Action for Prisoners’ Families
Seminar 25 June 2014
Quality services:
ticking all the boxes
Evaluating to demonstrate
and support quality
Robyn Wilford
Evaluating to demonstrate and
support quality:
Outcomes Star
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
A dual purpose tool
Supports
the work
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise Ltd 2013
Measures
outcomes
The Outcomes Star™
Provides
meaningful
outcomes
information
Empowers
service users
and supports
them in making
changes
Promotes a consistent,
holistic, assets based
approach to key-work
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Family Star
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Under-pinned by a journey of change
© Triangle Consulting 2011
Social Enterprise 2014
Detail for each scale
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Transfer the scores to the Star chart
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Collaborative
 The parent and worker complete the Star and
agree ‘scores’ together based on evidence
 Parents engage with this process and find it
empowering
 Integration into casework makes measurement
relevant to parents, workers and managers
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
An integrated approach to measurement
Open
discussion
of each
area
Agree where
clients are on
their
journey in
that area
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Plot on the
star and take
an overview
Decide where
to focus and
develop
action plan
Journey of change
 Effective parenting (9-10)
 Finding what works
 Trying (5-6)
 Accepting help (3-4)
 Stuck (1-2)
Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise Ltd, 2012
Characteristics of Stars
Respects
people as
individuals on a
journey of
growth rather
than problems
Assumes
change has to
start with
recognising
how things are
now
Respects the
challenges
faced by
people in
overcoming
their difficulties
Realistic about
how change
happens – step
by step rather
than in one
simple leap
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
A service user’s comments on using the Star:
“I felt fully involved; it was clear and easy
to understand and focused on me as a
whole person, not just as a problem. It
felt like a conversation; felt like the first
time someone had really listened to
me...”
© Triangle Consulting 2011
Social Enterprise 2014
Which supports service user engagement
Workers
engage with
whole person
Opens new
conversations
Makes
progress
visible
Workers listen
more
Hands
process back
to client
© Triangle Consulting 2011
Social Enterprise 2014
Greater
service user
engagement
Helps identify
next steps
Data at different levels
• Star can picture individual outcomes
• And outcomes for a whole project
• And outcomes for a group of projects
• And for an entire organisation
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Using the data
 To look at effectiveness
 Areas for development
 Nature of clients that come to the service
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Managing quality
 Data to benchmark and identify best practice
 Comparing with other data….such as school
attendance, safeguarding statistics
 Provides a common language and framework for
organisations
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Managing quality
A framework
for planning
services
A way of
driving up
standards and
systematising
casework
A useful
source of
information
about
performance
at all levels
A way of
identifying
trends, blocks
and needs in
supervision &
for the project
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
My Star
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Child friendly scale descriptions
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
.
Flashcards for the Journey of change
©Triangle
Consulting
2014 Enterprise 2014
© Triangle
Consulting
Social
.
Offender Rehabilitation Star
 Looking for collaborators
 Aiming to start in Autumn
 Contact:
 sara@triangleconsulting.co.uk
 0207 2728765
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Detail for each scale
.
© Triangle
Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Individual outcomes data
 A completed Star can be used as the basis for a
support/action plan
 It is visual and shared – worker and parents (and worker
and manager) can look at the shape together and ask:
What does the shape of the star tell us – what’s going well, etc.?
 Are there things that can be learnt and applied elsewhere?
 Where is change most needed and what questions are raised?
 Where do you want to get to by the next review and what is
needed to bring about that change?

 Completed Stars at review clearly demonstrate progress
and growth, and areas that may be stuck
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Action/Case Planning
 After drawing on the learning from a completed Star, the
next step is to develop an action plan WITH the parent
 SMART action plans should move beyond identifying
needs and are a combination of:



The areas a client is motivated to address
The area(s) that if addressed will have the biggest overall impact
The lowest score if the client is ready to take this on
•To be most effective interventions and action plans
need to be matched to the journey of change
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Prompt questions for each area
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Management information
 Homelessness Star:
 Outcomes in hostels that provide additional activities
were better than hostels that didn’t provide additional
activities
 That women in a hostel situation did badly in relation to
outcomes
 That women in relationships fared worse than women
not in relationships, while men in relationships fared
better
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Implementation
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
A service user’s comments on using the Star:
“I felt fully involved; it was clear and easy
to understand and focused on me as a
whole person, not just as a problem. It
felt like a conversation; felt like the first
time someone had really listened to
me...”
© Triangle Consulting 2011
Social Enterprise 2014
Resources to support each version
User guide for
workers and
service users
Organisation
guide to aid
implementation
Star Online
web application
& free website
Training
essential
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
The Youth Star
Under-pinned by a model of change
© Triangle Consulting 2012
Detailed Journey of Change
© Triangle Consulting 2012
Alternative ‘pocket’ version
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise Ltd 2011
Transfer the scores to the Star chart
Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise Ltd 2012
A young person’s comments on using the Star:
“I liked talking about everything
and how I’d like to build up my
Star from twos and threes to
fives...”
© Triangle Consulting 2011
Social Enterprise Ltd 2011
The Outcomes Star
 Originally in the homelessness sector by Triangle working
with St. Mungo’s in 2003. First published 2006 with
support from the London Housing Foundation
 Mental Health Recovery Star published in 2008
 There are now over 20 versions published and more in
development
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
A Family of Stars
Work Star
Recovery Star
(mental health)
Recovery Star
Secure
(secure mental
health services)
Shooting Star
(schools)
Older Person’s
Star
My Star
(for children)
Empowerment
Star
(domestic
violence)
Youth Star
Spectrum Star
(autism)
Sexual Health
Star
Teen Star
Well-being Star
(long-term health
conditions)
Family Star
Family Star Plus
Homelessness
Star
Life Star
(Learning
Disability)
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Community Star
Music Therapy
Star
Drug and Alcohol
Star
Alcohol Star
Workshop 1
 What end point are you aiming for?
Family Star was about working with parents to enable their children to
thrive
 What are the areas of a parent’s life that are important to
achieve this…in this case for their children to thrive
 What is the journey that parents go on to achieve this in
the different areas
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
How is it developed?
Scoping
Recruit working
group (20 to 30
people) and small
steering group.
Workshop 1
4-6 month pilot
Workshop 2
and second draft
1st draft of Star
Workshop 3
Final version of
Star
Publish PDFs and
add to Star Online
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Some of the development challenges:
 The scales are a blend of: skills, attitudes and
behaviours
 Its important to get the blend right in the narrative
descriptions of the journeys of change.
 The workshops and pilot are used to do this.
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
Drawing on Existential Phenomenological Research
 strong emphasis on understanding the direct
experience of the people researched
 understanding the basic meaning structure which
gives sense to the whole experience (not just parts)
 With ‘co-researchers’ – collaborators for Star:
1) The formulation of the question
2) The data-gathering situation
3) the data-analysis situation
4) The presentation of findings
 Process repeated throughout the Star development
© Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise 2014
The journey and value
 Effective parenting (9-10)
 Finding what works
 Trying (5-6)
 Accepting help (3-4)
 Stuck (1-2)
Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise Ltd, 2012
Action for Prisoners’ Families
Seminar 25 June 2014
Quality services:
ticking all the boxes
www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk
@Prisonerfamily