Principal Children and Families Social Worker network meeting - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Principal Children and Families Social Worker network meeting

Friday 29 March 2019

Welcome & minutes of last meeting

Claudia Megele & Adam Birchall National Co-Chairs

@AdultPSWNetwork

What Works Centre update

Michael Sanders & Ewan King

What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care

Principal Children and Families Social Worker Network Meeting Birmingham, 29th March 2019

Michael Sanders, Executive Director WWC Anna Bacchoo, Head of Practice WWC Ewan King, Chief Operating Officer, Social Care Institute for Excellence

What is the What Works Centre?

• We are an independent organisation
• Dedicated to collating, creating and translating

the best and most useful evidence possible to help social workers to support children and families

○ Collating - finding the evidence that’s out there,

reviewing it, and pulling it together in an accessible way

○ Creating - where there are gaps - or new innovations -

working to ensure that high quality evaluation happens

What is the What Works Centre?

Our principles for getting at What Works;

• Impact
• Nuance
• Usefulness
• Empowerment

What is the What Works Centre?

What are we up to?

What are we up to?

• Testing the impacts of

devolving budgets to social workers

○ Working with Hillingdon,

Darlington and Wigan

○ Working to support families at

the edge of care

○ Working to reduce the need for

care

• Testing placing Social

What are we up to?

• Happier Healthier

Professionals

○ Social Work Turnover is 15%pa ○ We’re working with 25

authorities on research to reduce turnover

○ Reduce sickness ○ Bolster resilience ○ Help social workers to thrive

• Schwartz Rounds

What are we up to?

• Machine Learning

○ Trying to shine some light into a

complex and sometimes contentious area

○ Working with 7 local authorities

to test the accuracy and value

• f predictive analytics

○ We’ve commissioned a review

• f the ethics of their use

○ Carrying out deliberative

discussions with the profession and others

What are we up to?

• New projects are starting all the time - we’re

working on research projects with 47 local authorities so far.

• We want to work with the sector to work out

what to do next

• We want to support innovation and good

practice that’s coming out of the sector

Engagement so far

• 21 Pioneer Partner Authorities
• 6 Change Project Partners
• 32 local authorities visited
• Practitioner Panel
• CYP Panel
• Families and carers panel
• #iuseevidence Event
• 4500 twitter followers

What have we heard?

• You can’t simply ‘lift and shift’
• Working with the sector to set the agenda and on

research, increases relevance and usefulness

• It can be difficult to determine quality of evidence
• you want a trusted source
• Good practice exists everywhere, not just in the

Partners in Practice sites

• Lots of great practice happening, little evaluation.

Practice in Need of Evidence (PINE)

• Officially launched today!
• Evolution of our prototyping work with Pioneer

Partners in 2018/19.

• Brings together a suite of products and services

to support a journey to a robust evidence-base.

• Based on the principle that excellent practice is

happening all over the country (not just in Outstanding or Good LAs).

• We are looking for promising practice that needs

an evidence-base.

Practice in Need of Evidence (PINE)

• Our aim is to support a number of local authorities

to be ready to work with WWC on RCTs in 2020 to produce the highest quality evidence about what works.

• We want to support promising practice,

particularly where there is little or no evidence at present.

• We will support successful LAs to become

generally more evidence-minded and provide tools and resources to enable self-evaluation.

• Where there is early indication of evidence that

something works, we will take this forward to an

Practice in Need of Evidence (PINE)

Selection criteria:

• Specific activity or way of working.
• Financially self-sustaining.
• Concrete measurable outcomes that relate to

children and families.

• Innovative idea or something that’s been around

for a long time.

• Not part of the Innovations Programme.

Practice in Need of Evidence (PINE)

We would like to work with a broad range of practice areas.

• What are your priority areas of practice?
• Where are the gaps in evidence?

Refreshment Break

Principal Children and Families Social Worker Network Meeting 29 March 2019

This year so far….

