Support in the Right Direction was a 3 year programme (2012-15) funded by the Scottish Government’s Self-Directed Support Branch to improve understanding about ‘what works’ in Independent Support for Self-directed Support (SDS). Through this programme we delivered training workshops, gave tailored support and organised events to help 42 organisations, which provide Independent Support, to evidence their outcomes. We also helped Scottish Government think through the reporting requirements for funded projects and analyse the evidence they received in reports.
- The Story of Support in the Right Direction documents the process of running this thematic programme and shows the difference we made and what we learned.
- What works in Independent Support brings together the learning from all the organisations taking part in this programme.
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Another strand of the programme involved ESS working with funded projects to identify the outcomes of Independent Support and how best to evaluate them. An interim document was published in June 2013.Building on the work of this first year, two final documents (superseding the interim document) were launched in March 2015.
Support in the Right Direction: The value of Independent Support – NEW
Intended primarily for funders and commissioners, this document explains the different types of Independent Support, what difference Independent Support can make (outcomes), and what evidence there is for this, including
Support in the Right Direction: Measuring the difference Independent Support makes
This document is intended primarily to help organisations providing Independent Support evaluate their work. However, it is also likely to have value for those who fund or commission Independent Support.
Watch the videos below of Jess Wade, Manager of SDSS and Lisa Lee, SDS manager at Penumbra introduce “The value of Independent Support” at ‘Well begun’ event, March 2015.
The final strand of the Support in the Right Direction programme involved working with a group of funded Independent Support projects to produce:
Why bother involving people in evaluation? – Beyond feedback
This workbook can help you plan why, when and how to involve the people you work with in evaluation
The Why bother workbook helps organisations plan why, when and how to involve the people they work with in evaluation.
The initial aim was to share what we learned with other Independent Support projects working with people eligible for SDS; however we believe that the workbook will also be relevant to third sector organisations working in many other fields.