Historical Context

1. THE ESSEX STORY – JOURNEY FROM INADEQUATE TO “GETTING TO GOOD”Cllr Dick Madden Sukriti Sen Cabinet Member Director of Local Delivery Children and Adults Family Operations

2. Historical Context 2004–2008 significant structural change in response to Children Act 2004 2008 – 2010 ECC Children’s Services rated as Inadequate for safeguarding in JAR; then by Ofsted GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION System shock Whole-scale system and culture shift OFSTED INSPECTION 2014 rated as Good

3. Essex 2014 2nd largest LA in England • Total number of children: c. 297,000 • No. open cases: c. 6,200 (2010 -12,000) • No.subject to CP :436 (14.7 per 10,000) –(2010-1,200) • No. CiC: 1,134 (38.4 per 10,000) –(2010 -1,600) • No. care leavers: c. 630 • No. staff in Family Operations: 1,143 (just over 1,000 frontline QSW’s) • Structure: 4 Quadrants, each delivering comprehensive children & families social work services; a small number of county wide services

4. Essex context • Overall child population - 301,432, representing 21.0% of the total populationin Essex • Deprivation – Essex is a relatively affluent county, with pockets of deprivation, coastal wards and a garrison town. It houses one of the most deprived wards in the country - Jaywick • Child Poverty - There are an estimated 50,720 children living in poverty. • Domestic Abuse - An estimated 26,000 children may experience domestic abuse • Parental Mental Health - An estimated 46,636 children have at least one parent with a mental health problem. • Child and Adolescent Mental Health - An estimated 25,000 children aged 5-19 years have a diagnosable mental health condition and a further 25,000 have emotional/behavioural problems requiring support

5. What Did We Do?

6. Structure • Move to the quadrant model • Keep your best social workers practising • Bring in develop the next generation, each team having at least 2 students per year • Design to facilitate partnership Systems • Reduce processes and procedures….Slim down protocol forms / revisit what really needs authorisation • Family focussed assessment tools • Turn decision making on its head • Take bureaucratic burden away from social workers • Work to avoid duplication Strategy • Whole system change • Reduce children in care numbers • Invest in social workers • Invest in family support - D-BIT (Divisional Based Intervention Teams) • Lead – don’t manage • Act and sort! • Be brave and principled • Respond to the inspections • Style • Risk management not risk adverse • Role generosity • Allow for difference • Take responsibility • Be a learning not a blaming service • Actively model behaviours, performance and thinking required to reshape our service and champion the necessary culture change • Be positive and supportive whilst demanding high performance, flexible and supportive team work Skills • Systemic approaches • Evidence based interventions • Joint working – get things done quickly • Access to highly skilled supervision • Learning circles (assessments, care planning etc?) • Invest in skill development • Essex Social Work Academy • Effectively use supervision • Staff • The most valuable resource • Spend time recruiting the right people • Remember the complexity of the task social workers do • Help move on those for whom its not working • Support, nurture, develop and enthuse • Make active use of HR procedures

7. Merely having an identified need is not enough; the need must then translate into the risk of abuse or neglect to the child. Justice Munby’s Re: A judgment was quite clear: Social care is not in the business of providing perfect homes for children; less still in the business of enforcing adherence to a ‘correct’ parenting model. “We must guard against Social Engineering” The degree of resilience in each family is unique to them, and must be assessed on a case-by case basis, and through consistent application of thresholds (the level at which services are deemed to be necessary). Setting clear thresholds was a major goal of the work to improve children’s services; they were signed off by the LSCB and OFSTED found them to be “clear and appropriate” The focus of Early Intervention work is on promoting family & community resilience to enable families to stay together Essex: Need vs. Demand

8. Wellbeing Effective Support Windscreen • Bullet here

9. Challenge, innovate & be proactive Positive , supportive whilst demanding of high performance Always doing the best for children Family Operations Culture & Style Allow for difference Ownership and taking responsibility Open & honest - no spin Actively & consistently model behaviours, performance and thinking required to reshape our service and champion the necessary culture change Thoughtful , reflective & adjusting practice Role generosity Remainingaspirant High quality support and Supervision Risk management not risk adverse Culture of accountability

10. Systemic Approach to Quality Assurance • Integrated into the way that we do Social Work – business as usual, not additional • Everybody’s business, everyone involved • Striving for 360 degree feedback • Shared values, accountability, risk – mistakes have consequences but no one gets things right all the time, constant reflecting, adjusting and learning how to do things better • Shared standards – does everyone agree what “good” is? • Style – “done with”, not “done to”, achieves better results • Purposeful strategy – are we doing the right things; are we keeping children safe; are we making a difference; where are our skills and resources gaps? 8. Structure – how does it support or impede?