• We published the appointment rules and the appointment rules consultation response
• n 31 January 2019
• We worked with the Department for Education and Department for Health and Social

Care steering group, and the two Chief Social Workers to finalise drafts of rules and standards

• We launched our brand on 19 February 2019
• We launched our consultation on 21 February 2019 – to end 1 May 2019
• We launched our recruitment for 7 regional leads and Head of Strategic Engagement

Consultation on rules and standards

• 1. Professional standards covering standards of proficiency (the skills and expertise that

social workers are required to have), standards of performance, conduct and ethics (the way that social workers are expected to work) and standards for continuing professional training and development

• 2. Standards of education and training covering standards to be met by social work

educational courses and training

• 3. Registration rules, including criteria for eligibility (including English language

requirements), renewal and restoration, CPD requirement, registration procedures and registration fees

• 4. Education and training rules, including criteria for the approval of courses and the role of

inspectors of courses

• 5. Fitness to practise rules,including standard of acceptance, case examiner decision making

guidance, pre-hearing case management procedure and indicative sanctions guidance for hearing panels

Concern received Close concer n Triag e Investigation / preparation for case examiners Concern does not meet the triage test Case examiner s Warnin g Advice No action Disposal without a hearing Can be closed by case examiners – agreement not necessary Social worker agrees? Close concer n Refer to the adjudicators Ye s N

• Case
• pene

d Can be closed by case examiners Triage At triage, we will consider a concern and decide whether it is something that we can, and should, take forward, taking into account a number

• f different factors

Case Examiners are able to dispose of a case with a range of different options; advice, warning, conditions or suspension. Disposal means they can conclude the case, although some of these

• ptions will

require a review at a later date

Timeline

• 10 week consultation 21 February - 1 May 2019
• Consultation events in London, Plymouth, Salford, Newcastle, Birmingham and

Sheffield

• Specific consultation events for people with lived experience of social work
• Online surveys https://socialworkengland.org.uk/rules-and-standards/
• Twitter Q&As that focus on a different aspect of the consultation, go to our Twitter

page and use #SocialWorkEngland to ask your question

• Wednesday 27 March, 12:00-13:00 | Jonathan Dillon, Executive Director, Fitness to Practise
• Monday 8 April, 17:00-18:00 | Philip Hallam, Executive Director, Registration and Quality

Assurance

• Wednesday 17 April, 13:00-14:00 | Sarah Blackmore, Executive Director, Standards

When the consultation closes…

• Post consultation analysis
• Social Work England Board workshop mid May
• Draft amendments to the rules and standards based on consultation responses and

revised rules and standards

• The outcomes of the consultation will then be put before the Secretary of State for

review of rules and approval of standards

• Following review and approval we will publish the consultation response, rules,

standards and guidance on the Social Work England website

Promote the rights, interests and wellbeing of people Establish and maintain the trust and confidence of people to effect change Challenge unethical practice and report concerns Uphold trust and confidence in my practice and in the social work profession Be accountable for the quality of my work and the decisions I make Take responsibility for maintaining my professional identity and developing my knowledge and skills

Knowled ge and Skills Statemen ts C&F

Knowledge and Skills Statements Practice Supervisors Knowledge and Skills Statements Senior Leaders Knowledge and Skills Statements Permanence Knowledge and Skills Statements Adults Professional Capability Framework 9 Domains 8 levels (BASW) Practice Educator Professional Standards (College of Social Work) Knowledge and Skills Statements Practice Supervisors Adults Approved Mental Health Professional Social Work England will approve Best Interest Assessor Social Work England will approve

Draft Social Work England regulatory standards

Post qualifying standards; knowledge and skills statements - Department for Education Post qualifying knowledge and skills statements Department of Health and Social Care Knowledge and Skills Statement for Social Workers in Adult Services

Alignment

What is the relationship between:

• Regulatory standards,
• A Continuous Professional Development Framework,
• The Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF), and
• The Knowledge and Skills statements for adults and child and family social workers

(KSS). Where do they align, where are they different, how do we communicate them clearly and unambiguously?

