Rebuilding Children's Services

One of the reasons for weaknesses in social work practice comes from the absence of a coherent, theoretical framework for practice. The initial report from the Children's Social Care Review gives many examples of poor practices arising out of this. Children's Services is certainly built on shaky foundations. A new approach is required which understands the difficulties in achieving an appropriate balance between care and control and recognises this as a major contributor to stress in social work. A clearer separation of investigative work from other types of social work with children at risk would therefore be a good model to adopt in authorities that are not performing well.

Students are drawn to theories that chime with their own experience and may complete their training with only a limited understanding of child protection practice. This is not producing social workers who have a sound grasp of the extent and limits of their legal powers and skills in working with complex human beings who may have deep-rooted psychological problems.

While policies of early intervention and prevention have been the driving force within Children's Services over the past twenty years many people now believe that this period has seen a decline in standards of parenting. More children present with emotional and behavioural problems in schools. Youth violence and anti-social behaviour in the public sphere is a serious concern. One of the consequences of policies of 'early help' has been a gradual process of 'function creep' - meaning that more families are being drawn into the safety net of professional intervention and subjected to multi-agency oversight. The resulting heavy workload reduces the possibility of social workers having the time to work constructively with families and raise standards of parenting.

At the present time there is a strong sense that many social work practitioners view their role primarily as supporting children and young people to stay within their family environment and community. Obviously, a collaborative style of working with families can be very effective in tackling family relationship difficulties and helping parents give their children the consistent care and support they need. However, this style of working is difficult to achieve when the distinction between informal and formal social work intervention is blurred and parents are coerced into accepting help. If social work practice under the current 'safeguarding' approach involves uninvited surveillance of private behaviour, which is likely to provoke anxiety, then how are parents going to view the social worker who claims to offer a supportive relationship? Clearly, there are problems for social workers in establishing trust and genuine partnership.

The issues social workers are expected to address are often very complicated but this may not be apparent to an inexperienced social worker trained to get alongside the family by appearing friendly and non-judgemental. Variations across the country in who is subject to child protection investigations are significant. For examble, while it is appropriate to use discretion when responding to an incident of domestic violence this can lead to uncertainty for potential referrers about the threshold for investigation. Social workers have always had an uneasy relationship with the law and some seem reluctant to make full use of their legal powers. It therefore seems a good idea to introduce a different model of practice with regard to Section 47 processes. Social workers should recognise that the competence with which this stage is handled will crucially influence the effectiveness of subsequent work.

Many social workers have experience of doing child protection work that encompasses a preventative approach within the framework provided by the Child Protection Plan. During this work they may find that concerns might be anywhere on the continuum from 'harm' to 'significant harm'. This places a heavy burden of responsibility on them to remain alert to any evidence of neglectful or harmful parenting which may shade into abuse or neglect and may reach the legal threshold for 'significant harm'.

The introduction of a centralised team for Section 47 investigations should be seen as supporting good practice. It would be responsible for dealing with referrals where there is a single incident or allegation suggesting that a child may be the subject of abuse or neglect, which appears to require immediate investigation. Social workers doing this complex work would be appropriately trained and supported. A practice framework which understands the difficult balancing act between respecting parents' rights and protecting children would underpin practice and the forensic nature of the investigation would be better understood. These social workers would use their authority under Section 47 appropriately and provide reports that would assist colleagues in making sound decisions.

The status of 'Approved Child Protection Practitioner' would be necessary for social workers in the investigative team. A new training programme should be provided that focuses specifically on the process of working in collaboration with the police and the skills required in carrying out a social work interview with the family. Effectively, this would prepare some social workers to become child protection specialists and this work would probably better suit those who are more experienced and able to 'think under fire'. The training should be based on a model of practice informed by sound risk assessment. This is a highly contested area of work and it is essential that social workers doing it fully understood the requirements of a Section 47 investigation.

Finally, I should add that there is nothing like the experience of doing a Section 47 to help us understand the powerful and disturbing feelings that this work can throw up. Much of the learning that takes place during training is too cerebral and leaves social workers unprepared for the emotional demands of this role. This is why the idea of a centralised, investigation team may be a good model for those authorities struggling to raise standards of child protection practice.

Hilary Searing

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