THE ESSEX STORY – JOURNEY FROM INADEQUATE TO “GETTING TO GOOD” Cllr Dick MaddenSukriti Sen Cabinet Member Director of Local Delivery Children and Adults Family Operations

Historical Context 2004–2008 significant structural change in response to Children Act – 2010 ECC Children’s Services rated as Inadequate for safeguarding in JAR; then by Ofsted GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION System shock Whole-scale system and culture shift OFSTED INSPECTION 2014 rated as Good

Essex nd largest LA in England Total number of children: c. 297,000 No. open cases: c. 6,200 ( ,000) No.subject to CP :436 (14.7 per 10,000) –(2010-1,200) No. CiC: 1,134 (38.4 per 10,000) –( ,600) No. care leavers: c. 630 No. staff in Family Operations: 1,143 (just over 1,000 frontline QSW’s) Structure: 4 Quadrants, each delivering comprehensive children & families social work services; a small number of county wide services

Essex context 4 Overall child population - 301,432, representing 21.0% of the total population in Essex Deprivation – Essex is a relatively affluent county, with pockets of deprivation, coastal wards and a garrison town. It houses one of the most deprived wards in the country - Jaywick Child Poverty - There are an estimated 50,720 children living in poverty. Domestic Abuse - An estimated 26,000 children may experience domestic abuse Parental Mental Health - An estimated 46,636 children have at least one parent with a mental health problem. Child and Adolescent Mental Health - An estimated 25,000 children aged 5-19 years have a diagnosable mental health condition and a further 25,000 have emotional/behavioural problems requiring support

What Did We Do? 5

Strategy Whole system change Reduce children in care numbers Invest in social workers Invest in family support - D-BIT (Divisional Based Intervention Teams) Lead – don’t manage Act and sort! Be brave and principled Respond to the inspections Systems Reduce processes and procedures….Slim down protocol forms / revisit what really needs authorisation Family focussed assessment tools Turn decision making on its head Take bureaucratic burden away from social workers Work to avoid duplication Skills Systemic approaches Evidence based interventions Joint working – get things done quickly Access to highly skilled supervision Learning circles (assessments, care planning etc?) Invest in skill development Essex Social Work Academy Effectively use supervision Style Risk management not risk adverse Role generosity Allow for difference Take responsibility Be a learning not a blaming service Actively model behaviours, performance and thinking required to reshape our service and champion the necessary culture change Be positive and supportive whilst demanding high performance, flexible and supportive team work Staff The most valuable resource Spend time recruiting the right people Remember the complexity of the task social workers do Help move on those for whom its not working Support, nurture, develop and enthuse Make active use of HR procedures Structure Move to the quadrant model Keep your best social workers practising Bring in develop the next generation, each team having at least 2 students per year Design to facilitate partnership

Essex: Need vs. Demand Merely having an identified need is not enough; the need must then translate into the risk of abuse or neglect to the child. Justice Munby’s Re: A judgment was quite clear: Social care is not in the business of providing perfect homes for children; less still in the business of enforcing adherence to a ‘correct’ parenting model. “We must guard against Social Engineering” The degree of resilience in each family is unique to them, and must be assessed on a case-by case basis, and through consistent application of thresholds (the level at which services are deemed to be necessary). Setting clear thresholds was a major goal of the work to improve children’s services; they were signed off by the LSCB and OFSTED found them to be “clear and appropriate” The focus of Early Intervention work is on promoting family & community resilience to enable families to stay together

8 Bullet here Wellbeing Effective Support Windscreen

Family Operations Culture & Style Thoughtful, reflective & adjusting practice Always doing the best for children Remaining aspirant Culture of accountability Open & honest - no spin Ownership and taking responsibility Positive, supportive whilst demanding of high performance Risk management not risk adverse Role generosity Allow for difference Challenge, innovate & be proactive Actively & consistently model behaviours, performance and thinking required to reshape our service and champion the necessary culture change High quality support and Supervision

Systemic Approach to Quality Assurance 1.Integrated into the way that we do Social Work – business as usual, not additional 2.Everybody’s business, everyone involved 3.Striving for 360 degree feedback 4.Shared values, accountability, risk – mistakes have consequences but no one gets things right all the time, constant reflecting, adjusting and learning how to do things better 5.Shared standards – does everyone agree what “good” is? 6.Style – “done with”, not “done to”, achieves better results 7.Purposeful strategy – are we doing the right things; are we keeping children safe; are we making a difference; where are our skills and resources gaps? 8. Structure – how does it support or impede? 10

