1. From compliance to learning: creating a child-centred system Eileen Munro

2. Outline What are we aiming for? Where are we starting from?
What expertise is needed?
Improving the work environment to support good practice
Changing the narrative

3. What are we aiming for? Services that:
support families to nurture children well
intervene when children are suffering abuse or neglect
keep learning whether they are helping
change in response to feedback or research

4. Where are we starting from?
‘A defensive system that puts so much emphasis on procedures and recording that insufficient attention is given to developing and supporting the expertise to work effectively with children, young people and families’
Munro Review of Child Protection, Final report: A child-centred system.

5. Analysis of past reforms
The child protection system in recent times has been shaped by five key driving forces:
social pressure to keep children safe
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 proceduralization, performance information, and targets
a belief in simple, linear causality

6. A simple, predictable world

7. Workers create the problems ….

8. If workers create the problems then …
Solution: replace and control them as much as possible
increase proceduralization and standardization to reduce professional judgment
Increase use of technical solutions
Increase monitoring to check compliance

9. What is overlooked/undervalued?
Uncertainty
Complexity
Requisite variety
Child’s journey
Emotion
Relationships
Influence of tools on practice

11. Creating the learning environment
Valuing expertise
Feedback
Regulation
Inspection
Management

12. Skilled workers

13. You are working with human beings
You can deliver a pizza but you cannot deliver a child welfare service. You need the ‘customer’ to be an active agent in the production of the required outcomes. Child welfare services simply fail if the intended recipients are unwilling or unable to engage in a constructive way; outcomes are co-produced by citizens.
Adapted from Chapman J. (2004) System failure: why governments must learn to think differently, London, Demos

14. Feedback Essential to know whether decisions and actions were good
From families – have we helped?
From all levels in organisation

15. Reducing central prescription
Need flexibility to learn and adapt locally
Need central prescription of goals and professional duties

16. Judgment, principles and rules
Simple tasks – follow the rules, e.g. arranging payment for foster carer
Complicated tasks – needs professional skill in deciding what the task is and how to perform it, e.g. does this referral warrant a S47 investigation?
Complex tasks – no complete solution is known but we seek to minimise the problem, e.g. preventing child maltreatment

17. Inspecting for learning not compliance
Child’s journey
Evidence of helping
Evidence of learning

18. A responsible culture not a blame culture
Need to develop shared features of making decisions in uncertain conditions.
Defensive practice does not AVOID risk but DISPLACES it, usually onto children and families

19. Developing expertise at organisational level
Users’ feedback
Front line feedback
Single loop and double loop learning
Peer review and inspection

20. Changing the narrative
a system that learns whether children are being helped, and how they have experienced the help, innovating in response to feedback
a system free from all but essential central prescription over professional practice but with clear rules about where and how to co-ordinate to protect children and young people
a system where professional practice is informed by research and evidence, competent judgement informing action when the work is too varied for rules
a system that expects errors and so tries to catch them quickly
a system that is ‘risk sensible’.