Munro Review of Child Protection

Safeguarding Children in London: The role of councillors after the Munro Review

Jacky TiottoHead of Safeguarding practice, improvement and learning, DfE

London Councils and London Safeguarding Board, 13 June 2011

the process

review part of drive to improve the quality of child protection in England -10 June 2010

October 2010 First report: Analysis of unintended consequences of previous reforms

February 2011: Interim report: Characteristics of an effective child protection system

May 2011: Final report: Child- centred system and recommendations for reform

the ‘givens’

• The recommendations to this review have to be understood and not implemented passively – there should be no cherry picking either

• The child protection system is complex

• The Commission on the Rights of the Child – protect and prevent

• Abuse and neglect do not present in unambiguous ways

• Predictions about abusive behaviour are necessarily fallible

• The number of professionals involved makes co-ordination, communication and clarity of role an absolute ‘drive on left’ rule

principles of a child-centred system

• Child- centred

• Family is the best place to bring up children and young people

• Helping involves direct work

• Early help better for children and young people

• Variety of need reflected in helping responses

• Good professional practice informed by theory and research

• Uncertainty and risk accepted as intrinsic to the work

• Most important measures of success are whether help is effective

drivers of the system in recent years

The child protection system in recent times has been shaped by four key driving forces:

• the importance of the safety and welfare of children and young people

• a belief held by many that uncertainty in child protection work can be eradicated

• A tendency in inquiries to focus on professional error without examining the causes of any error

• the undue weight given to performance information and targets

headline messages

• Children and young people not sufficiently seen and heard and continuity of relationships not valued

• Bureaucratic processes drive and dominate professional practice

• Shared professional responsibility to help families early – significance of universal services

• Over-use of central prescription to improve practice, so cumulative effect is negative

• The system is weighted towards responding to serious abuse and neglect with insufficient preventative, early help - Cuts to preventative services short-sighted

a system that learns whether children are being helped and respects their need for help

a system hearing and using feedback – children, young people , families and practitioners

a system with professional freedom and strong accountable management and leadership

a system that expects errors and so tries to catch them quickly

a system that is dominated by direct work with families - the human element of the work

what to aim for?

valuing professional expertise

Rigid prescription that has resulted because of

pursuit to eradicate uncertainty with more

rules

Management practice focussed on process

because inspection and performance targets

dominate

Rules have compromised capacity

for professional judgment

Skill deficit noticed in SCRs but more rules the

response

Direct work reduced as compliance with process is driver

Statutory GuidanceStatutory Guidance – ‘Working Together’/Framework for Assessment of Need

InspectionInspection – beginning to end of help

Performance dataPerformance data – information to study rather than indicators giving simple measure of success

valuing professional expertise: recommendations

sharing responsibility for the provision of ‘early help’

what is there if not social care? All partners

responsible for help

Moral imperative to help early to reduce harm and efficiency

gains

Lots of assessment and not much help –

expectations of help that does not happen

Offer of early help on back of local process to

understand need

Know your community need and provide help

Cuts to preventative services will

create costs and worse outcomes

New duty for local authorities and statutory partners to secure provision New duty for local authorities and statutory partners to secure provision of early helpof early help:

- specify against local profile of need

- set out access to social work expertise for those in other services

- provide local safeguarding and child protection training to help all professionals

- have clear arrangements in place to make an ‘offer of early help’ make an ‘offer of early help’

sharing responsibility for early help: Recommendations

developing social work expertise &the organisational context

Voice of profession needed to influence

and advise government

Local services build change of lead

professional into system

Employers and HEIs to create higher standards

for training and placement

Career path for social workers support them leaving practice as they

get experienced

Capabilities, training and career structure for social workCapabilities, training and career structure for social work

College of Social Work to set out capabilities for child and family social work, considering implications for employers, training establishments, career structures and regulators

Employers and higher education establishments to prepare students for child protection work, including better placements

Local children’s servicesLocal children’s services

Principal social workers in every LA – practicing senior managers

Redesign services around consistent relationships with families and effective helping

Voice of social work in governmentVoice of social work in government

A chief social worker to advise government and bring voice of profession to policy

developing social work expertise & the organisational context: recommendations

L

E A RN

clarifying accountabilities and creating a learning system Reviewing practice now is a

defensive activity and the system is closed to learning – repeat messages from SCRs

Learning from practice is the oxygen that will grow skills to exercise

professional judgment

Additional duties will dilute DCS role.

Improvement and Change programme

need to be led by someone with

dedicated attention on services

Strong accountability spine, when much else

locally is changing

Leadership

• Statutory guidance revised to stress exceptional arrangements of DCS and lead member with additional functions

• Research on impact of public health reforms on provision of help and protection

LSCBs

• Produce an annual report for most senior leaders of Local Authority, Health and Police

• Strengthened monitoring of effectiveness of help (and early help), value for money, and multi agency training in safeguarding and child protection

• To use systems methodology when undertaking serious case reviews, including government providing reviewers, disseminating learning to inform report of chief social worker

• SCR evaluations should end

accountabilities and learning: recommendations

• Role of leader – recommendation about annual report from LSCB (rec 5)

• Duty for Local authority and statutory partners to secure sufficient provision for early help, setting out arrangements including the resources available (Rec 10)

• Inspection of child’s journey from needing to receiving help (rec 3)

• Availability of data (rec 4)

• Quality of social work environment, placements, supervision and first line management (rec 12)

• Strengthened role of LSCB in monitoring effectiveness of help, including early help and multi- agency training (rec 6)

• Statutory role of DCS and Lead Member and additional functions (rec 7)

• Serious case reviews – learning and improving (rec 9)

• Degree of child- centrednessDegree of child- centredness

local political accountabilities

What you might see in local failure and what might you do?

1. What is the performance management system locally? What is it telling them and what are they doing about it?

2. Who knows what about what professionals are doing with children and families and the impact this is having?

3. Who in the leadership team has this information and what do they do with it?

Some specifics:

1. What are local social work caseloads?2. What are they doing with children in need, with child protection plans and those looked after?3. How often is supervision and what happens in supervision?4. How is the interface between universal services and social care managed? What do leaders

and managers know about this interface and the safe identification of abuse and neglect? eg Hospitals, GPs, police and schools

5. What is happening to contacts, referrals and decisions to act or not act?6. What services are there locally and is the range of need represented in the provision

available?7. What happens to children with child protection plans? Who does what, when and to what

effect?8. One inspection report I read said nothing about relationships, complex work and help!

AmbitionAmbition