11 Despite everything that happens around it “social work will always begin and end with a human encounter between two or more people and this encounter, or relationship as it develops, is the medium through which the social work task is carried out” Danielle Turney, University of Bristol ‘Relationship Based Social Work: getting to the heart of practice’

Modern relationship based practice approach curriculum Training / tools Strength based approaches Signs of safety Solution focused CBT Brief intervention Systemic approaches Motivational interviewing Fostering changes Systemic supervision -Thera-play 12

Impact in Essex on Taking a Relationship Based Approach Practice Reduction of children in care Reduction in children subject to child protection plans Reduction in caseload better quality of work Cost Reduced Reinvestment and savings Early help Targeted intervention Intensive support 13

Demand reduction Essex has made significant progress in managing demand, reducing cost and providing a higher quality service by; Having clear and consistent thresholds for services Building a targeted Early Help service offer – Family Solutions (70% report positive outcomes) Focus on direct social work practice, interventions with children and families to bring about change, rather than just providing services Strengthening Families approach to child protection Care prevention services for families at risk of breakdown – Divisional Based Intervention Teams (DBIT) and Multi-Systemic therapy (MST) –83.6% of all children who had a D-BIT intervention did not enter care subsequently –85% of all children who had an MST intervention did not enter care subsequently Expanding in-house foster care Focus on adoption and use of special guardianship orders

Demand management Essex 2014 – Ofsted rated ‘Good’ Year end 2011Year end 2014 Contacts 55,24051,930 Referrals 17,610 12,739 Children in Need 9,248 6,412 Child Protection Plans Children in Care 1,6081,140 Children Adopted45110

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/112011/122012/132013/142014/15 Number of Children in Care1,6081,4991,2571,1401,027 A placement strategy has been developed and is reviewed and updated for budget monitoring purposes and setting the medium term resource strategy. The table below gives an analysis of the historical spend. 2010/112011/122012/132013/14 £m Internal Foster Placements External Placements (Foster & Residential) SGO's / RO's / Staying Put/ Supported Living Internal Homes Total

19 High levels of agency staff Good Recruitment Strategy Retention of staff Workforce Development (Training) Good Recruitment Strategy Retention of staff Workforce Development (Training) Managers and workers lack of structure and sense of direction Shared Vision, Aims and Objectives Set. Buy in from Team Managers Inclusive Approach Team Plans developed in Line with Service Plan Managing Complexity in Casework Regular monthly closure days with the results of closure days shared clear reduction in caseloads paving the way for improving practice Cases in Drift Accountability panels held quarterly to review all cases open over 12 months to ensure cases are progressed plans are reviewed to prevent drift. Case Discussions dedicated days throughout the year where cases are reviewed and plans made to progress the cases, attended by managers, social workers and the family centre High Level Caseloads, lack of time and space to think creatively about good practice Challenge Solution

Key Challenges Are current low levels of CIN, CP, CiC sustainable? Recent increase in referral volumes and a high number of repeat referrals (now reducing) High number of older children coming into care; –Nationally, the numbers of children coming into care aged 16 or 17 have increased by 21% (29% in Essex). Those coming into care aged 14+ in Essex increased from 37.5% over 13/14 to 45.8% in 14/15. –Over 2014/15, numbers of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children have increased by 50% in Essex –Adoptions levels are not as high as previous years as age profile shifts to older children in care. –Finding suitable long term accommodation for older children and achieving good outcomes for these young people remains a challenge Maintaining Ofsted judgement of ‘Good’ and getting to ‘Outstanding’ Partners have their own difficult challenges to face 20

WHAT MORE DO WE NEED TO DO? 21

A unifying use of theoretical models of evidence-based social work practice Articulating Values and Vision A whole systems approach to strategic planning & service delivery A relentless focus on the recruitment, development and retention Conditions for Success Workers with manageable workloads that are regularly reviewed Small enough teams to allow team managers to know both staff & families well Service design which minimises the number of changes to key worker/ transfers between teams An operational culture of dialogue, reflective thinking, feedback, learning & support An aspirant & system-wide approach to improvement & performance Appropriate practical support

Questions to Ask Yourselves Is there a clear robust threshold document in place shared and owned by children’s social care the partnership? Are social workers equipped and supported sufficiently to be able to build effective relationships their children and their families? Are effective services in place to prevent children coming into care? Are you looking after the right children? 23

Questions/Discussions? 24