A FLEXIBLE APPROACH
A FLEXIBLE APPROACH USING SIGNS OF SAFETY ACROSS OUR WORK
JENNIFER FAITHFULL E M I LY G W Y N N JUSTIN COLMAN
SIGNS OF SAFETY & SUPERVISION ORDERS
What is a Supervision Order? A supervision order gives the local authority the legal power monitor the child's needs and progress while the child lives at home or somewhere else. A social worker will advise, help and befriend the child. In practice, this will mean they give help and support to the family as a whole. -A supervision order is made for one year, but it can be stopped (discharged) earlier or extended for a total of up to three years. -As a Local Authority we manage all Supervision Orders within the Child in Need Procedures
Government Guidance Wherever possible, the local authority will maintain a constructive working relationship with the family as well as the child during the lifetime of the case. This can be particularly important where an interim care order has been made and where detailed assessments of the parents/carers or wider family members or friends have yet to be completed. - Department of Education (2014) Court orders and preproceedings For local authorities
SUPERVISION ORDERS (BEFORE SOS) What’s working well -Every child has an allocated social worker for the length of the Order. -The child is visited monthly with 6 weekly CIN meetings to monitor CIN Plan -Regular case supervision provides management oversight of planning -The Local Authority can return to Court to vary an Order should a breach place a child at risk of significant harm
What are we worried about - The local authority's duties under a Supervision Order are vague. The social worker ought to 'advise, assist and befriend' the child who is under the SO, but there is nothing specifying how often they ought to see the child, what they should do when they see the child. -Parents often exit Care Proceedings feeling alienated and overly assessed -Some cases lack clarity with regards to what is required to progress with the Plan -Confusion exists around level of risk to children amongst professionals despite the threshold for significant harm having been met -Family’s who have been open to social care for some time are aware of CIN processes and the accompanying ‘voluntary engagement’ -Families becoming dependant on Social Care involvement -Few Supervision Orders return to court for early discharge
What needs to happen -A consistent approach to be taken with all families within Care Proceedings where SO’s are being recommended -Families to take responsibility for the safety of their children (move from professional lead to Safety Network lead) -All cases to have a clear direction (trajectories) -All professionals to be involved with and provided clear explanation of SoS approach. -Templates used need to reflect ‘Supervision Order’ rather than CIN
OUR APPROACH SO FAR… • In Local Authority Evidence -National Social Work Statement • In direct work with families -Trajectories and Safety Planning
NATIONAL SOCIAL WORK STATEMENT Within the National Social Work Statement there are a number of opportunities to naturally incorporate SoS: • Genogram / Ecomap (identifying Safety Network) • Summary of reasons for order sought (mapping) • Analysis of harm (harm/danger statements and safety goals) • Child impact analysis, including child’s wishes and feelings (three houses) • Analysis of parenting capacity (case mapping/ scaling) • Analysis of wider family capability (Safety Network meetings / scaling) • The proposed placement option with reasons (‘Signs of Permanency’) • Views and issues raised by other parties (case mapping/scaling)
TRAJECTORIES & SAFETY PLANNING Date (week)
Tasks
Family visits/meetings
Contact
5
Develop safety plan
2 x 3 hour joint contact in the community – SN
1
-Seek agreement from key professionals
-1 x meeting with both parents -Up to 4 x visits to M at home
2 x 2 hour joint contact – supervised by contact team (CT)
-1 x Meeting with parents / safety network / professionals -2x home visits -Court: Issues Resolution Hearing
6
Develop safety plan
-1 x meeting with parents / safety network -2 x visits to Michael at home
2 x day community contacts –SN
7 -1 x meeting with both parents -Up to 4 x visits to M at home
2 x 2 hour joint contact –CT
Complete safety plan and share with safety network, children and professionals
-1 x meeting with parents / safety network / professionals -2 x home visits
Contact to be arranged between parents - SN
8
-Safety plan in place - monitored by safety network and social care
1 x home visit
Above to continue
9-12
-As above
Fortnightly home visits
13-25
-As above
Monthly home visits
26
-Case Closure / step down / discharge of SO (Safety plan monitored by SN on ongoing basis)
Celebratory meeting
-Outline SoS approach (trajectory, safety planning and ‘bottom line’ requirements) to parents -Begin Case Mapping 2
-To help parents identify safety network -Continue case mapping -Draft Words and Pictures explanation
3
-Continue case mapping
-1 x meeting with both parents -Up to 4 x visits to M at home
2 x 2 hour joint contact –CT
-Refine Words and Pictures explanation
4
-Share Words and Pictures explanation with safety network and start developing safety plan
-1 x Meeting with parents -mapping -1 x Family network / safety network meeting -Up to 3 x home visits
1 x 2 hour joint contact in the community – supervised by support network (SN) 1 x 2 hour contact - CT
SAFETY PLAN
Signs of Safety and Children With Disabilities Team How Brent Children with Disabilities Team(CWDT) is using Signs of Safety: an appreciative inquiry
Dispel the myth: we can use SoS with disabled children! u
We can use it but there’s more to do!
