We are partnering with the Social Wellbeing Agency (SWA) to develop the Integrated Services Hub (ISH) – a programme that supports other social service providers to develop their capability to use data, improve outcomes for their clients, and contribute to improving the overall effectiveness of the social sector.
Many social service providers in New Zealand are doing excellent work for their clients; but without the ability to measure their client’s outcomes, determine which services works and which need to improve, and to share these insights with other parts of the social services sector (Government, funders, other service providers), our social services sector will struggle to improve outcomes for our clients.
A decade ago, we introduced some very simple outcome measurement tools to our own services, and after several years of learning from the data and making gradual changes to the way we operate – our client outcomes improved dramatically, and we became a much more effective social service provider. This approach eventually developed into our own internal quality assurance system (QualityWorks) – and provided catalyst for the ISH – with the goal of building a robust end-to-end service to share with other service providers and help improve their own clients’ outcomes.
The ISH also provides a valuable opportunity to learn how data can be safely and securely collected and used by a wide range of social service providers, and to explore how these insights can improve the way the social sector is designed and funded in the future.
Features of the Integrated Services Hub
Phase 1 and 2 of the ISH pilot were completed in mid-2019 – with a small group of social service providers in Otago and Southland testing the early versions of the ISH tools, and getting started with outcome measurement in their front line services.
Phase 3 of the ISH pilot will run from June 2020 to July 2021, and will work with 8 – 12 social service providers from around New Zealand, to further test and develop the ISH tools, and prepare for a wider roll-out to other service providers in the future.