My Outcomes

Traditional planning has been planning for a person and has often focused on “service targets” rather than what is important to a person. The new approach to planning introduced by the Children and Families Act enables us to genuinely find out what is important to a young person now and for their future. We can then find out how far their current situation is enabling them to pursue what is important to them and if not to explore what is getting in the way. We can then set outcomes for the future that will take the young person towards their aspirations. Many young people say that they want to have fun with friends outside of school or college but that they do not really have friends. Once we know what the young person wants to achieve, have explored what is working around this now and what the barriers are, we can agree that we will work towards something like:

“By next summer I will be going out to eat once a week with a friend.”

We can then work out what needs to happen to achieve this outcome, including the support they will need. This is what is called a “holistic” outcome because the outcome will not be delivered through one kind of provision or service but by everyone working together. For example, the school, college or family may be able to identify other young people with similar interests and support both to do some planning around what sort of things they might both like to do. If the young person receives support from social care, they can be supported to recruit a personal assistant with a similar interest. A speech therapist may support the development of a communication profile so that the new personal assistant has what they need to know to get the relationship off to a good start and other health professionals may need to give advice to make sure that the young person’s health support needs are met when they are out.