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Working at ARC England - 'It's important to me'
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Back in 2012, the Department of Health found that only 7% of adults with learning disabilities were in some form of paid employment, the majority of which was part-time work. However, it is estimated that 65% of people with learning disabilities would like a paid job (FPLD).
We hear from Lisa Marie White, our longest serving member of staff here at ARC England, about her own experience of getting a job and why working here it is so important to her. Lisa, 46, who has a mild learning disability has been working at ARC for 21 years as an Office Administration Assistant. Read more.
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"Care providers have to pay too much for regulation.
The CQC must step up" - It is vital that (such) steps to cut unnecessary costs in the system must be taken seriously. Social care funding is in crisis". Read more.
Further reading:
This review took evidence from those working in the sector about their experiences of regulation and how it is enforced. It found that while relationships between regulators and providers were generally positive and professional, with examples given of good practice, there was an overwhelming concern about the duplication of inspections.
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'People with learning disabilities are still not recognised as fully human' 
In response to Sir Bubb's recent report, Sara Ryan (Connor Sparrowhawk's mother) argues that his recommendations 'simply weaves further layers of unnecessary bureaucratic complexity and costly pointlessness into an already unworkable fabric'.
'We don’t need a commissioner to enforce pledges on better treatment. Just treat everyone as a human being'. Read more
'Winterbourne report ignores elephant in the room' "Though the Bubb report is replete with ‘step changes’ and ‘road maps’, it will require more than jargon if community services are going to rise to the challenges currently facing adult social care". Save Autism Services Haringey’s Mary Langan casts a critical eye over Stephen Bubb’s final report on Winterbourne View. Read more
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Exploitation of people with learning disabilities by apparent 'friends' is still not widely discussed. 
‘We focus on what positive relationships look like.' Rod Landman explains ARC's peer-led approach which raises awareness Mate Crime in this article.
Rod will be speaking in depth about Mate Crime at Community Care Live on 10-11 May 2016.
For more information about Mate Crime please contact us at contact.us@arcuk.org.uk
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We are very excited to announce that Claire Lambell, a member of ARC's Helping Each Other project team, is a finalist for the Inspiring Voices Award at the NWG Unsung Hero Award.
Nominated by Rod Landman, Project Officer at ARC England, Claire has made an invaluable contribution to the work undertaken by the HEO team and, in Rod's words, "It is difficult to see how the Helping Each Other project could have accomplished anything like the success it has had, or gained a fraction of the credibility, without Claire having been in it. The whole team feels in her debt."
ARC's Helping Each Other was a three year peer education project concerned with the sexual exploitation of people with learning disabilities, and funded by Comic Relief.
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ARC England are proud to support this years' National Learning Disabilities & Autism Awards 
Celebrating excellence in the support and care for people with learning disabilities.
Nominations are now open!
"The National Learning Disabilities and Autism Awards are a great opportunity to celebrate excellence and show what great support looks like. We particularly enjoy partnering with people with learning disabilities to identify the people and projects that have made the best contribution to enabling people to live the lives they want to lead.” - Lisa Lenton, ARC England Director
By nominating a colleague you will be supporting their dedication and commitment whilst also helping to raise the profile of the care sector as a whole. By nominating your employees you will be demonstrating pride in their hard work and excellence.
See here to make a nomination. Nominations close on 21st April 2016.
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An opportunity to grab up to £5,000 towards your creative idea!
RLO have kindly once again extended their David Wandless Bursary award of £5,000 open to you, our members, but this time the scope is even wider! Whilst your application could well be for training, any creative or inspiring idea that benefits the people you support will be considered by the panel. See here for more information and how to apply for the Bursary.
Get your creative ideas down on paper and apply now! *Please note that to be eligible for this funding you must have paid your ARC membership for 2015/16, and you must renew your ARC membership for 2016/17 by the bursary closing date of 29th April 2016.
ARC members New Directions Rugby and Heart of England Mencap were both successful ARC applicants last year. Read more about how they have used their David Wandless Bursary here.
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Welcome to new ARC member Style Acre - a registered charity providing person centred support for people wit h learning disabilities throughout Oxfordshire. Style Acre enables people to reach their true potential and lead fulfilled lives through the work they do, with 3 community hubs providing activities and outings and a place to make friends.