• Promote awareness of the consultation and encourage colleagues to respond

to the online surveys

• Think about the challenges and opportunities at regional level for

networking and involvement of Regional leads

• We need to talk about … Ambition … Collaboration … oh and fees

Carrying on the conversation

PSW strategic update

Claudia Megele & Adam Birchall National Co-Chairs

29 March 2019

PCFSW Programme 2018/2020 Progress Report

33

PCFSW Work Programme 2018-2020 progress update Project and/or work programme initiative Status Progress & Actions

Outputs Continued and active collaboration with the DfE Ongoing Good progress and progress report delivered on 29 March Systemic leadership programme; Annual joint conference; and 3 strategic outputs Active contribution and collaboration with WWC Ongoing Update from WWC on 29 March 2019 Collaborate with WWC to ensure practitioners' voice Supporting DfE's implementation of the KSS & NAAS Ongoing Good progress and progress report delivered on 29 March Updates, materials, and resources Developing PSWs' media and communication skills as a component of practice leadership Finalised AgreementAgreement with Community Care finalised and we will send out an update next month to all members. Workshops for PSWs, video output and guide/resources that could be used by PSWs Social media and digital/holistic safeguarding and practice innovation Ongoing Working group created & 1st meeting of Working Group is today 2 ebooks and resources that could be used by all PSWs Quality Assurance, peer reviews and practice dillemmas Ongoing We will make further announcement about this project. Regular practice sharing & learning events for PSWs Voice of the Child and service user partnership in practice Ongoing We have supported the TACT work & will be carried forward as part

• f the Workstresms on holisitc safeguarding and quality assurance.

Helpful resources to be shared with PSWs Recruitment and retention & workforce strategy Pending Clarification of scope, outcomes, outputs, and a workgroup around it TBD Celebrating Social Work Day with a brief ebook Completed 2019 ebook Wil be preparing for a 2020 ebook WSWD ebook 2019 & 2020

29 March 2019

PCFSW Programme 2018/2020 Progress Report

34

PCFSW Work Programme 2018-2020 progress update Project and/or work programme initiative Status Progress & Actions Outputs

Continued and active collaboration with the DfE Ongoing Good progress and progress report delivered on 29 March Systemic leadership programme; Annual joint conference; and 3 strategic outputs Active contribution and collaboration with WWC Ongoing Update from WWC on 29 March 2019 Collaborate with WWC to ensure practitioners' voice Supporting DfE's implementation of the KSS & NAAS Ongoing Good progress and progress report delivered on 29 March Updates, materials, and resources Developing PSWs' media and communication skills as a component of practice leadership Finalised Agreement Agreement with Community Care finalised and we will send out an update next month to all members. Workshops for PSWs, video

• utput and guide/resources that

could be used by PSWs Social media and digital/holistic safeguarding and practice innovation Ongoing Working group created & 1st meeting of Working Group is today 2 ebooks and resources that could be used by all PSWs

29 March 2019

PCFSW Programme 2018/2020 Progress Report

35 PCFSW Work Programme 2018-2020 progress update Project and/or work programme initiative Status Progress & Actions Outputs

Quality Assurance, peer reviews and practice dillemmas Ongoing We will make further announcement about this project. Regular practice sharing & learning events for PSWs Voice of the Child and service user partnership in practice Ongoing We have supported the TACT work & will be carried forward as part of the Workstresms on holisitc safeguarding and quality assurance. Helpful resources to be shared with PSWs Recruitment and retention & workforce strategy Pending Clarification of scope,

• utcomes, outputs, and a

workgroup around it TBD Celebrating Social Work Day with a brief ebook Completed 2019 ebook Wil be preparing for a 2020 ebook WSWD ebook2019 & 2020

Lunch

Hearing Children and Young People: PSWs as Practice Leaders and “Innovators”

Mark Owers Independent Government Adviser on Looked After Children and Permanence

What at should children and young g people expect, what are their righ ghts?

• The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the

Child was ratified in England in 1991 with all other parts of the UK; and indeed almost all countries across the world.

• It brought the right to:
• freedom of expression for children and young people;

and

• access to appropriate information to allow them to be

informed about, and involved in decisions about their lives.

• These rights for children and young people in care

have been a particular focus.

As social workers, we know that at righ ght!

• We all have our own motivations to work in social work.
• Personally, I chose to become a social worker for a number of reasons - personal

experience, a desire to make a difference, interest in social justice

• I chose children and families social work because I wanted to make a difference

to children and young people. I’ve always loved kids.

• I also became a social worker because I’m a people person, I am attracted to

working with people, particularly children and young people.

• I started off as a family support worker playing with children with emotional and

behavioral difficulties on the beach, in the sea and in the woods in Jersey. We used to have so much fun.

