Signs of Safety 2 Day Training

Programme Best Hopes/Objectives The ‘Signs of Safety Assessment & Planning Framework’ A Little History: the creation & evolution of the approach An Interactive Demonstration of the Framework Practicing ‘Mapping’ in groups of 3 ‘Safety Planning’ in brief Involving Children with ‘The Three Houses’ & the ‘Safety House’ Using the ‘Words & Pictures Explanations’

Best Hopes Provide a comprehensive introduction to the thinking and practice skills of the Signs of Safety approach to child protection work so that you can immediately begin to use it in your own practice (including supervisors).

Best Hopes Equip participants to use the Signs of Safety risk assessment protocol collaboratively with families and other professionals in Child Protection Conferences and elsewhere Ground all the training in actual case material including local cases – via a live ‘mapping’ demonstration & group work.

Best Hopes Introduce the tools for involving children and young people in child protection assessment and planning. Share solution-focused, safety-organised interviewing and questioning skills to use with parents, children & professionals.

Best Hopes Provide a brief introduction to methods for building rigorous, sustainable safety plans with the family that address the child protection concerns.

Reading About Signs of Safety Signs of Safety 1999, Andrew Turnell & Steve Edwards, WW Norton, New York Signs of Safety Comprehensive Briefing Paper, 2012, Andrew Turnell, Resolutions Consultancy Working with Denied Child Abuse – The Resolutions Approach 2006, Andrew Turnell & Susie Essex,Open University Press, Buckingham

Experiencing The Framework Think about a child/teenager in your life who has a problem you are worried about. (A child or young person other than someone you are working with)

HARM FUTURE Existing SAFETY Strengths DANGER Next Steps Existing 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? HARM FUTURE SAFETY Existing Strengths Who are the people that care most about ___? What are the best things about how they care for ____? What words would use to talk about this problem so that ____ would understand what you’re worried about? What would ___ need to see that would make them say this problem is completely sorted out? What would ___ say are the best things about his/her life? 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? DANGER 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? Next Steps Existing Safety Complicating Factors Has there been times when this problem has been dealt with or was even a little better? How did that happen? Are their things happening in ____’s life or family that make this problem harder to deal with? Animations Off 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: JUDGEMENT

Signs of Safety Assessment and Planning Form What are we Worried About? Whats Working Well? What Needs to Happen? Existing Strengths Past Harm to Children Action/Behaviour – who, what, where, when; Severity; Incidence & Impact SafetyGoals: Future Safety/Protection What must the caregivers be doing in their care of the child that addresses the future danger? Existing Safety/Protection The Strengths demonstrated as protection over time. Must directly relate to danger. Danger Statements: Future Danger for Children Worries for the future if nothing changes. Family Goals: What does the family want generally and in relation to safety? Complicating Factors Factors which make the situation more difficult to resolve. Next Steps What are the next steps to be taken to move towards achieving the goal? Safety Scale: On a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 means everyone knows the children are safe enough for the child protection authorities to close the case and zero means things are so bad for the children they can’t live at home, where do we rate this situation? (If different judgements place different people’s number on the continuum). 10

