SIGNS OF SAFETY: AN EVALUATION ACROSS TEN AREAS IN ENGLAND SOCIAL CARE WORKFORCE RESEARCH UNIT KING’S COLLEGE, LONDON Mary Baginsky Jo Moriarty Jill Manthorpe
English Innovation Programme MTM project – 10 pilots Timescale Judging outcomes BACKGROUND 2 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Direct work with young people had the most positive impact on outcomes Young people benefited from more intensive, in-depth support than from occasional support over a period of time Walker and Donaldson (2011) OUTCOMES AND INITIATIVES 3 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 20
Three key principles : working relationships are fundamental – honest and respectful relationships between the worker and families and between all professionals involved to achieve a shared understanding of what needs to change and how this will be achieved within a culture where collaborative, appreciative inquiry methods are valued stance of critical inquiry – critical thinking to minimise error and create a culture of reflective practice, designed to minimise error, allow admission of errors, and support regular review of the balance of strengths and dangers so as to avoid drift, which may perpetuate an overly optimistic or pessimistic view of the family locating grand aspirations in everyday practice – where the experience of the child is at the centre and where families and front line professionals judge the effectiveness of practice A Signs of Safety assessment or Mapping: past harm; future danger and complicating factors SIGNS OF SAFETY 4 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Realistic evaluation Longitudinal design Multiple types of data collection Interviews Focus groups Case file analysis Secondary data analysis Value for money WHAT WE DID 5 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
New 2 years 2 years plus Wakefield 10 pilots Suffolk West Sussex differed in Norfolk terms of Tower experience Lincolnshire Hamlets with Signs Wokingham of Safety Brent Leicestershire Bristol 6 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Time 1 Time 2 Interviews and Interviews and Time diaries Interviews with focus groups self profiling completed by key informants with 185 social data from key 121 social workers informants workers Interviews with Re-interviews Analysis of 30 Survey 165 270 families with 184 performance social workers (recruited in 2 families indicators cohorts) Analysis of Reanalysis of 262 case case records records DATA COLLECTED AT TIMES 1 & 2 ABOUT TWO COHORTS OF FAMILIES 7 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Major challenge was to achieve consistency – move away from ‘pick and mix’ approach Parallel service reorganisations Different stages of SoS training – opportunities MTM project offered Challenge of reducing caseloads at time of rising levels of referrals and budget cuts Compatibility (or not) with IT systems Opportunity to work with Professor Eileen Munro, Andrew Turnell and Terry Murphy KEY INFORMANTS’ VIEWS AT START 8 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Commitment to further development of SoS Parallel reorganisations had added extra challenges Importance of support from senior management to instill confidence in practitioners Development of networks for practice leads and practice champions alongside sustainability plans for training, leadership and alignment of practice and processes countered over dependence on individuals High regard with which many individual trainers held but not universal KEY INFORMANTS’ VIEWS AT THE END (1) 9 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Collaborative working with trainers on tailored training Quality of trainer said to impact on attendance at events for practice leads IT challenges continued but were being addressed Exposing some skill shortage amongst their social workers Intransigent managers and senior social workers What, if anything, needs to go alongside SoS? Profiling KEY INFORMANTS’ VIEWS AT THE END (2) 10 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Generally very positive about Signs of Safety in terms of improving their practice But some inconsistencies with key informant views on: extent of use of scaling, mapping, tools and appreciative inquiry challenges in using Signs of Safety with all families – some reported had not/would not use it with some families. This was also reflected in the case records SOCIAL WORKERS’ VIEWS (1) 11 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Majority valued training A minority thought ‘2 day’ insufficient Evolution of ‘5 day’ over time Consider other models? 3 day? Timing SOCIAL WORKERS’ VIEWS ON TRAINING 12 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Confidence : On a scale of 1-10 most confident responses from the ‘2 year’ grouping Use of tools overall : nearly everyone in ‘2 year’ grouping; two- thirds in the ‘new’ grouping’ and half of those in ‘2+ year’ grouping SOCIAL WORKERS’ CONFIDENCE IN AND USE OF SOS 13 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Safety Planning :42% with all families; 56% with some families and 2% not at all (all in ‘new’ grouping) Mapping : 38% with all families; 58% with some families and 4% not at all SOCIAL WORKERS’ USE OF SOS WITH FAMILIES: SAFETY PLANNING AND MAPPING 14 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Danger statements : 48% with all families; 51% with some families and 1% not at all Appreciative Inquiry : 7% with all families; 24% with some families and 69% not at all. [Highest in ‘2 year’ grouping and lack of understanding of what it meant!] Use of safety planning + mapping + danger statements increased between Cohort 1 and Cohort 2. Highest in ‘new’ and ‘2years+’ groupings SOCIAL WORKERS’ USE OF SOS WITH ALL FAMILIES: DANGER STATEMENTS AND APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY 15 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Three Houses : 20% used it with all c and yp; 75% with some c and yp and 5% not at all Words and Pictures : 5% with all; 57% with some and 38% not at all ↓ Social workers usually did it and gave it to families Lack of training / support to use Words and Pictures SOCIAL WORKERS’ USE OF THREE HOUSES AND WORDS AND PICTURES 16 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Family Network Meetings : 8% with all families and 41% with some. A quarter of social workers in ‘2 year’ grouping but two- thirds in ‘new’ grouping and in ‘2+’ grouping were not using it at all SOCIAL WORKERS AND FAMILY NETWORK MEETINGS 17 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Assessments: data from social workers in groups and interviews showed most thought SoS led to better assessments → leading to less risk averse practice. Challenge focused on time required but with variation (halving to trebling) Supervision: 76% said they received SoS aligned supervision – everyone in ‘2 year’ grouping; 4 out of 5 in ‘new’ grouping and half in ‘2+’ grouping. ASSESSMENTS AND SUPERVISION 18 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
270 in two cohorts: Cohort 1 – referrals from March to May 2015; Cohort 2 – referrals from August to October 2015 Interviewed twice T1 June – October 2015 and T2 Feb – July 2016 270 at T1 and 184 at T2 262 agreed to case records being examined Previous referrals : 204 of the 270 had previous referral(s) – 27% had involved dv and 26% neglect Current referrals: 37% involved neglect and 26% involved dv FAMILIES (1) 19 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Contact with social workers: at T1 59% had had a change of social worker and 9% had worked with 3 by then; 1 in 5 had an agency worker At T2 165 of 184 still with a social worker and 1 in 3 had had a change Most families accepted change but less positivity about handovers FAMILIES (2) 20 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
Feelings about social workers 43% were positive or very positive 37% were negative or very negative 17% had no strong feelings (+ small number no response) No specific differences re age, permanent v. agency, gender FAMILIES (3) 21 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice , 26 September 2017
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