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Welcome to new ARC member Havencare (South West) Limited - a Charity that supports people with learning disabilities  and autism in Cornwall, Plymouth, Devon and Torbay with a range of residential, supported living, and enabling & transition services. Havencare are proud of their innovative “Support Pathway©”, underpinned by person centred thinking, positive behaviour support, and active support.
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 Congratulations to ARC England members Robert Owen Communities who received an 'Most effective approach to integration and new models of care' accolade at the Skills for Care Accolades on 10 March 2016. Community Integrated Care were also finalists for the award.
For a full list of winners, see here.
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ARC member The Richardson Partnership for Care are using online apps to stay in touch - "We are now setting up regular video calls for service users and their families to stay in touch, which benefits everyone and in particular, reassures parents who live some distance away. It also enables family members overseas to stay in touch and be involved". Read more
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We want to hear from you!...
 As members of the ARC community we want to be able to share your stories with others - good news stories, events, good practice, tips, advice - let's get sharing!
If you are an ARC member and have any news items you would like to feature in this newsletter, please email me at Esther.Oddy@arcuk.org.uk or telephone 01246 555 043.
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 'Working together to fix social care recruitment' – the CEOs’ perspective. Steve Scown, CEO of Dimensions and Sharon Allen, CEO of Skills for Care blog together about the future of social care recruitment. Read more.
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'Local Area Coordination truly embodies the values expressed in the Care Act  and forms a key part of the Council's aim of supporting far more people in their own homes and communities'. Read more from TLAP's evaluation here.
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ARC member Hft have started a petition urging the Government to properly fund  the National Living Wage before vulnerable people with learning disabilities are left without vital specialist support. For more information and to sign the petition see here.
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ARC training courses and events
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We have been busily working away on our ARC training calendar for workshops available over the next few months - download the calendar here to view the workshops currently open for bookings and see the ARC website for more details. PLEASE NOTE THAT SPACES ARE LIMITED ON ALL OF OUR COURSES AND DEMAND IS HIGH SO PLEASE BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT!
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NEW DATES ADDED! Care Certificate Assessment Workshop
Are your staff confident when it comes to workplace observations and assessments of the Care Certificate? We have developed a one-day course to equip your staff to handle them with ease.
Our experienced trainer will cover in detail how to plan, carry out and record practical assessments, with practical examples and templates to take back to the workplace. For more details of what the workshop will cover please see the ARC website.
For a limited time only places are available at an introductory price of
£78 (ARC Member) and £89 (Non-member)
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Self-Harm and People with Learning Disabilities Awareness workshop
People with learning disabilities are thought to self-harm at roughly double the rate of the general population. It is being reported to ARC as a growing concern with providers seeing rises in the number of people who self-harm, combined with staff lacking the confidence and skills to deal with the issue.
This one-day workshop is aimed at all staff and managers working with people who do, or may, self-harm,
Costs: £78 (ARC Members) / £89 (Non Members)
For further information, see the ARC website.
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NEW DATES ADDED! Supporting Medication - Train the Trainer workshop 
Medication mis-handling accounts for the the majority of adult care service inspections by the CQC. Let us train your trainer to deliver ARC's Supporting Medication workshop to your staff.
Cost: £130 (ARC Member) and £149 (Non-member)
See the ARC website for further details
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*NEW* - Recruitment and Selection Workshop
Recruitment and retention are key issues for providers; ARC's new workshop will help attendees to practice and develop the key skills required in shortlisting, interviewing and selecting the best candidate(s) to a job vacancy.
The course content is designed to be flexible, addressing specific needs and interests of those attending via practical exercises and group work.
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NEW DATES ADDED! Mental Capacity Act / Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding Workshops 
The CQC's new framework prioritises safety, with understanding and reporting safeguarding concerns a key issue for many providers.
Our workshop is designed to increase awareness and understanding of the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, which continues to be an area of concern for many providers.
Cost: £78 (ARC Members) and £89 (Non-members)
See the ARC website for more details.
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Understanding Diversity in Learning Disability Services
One in four new entrants to Learning Disability Services is from an ethnic minority background. This workshop will help attendees support people from a diverse range of backgrounds in an appropriate way, meeting an important element of the new commissioning structure.
