Two Day Workshop on 26th & 28th April from 9.30am - 4.30pm

For a full breakdown on the course timetable Day 1 and Day 2  CLICK HERE

Please note the start time is slightly later than the brochure of 9:30 and finishing at 16:30 

The course has been funded by the HSCP Office, HSE. As such, places are available to social workers in the publicly funded healthcare service only. Tusla staff are not eligible to attend. 

Social Care Ireland are delighted to collaborate on the following workshop with the Irish Association of Social Workers. This is an interdisciplinary event between social care workers and social workers. This course will provide participants with the knowledge and skills required to implement the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act into everyday practice. As this legislation is a key element in the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities it also aims to support the learner to develop an understanding of the Convention. In doing so it focuses on the importance of building decision making capacity and the concept of will and preference.

Health and Social Care Practitioners support people to make some of the most significant decisions in their lives with the potential to make life altering differences. By using the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act services can makes those life changing decisions possible for everyone not just for those who make decisions independently. This course is intended to give participants the skills and knowledge to implement the Act into their practice, and ensure they are compliant with the law, as well as ensuring the best outcomes for the people they support. Placing the values and wishes of the person at the forefront and affording the person dignity of risk is common across services however using a process as directed by law can be a daunting prospect. This course aims to provide frontline practitioners with the confidence to interact with the law on a daily basis and in doing so provide support in accordance with the supported person’s will and preference, values and beliefs. Participants will examine case scenarios relevant to their role and apply them within the context of the guiding principles and the functional assessment of capacity. Participants will also explore the decision – making arrangements under the Act.

On Completion of this Course Participants will
1. Understand the historical context of the Assisted Decision-Making Act with regard to 1871 Lunacy Regulation Act.
2. Understand the term – a ward of court and the culture that has existed under wardship.
3. Appreciate the significance of a designation of incapacity.
4. Understand that ‘incapacity is not an off switch to rights’.
5. Appreciate the dramatic change in culture and practice which will be required by the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015.
6. Understand the different approaches to decision making capacity.
7. Recognise the current structures in place with regard to capacity.
10.Understand this Act through the lens of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
11.Understand and put into practice terms such as reasonable Accommodation and supported decision making.
12.Know the purpose of the Act.
13.Understand how to apply the guiding principles of the Act to practice.
14.Understand the importance of the following statement and learn strategies for acting on it ” a person is not treated as unable to make a decision unless all practicable steps to help him to do so have been taken without success.”
15.Appreciate the concept of will and preference.
16.Move from the position of acting on the basis of best interest to acting on the basis of will and preference.
17.Understand the role of the functional assessment of capacity within the Act.
18. Develop the skills and knowledge to apply the functional assessment of capacity in practice.
19. Understand the decision – making arrangements such as the decision –making assistant arrangement, a co decision making arrangement and decision-making representative.

Facilitators Biography

Josephine McLoughlin is the Director of Legal Capacity Training. Josephine qualified with a BA in Social Care in 2008 and has over 20 years’ experience as a Social Care Leader. In 1995 Josephine started her career in the HSE Special Care Units for children, followed by two years in the homeless service and 16 years in the disability sector specializing in disability and mental health. In 2013, she qualified as a friendship, relationship, and sexuality instructor from the Callan Institute. Following this, she completed an LL.M. (master’s in law) in International and Comparative Disability Law and Policy at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy at the NUI Galway. In 2015 Josephine graduated with a first-class honours and in addition was awarded the CDLP Gold Medal for Excellence. She continues to build on her knowledge and skills completing a Certificate in Decision-Making Capacity and Support at the Law Society of Ireland. Most recently Josephine completed a Master Class in Complex Capacity Assessments at the Mental Health
Justice Project Maudsley Learning Kings College London