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We’ve been out on the road this week collecting more feedback from pilot authorities and are really pleased with the responses we are getting. The general consensus is that you think Inform is a worth while venture. Phew!

We agree with your comments that this project needs to become a multi-disciplinary service to mirror multi-agency working. Our vision for Inform intends to do just this, however, as the saying goes “we must learn to walk before we can run”. We need to ensure we get it right for you, before we branch out. The great thing about the pilot phase is that it gives us a chance to find out exactly what you want from this service.

This week, we have published the following:

Reference manuals:
• Local safeguarding children’s boards

Legislation:
• Guidance on Carers touching on: Carers (recognition and services) Act 1995; Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 and Carers (equal opportunities) Act 2004
• Guidance on parts of the Chronically sick Act 1970

Research review:
• Supporting parents with learning disabilities and their children: a review

It is really exciting to see the content grow on the website!

We’re just over half way through the pilot phase now and everyone should have had a chance to use the site successfully!

Remember, it’s never too late to let us know how you feel Inform could be improved.

This week, we have published:
• A guide to attachment disorder, this can be found in the practice section
• A reference manual on supporting victims of domestic violence and their families

and two pieces of legislation:
• UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child
• Criminal Justice and Court Service Act 2000

You may have noticed this week, that we have removed block caps from titles of documents. We think this will improve the presentation of the site and importantly make it more user-friendly for inform users. This is a lengthy process, however, and we have not been able to change all the titles in every document displayed. We are working hard to implement these amends, please bear with us.

Thanks to a suggestion from one of the piloters, we have also added a button on the glossary page which will allow you to submit a new or missing glossary term.

And lastly, we will be announcing the winner of the red left gift experience day shortly.

Another busy week on Inform and we have loaded more practice articles along with an additional reference manual on “Immigration legislation and policy”.

We have received really positive feedback from piloters so far, with some great suggestions on how you feel we could improve the site. One piloter emailed CCInform this week to ask:

“Would it be possible for information handouts to be put on the site about special guardianship, adoption, residence orders etc, that we could print out to give to parents, foster carers and other interested parties?”

We thought this was a really good idea and are testing it out in the Disabled children reference manual. We have inserted a new section called “Information for parents and carers” in the key resources part of the manual, use the quick links provided in the document to navigate your way to this section. Please let us know what you think.

This week, Alison, Sarah and myself, alongside our colleagues from Community Care magazine, organised a charity ball in aid of breast cancer. The night was a huge success, raising over £3,000 (and we’re still counting)!

The pink ball was our way of celebrating our achievement in completing the 13-mile moonwalk through London (in our bras) earlier this year, and to raise as much money as possible for such a good cause.

It hasn't just been party, party, party this week. We have published four more research reviews on: The impact of parental substance misuse on children; Serious case reviews; The transition of disabled young adults from children’s to adults services and Resettlement for refugee children and families and have published a second reference manual on adoption entitled “Recruitment, preparation and assessment of prospective adopters in England and Wales”.

In addition, quite a few of you have said that you would like us to look at the feasibility of incorporating a message board to the web site where practitioners could ask other users for information on a variety of topics. This could perhaps work as a discussion forum and would be an easy way to communicate with other users and share ideas and expertise. What do other users think? Is this something you would welcome? Please let us know.

This week has been a dramatic week for the CC Inform team. Stockton’s big day was planned – two training sessions for 35 social workers all set for Wednesday 27th June. Jonathan and Sarah were all set to leave King’s Cross station to embark on their 5-hour 5-train journey on Tuesday afternoon when the floods hit and trains were cancelled beyond Doncaster. So, a battle of wills – the weather V CC Inform.

With the help of a train (to Gatwick), a plane (from Gatwick to Newcastle) and a hire car (only one left at Newcastle!) they arrived in Stockton at Midnight. It was quite literally planes, trains and automobiles!

CC Inform 1
Weather 0

On a less dramatic but no less important note, we have loaded more content this week: two reference manuals one on education provision for asylum seekers and one on adoption support; one research review Resettlement for refugee children and families; and a handful of practice pieces.

We are pleased to say we have fixed the legislation bug which prevented you from linking from the legislation overview to the relevant sections (see passwords please). We’ve already got the links working in the Children Act 1989 and the Adoption and Children Act 2002 but we’re still working through the other pieces of legislation – they should be completed this week. Bear with us!

What an exciting week we've had. There are approximately 240 participants taking part in the pilot period and our busy team have been scurrying up and down the country visiting our 8 local authorities to demonstrate the site. Passwords are on the way to participating local authorities. Tower Hamlets, Sutton, Kent, Brighton and Hove, Leeds and Islington should now be set up and raring to go. Visits for Stockton and Norfolk are planned for this week so you will have your passwords shortly.

First impressions? Already we've received some really encouraging feedback from the pilot teams. One participant has even written to us to say they used the information in a case to help stress the impact of domestic violence on their children.

I know I am going to be saying this a lot, but I cannot stress how important it is that you send us your comments. Don't be afraid to raise your concerns, or let us know what you would like to see on the site.

In the course of our training sessions this week, a few social workers said that they currently struggle to find a helpful guide to the benefits and allowances payable in the area of fostering and adoption.

We are happy to say that we've been able to respond really quickly to this request, and we have commissioned Gary Vaux, head of money advice at Hertfordshire County Council to write two guides to finance in this area. One will cover allowances and benefits payable to foster carers, and the other will cover the same issues in the field of adoption.

It's here, CCInform has arrived! We can now bring you the brand new online service for all of you working with children and families in the social care sector.

So, what do you think? The next few months are crucial to the development of CCInform. With the help from our eight pilot local authorities our aim is to continously improve the service, ensuring an invaluable information source for you the practitioner. We'll value your feedback, both good and bad, so keep an eye on the What's new? page for future developments as well as the reasons behind our decisions, but most importantly to see how your suggestions have been implemented! Think of us as your 'genie in a lamp', your wish is our command (well, within reason and if you don't rub too hard!).

After years of planning, we think we've nearly cracked it - a super duper website in the making to give you what you need at the click of a button or maybe 3! There's been tears and tantrums along the way but we feel - without trying to blow our own brass band full of trumpets - we've triumphed in bringing you a comprehensive resource to enhance your practice.