Looking ‘under the bonnet’ of No Wrong Door

blog | 20 Feb 2019

About No Wrong Door

No Wrong Door is an innovative, integrated service supporting adolescents who are in care or on the edge of care. The model aims for permanence in a family setting for all adolescents with complex needs. It integrates residential care, foster care, speech and language support, mental health services and the police into a single hub that is based in a residential home and works with about 40 young people at any one time.

As part of the Department of Education’s Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme, No Wrong Door was independently evaluated by Loughborough University between 2015 and 2017, and has since received widespread recognition for its success in demonstrating improved outcomes for young people and reductions in numbers of looked after children, as well as significant financial savings.

Adopting and adapting No Wrong Door

Innovation Unit coaches are currently working with teams in Salford, Trafford, Wigan, Manchester, Stockport and Rochdale to support these local authorities adopt and adapt the No Wrong Door model to their local needs and context.

The programme kicked off in Manchester in January, where teams from the Greater Manchester authorities learned about the ‘distinguishers’ and ‘non-negotiables’ of the No Wrong Door model. They also had the opportunity to hear from colleagues in Wigan, Bradford and Sheffield, who are also at different stages along the journey of adapting No Wrong Door in their authorities.

Learning from the event

Last Friday, participants got to see one of the North Yorkshire hubs for themselves and to hear direct from staff, foster carers and others working with young people. The visit was a chance to look ‘under the bonnet’ of the model and hear stories of impact first-hand.

We learnt that the No Wrong Door Hub’s workforce culture is ‘high challenge, high support’, which means team members are encouraged to work flexibly based on the needs of the young person, and are supported by their peers and management team to do so.

A highlight of the day was hearing from one of the managers, James Cliffe, about a ‘Day in the Life’ of a hub Manager, and the resilience required to “come back, day in day out, keep driving and face all the challenges you face.” James, like several other team members, was supported to become a foster carer based on a mutual connection with one of the young people he was working with. Hearing these stories revealed the extent to which young people’s needs and an emphasis on family life are truly at the heart of the model.

We also heard from David Gillson, the Performance and Intelligence Officer who used case studies to illustrate financial savings. Whilst the model requires upfront investment, significant savings are realised in terms of reduced numbers of arrests, reduced A&E admissions and a whole range of other factors.

The benefits of partnering with local services was made clear by Matt, one of the hub’s Police Intelligence Officers. He told us how he had recently spoken about the model to colleagues being trained at the Royal College of Policing. He also spoke about the ‘buzz’ he gets from being able to develop life-changing relationships with young people, and seeing their perceptions of the police force change.

The individual journey for each of the Greater Manchester local authorities now continues back at base with ongoing support from Innovation Unit coaches. Teams will meet together again in May to continue to share learning and support each other in the process of implementing No Wrong Door.

Supporting your adopting and adapting efforts

If you would like to know more about the support available for adapting No Wrong Door to your context, please contact Cath Dillon – cath.dillon@innovationunit.org