The Signs of Safety Approach Slides 1 -9 Jo Slide 10 onwards Sarah 1 1

How Signs of Safety came about It is an approach to child protection casework Began around late 80’s Explosion of interest in last couple of years, from all around the world Designed to help everyone think their way into and through the case from the ‘biggest’ to the ‘smallest’ person

Solution Focused Brief Therapy Jo to talk through this in brief!

Questions, questions, questions? Scaling questions Exception questions The miracle question

Scaling Questions A way of setting goals, monitoring progress and identifying achievements The skill is in the ‘naming’ of the scale and in the follow-up questions e.g. Depression: On a scale of 0 – 10 where 10 means that you are trying you are coping really well with life and 0 means you want to kill yourself ….. Safety: On a scale of 0 – 10 where 10 means you feel completely safe at home and 0 means you don’t feel safe at all ………. And the follow up Where are you on the scale? How did you manage that? How will things look when the number is higher When is the last time things were better? How did you do that? What small step do you think you could do?

Exceptions The practitioner encourages the client to search for exceptions to the problem i.e. times when the problem does/did not happen or happened in a different way. Lots of detail is then asked for by the practitioner. Doing this can draw the client’s attention to positive aspects of their lives which they may not be noticing so much This creates hope for the client and the worker that the problem does not always exist Exceptions may indicate solutions that have worked in the past and can be reapplied or adapted in the present.

The Miracle Question Typically (although it can be adapted and varied) the question is worded as “Imagine as you sleep tonight a miracle happens and the problems go away, but because you are asleep you don’t know it has happened. When you wake in the morning what would be the signs that the miracle had taken place?” Can help to clarify goals; Can lift the conversation out of ‘problem-talk’; and into ‘solution-talk’

Four domains of inquiry What are we worried about? (Past harm, future danger and complicating factors) What’s working well? (Existing strengths and safety) What needs to happen? (Future safety) Where are we on a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 means there is enough safety for child protection

10 STEP THREE STEP TWO: JUDGMENT What are you Worried About? Thinking about a child/teenager in your life that you feel a worried about: What are you Worried About? What’s Working Well? What Needs to Happen? STEP ONE: START HERE, BACK AND FORWARDS STEP THREE What has happened, what have you seen, that makes you worried about this child/teenager? What do you like about ___ what are his/her best attributes? Having thought more about this problem now, what would you need to see that would make you satisfied the situation is at a 10? Who are the people that care most about ___? What are the best things about how they care for ____? What would ___ need to see that would make them say this problem is completely sorted out? When you think about what has already happened to ____ what do you think is the worst thing that could happen to ____ because of this problem? What would ___ say are the best things about his/her life? Who would ___ say are the most important people in his/her life? How do they help ___ grow up well? What do you think is the next step that should happen to get this worry sorted out? Are there things happening in ____’s life or family that make this problem harder to deal with? Has there been times when this problem has been dealt with or was even a little better? How did that happen? On a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 means this problem is sorted out as much as it can be and zero means things are so bad for the young person you need to get professional or other outside help, where do you rate this situation today? (Put different judgment numbers on scale for different people e.g., you, child, teacher etc). 10 STEP TWO: JUDGMENT 9 9

Local context….. Strategy discussions / meetings January 12 Initial CPCs April 12 - rationale

Child protection Conferences What are your views on the ‘traditional’ system? Ask colleagues to discuss in school groups

What does research say about traditional Child Protection Conferences? a valuable forum for professionals from a number of agencies to come together professionals often talk about the information-sharing that takes place between agencies the development of an action plan and the positive work of Core Groups the child protection conference as a forum is taken very seriously.

What are the weaknesses? Insufficient time spent on planning, therefore plans are often of a poor quality Parents usually take a fairly passive role at conferences and have little impact on decisions made. Once particular decisions are reached at a conference, they often go unchecked at subsequent meetings/reviews The Child Protection Process is often seen by parents as a test of their 'willingness to co-operate'.