Costs: £78 (ARC Members) / £89 (Non Members)
For more information, see the ARC website.
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Are you meeting the communication needs of the people you support?
Special discount available for ARC members and Real People subscribers.  Course Beetle - Enabling Environments for Communication
An inspiring range of techniques and ideas to help care providers to meet the needs of people who struggle to express themselves.
Dates: 23 March 2016 or 5 May 2016, 9:30 - 4:00pm
Venue: Yarnfield Park Training and Conference Centre, Staffordshire, ST15 0NL
Cost:
£120 - full price
£95 - subscribers to the ARC Real People Newsletter (quote RP0116 on the booking form)
£80 - ARC members To book your place visit the Course Beetle website and select your discount option.
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Launch event "People with learning disabilities in the criminal justice  system: a guide for carers and learning disability services"
Date: 26 April 2016, 9.30am – 1pm in Launceston, Cornwall.
ARC, with funding from the Big Lottery Fund, has completed a short guide to the Criminal Justice System for carers and learning disability providers who find themselves in the situation of acting as an 'Appropriate Adult' for someone they support. The guide gives an overview of the system from arrest to prison and probation. It describes the processes involved, people’s rights, what ‘good’ looks like and what to do if things go wrong.The guide will be launched at a FREE learning event for ARC members and family carers. Booking is essential - email Rod.Landman@arcuk.org.uk to book your place.
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ARC Bespoke Workshops
Each of ARC's workshops is also available on a bespoke basis. Organisations can book one of our skilled trainers to deliver an 'in-house' workshop. Each individual workshop is suitable for up to fifteen people. ARC bespoke workshops offer a cost-effective and flexible way to deliver customised training to your staff.
Costs: Starting from £595 (ARC Members) and £625 (Non Members) plus trainer's expenses.
Please contact us for more details on email contact.us@arcuk.org.uk.
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Consultations and other dates for your diary
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Consultation: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is seeking views on its  plans for the next five years as it develops its approach to regulation.
Link to the consultation document 'Shaping the future'.
Respond to the consultation through the web form or by email
This consultation is open until 14 March 2016.
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 Public Health England - Learning Disabilities Conference 2016: 15 March 2016, London. 'Using primary care data to plan better services for people with learning disabilities'.
For more information and to book your place see here.
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Hempsons, leading health and social care lawyers 
are running a FREE seminar for social care
providers on 16 March 2016. The update will include: Data Protection and Security; CQC Inspections and Reports – when to action and when to challenge; Duty of Candour and Fundamental Standards of Care; Employment Law Update. This seminar will be of interest to all those involved in the management and running of social care providers. See here to register.
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NICE Consultation: Mental health problems in 
people with learning disabilities
See here for more information and how to respond.
ARC England can also reply on your behalf - please email Esther.Oddy@arcuk.org.uk if you would like us to do so.
This consultation closes on 20 April 2016 at 5pm
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 Community Care - Live 16 takes place at Birmingham ICC on 10 - 11 May 2016.
ARC England's very own Rod Landman will be speaking about Mate Crime and Sexual exploitation amongst people with learning disabilities. For more information, or to book your place, please see here.
ARC's Mate Crime workshops are delivered by Rod and focus on a range of case studies, using small group work to lead to an organisational action plan. We are currently taking expressions of interest for this workshop so please contact us to register your interest.
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ARC Membership includes free job listing on our website. We are currently advertising the following positions:
- Autism Support and Care - Support Worker - Sutton-in Ashfield
- Encompass - various positions available in Dorset
- Frontier - Support Worker - Croydon
- New Directions Rugby - Community Services Manager
- New Directions Rugby - Registered Care Manager
- Northam Lodge - Night Care Support Worker - Devon
- Reach Learning Disability – Care Support Worker vacancies -
 Nottinghamshire
- ROC - Support Worker - Totnes
- ROC - Relief Support Workers - Torbay
- ROC - Female Support Worker
- ROC Creative Torbay - Learning Guide Support Worker, Drama
- ROC - Team Leader East Devon
To view any of our Members' current vacancies, please visit our Vacancy Listing Page here
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If you are an ARC member and would like us to advertise your job vacancies here and on our website, please email Esther.Oddy@arcuk.org.uk
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