scholarly journals How do statutory social workers respond to feedback on their practice? A small scale study undertaken in children’s services of three English local authorities

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (7) ◽  
pp. 940-956
Author(s):  
Stephanie Szwarc ◽  
Jane Lindsay
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Children’S Services

scholarly journals Ofsted and Children’s Services: What Performance Indicators and Other Factors Are Associated with Better Inspection Results?

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 850-867 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wilkins ◽  
Vivi Antonopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Clear Pattern ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Children’S Services ◽  
National Reputation

Abstract ‘Failing’ an inspection of The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) has severe consequences on a local authority. Senior managers may lose their jobs and the workforce as a whole can be destabilised. In extreme cases, central government can decide whether the authority is no longer capable of running children’s services. On the other hand, receiving positive Ofsted judgements often brings with it a national reputation for excellence. This study reports the findings of an analysis of key performance indicators, expenditure and deprivation in relation to Ofsted inspections for eighty-seven local authorities in England undertaken between 2014 and 2016. Our aim was to examine the association between these factors and Ofsted judgements. Our findings suggest that for most of the factors we considered, there is no clear pattern of better or worse performance between local authorities with different Ofsted ratings. However, ‘good and outstanding’ authorities tend to outperform other authorities in relation to some procedural variables. By itself, the level of local authority deprivation was most clearly associated with the Ofsted rating, and expenditure was associated with the authority’s level of deprivation but not their Ofsted judgement. Comparisons are made with the concept of ‘value-added’ performance in relation to schools.

The Color of the Wrapping Paper: Teaching Cultural Diversity in a Children's Services Course

1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Porter Hurd
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Student Evaluations ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
Children’S Services

Children are one of society's populations most at risk for harm. It is essential that social workers be educated to work effectively with all children; this demands that they be taught to be culturally sensitive. An approach to incorporating content on cultural diversity intensively throughout a baccalaureate social work course on children's services is described. Course goals, organization, teaching methods and assignments are discussed. One assignment, based on the instructor's own research, requiring students to interview parents of races different than their own is outlined in detail. Student evaluations of the course reveal an increase in the ability to recognize strengths in children and families from various cultural backgrounds.

Assessing the impact and implications for social workers of an innovative children’s services programme aimed to support workforce reform and integrated working

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 81-90
Author(s):  
Nigel Malin ◽  
Jane Tunmore
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Family Support ◽  
Residential Care ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Child Poverty ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
North East ◽  
Children’S Services ◽  
The Impact

This article reports findings from an independent audit and evaluation of an innovative children's services programme (CSP) funded 2009-2011 by twelve Local Authorities under the auspices of the North-East of England's Improvement & Efficiency Partnership (NEIEP) to manage improvements and efficiencies across the children's services sector focusing upon messages for social workers. The overall purpose of the CSP was to make demonstrable progress in tackling the challenges of child poverty by delivering high quality support to the growing number of children with social care/health needs through regional improvement. The key objectives of the CSP included supporting workforce reform and integrated working; development of personalised services; family support to reduce the need for residential care; and provision of tools to aid commissioners with needs analysis. The audit identified key outputs, for example, improvements to best practice on Whole Family approaches, safeguarding and leadership training evolved through a skills framework; and included a regional model of social work supervision training along with a provision of options to increase the range and quality of foster care placements. The evaluation considered actions arising from the above findings, including demonstrated improvements to inter-disciplinary working and pooling resources to produce better outcomes for families; setting up a data-base to improve the balance between fostering, residential care and family support; and creating opportunities for social workers to explore the practical implementation of using personal budgets.

scholarly journals “You try to keep a brave face on but inside you are in bits”: Grandparent experiences of engaging with professionals in Children’s Services

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Tarrant ◽  
Brid Featherstone ◽  
Lindsay O’Dell ◽  
Clare Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Ethic Of Care ◽  
Policy Preference ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
Legal Recognition ◽  
Formal Support ◽  
Children’S Services

This article presents findings from an evaluation conducted in 2012, of the advice and advocacy service provided by the charity Family Rights Group for families involved with children’s services. It specifically focuses on the experiences of grandparents and explores accounts from grandparents who were either in the process of seeking care of their grandchildren or were already caring for grandchildren but without formal support or recognition. The findings suggest that there is a need to pay greater attention to the fears of such grandparents about children’s services in a context where there appears to be a policy preference for adoption. Also evident is a paradox at the heart of contemporary social work practices towards grandparents. While some felt dismissed and marginalized very quickly by social workers and imaginative approaches to care possibilities did not appear to be pursued, others were carrying enormous burdens of care often for very long periods of time without either financial support or legal recognition. To strengthen the care options for children and respect the ethic of care that is clearly to be observed operating in grandparenting practices, it is suggested that a more thorough interrogation of the multiple and often highly contradictory meanings attached to family is required on the part of social workers.

Early help and children’s services: exploring provision and practice across English local authorities

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-86
Author(s):  
Steven Lucas ◽  
Philip John Archard
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Diverse Workforce ◽  
Professional Groups ◽  
Children’S Services

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore early help provision to children and families not reaching the Children Act (1989) child in need threshold, across all 152 English local authorities in 2017. Design/methodology/approach A freedom of information request was used, in September 2017, to obtain information regarding recorded numbers, attributes and referral reasons for Early Help cases, case categorisation, professional groups involved in this provision and models of practice. Findings Responses revealed there are no common protocols categorising referrals and identified needs of children and young people. Child behavioural issues were the most frequently occurring category followed by parenting issues and child emotional well-being. The numbers of children engaged by Early Help services varied with a range between Barnsley with 7.8% of children under 18 years old and Richmond on Thames with 0.33% and only exceeded children in need in a 7 out of 71 reporting authorities. Models of practice used were most commonly based on the assessment framework, which operates at all social work thresholds including child protection. The enquiry found a diverse workforce involved in Early Help and sets it within a context of local thresholds for dealing with large increases in referral rates to children’s services departments in recent years. Originality/value The study provides a unique insight into the nature and scope of Early Help provision across England. The relationship between existing thresholds of intervention in the child welfare system is underexplored in the social work literature.

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