11. Despite everything that happens around it “social work will always begin and end with a human encounter between two or more people and this encounter, or relationship as it develops, is the medium through which the social work task is carried out” Danielle Turney, University of Bristol ‘Relationship Based Social Work: getting to the heart of practice’

12. Modern relationship based practice approach curriculum Training / tools Strength based approaches Signs of safety Solution focused CBT Brief intervention Systemic approaches Motivational interviewing Fostering changes Systemic supervision -Thera-play

13. Impact in Essex on Taking a Relationship Based Approach Practice • Reduction of children in care • Reduction in children subject to child protection plans • Reduction in caseload better quality of work Cost • Reduced Reinvestment and savings • Early help • Targeted intervention • Intensive support

14. Essex has made significant progress in managing demand, reducing cost and providing a higher quality service by; • Having clear and consistent thresholds for services • Building a targeted Early Help service offer – Family Solutions (70% report positive outcomes) • Focus on direct social work practice, interventions with children and families to bring about change, rather than just providing services • Strengthening Families approach to child protection • Care prevention services for families at risk of breakdown – Divisional Based Intervention Teams (DBIT) and Multi-Systemic therapy (MST) • 83.6% of all children who had a D-BIT intervention did not enter care subsequently • 85% of all children who had an MST intervention did not enter care subsequently • Expanding in-house foster care • Focus on adoption and use of special guardianship orders Demand reduction

15. Demand management Essex 2014 – Ofsted rated ‘Good’

19. ChallengeSolution High levels of agency staff Good Recruitment Strategy Retention of staff Workforce Development (Training) Managers and workers lack of structure and sense of direction Shared Vision, Aims and Objectives Set. Buy in from Team Managers Inclusive Approach High Level Caseloads, lack of time and space to think creatively about good practice Regular monthly closure days with the results of closure days shared clear reduction in caseloads paving the way for improving practice Team Plans developed in Line with Service Plan Accountability panels held quarterly to review all cases open over 12 months to ensure cases are progressed plans are reviewed to prevent drift. Cases in Drift Managing Complexity in Casework Case Discussions dedicated days throughout the year where cases are reviewed and plans made to progress the cases, attended by managers, social workers and the family centre

20. Key Challenges • Are current low levels of CIN, CP, CiC sustainable? • Recent increase in referral volumes and a high number of repeat referrals (now reducing) • High number of older children coming into care; • Nationally, the numbers of children coming into care aged 16 or 17 have increased by 21% (29% in Essex). Those coming into care aged 14+ in Essex increased from 37.5% over 13/14 to 45.8% in 14/15. • Over 2014/15, numbers of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children have increased by 50% in Essex • Adoptions levels are not as high as previous years as age profile shifts to older children in care. • Finding suitable long term accommodation for older children and achieving good outcomes for these young people remains a challenge • Maintaining Ofsted judgement of ‘Good’ and getting to ‘Outstanding’ • Partners have their own difficult challenges to face

21. WHAT MORE DO WE NEED TO DO?

22. Workers with manageable workloads that are regularly reviewed A unifying use of theoretical models of evidence-based social work practice An operational culture of dialogue, reflective thinking, feedback, learning & support Service design which minimises the number of changes to key worker/ transfers between teams Small enough teams to allow team managers to know both staff & families well Conditions for Success An aspirant & system-wide approach to improvement & performance A whole systems approach to strategic planning & service delivery A relentless focus on the recruitment, development and retention Appropriate practical support Articulating Values and Vision

23. Questions to Ask Yourselves • Is there a clear robust threshold document in place shared and owned by children’s social care the partnership? • Are social workers equipped and supported sufficiently to be able to build effective relationships their children and their families? • Are effective services in place to prevent children coming into care? Are you looking after the right children?

24. Questions/Discussions?