MCA Awareness – Young People

Aims:

This half day programme aims to help staff to understand the Mental Capacity Act when working with young people so that they can work within the requirements of the act and evidence their practice.

Objectives:

This will be achieved via consideration and examination of the following:

• What the Act is about (advanced planning, decision making, a universal test for Capacity, a universal requirement to act in the incapacitated person’s best interests and protection)
• The Act’s principles (s1) and their implications for practice
• Who assesses capacity, when is it assessed and how is it assessed?
• Providing proof of incapacity and the use of relevant documentation
• Consideration of issues of coercive control rather than mental incapacity effecting decision making
• The role of the IMCA service and best interest decisions
• LPS and how they work better for Children’s services in comparison to DoLs, their structure and decision making framework; where this sits with D v Birmingham and the Supreme court judgement, Cheshire West/P&Q.
• Current cases which are building a body of case law incl KK v STCC and NYC v PC & NC, D v Birmingham etc (this will be a brief insight to be developed later as the LPS framework develops)
• The decisions that are excluded from the Act and the difficulties this can present.

Outcomes:

By the end of the session participants will able to start to understand the Mental Capacity Act with specific reference to their working role. They will have had the opportunity to gain greater confidence in understanding how the Act underpins good practice and how it’s application will enhance decision making and contribute to service user involvement.