What is the Signs of Safety Approach? Constructed around a comprehensive risk assessment framework that involves everyone in the assessment (families and professionals) and that incorporates harm, danger, complicating factors, strengths and safety. Involves building relationships with all stakeholders that are focused on safety for children. Informed by Core & Practice Principles and Practice Elements From research and from what workers and families say is good practice! A Questioning not an expert approach Supported by a Skill Base SFBT questioning Safety Planning Engaging Children Skillful Use of Authority In simple terms it is a solution-focused oriented approach to child protection Philosophy/Thinking – SFBT, Systems Practice Principles – Relationships, Skilful use of authority Tools – Mapping, three houses, Core Principles that underpin the framework and overall approach – Briefing Paper version 2 page 9, 10 & 11 Constructive working relationships are at the heart of the approach – between professionals and families (Partnerships); and between professionals themselves (Collaboration). The single most important factor in minimising errors (in child protection practice) is to admit that you may be wrong – Eileen Munro 2008 page 125 – Avoiding paternalistic practice by resisting the urge to colonise on particular view of the truth. Landing grand aspirations in everyday practice – This is about the importance of documenting practitioner and service recipient descriptions of what on-the-ground good practice with complex and challenging cases looks, smells, and lives like as a more constructive outcome that having ‘voices from twenty seven thousand feet’ i.e. command and control practice from supervisors, academics and head office managers where there is little connection to the realities of day-to-day practice. Practice Principles that build partnership – pages 30 & 31 – These guide the implementation of the Signs of Safety approach. Respect service recipients are people doing business with – maintain belief in change which can create a sense of hope and possibility. Cooperate with the person, not the abusive behaviour. Recognise that cooperation is possible even where coercion is required – Skillful use of authority. Recognise that all families have Signs of Safety. Maintain a focus on safety. Learn what the service recipient wants. Always search for detail – Solutions arise out of details. Focus on creating small change. Keep judgements separate from case details. Offer choices – Skillful use of authority. Treat the interview as a forum for change – recognition of the potential impact of the interaction. Treat the practice principles as aspirations, not assumptions – recognise that even the most experienced cp worker will need to think and act carefully to implement them. Six Practice Elements – page 51 – These provide a map to assist the worker to elicit, amplify and assess the constructive side of a family’s capabilities. Understand the position of each family member – i.e. the strongly held values, beliefs and meaning that individuals express through their stories. Find exceptions to the maltreatment. What Signs of Safety can you find? Discover family strengths and resources. What Signs of Safety can be built? Focus on goals – ‘It’s a long day on the golf course if you don’t know where the hole is’ – Michael Hoyt. Scale safety and progress – Scaling the position of all involved allows comparisons, elicits details for the map and promotes constructive discussions. Assess willingness, confidence and capacity – helps to know where the family are at in their willingness and ability to move towards the goal of safety. Practiced from a Stance of Humility about what we think we know Focused above all on BUILDING ENOUGH SAFETY to close the case.

Good Performance - Human Needs Empowerment Initiative Choice Frustration Resentment Motivators High morale Confidence Enthusiasm Respect & Appreciation Communication & Clear objectives Preparation is key in delivering these things; FGC hours prep vs cp Need to consider stages of change theory Low morale Absenteism Anxiety Confusion Adapted from Human Needs at Work, University of Nottingham

Partnership in practice – the social discipline window (Wachtel & McCold) High TO WITH Punitive Restorative Control (limit-setting, discipline) Explain. AT is very enthusiastic speaker and often likes to credit professionals and in the training he spoke about some people in a little county in Minnesota who he had been training over a period of 7 or 8 years – how they had used this case mapping in a professionals’ meeting to empower a mother to convince professionals to work towards rehab; I thought – I want to know more about that.It sounded like they had snuck an FGC into a CP conference! Made contact – they too were developing strengths based practice FBDM, SoS. They got some state funding – as did everyone to improve clogging up of the family courts – problem of courts getting in the way of conflict resolution and so devised a process with a meeting at its centre, not dissimilar to a CP conference Influences (next slide) Neglectful Permissive NOT FOR Support (encouragement, nurture) Low High

A little History Andrew Turnell & Steve Edwards Collaboration 1993. Interested in how SFBT fitted with Child Protection Work. 150 Practitioners

A Little History What they did was created safety through partnership & collaboration: Partnerships with parents/carers; Collaboration between agencies/professionals; & Worked with practitioners to develop the model

A Little History What the practitioners asked for: Capture & balance the concerns and strengths so as to make judgements on balanced information. Doesn’t just tell us what we already know but provides guidance about what to do about the problem.

A Little History The team leaders & managers wanted an approach that: would increase the confidence of CP workers in their own practice; Would help workers get unstuck in difficult and protracted cases; and Minimal paperwork.

Assessment form on one page! 18

A Little History “If workers use the ideas they are in the model. If workers don't, they’re in the bin!” Steve Edwards

What makes a difference? The most important factor in making a difference in the lives of vulnerable children in open child protection cases is relationships Realtionships between family and professionals (partnership) and relationships between professionals themselves (collaboration)

Review of what works in family support interventions % of Variance in Outcome Explained WHY? Kieran McKeowan (Dublin, 2000)

Summary 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 Highlights what is already working well

Practice Principles Respect service users as people worth doing business with Cooperate with the person, not the abuse Recognise that cooperation is possible even where coercion is required Recognise that all families have signs of safety Maintain a focus on safety Learn what the service user wants

Practice Principles Always search for detail Focus on creating small change Don’t confuse case details with judgments Offer choices Treat the interview as a forum for change

Exercise What do you like about what you have heard? What worries / questions do you have?

