Child Protection Failures: the Solution

Social work has never fully addressed the inherent difficulty for children's social workers in combining the dual roles of family support and investigation under section 47 of the Children Act 1989. It has re-invented social work as 'support' and given a negative connotation to 'investigation'. This approach has been strongly endorsed by academics, politicians and leaders of the profession. While aimed at challenging authoritarian social work practices it has resulted in claims about social work that are dishonest and misleading. Recent reforms have failed to get to grips with the inherent contradictions within the social work role and created a reluctance to formally investigate serious concerns about abuse and neglect. This is at the root of many of the current problems.

Furthermore, local authorities do not have the necessary arrangements for supporting relationship-based work. A core function of children's social work now is to carry out assessments and record masses of data - usually at the expense of developing a caring relationship. One-off assessments are regarded as the basic tools for decision-making and there is insufficient recognition of the benefits of allowing social workers to get to know their families and develop a deeper understanding of their difficulties.

Perversity in the system has been created by a strategy of prevention and early intervention which has contributed to a lack of clarity and focus on social work practice with children at greatest risk. Social workers are so busy assessing children in need they have little time to work with the most dysfunctional families who need intensive support and surveillance. There is also the possibility that assessments of 'children in need' underestimate the 'risk of significant harm'. On the other hand, when police or doctors identify what they claim is evidence of abuse or neglect social workers sometimes react too quickly with care proceedings, without exploring the possibility of a comprehensive assessment of the situation that might include the use of family group decision-making.

The basic fault in the system is that social workers make assessments and refer on to other agencies but do not have the time to be the watchful social worker. Official guidance favours informal 'safeguarding interventions' over 'section 47 investigations' and opportunities to identify children at risk of significant harm are sometimes missed owing to a misunderstanding, or deliberate misreading, of the local authority's legal duties. The prevailing culture is that social workers themselves are effective agents of change and should resist the use of their legal powers which they perceive as authoritarian.

Concerned people outside the social work profession are often astonished by the decisions of children's social workers, particularly in cases where a child has died but the dangers were not recognised. Children who are clearly suffering significant harm should not have to wait for their parents to change. It is not authoritarian to make use of more coercive measures, if necessary, as these can have beneficial results for children.

It should not be forgotten that the social worker is the lead worker in child protection work and that formal procedures and legal powers underpin the social work role. The use of the Child Protection Plan is the key to good practice as this ensures a clear focus on child protection. It also incorporates the concept of 'the watchful social worker' which, in my experience, conveys the essence of what children's social workers should be doing.

An example of someone who would have benefited from this approach is the mother of Keanu Williams, Rebecca Shuttleworth. She had been in the care system in Birmingham and, when Keanu was born, already had two children who were cared for by a relative. She has expressed some surprise that Keanu was not removed from her care when born and has even acknowledged that she was not challenged strongly enough by social workers. She said that she would have cooperated if the Child Protection Plan had been kept in place. Obviously, these views have only emerged since she was given a life sentence for murder but they do suggest that if she had received ongoing help from a caring social worker, who made clear what changes were needed and kept an eye on her, the outcome of this case might have been different.

The reluctance of social workers to keep a watchful eye has to change; this is not simply about surveillance. The 'watchful eye' can be benign and in well-functioning families the notion of relatives 'keeping an eye' on each other is considered a positive quality. Unfortunately, the profession has adopted a strong belief that any activity concerned with investigation, surveillance and monitoring is oppressive and not real social work. It prefers the collaborative model of practice and has constructed a theory about social work as an enabling, affirming and empowering activity. The notion of the 'watchful social worker' has apparently been forgotten.

Some of this has come about as a consequence of students and young social workers who align themselves with services users and distance themselves from the society they serve and their duty to act as the eyes and ears of the state. Social workers need to be comfortable with the use of their legal powers, otherwise their ambivalence shows through and weaknesses in their approach will be exposed. Any ambivalence about the use of authority needs to be tackled on training courses.

Problems may have arisen because there is insufficient support for constructive social work with families where the child is on a Child Protection Plan. This structured, multi-agency approach offers plenty of scope for relationship-based work which keeps a clear focus on child protection and aims to prevent the need for care proceedings. The role of the social worker is to develop a detailed understanding of the family, to have an overview of the developing situation and to be alert to the possibility that protective action may be required. Assessment tools can assist in this process but much information comes from the social worker being involved with the family over a period of time and developing an in-depth knowledge of the family and how it functions. It is always difficult to know where to draw the line and social workers doing this work need all the support they can get from managers and other agencies to help them make balanced judgements.

The use of authority is of central importance in children's social work and social workers need support in developing their skills to become confident practitioners who are respectful of parents. This may require some authorities to improve their arrangements for dealing with child protection referrals by establishing a skilled team capable of responding quickly and effectively to possible section 47 investigations. Also, improved social work training in the use of the Child Protection Plan is urgently needed. Key social work skills include risk assessment, engaging families in understanding the causes for concern, child protection planning, core group working and effective record-keeping. The Child Protection Plan provides an excellent framework for social workers to carry out ongoing, collaborative work with families in the often grey area between 'suspicions' and 'evidence' of significant harm.

It is time to re-assert the fundamentals of good practice and re-examine what children's social workers are required to do for society. Local authorities need a clearer focus on their legal duty to protect children and must provide an organisational structure that supports this work. Good social work practice will only happen if social workers are appropriately trained and supported in carrying out formal child protection investigations and making sound risk assessments.

Hilary Searing

In England the statutory guidance 'Working Together to Safeguard Children' states that the core assessment is the means by which a section 47 enquiry is carried out and does not focus clearly enough on the practical arrangements for investigations. The All Wales Child Protection Procedures offers more detailed guidance on the practice issues around section 47 for social workers.