How does the ‘Signs of safety approach’ build on these positive features? Collaborative Strengths based Prospective Relationship focussed Collaborative: Whilst some power imbalance is unavoidable in the context of child protection, the 'Strengthening Families' model aims to foster as far as possible a spirit of collaborative working between professionals and families. The model incorporates a stage of information sharing in which all of those present (including family members) are invited to participate. Family members are asked to put forward their views, to talk about their own strengths/concerns and to contribute ideas about the best way forwards. By the end of the conference, there should be a mutually agreed set of goals that both the family and professionals agree to work towards. Strengths-based: Information that is shared within the context of a 'Strengthening Families' conference is organised using a specific framework, that also acts as a tool for risk assessment. By completing the framework in full, conference members are made aware, not just of the risks and concerns within a family, but also of their strengths and protective factors. It provides a balanced picture of the family, and an awareness of some of the positives that already exist, and can be built upon. Prospective: Although it is important to be aware of the events that precipitated a particular child protection conference, the 'Strengthening Families' model should assist professionals to look beyond specific incidents. By listening to family members and by completing the framework, conference participants should build up a full and balanced understanding of the family and its needs. This knowledge can then be used to develop a realistic and meaningful set of goals for the future. Relationship-focussed: One of the consistent messages from social work research is that the quality of relationship between worker and client is one of the best predictors of outcomes. Relationships can have an impact on outcomes even when clients are mandated to work with us. The 'Strengthening Families' model seeks to achieve positive outcomes by developing partnerships between professionals and families, by establishing a sense of equality within these relationships and by ensuring that families are listened to, respected and actively involved.

Who is important in your family? Genogram Who is important in your family? We are the experts on our families!

STRENGTHS +PROTECTIVE FACTORS DANGER / HARM SAFETY COMPLICATING FACTORS STRENGTHS +PROTECTIVE FACTORS This will be displayed in the conference room and each part will be visited by the IRM. Next slides go through each part in more detail

Danger/Harm Descriptions of past harm Why are we here? How do issues impact on the children? Descriptions of past harm THE BEST PREDICTOR OF FUTURE HARM IS PAST HARM Other things that are currently happening that represent danger to the child/ren Complicating factors Conditions/behaviours that contribute to greater difficulty for the family Ask what is the danger / harm regarding the children Always ask how the issues affect the children e.g. so mum is depressed, what is the impact of this upon the children? e.g. poor school attendance – what % of the time do they get there Check with worker if this is written in family friendly language What makes these worries/probs more complicated? Avoid ‘shopping list’ of what is wrong in this family Use danger/harm for CP and worries/working well for CIN Complicating factors – literally factors that make the case more complicated – isolation, poverty, addiction, history of fighting with social services etc. 17 17

Safety/Strengths What safety currently exists Strengths demonstrated as protection over time Pattern/history of exceptions What are the strengths of this family resources and capacities within family, individual/ community Safety/Strengths need to relate to the list of dangers etc When information is deemed to be important – check out with the worker if they feel this represents danger or safety. In checking out if it is important ask – is this something that you think contributes to things being better for the children in this family? Eg questions – What do you like about these parents? What are their best attributes / what do they do well (or even well enough) as parents? Tell me about times when the kids are looked after OK? FAMILY NETWORK Who are the people in the network who are most helpful to the children? Who would parents/children say help/support them – then look for detail of that support RELATIONSHIP QUESTIONS What would the children say they like about their parents? What would parents say is positive about the children? What would dad say he thinks mum does well as a mum? EXCEPTIONS When has mum attended to child’s needs When has dad restrained his anger The house is a mess – how do they manage to keep the kids reasonably clean and healthy? Has there ever been a time when one of the parents have acknowledged even a little bit that the violence affects the children? SCALE 10 = you can talk openly with them about the problems, the good stuff and work on ideas together and 0 = they won’t even talk to you. 10 does not mean that people have to like each other!! If the rating is low, talk about when it has been highest – use the EARS process. STRESS – a good relationship is key to good outcome – no relationship means no change so spend time on this area. Scale parents capacity to care – usually gives new information Scale safety – amplify/inquire for positives on any number above 0

Risk Statement If things were to carry on as they are now, what will happen to the child/children/young person? Social worker will come with a draft risk statement written, which will be shared with everyone and amended accordingly with input. Importance of clear language IRM may explain what the concerns are (using their expertise) This may be recorded as bullet points or as a paragragh.

SAFETY PLAN A detailed plan that describes how the family will live everyday life, that shows everyone the child/children will be safe Involves skilful authority Safety networks- Safety networks -may involve identifying a key safety person who the child can contact if any concerns May identify people to support the parents and someone to monitor child’s safety People the family need to avoid

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TOOL It is a questioning approach Keeps the child at the centre - Impact Designed to be used with young people and their families Focuses on the key current issues Highlights what is already working well Can trigger immediate progress Collaborative working Feedback from families who have taken part so far…very positive, felt much more involved. Professionals say that plans are far more effective and clear, not as broad as previously Sometimes previously could just have been a list of services for parents to attend….this is not a safety plan, this is a service plan! viv41@blueyonder.co.uk