I Care...Ambassadors FAQs

Transcription

1 I Care...Ambassadors FAQs 1. Registering a service 2. Running an I Care Ambassador Service 3. Registering I Care...Ambassadors and I Care...Associates 4. What is expected of I Care Ambassadors and I Care Associates? 1. Registering a service Who can register as an I Care Ambassador service? To register as an I Care Ambassador service you must be a social care employer providing direct care and support to adults in England as a primary function of your business, or be a formally constituted partnership of social care employers each of whom provides direct care and support to adults in England as a primary function of your business. I am an individual employer who directly employs a personal assistant, can I register as an I Care Ambassador service? Yes, the I Care Ambassadors initiative supports social care employers of all sizes to promote careers in social care. You can nominate your personal assistant(s) to be I Care Ambassadors. Individual employers can also support their ambassador by becoming an I Care Associate. How do I set up an I Care Ambassador service? Guidance on setting up and running a service can be found at on our website All employers and employer partnerships need to register their service online. Tips on registering are also available on our website. I m a social care employer and I am thinking about registering as an I Care Ambassador service. How much will this cost and what are the benefits? Financial sustainability is a key principle of I Care Ambassadors. Please go to and read the guidance on setting up and running a service for more information. The benefits include raising the profile of your organisation as a quality employer, helping to develop a professional workforce for the future, developing and motivating your staff and keeping up to date with current issues. By registering you will also receive access to the Resources Bank and resources and potential funding. For more information refer to the business benefits video which is available on our website.

2 Does Skills for Care own I Care Ambassador services? No, as the custodian of the I Care Ambassadors initiative, Skills for Care provides the central infrastructure and supports an employer steering group who have shaped, developed and agreed the model. Can employers providing children s care services in England, register their staff on the I Care Ambassador register? Skills for Care support employers in England who provide adult social care. The I Care Ambassadors initiative has been tailored to promote careers in adult social care only. If an organisation provides children s care services in England and they wish to nominate care staff who work with children and young people to be ambassadors they should register with Ambassadors for careers with children and young people. For further information please sscinfo@skillsforcareanddevelopment.org.uk Can a college or training provider register as an I Care Ambassador service? Only social care employers and partnerships of social care employers who provide care and support to adults in England, can register as an I Care Ambassador service. Colleges and training providers can search for ambassadors using the search register and commission them to run activity, helping learners to gain a first-hand current insight into what working in care is really like and the opportunities available in the sector. Skills for Care have a wide range of materials to support the promotion of careers in care. Can an employer join more than one partnership? An employer based only at one site or establishment can only join one I Care Ambassador partnership. When an employer operates across multiple sites or establishments, each establishment can chose to join any I Care Ambassador partnership, but must only join one partnership. It is helpful to differentiate the sites when inputting employer name such as Emerald Care - York or Emerald Care - Newcastle. Can an I Care Ambassador be a member of more than one I Care Ambassador service? No, an I Care Ambassador can only join one service. Does an employer with multiple sites or establishments have to have one registered service and central coordination? No, an employer can choose to either register as a whole organisation with one coordination point e.g. Emerald Care, or different sites can register and have a dedicated coordinators at each establishment, for example Emerald Care -York, Emerald Care - Newcastle. Alternatively, they may choose to join a partnership instead of registering themselves. Can a recruitment agency register as an I Care Ambassador service? Recruitment agencies which only supply staff to other organisations, including those who provide temporary staff for care homes, cannot register as an I Care...Ambassador service and must be nominated by a registered service to perform the role of an I Care...Associate.