u
Three Houses is just a tool-there are other ways!
u
Is an autistic child who runs onto a train track not in danger?
u
In Brent CWDT we are very clear that this has enhanced practice
Using appreciative inquiry: looking at what SoS has brought to CWDT in Brent Q: What do you think SoS has brought to your work in CWDT? Has it made things better with how we work with families and disabled children? SoS has: u
Enhanced engagement with families
u
Helped families see positives of their disabled child
u
Improved quality of direct work
u
Improved quality of assessments.
Themes from CWDT appreciative inquiry
“brings focus and structure to our work” “it helps to think through cases”
“more holistic” “helps families to look at things they are doing well”
“better direct work” “better quality of assessments through focussed information gathering” “more in depth analysis” “develops more resilience in families”
“encourages agencies to share the plan”
What was the most common theme from CWDT practitioners?
•
Talk about STRENGTHS and you open up possibility for solutions
•
Take focus away from what the disabled child cannot do to what they can do
“
I think what I like about using signs of safety is the way it encourages you to see the positives in families, even when everything seems hopeless to the family. Then families start seeing the attributes and strengths they have too, because you’ve brought their attention to it Quote by student social worker in CWDT
”
“
I believe that it really delves deep into allowing the families to think about the positives rather than always thinking about how the disability is having a negative impact on them Quote by key worker in CWDT
”
Direct work with disabled children u
Three Houses example with child L.
u
Use of Three Houses is possible but interpretation and analysis is key
u
Easier to use with children with less severe learning needs
Which tools do we use with severely disabled children? u
PECS
u
Makaton
u
Structured observations
u
Vocalisations, eye contact, body movement, posture
u
Parent/carer led
u
SoS has firmly placed the disabled child at the centre of everything we do
What has changed in CWDT? Before and after SoS Pre-2013 u
Assessments would say ‘child unable to communicate their views’ or ‘we have been unable to gather John’s views because he cannot communicate verbally’. This is now outlawed!
u
Now:
u
Rich descriptions of the disabled child
u
What they CAN do as well as what they cannot do
u
How their disability impacts on them, their parents, their siblings.
u
It has sharpened the practice e.g. use of Specialist Health Worker
“
I feel that it has improved direct work in the team by making the team focus on the child even if we are not able to use SoS tools that can be used with mainstream children, it has made us ensure that we still place the disabled child at the centre of what we do Quote by a manager in CWDT
”
Other key themes from CWDT •
Better analysis and ‘thinking through’ cases.
•
Improved quality of assessments
•
What do managers think / and Ofsted!
“
‘I’ve found the approach useful in supervision sessions for helping my supervisees formulate smarter, more targeted and more strength-based questions to ask children and families during home visits and assessments. This in turn has improved the quality of information obtained from these visits and within assessments’. Quote from Advanced Practitioner
”
“
‘SoS from a manager’s point of view in CWDT has added a lot of clarity to the work we are undertaking, it has placed the child at the centre. I can see the team are now thinking clearly and critically and are able to support their thinking with good examples of what they have seen and observed during their assessments’.
