Aim 2 and its impact on children and families.

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PACE: Aim 3

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Scottish Government guidance states that the Agency Decision Maker in a local authority should agree a child’s permanence plan within 14 weeks of a permanence recommendation being made. This was the main focus of Aim 3 of the PACE programme, which looked at this part of the process, including the assessments and reports that are required in order to scrutinise a child’s permanence plan. In this webinar, Linda Davidson, Permanence Consultant at CELCIS, discusses the importance of Aim 3 and its impact on children and families.

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PACE: Aim 4

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Once a child’s permanence plan has been approved by the Agency Decision Maker, the next step is to provide legal security for a child in what will hopefully be their permanent home. This was the main focus for Aim 4 of the PACE programme, which looked at the process after an Agency Decision Maker’s decision up until an application for a legal order has been lodged in court. In this webinar, Jimmy Paul, Permanence Consultant at CELCIS, discusses the importance of Aim 4 and its impact on children and families.

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Additional resources and further reading

PACE: the first steps

Below are some additional resources to sit alongside the PACE: the first steps page.
 

Using Quality Improvement

Below are some additional resources to sit alongside the Using Quality Improvement page.

Timeline resources 

Permanence in practice

Below are some additional resources to sit alongside the Permanence in practice page.

Voices from PACE

The videos and resources below share the voices of some of the people and organisations involved in the PACE programme. 

Gathering PACE events

Aberdeen City Council

Aberdeenshire

City of Edinburgh Council

East Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership

Dumfries and Galloway Council

  • Understanding children's journeys (2018): Alison Penman, Locality Social Work Manager from Dumfries and Galloway Council, explains how her team has been able to use data to help visualise a child's journey through care.

Orkney Children's Panel

Renfrewshire Council

Shetland Islands Council

  • Visualising the difference (2018): David McQueen, Team Leader, Family Placement Services at Shetland Island Council, explains how data is being used to help support decision making for children and young people in Shetland to achieve better outcomes.

CELCIS

Blog posts

The blog posts below share the voices of some of the people and organisations involved in the PACE programme. 
 


Return to the Quality improvement page

View the 'Using Quality Improvement' recorded webinars

PACE homepage

Return to the PACE homepage

Return to the Permanence in practice page

View the 'Permanence in practice' recorded webinars