• Interestingly, they were always most disruptive at the end of the day on the way

home…

Inter-personal al ski kills, relat ationship bas ased prac actice, being g at ease with children and young g people and ke keeping them in mind are imp mportant.

• It turns out, quite by accident, that my pre-qualifying experience gave me

a good grounding in working with children and families.

• If I’m honest, I actually thought playing with children and seeing them

laugh was social work. The case management world of statutory social work I entered in 1997 in the London Borough of Ealing was a rude awakening.

• I have always strived to hang-on to my inter-personal skills, values and

self-knowledge, my “soft skills” that I had when I set out.

• But this has been one of the greatest challenges of my varied career in

social work, balancing the “soft skills” with theory, policy, legislation, practice wisdom, resource constraints and limited time.

Getting g this bal alan ance righ ght is fundamental to hear aring g children and young g people

Why is hearing the voice of children and young people important?

• Children feel listened to
• When children are involved, plans are more successful
• We can see their experience, from their point of view
• Children can develop their own story about what is happening in

their lives

“Spending time with children, talking to them, and making sure that you are actively listening and taking seriously what they say is an essential safeguarding activity.”

• NCB (2006)

Chil ildren and young people le know what at they wan ant from children’s social care staff and other adults

• Get to know us; spend time with us and give us

your attention

• Don’t get us to repeat our story over and over again
• Keep us at the centre of the decisions you make
• Be honest with us and explain in a way we can

understand

• Let us make some decisions about our own life
• Don’t make assumptions about our thoughts and

feelings

We hear ard from many chil ildren and young people throughout our revie iew of fost sterin ing

• They told us about the positive aspects of fostering

such as feeling safe, belonging, being loved, feeling part of the family, and having a ‘normal life’.

• Placing them - matching them - with a family who

are able and willing to offer that is vital.

• Children and young people invariably stressed the

importance of positive relationships with foster carers, particularly as a means to placement stability.

But, children and young people also told us…

• Like the Care Enquiry before us - we heard that too often, children and young people

did not feel that they were involved in decisions about their lives, including about matching.

• One of the main determinants of whether a child feels effectively and consistently

involved in decision-making is the quality of relationship with their social worker. The quality of such relationships appears -at best - mixed.

• Some children regard their social workers positively, describing a strong sense of feeling

supported and having a ‘friend’ they could rely on. Others, used words such as ‘unreliable’, ‘invisible’ or ‘patronising’. Too often we heard from children and young people, but also from their carers about their social workers changing frequently, making impossible the development of a trusting relationship and, inevitably, encouraging a child or young person to feel ignored by the system.

• Too many children experienced numerous moves, often not informed about why their

current placement was ending and why they were moving to new placement. There was also little detail of the timing of such a move and, as a consequence, too little time to prepare.

Why is it so diffic icult lt to hear ar chil ildren and young people le

• root cause proble

lem solv lvin ing? g?

• The research into the participation of children and young

people in care and child protection systems has consistently evidenced two key issues:

• 1. that children and young people do not feel heard or understood

and

• 2. that professionals lack the skills, confidence and sufficient time to

ascertain the wishes and feelings of children and young people.

• These challenges are compounded by the large numbers of

social workers and other child care professionals that children and young people in care come into contact with.

• Workers are often working within systems that are

inherently disempowering for both themselves and their clients.

• Munro (2011) reported that learning to listen to children and young

people is not straightforward.

• Working and communicating with children and young people who have

experienced multiple adversity and trauma can be challenging.

• This can lead workers to think that the child or young person is not

engaging or cannot be engaged.

• More robust reflection and support is necessary to help practitioners

explore whether they are adequately skilled and confident in their ability to communicate and to build relationships with children and young people.

• The organisational context must also support and facilitate these

practice efforts.

Why is it diffic icult lt to hear ar child ildren and young people?

Have care experienced children and young people engaged in an ongoing dialogue that has led to, and can be evidenced, change for:

• them personally; and
• systematically for all children and young people?

Voice of Young People in Care (VOYPIC)

The e key ey ques estion for pract ctic ice e leader ers

We have lots of insights to understand children’s experie iences s of the care sy syst stem

• Range of topics covered- placements and care planning, children’s and

young people’s own attitudes and behaviours, family and friends, education and leisure, health and wellbeing, their local environment, money and, for those leaving care settings, transition.

