Northumberland County Council Children’s Services Group
Unannounced Inspection Work Plan
Recommendation One:
Improve the quality of case recording and
assessments to adequately reflect issues of
identity and diversity and the wishes and
feelings of children; improve the language
and structure of written agreements be
ensure they are always clear and
understandable to parents.
Lead Officer:
Mark Douglas
Inspection Findings
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Case records do not sufficiently reflect work that is being
undertaken by Social Workers to ensure that issues of diversity,
equality and identity are fully addressed.
Case records do not provide enough information on the wishes and
feelings of the children and young people who are regularly seen in
the course of assessments.
Working agreements with parents following social care interventions
are not always written in a way which facilitates partnership and not
always adapted to ensure that they can fully comprehend what is
required of them as part of a plan.
What has happened since the inspection
Team Managers have put issue of addressing Equality, Identity and Diversity
on FACT team meeting agenda and raised as practice issue in supervision
the need consistently to address Identity, Equality and Diversity. Team
Managers and Social Workers are ensuring Initial Assessments and Core
Assessments explicitly record identity, diversity and equality issues for
families within Northumberland.
Team Managers have increased focus upon recording children’s views and
put item onto the standard agenda for FACT team meetings. Team Managers
are using supervision to monitor and develop practice around the explicit
evidencing of children’s views in assessments and in case recording. Case file
audits have been used to monitor improvements.
Children’s Services are developing and embedding the Signs of Safety
approach to working with families and care plans and working agreements are
being embedded which avoid jargon, are explicit and always written in
language which the family will understand.
Action Plan
Actions:
Officer:
Deadline:
Management Information to Brian Smeaton / Belinda
be provided to ICS team on Luke
a monthly basis to track
improvements in the
recording of religion,
nationality and language on
ICS.
On-going
Case file audits to be
undertaken to monitor and
improve quality of case
recording with regard to
diversity, equality and
identity and recording of
children’s views and
wishes
On-going
Brian
Smeaton/CSM’s/Team
Managers
Review current ICS
Fiona Brown / Belinda
templates for Initial and
Luke
Core Assessments to
ensure they more clearly
demonstrate / evidence
child’s views in assessment
and care planning
December 2010
Implementation of a Signs
Audrey Johnson / Belinda
of Safety approach to
Luke
interventions. This
approach entails greater
participation for families
and requires explicit
evidence of parents and
child/young person’s views
and wishes. Rollout training
for all social workers and
team managers. Use of
Signs of Safety tools to
gain views of children to be
embedded in all FACT
teams.
February 2011
Options for scanning in
Don Speight / Audrey
material used to collect
Johnson
views and wishes are to be
explored and decided if
viable to ensure all paper
documents are available on
ICS
February 2011
User survey questionnaire
to be developed and
introduced for all children
and families who have had
services and children in
need (including disabled
children) or as Looked
After Children.
Steve Day / Patrick Boyle /
Brian Smeaton / Client
Relations
September 2010 /
February 2011
Team Managers to monitor Team Managers
ICS use to ensure Social
Workers use “views”
component within current
ICS LAC Care Plans before
authorisation.
On-going
Information about
interpreting and translation
services to be accessible in
area team offices
Karen Barnes
March 2011
Workers are to ensure that
wherever necessary written
plans are translated into
the first language of the
parent and / or child. Child
protection and case plans
to be translated into the
language of the families /
children receiving
Children’s Services
involvement. Template to
facilitate translation
available to translation
services.
CSM’s / Team Managers
March 2011
Plan agreed:
Inspection Preparation Group - October 2010
Review by Inspection
Reference Group:
On-going review at each fortnightly Inspection
Preparation Meeting