Listen to thisUK
How the role of children's services directors is changing
It is not enough to be a system leader, argues Debbie Jones, president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services. We must be involved in shaping those systems
Directors of children's services have certainly had their mettle tested over the past year, and continue to do so as we prepare for the next round of spending negotiations and budget reductions for the third year of austerity. But this is not a question of doing the same with less.
The frantic pace of change in all areas of policy, the rapidly changing demographics revealed by last year's census data and changes to the way local government overall is funded has left senior managers with as many questions as answers in the run up to next year's budget setting.
Leading in times of such uncertainty poses challenges in terms of establishing a clear vision for services and staff. Joining the dots of government policy impacting on the most vulnerable to present a coherent picture of services and support has never been more difficult, or more important.
It is not just changes to children's services departments that will affect how we lead in the future, but also predicting the consequences of changes to welfare and housing on the needs of our populations.
The role of the director of children's services itself has, in many ways, stayed, reassuringly, as it was envisaged in the Children Act 2004 that created the role, and this has been confirmed in the reissuing of the statutory guidance.
That role sometimes seems like the only stable platform in the sea of change affecting both our own services and those of partners. But the nature of our leadership must also change in response to these policy developments.
Increasingly we are coming to understand that it is not enough to be a system leader, overseeing a single system of services for children and young people, rather we must be involved in shaping the numerous systems that impact on the lives of children and their families across the public sector.
As schools become more autonomous, directors are forging new relationships with head teachers and governors, of maintained schools and academies, based on trust and respect for each others' expertise.
There are innovative new partnerships supporting co-operation in strategic planning, school improvement, alternative provision and support for vulnerable children.
In children's social care too the demands on leaders are changing. The recommendations of the Munro review, the reduction in guidance and plans for a stronger and more confident profession requires directors to consider how we can promote the open and learning culture needed for such complex tasks.
Instead of fixed targets and copious guidance that has, in the past, led us down a blind alley of pretending that if we just follow the steps children will be kept safe. We must be willing to admit we don't have all the answers, and to listen to the views of the frontline, children and young people and partner agencies to continuously improve the work that we do.
The leadership arrangements in our partner agencies are changing, with the introduction of clinical commissioning groups and the NHS commissioning boards and the imminent election of police and crime commissioners.
We are forming new partnerships with the local members of the judiciary in efforts to improve the family justice system.
The task is to bring these new partners together to better understand the needs of our local population and the future demands on the systems we lead and to map out what we can offer to children and families to support them in what will continue to be tough economic times.
But we are not facing these challenges alone, or isolated from each other.
The programme of support from the Children's Improvement Board, run by and for local children's services leaders, and the leadership development programme, run by the Virtual Staff College, is starting to make a real difference to the way in which directors respond to these never-ending changes.
This support is allowing us time to learn, reflect and challenge each other and draw on the expertise held in the sector to provide imaginative and robust solutions to the many difficult issues that we face now.
Debbie Jones (president of the Association of
Directors of Children Services and executive director for children and young
people's services at Lambeth council.)
11 October 2012
