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May 2021
Edition 1

Welcome to the first edition of the newsletter! It is intended to provide information which may be of interest to people working in Appropriate Adult services. If there is anything you would like to see included in future editions or a contribution you'd like to make, please let me know. As the newsletter is very much in its infancy, any feedback or comments to inform improvement are appreciated.

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National Appropriate Adult Co-ordinator Update

National Training Programme
The National Training Programme, which is under development, will have a foundation of a human rights based approach as well as trauma informed practice. For the avoidance of doubt, existing Appropriate Adults will not be expected to complete the new Core training. Refresher training will be available as well as an expectation Appropriate Adults undertake continuous professional learning.

Referring Agencies
The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 increased accessibility to Appropriate Adult services beyond Police Scotland. Referring agencies also now include:

  • Border Force
  • Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC)
  • British Transport Police (BTP)
  • Her Majesty's Revenues & Customs (HMRC)
  • Civic Nuclear Constabulary (CNC)
  • National Crime Agency (NCA)
  • Ministry of Defence Police

Links have been developed with Border Force, PIRC, BTP and HMRC to enable them to refer for an Appropriate Adult. Arrangements to do similarly with CNC, Ministry of Defence Police and NCA will follow. Information on each of these agencies has been distributed to services to inform practice and will also feature in the new National Training Programme. If you have any queries, please speak with the Local Appropriate Adult Co-ordinator for your area. 

Police Scotland continue to represent over 90% of referrals to Appropriate Adult services.

Short Life Working Groups
A SLWG looking at data improvement is in it's early stages. The overall aim is to improve data accuracy, ensure it can stand up to scrutiny and therefore inform service development and funding reviews.

There will shortly be more opportunities to become involved in short life working groups. Depending on the focus, invites will go out to Appropriate Adults, Local Co-ordinators, people with lived experience, stakeholders and partner agencies.

Focus Groups
You will hopefully have already received information about focus groups for Appropriate Adults being held to explore ‘what we do and how we do it’. The outcomes of these groups will be used to inform good practice guidance and development of training.
If you wish to take part, please email jo@cosla.gov.uk for availability.

The National Appropriate Adult Oversight Group has held three meetings so far. The aims of the Group are to oversee the implementation of the statutory service and national training framework as well as the direction of Appropriate Adult policies at a national level. Current members are:
This is an area for sharing practice and good news stories. If there is anything you would to like to share or highlight in future editions, please let me know.  

Feedback
Services have discussed the challenges experienced in obtaining feedback. Clarity in Communication are the provider of Appropriate Adult services covering the three Ayrshire local authorities. They have designed cards and posters (see below) in consultation with their local Appropriate Adult oversight group, mental health practitioners and SOLD. Appropriate Adults from Clarity in Communication hand the cards, coated with antibacterial lamination, to people who access the service with an explanation on their purpose. The posters are distributed to partner and customer agencies to raise awareness and promote support for people. This is a positive start in obtaining feedback to inform continuous improvement. 

This a list of learning opportunities which may be of interest, all of which are transferable to other areas of practice.

TURAS is the learning platform of NHS Education for Scotland. It is open to people working in Health & Social Care - register here. There are relevant sessions available including:

  • Human rights: an overview
  • Unconscious bias
  • Augmentative and alternative communications: introduction
  • Domestic abuse awareness raising tool
  • What is disability discrimination?
  • Equality and diversity: equality and human rights
  • A human rights based approach

TURAS is also a portal for accessing the National Trauma Training Programme

Unconscious Bias
This is a short video giving an introduction to Unconscious Bias, a topic which will feature in the National Training programme - What is Unconscious Bias?


Gender Based Violence and Learning Disability
Public Health Scotland have published guidance which makes for interesting reading for Appropriate Adults to increase awareness in this area Gender based Violence – Learning Disabilities


Dementia
The Knowledge Network has a programme to raise awareness and understanding in relation to working with people living with dementia – Promoting Excellence: a framework for all health and social services staff working with people with dementia. There is also an Open Badge with the SSSC to recognise completion of the different levels.


Communication Skills
Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy have a free online resource The Box. Although the examples are based on English legislation, the core elements are relevant learning for working with people with communication support needs in the justice system.

Youth Justice
The Children & Young People Centre for Justice are running an online event on 3 June 2021 'A socially just approach to justice: What does social justice look and feel like for 18-25 year olds in conflict with the law in Scotland?'. 

Journals, Articles & Research
Social Services Knowledge Scotland is a digital library of books, journals and articles to support practice and learning. It is accessible using OpenAthens. For those who do not have an Athens account, you can register here.

In 2020, an interesting and thought provoking piece of research called 'The Scottish police caution: do individuals with intellectual disabilities understand a verbally presented police caution, and can comprehension be improved?' was published. This clearly has an impact on the work of Appropriate Adults and which you may wish to discuss with your colleagues. 

 

Adult Support & Protection
Adult Support & Protection is everybody’s responsibility. Each Local Authority will have an Adult Support & Protection Policy and Lead Officer(s) and providers will have their own Adult Support & Protection Policy. If you haven't completed training in this area recently, you may wish to discuss this with the Local Appropriate Adult Co-ordinator for your area to ensure your knowledge is up-to-date.

In relation to Appropriate Adults, The Guidance for Local Authorities states:

3.39 ‘if an Appropriate Adult has any concerns relating to the general well-being of the person they are supporting, separate from the police investigation and police procedures, they should make the concerns known to both the police and the Appropriate Adult Service Co-ordinator (or equivalent).’

3.40 ‘Local Authorities must have regard to their duties under the Adult Support & Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 (“the 2007 Act”) in relation to any adult protection concerns raised by Appropriate Adults. Every local authority must ensure that persons involved in Appropriate Adult services have an understanding of how the 2007 Act and its code of practice relate to the Appropriate Adult function, and have a clear policy about how concerns raised by Appropriate Adults are dealt with by the local authority.’

You can subscribe for the monthly National Adult Protection Co-ordinator’s newsletter: Sign up to the NAPC newsletter

The Independent Review of Adult Social Care in Scotland
The report from this review was published in February 2021. The language used in the report demonstrates an aim for all services to move towards a human rights based approach. The video is an accessible option to digest the report as well as the executive summary.

The Independent Review into the Delivery of Forensic Mental Health Services
Another report published in February was from this review, chaired by Derek Barron. Appropriate Adults were mentioned at p50 of their interim report published in August 2020. I attended a presentation on the recommendations and met with the Derek and Isla Jack (Secretariat) to further discuss their findings which will inform the development of Appropriate Adult services.

The National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership
Staying with the theme of human rights, the report and recommendations of the National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership was published in March 2021. This echoes the drive for human rights based services and legislation in Scotland.

Last, but by no means least, well-being is important for everyone but particularly during the current impact of COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions. The SSSC and the National Well-being Hub have resources to support us to continue doing our jobs in supporting others.


If you have any comments or suggestions, please get in touch.

Jo Savege
National Appropriate Adult Co-ordinator

jo@cosla.gov.uk

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