”
JENNIFER FAITHFULL E M I LY G W Y N N JUSTIN COLMAN
SIGNS OF SAFETY & SUPERVISION ORDERS
What is a Supervision Order? A supervision order gives the local authority the legal power monitor the child's needs and progress while the child lives at home or somewhere else. A social worker will advise, help and befriend the child. In practice, this will mean they give help and support to the family as a whole. -A supervision order is made for one year, but it can be stopped (discharged) earlier or extended for a total of up to three years. -As a Local Authority we manage all Supervision Orders within the Child in Need Procedures
Government Guidance Wherever possible, the local authority will maintain a constructive working relationship with the family as well as the child during the lifetime of the case. This can be particularly important where an interim care order has been made and where detailed assessments of the parents/carers or wider family members or friends have yet to be completed. - Department of Education (2014) Court orders and preproceedings For local authorities
SUPERVISION ORDERS (BEFORE SOS) What’s working well -Every child has an allocated social worker for the length of the Order. -The child is visited monthly with 6 weekly CIN meetings to monitor CIN Plan -Regular case supervision provides management oversight of planning -The Local Authority can return to Court to vary an Order should a breach place a child at risk of significant harm
What are we worried about - The local authority's duties under a Supervision Order are vague. The social worker ought to 'advise, assist and befriend' the child who is under the SO, but there is nothing specifying how often they ought to see the child, what they should do when they see the child. -Parents often exit Care Proceedings feeling alienated and overly assessed -Some cases lack clarity with regards to what is required to progress with the Plan -Confusion exists around level of risk to children amongst professionals despite the threshold for significant harm having been met -Family’s who have been open to social care for some time are aware of CIN processes and the accompanying ‘voluntary engagement’ -Families becoming dependant on Social Care involvement -Few Supervision Orders return to court for early discharge
What needs to happen -A consistent approach to be taken with all families within Care Proceedings where SO’s are being recommended -Families to take responsibility for the safety of their children (move from professional lead to Safety Network lead) -All cases to have a clear direction (trajectories) -All professionals to be involved with and provided clear explanation of SoS approach. -Templates used need to reflect ‘Supervision Order’ rather than CIN
OUR APPROACH SO FAR… • In Local Authority Evidence -National Social Work Statement • In direct work with families -Trajectories and Safety Planning
NATIONAL SOCIAL WORK STATEMENT Within the National Social Work Statement there are a number of opportunities to naturally incorporate SoS: • Genogram / Ecomap (identifying Safety Network) • Summary of reasons for order sought (mapping) • Analysis of harm (harm/danger statements and safety goals) • Child impact analysis, including child’s wishes and feelings (three houses) • Analysis of parenting capacity (case mapping/ scaling) • Analysis of wider family capability (Safety Network meetings / scaling) • The proposed placement option with reasons (‘Signs of Permanency’) • Views and issues raised by other parties (case mapping/scaling)
TRAJECTORIES & SAFETY PLANNING Date (week)
Tasks
Family visits/meetings
Contact
5
Develop safety plan
2 x 3 hour joint contact in the community – SN
1
-Seek agreement from key professionals
-1 x meeting with both parents -Up to 4 x visits to M at home
2 x 2 hour joint contact – supervised by contact team (CT)
-1 x Meeting with parents / safety network / professionals -2x home visits -Court: Issues Resolution Hearing
6
Develop safety plan
-1 x meeting with parents / safety network -2 x visits to Michael at home
2 x day community contacts –SN
7 -1 x meeting with both parents -Up to 4 x visits to M at home
2 x 2 hour joint contact –CT
Complete safety plan and share with safety network, children and professionals
-1 x meeting with parents / safety network / professionals -2 x home visits
Contact to be arranged between parents - SN
8
-Safety plan in place - monitored by safety network and social care
1 x home visit
Above to continue
9-12
-As above
Fortnightly home visits
13-25
-As above
Monthly home visits
26
-Case Closure / step down / discharge of SO (Safety plan monitored by SN on ongoing basis)
Celebratory meeting
-Outline SoS approach (trajectory, safety planning and ‘bottom line’ requirements) to parents -Begin Case Mapping 2
-To help parents identify safety network -Continue case mapping -Draft Words and Pictures explanation
3
-Continue case mapping
-1 x meeting with both parents -Up to 4 x visits to M at home
2 x 2 hour joint contact –CT
-Refine Words and Pictures explanation
4
-Share Words and Pictures explanation with safety network and start developing safety plan
-1 x Meeting with parents -mapping -1 x Family network / safety network meeting -Up to 3 x home visits
1 x 2 hour joint contact in the community – supervised by support network (SN) 1 x 2 hour contact - CT
SAFETY PLAN
Signs of Safety and Children With Disabilities Team How Brent Children with Disabilities Team(CWDT) is using Signs of Safety: an appreciative inquiry
Dispel the myth: we can use SoS with disabled children! u
We can use it but there’s more to do!