3 I am a recruitment agency which also has an arm to the business which directly delivers care and support, can I register as an I Care Ambassador service? If the organisation is a social care employer providing direct care and support as a primary function of their business they can register as an I Care...Ambassador service, however, the recruitment agency function of your business cannot be part of your I Care Ambassador service. You should only nominate the staff from the eligible part of the business, for example, staff that you directly employ to provide domiciliary care to individuals in their own homes. Staff placed with other employers cannot be registered. You should also be careful in naming your I Care Ambassador service that it does not reflect the recruitment agency element of the business. 2. Running an I Care Ambassador service I have registered an I Care Ambassador service, how often do I need to update the details? Services are responsible for ensuring the register is continually updated as changes occur, for example, adding new I Care Ambassadors to your service or updating contact details. What resources and support are available to I Care Ambassador services? The Resources Bank, hosted by Skills for Care, contains a range of materials to support the setting up and running of services, the delivery of services and the development of I Care Ambassadors. The Resources Bank is only accessible to registered services. Skills for Care locality managers can provide help and advice on setting up and running a service. Their details can be found at Who will arrange I Care Ambassador activities? The registered I Care Ambassador service will make arrangements with the commissioning organisation for delivery of activity. Skills for Care will not manage arrangements or handle any payments. As an employer, can I promote my organisation through I Care Ambassadors? Employers and partnerships registering with I Care...Ambassadors must agree to abide by the Principles and Policy and to promote social care careers in a non-biased way. By doing this I Care Ambassadors representing your organisation will provide a flavour of what it is like to work in social care by talking about their particular role and work environment. This will help to promote your organisation as a quality employer. How will I Care Ambassador services be evaluated? Skills for Care is committed to learning from the experiences of services, sharing examples of best practice to support the ongoing development of the I Care...Ambassadors initiative. There are templates, tools and guidance in the Resources Bank which can support services to capture information for evaluation purposes. The online survey and reporting tool should also be used by services to capture customer experience and to measure the impact of the activity being delivered. How is quality of service ensured? There is guidance, tips and tools to help employers to recruit, support and develop I Care Ambassadors. Each I Care Ambassador completes the Welcome Modules to prepare them for their role and the online survey and reporting tool will help to identify where further development is needed to ensure ambassadors are delivering the expected level of service.

4 As a social care employer or employer partnership, can I charge for services? Yes, financial sustainability is key to the I Care...Ambassador initiative. Please read the guidance on setting up and running a service, and the Principles and Policy document, which are available on our website As a social care employer or employer partnership, can I offer free I Care Ambassador services? Employers and partnerships can fund activity in a variety of ways, which include making their service free at the point of delivery. If the recipient of the service makes no contribution or a partcontribution to the cost of activity, the employer or employer partnership should not advertise their activity as free, but promote it as fully funded or co-funded. How will recipients provide feedback about the service being delivered? The online survey and reporting tool supports I Care Ambassador services to gather feedback on their activity. Using a series of questionnaires this tool will make it easier for employers to measure the impact of activity and will help to identify learning and development needs for I Care Ambassadors. 3. Registering I Care Ambassadors and I Care Associates Who can register as an I Care Ambassador? I Care Ambassadors must be employed in the adult social care sector in England and provide direct day to day delivery of care and support to people in need of care and support. Registered employers nominate care staff to become I Care Ambassadors. I currently run a care ambassador scheme can I transfer my care ambassadors to the register? Yes, provided you and your ambassadors meet the eligibility criteria and expectations set out in the I Care Ambassador Principles and Policy. We welcome schemes transferring to become services but it is important that everyone involved, including employers and ambassadors, understand and are happy to work within Principles and Policy. Schemes should fully understand how the initiative works and to identify any potential adjustments which may need to be made to the way they operate. Employers need to shape and agree how their service will be structured, function and be sustained. More information can be found in the setting up and running an I Care...Ambassador service. I have worked in the sector for a long time but I do not currently provide direct care and support to people in need of care and support, can I register as an I Care Ambassador? To be eligible to register as an I Care...Ambassador you must currently provide direct day to day delivery of care and support to people in need of care and support. If your employer is registered with I Care Ambassadors, you could share your valuable experience by becoming an I Care Associate. You can find more information about this role and ways of working in collaboration with I Care...Ambassadors in Principles and Policy and Becoming an I Care Associate.