• Variety of methods - surveys, interviews, focus groups, Children in Care

Councils and the like but also through new or innovative approaches e.g. MOMO App, peer research and training

• Reach more or less all groups - males, females and transgender; white,

black and Asian; people with and without disabilities and SEND; children and young people in a range of care settings and placements; from the very young to young adults transitioning from care settings.

What at is already working?

• Direct engagement with children in care and care

leavers is widespread.

• Organisations recognise the importance of participating

directly with children and young people.

• Children in Care Councils often undertake activities

with the specific and primary aim of understanding children’s views and experiences – taking over parliament, recruitment, staff training, advocacy

• Activities by children’s services, voluntary organisations

and statutory bodies are often focused on evaluating a programme or intervention, or informing practice and policy at local or national level.

Wh What do we not ye yet have? e?

• We have a dissonance between the work of CIC and the

experiences of individual children in care

• We are not clear how successful an activity was (in achieving its

intended aim); and

• Lack of transparency about the ethical considerations involved in

the research and any actions taken to ensure activities did not compromise the best interests of children involved.

• Organisations do not routinely publish information about the
• utcomes or impact of their participation work, such as whether

it leads to changes in policy or practice.

• Organisations also do not routinely publish outputs from

participation work or say whether these are disseminated or to whom.

• For many organisations, this work takes the form of a one-off

project, or is in its early stages.

So what at about hear arin ing us?

What do you want?

• help to access guidance and support on engaging

with children and young people;

• support to share good practice; and
• more systematic ways of seeking, recording and

analysing children’s views and experiences, including how they change over time.

Thank you for listening! Contact Details: ✉ owersadvisory@yahoo.com ✆ 07469 996 024 @markowers73

National Assessment and Accreditation System update

Claire Owens National Assessment and Accreditation System

OFFICIAL SENSITIVE 54

PSW network

29 March 2019

What we’ve achieved so far…

55

All five phase 1s have put social workers forward and a further 11 out

• f 16 Phase 2s have started to take the assessment

500 social workers have been practice endorsed against the KSS by their employer 200+ social workers have taken the assessment between July 2018- March 2019. Over 100 are booked in April- May Feedback from assessment centers remains positive. All social workers who attended the assessment centers have completed the assessment. We have a further 35 sites joining us in Phase 2 enabling us to test alternative models and approaches to NAAS

NAAS sites March 2019 – 56 in total

56

North East: (3)

• Durham
• Darlington
• Middlesbrough

North West: (11)

• Bolton
• Bury
• Lancashire
• Manchester
• Oldham
• Rochdale
• Salford
• Stockport
• Trafford
• Warrington
• Wigan

West Midlands -Future Social (14)

• Birmingham
• Coventry
• Dudley
• Herefordshire
• Shropshire
• Solihull
• Staffordshire
• Stoke
• Telford and Wrekin
• Walsall
• Warwickshire
• Wolverhampton
• Worcestershire
• Sandwell

South West: (2)

• Cornwall
• Plymouth

East Midlands: (3)

• Lincolnshire
• Nottinghamshire
• Derby City

East: (3)

• Central Beds
• Essex
• Southend

London: ( 9)

• Bexley
• Hackney
• Hammersmith and

Fulham

• Islington
• Kensington and

Chelsea

• Lambeth
• Lewisham
• Waltham Forest
• Westminster

South East: (2)

• Hampshire
• West Berkshire

Yorkshire and Humber: (9)

• Barnsley
• Bradford
• Calderdale
• Doncaster CT
• Leeds
• North East

Lincolnshire

• Nth Lincs
• Nth Yorks
• Rotherham

Progress on improved results letter …

62

What next for you?

• Sent out by Skills for care – 7th/8th

March

• Express interest to DfE initially or to

me today!

• Variety of endorsement options
• Send practice endorsement forms
• nline.
• Attend peer workshops if that’s your

preferred option -Use then or lose them! 8/9th May – London 29/30th May – Nottingham October dates and locations – TBC

Refreshment Break

Chief Social Worker update

Isabelle Trowler Chief Social Worker

@skillsforcare www.skillsforcare.org.uk/psw

Keep in touch

PSWnetworks@skillsforcare.org.uk