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Personalisation, ambiguity and conflict: Matland's model of policy implementation and the 'transformation' of adult social care in England
- Author:
- ELLIS Kathryn
- Journal article citation:
- Policy and Politics, 43(2), 2015, pp.239-254(16).
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
The article draws on Matland's (1995) modelling of policy implementation to investigate the personalisation of adult social care in England. The shift from policy formation to enactment by local authorities is linked to a move from 'symbolic' to 'political' implementation. Successive studies, however, highlight certain enduring features of local authorities as sites of contradiction and dissent in adult social care, particularly on the frontline. Taking these into account arguably permits a closer analysis of the dynamics of power at work in the implementation of the personalisation agenda as well as enriching our understanding of the nature of political implementation. (Publisher abstract)
Professional discretion and adult social work: exploring its nature and scope on the front line of personalisation
- Author:
- ELLIS Kathryn
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 44(8), 2014, pp.2272-2289.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Drawing on studies spanning the restructuring of community care in the early 1990s, and subsequent addition of Direct Payments, through to the piloting of individual budgets and implementation of personalised support, this article seeks to tease out those lessons which may assist in understanding the exercise of front line discretion in adult social work within the new organisational environments created by personalisation. A typology of front line discretion is used to consider the interplay between formal and informal frameworks of practice. It is argued that the escalation of risk management technology attendant upon personalisation strengthens the routinisation of decision making at the expense of traditional bureaucratic and professional standards, whilst doing little to discourage those informal strategies which have long been used to control the contingencies of front line practice. Despite the promise of revalorising adult social work as a means of supporting people accessing social care to secure greater control over outcomes, it is concluded that there is little to discourage the perpetuation of conservative and defensive practice on the front line of personalisation. (Publisher abstract)
'Street-level bureaucracy' revisited: the changing face of frontline discretion in adult social care in England
- Author:
- ELLIS Kathryn
- Journal article citation:
- Social Policy and Administration, 45(3), June 2011, pp.221-244.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The continuing significance of Lipsky's 1980 work on street level bureaucracy for frontline decision-making is assessed in this article. The article presents a literature review charting the impact of shifts in welfare administration on street-level autonomy and draws on the author's own research to assess conflicting views about the impact of social care reforms on the discretion which frontline social workers exercise. It identifies and discusses 4 main types of frontline discretion found within and across teams: street-level bureaucrat, practitioner, bureau professional, and paternalistic professional. The author notes that frontline decision-making represents a dynamic interaction between top-down authority and street-level discretion, and that the advent of personalisation raises fresh questions about the nature and scope of frontline discretion in social care.
Direct payments and social work practice: the significance of 'street-level bureaucracy' in determining eligibility
- Author:
- ELLIS Kathryn
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 37(3), April 2007, pp.405-422.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Sponsored both by governments intent upon fiscal restraint and user movements keen to extend choice and control, ‘cash-for-care’ schemes are replacing direct services across mature welfare states. Recent legislation on direct payments, which has enacted the UK version of cash-for-care, has attracted considerable research interest in the UK. Previous studies point to a number of tensions for social workers in the implementation process which give rise, in turn, to considerable uncertainty, even hostility, on the part of front line staff. This article, which discusses the findings of a study of assessment and care management practice in one English council, seeks to make sense of social workers’ approach to the allocation of direct payments by reference to Lipsky’s (1980) theory of ‘street-level bureaucracy’. The author concludes that despite ten years of managerialism, in the course of which professional practice has been routinized and regulated, Lipsky’s work is still useful in analysing front line behaviour around direct payments.
Disability rights in practice: the relationship between human rights and social rights in contemporary social care
- Author:
- ELLIS Kathryn
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Society, 20(7), December 2005, pp.691-704.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Using the contemporary arena of social care as an example, this article challenges the either/or dichotomy set up by some disability writers and activists between the favoured civil and human rights on the one hand and discredited social rights on the other. This article draws on the example of social care in England to argue that this is an approach that not only misreads the true nature of civil and human rights, but also limits the possibilities for using the 1998 Human Rights Act to place pressure on both local authorities and professional assessors for the resources necessary to transform civil and human rights into practical realities. In particular, the potential for expanding disabled people’s social rights to both direct services and direct payments by enforcing the positive obligations on public authorities conferred by human rights legislation and challenging rationing regimes.
Promoting rights or avoiding litigation? The introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 into adult social care in England
- Author:
- ELLIS Kathryn
- Journal article citation:
- European Journal of Social Work, 7(3), November 2004, pp.321-340.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Rights to social care in England have traditionally been highly restricted. By placing positive obligations on social care agencies and practitioners to make provision for vulnerable adults, the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law through the Human Rights Act 1998 promised to extend their reach. Yet transforming a set of largely procedural rights into something more substantive requires the active intervention of social care practitioners. This article firstly examines the fit between human rights and the policy and operational contexts of social care before exploring the views of social workers included in a recent interview study. Whilst the findings point to a willingness on the part of some to advocate on behalf of vulnerable adults, they also highlight the extent to which individualistic beliefs about dependency and responsibility reinforce the dominant construction of citizenship rights under the current government as contingent upon the fulfilment of responsibilities. Treating the Human Rights Act as a weapon of litigation, the article concludes, simply reinforces defensive practice. Progressive change is best supported by fostering a human rights culture in social care which, in turn, depends upon challenging social workers' assumptions about the nature of dependency, responsibility and rights.
Are women becoming a burden? independence, dependency and community care
- Author:
- ELLIS Kathryn
- Journal article citation:
- Social Services Research, 2, 1995, pp.1-10.
- Publisher:
- Social Services Research Group
Explores the differing and gendered meanings attached to 'independence' and 'dependency' in the newly decentralised and marketised regimes of community care, and assesses the extent to which older and disabled women are receiving the services and support they require to enable them to lead independent lives.
Power games
- Author:
- ELLIS Kathryn
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 18.3.93, 1993, pp.20-21.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
Argues that professionals must lose their dislike of assessment guidelines if disabled people are to be empowered. A reliance on professional judgment can direct assessment outcomes away from user's needs, and because clients' have little knowledge of services they feel unable to challenge decisions.
Squaring the circle: user and carer participation
- Author:
- ELLIS Kathryn
- Publisher:
- Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Publication year:
- 1993
- Pagination:
- 46p.,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- York
Report exploring the underlying values and attitudes of professionals involved in assessment alongside views and experiences of disabled people and their carers.
Squaring another circle in policy and practice: personalization and adult safeguarding
- Authors:
- ELLIS Kathryn, PRESTON-SHOOT Michael
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Care Services Management, 6(4), 2012, pp.161-171.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This article discusses personalisation and safeguarding in social policy for adult social care and as practised in local authorities in England. It considers the research evidence on outcomes of current policies on personalisation and adult safeguarding, and reviews proposals in the Care Bill for reform of this key area of policy and practice. Specifically it discusses the balance it proposes to strike between personalisation and safeguarding, and between empowerment and protection. The paper concludes with implications for practitioners and managers. (Edited publisher abstract)