5 How do I become an I Care Ambassador? You must be nominated by a registered employer to undertake this role. If your employer is not registered with I Care Ambassadors or is not a member of an I Care Ambassador partnership you can encourage them sign up or seek support from our area staff (locality managers) who can explain how the model works You can also icare@skillsforcare.org.uk for advice. Can people who volunteer in adult social care be involved in the I Care Ambassadors initiative? Yes, registered employers can nominate people who volunteer with their organisation to become I Care Associates. Please refer to the Principles and Policy and Becoming an I Care Associate. I have recently completed my I Care...Ambassadors registration, although I can log in, I cannot see the Resources Link? Your registration gives you immediate access to the hub and also the ability to update your personal details on your account. Your status either as an ambassador or as an employer, needs to be verified and will go through a process and this will take a minimum of 48 hours before you have access to the Resources Bank. If you have waited a week and still cannot access resources, then please contact us for assistance or icare@skillsforcare.org.uk I have staff who would like to be ambassadors or associates but we are not registered as an I Care Ambassador service? All ambassadors and associates must be nominated and supported by a social care employer who is either registered as an I Care Ambassador service or as an employer member of an I Care Ambassador partnership. If your organisation isn t registered as a service or has no plans to register as a service, employers can request the details of local partnerships who are recruiting employer members by ing icare@skillsforcare.org.uk Employers registering with an employer partnership can tap into centralised coordination and other support provided by partnerships but will still need to sign up to the Principles and Policy and support the ambassadors and associates they nominate. Can my staff just go and do it as I don t have time to get involved? For someone to become an I Care Ambassador they need to be nominated and supported by an employer who is registered with I Care Ambassadors either as an I Care Ambassador service or an employer member of an I Care Ambassador partnership. If you do not have the time to invest in setting up and running an I Care Ambassador service then staff can request a list of partnerships who are recruiting employer members by ing icare@skillsforcare.org.uk Joining as an employer member of a partnership can bring efficiencies, such as centralised coordination, but employers will still have to commit time to understand the I Care Ambassadors initiative, recruit and support their ambassadors. There are a number of benefits of signing up to I Care Ambassadors so it s worth finding time to consider whether it s right for your organisation. There is a short video on our website which outlines the business benefits for employers of signing up to I Care Ambassadors.

6 4. What is expected of I Care Ambassadors and I Care Associates? What do I Care Ambassadors do? I Care Ambassadors talk enthusiastically about their own jobs and reach out to encourage others to see social care as a positive career option. I Care Ambassadors can provide one or more activites which include, formal presentations, interactive group activities, informal talks or discussions, guided workplace visits, staffing information stands, mentoring people who are new to the sector, supporting work placement opportunities, and media/publicity activities. The I Care Ambassador and their employer will agree which activities should be delivered. What is an I Care Associate? I Care Associates can contribute to I Care Ambassador services by, for example, helping to recruit and develop ambassadors or supporting them at ambassador events. They will have experience and insight into the social care sector but no longer provide direct day to day care. Please refer to the Principles and Policy and Becoming an I Care Associate I m thinking about becoming an I Care Ambassador, what are the benefits to me? You will develop new skills and gain access to a wider network to share and learn. You will have the opportunity to share enthusiasm for your work, help to recruit new people to the sector, raise the profile of sector and promote care as a positive career choice. Will I have the opportunity to access training and development as an I Care Ambassador? New I Care Ambassadors are expected to complete the Welcome Modules before they start delivering activity. These modules will help you understand your role and how you can get gain support. There are a range of further training options which can be explored by your employer to help you to develop in your role, this include presentation skills training. More information can be found in setting up and running an I Care Ambassador service which is available on our website What time and travel commitments associated with being an I Care...Ambassador? There are no predetermined time or travel expectations. Time and travel limitations are agreed by the ambassador and their employer. Who do I Care Ambassadors work with? I Care Ambassadors work with potential recruits which include young people at school or college, job seekers and those seeking a career change. You may also work with groups of teachers or careers or employment advisors to refresh their knowledge of social care.