u
Three Houses is just a tool-there are other ways!
u
Is an autistic child who runs onto a train track not in danger?
u
In Brent CWDT we are very clear that this has enhanced practice
Using appreciative inquiry: looking at what SoS has brought to CWDT in Brent Q: What do you think SoS has brought to your work in CWDT? Has it made things better with how we work with families and disabled children? SoS has: u
Enhanced engagement with families
u
Helped families see positives of their disabled child
u
Improved quality of direct work
u
Improved quality of assessments.
Themes from CWDT appreciative inquiry
“brings focus and structure to our work” “it helps to think through cases”
“more holistic” “helps families to look at things they are doing well”
“better direct work” “better quality of assessments through focussed information gathering” “more in depth analysis” “develops more resilience in families”
“encourages agencies to share the plan”
What was the most common theme from CWDT practitioners?
•
Talk about STRENGTHS and you open up possibility for solutions
•
Take focus away from what the disabled child cannot do to what they can do
“
I think what I like about using signs of safety is the way it encourages you to see the positives in families, even when everything seems hopeless to the family. Then families start seeing the attributes and strengths they have too, because you’ve brought their attention to it Quote by student social worker in CWDT
”
“
I believe that it really delves deep into allowing the families to think about the positives rather than always thinking about how the disability is having a negative impact on them Quote by key worker in CWDT
”
Direct work with disabled children u
Three Houses example with child L.
u
Use of Three Houses is possible but interpretation and analysis is key
u
Easier to use with children with less severe learning needs
Which tools do we use with severely disabled children? u
PECS
u
Makaton
u
Structured observations
u
Vocalisations, eye contact, body movement, posture
u
Parent/carer led
u
SoS has firmly placed the disabled child at the centre of everything we do
What has changed in CWDT? Before and after SoS Pre-2013 u
Assessments would say ‘child unable to communicate their views’ or ‘we have been unable to gather John’s views because he cannot communicate verbally’. This is now outlawed!
u
Now:
u
Rich descriptions of the disabled child
u
What they CAN do as well as what they cannot do
u
How their disability impacts on them, their parents, their siblings.
u
It has sharpened the practice e.g. use of Specialist Health Worker
“
I feel that it has improved direct work in the team by making the team focus on the child even if we are not able to use SoS tools that can be used with mainstream children, it has made us ensure that we still place the disabled child at the centre of what we do Quote by a manager in CWDT
”
Other key themes from CWDT •
Better analysis and ‘thinking through’ cases.
•
Improved quality of assessments
•
What do managers think / and Ofsted!
“
‘I’ve found the approach useful in supervision sessions for helping my supervisees formulate smarter, more targeted and more strength-based questions to ask children and families during home visits and assessments. This in turn has improved the quality of information obtained from these visits and within assessments’. Quote from Advanced Practitioner
”
“
‘SoS from a manager’s point of view in CWDT has added a lot of clarity to the work we are undertaking, it has placed the child at the centre. I can see the team are now thinking clearly and critically and are able to support their thinking with good examples of what they have seen and observed during their assessments’.
”
