Page 22 - TLAP Beyond Direct Payments

Beyond Direct Payments
Community sourcing
Community sourcing is simply to apply the principles of good social work back to the whole commissioning process (Howells & Yapp, 2013; Yapp & Howells, 2013). It proposes that statutory funders see their role as providing the resources and core infrastructure around which local developments can thrive.
This way of thinking about health and social care is closely connected to the growing need for local statutory bodies to show leadership on economic development. Economic development is not distinct from the state of the health and social care system; growing leadership and capacity from within the community itself becomes a central task. Communities should not want to outsource this kind of leadership; instead they must grow the capacity for leadership, problem-solving and community development from within the community itself.
Similarly, local statutory bodies are in danger of losing the capacity to deliver core services and support which they are best positioned to control. Legal, nance and recruitment support can be provided locally in order to reduce the burdens on local people and community groups. Local bodies could ensure that they provide the core infrastructure and leave much of the detail to local people who understand local problems, and opportunities, better.
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