Demonstrating the Framework Family map 3 – 4 free description ‘Why are Children’s Services involved?’ or ‘What are your main concerns or the things you most worried about?’ Worker’s goal

What’s Working Well? ‘Strengths’ ‘Existing Safety’ Who is doing what for the child, where and when, that reduces the worries and how do we know? Exceptions to the harm? Presence of? ‘Existing Safety’ Examples of the ‘strengths that have been demonstrated as protection over time’. (Boffa and Podesta, 2004 refined from an earlier definition used by McPherson, Macnamara and Hemsworth, 1997)

Demonstrating the Framework Based on the initial background information you have just heard, develop questions you could ask the worker if you were facilitating the process to capture information for the What’s Working Well? column i.e. Strengths that might translate into Safety or Existing Safety

What Are We Worried About? Past Harm – Clear & specific statements of harm that has occurred to any children in the care of the parents/caregivers. When there has been an extensive history of abuse, focus on mapping First, Worst & Last incidents alongside a description of Frequency e.g. how many times a week / month would the harm typically happen? Danger Statements – Who is worried about whose behaviour towards whom in the future based on the past harm and /or Complicating Factors and what is the likely impact on the child. Complicating Factors – What are the factors/ issues/ things that make this situation more complicated both for the family and the professionals.

Complicating Factors Typically Include… Poverty Addiction Issues of Mental Health Disability Isolation Disputes between family members and professionals Fear & misunderstanding between people of different cultures Oppressive use of professional authority Too many professionals involved Professionals not working together

Demonstrating the Framework Develop as many questions as you can think of to get the harm and complicating factors articulated simply and clearly including details on: Action / Behaviour Severity Incidence Impact

Demonstrating the Framework Thinking about the information gathered in the ‘What are We Worried About?’ column develop a possible ‘Danger Statement’, i.e. a statement about your worries for the future for the child if nothing changes based on the ‘Past Harm’ and the ‘Complicating Factors’ (where relevant)

Danger Statements What are you worried will happen to these children if nothing changes? Need to be based on (the evidence of) past harm and complicating factors, not on catastrophic thinking Danger statements need to be in simple straightforward language that make sense to the family without minimising the seriousness Can draw on professional expertise and knowledge e.g. research

Danger Statement Examples Rob will almost certainly carry on feeling he is no good, not wanted, sad, scared and angry because step-dad Shabs and brother Lyle are telling him so every day.

Danger Statement Examples There is a good chance that Rob will get into crime or drink; as likely as not he will get permanently excluded from school

Danger Statement Examples Rob will get hit again a lot by Lyle and probably will get injured.

Judgement On a scale of 0 – 10, rate the situation where 10 = there is sufficient safety to close the case and 0 = things are so serious the children need to be removed immediately Look at this from a number of different perspectives You may ask further questions based on the rating Consider whether the danger statement needs to be changed?

Danger Statements: What Chidren’s Services is worried will happen to the child if nothing changes (i.e. the problem/concern that has to be solved) Safety Goals: What Children’s Services needs to see to know the child is safe and they can close the case (not services).

Safety Goals ‘Safety goals’ are clear statements about what the parents/caregivers will be doing in their care of the child to address the ‘Future Danger’. ‘Safety goals’ are not attendance at services; services are likely to be part of the ‘how’ ‘Safety goals’ = safe ‘preferred future’ / outcome / what safety will look like

Safety Goals Examples Rob will almost certainly carry on feeling he is no good, not wanted, sad, scared and angry because step-dad Shabs and brother Lyle are telling him so every day. Those visiting will see Shabs and Gaynor both being fair, firm but kind to Rob, speaking respectfully to him and protecting him from verbal abuse

Safety Goals Examples There is a good chance that Rob will get into crime or drink; as likely as not he will get permanently excluded from school Rob will be happier and less inclined to steal or drink and Gaynor and Shabs will praise and reward him for this Because he feels better about himself, Rob will want to do and behave better in school – school will see improvement

Safety Goals Examples Rob will get hit again a lot by Lyle and probably will get injured. Rob will be kept safe by Gaynor and Shabs from being hit and criticised by Lyle – they will be able to describe their plan for this and how it is working and Rob will say he feels safer

Safety Goals ‘Safety Goal’ What would the parents/caregivers changed behaviour be achieving in their day-to-day care of the children, which addresses the worries for the future i.e. the Danger Statement? ‘Next Steps’ What are the very next steps to move closer towards to the safety goal/s? Who needs to do what and when? Have a go…In your groups develop a Safety Goal that relates to the Danger Statement

Exercise – Groups of 3 Practitioner Facilitator Advisor/Observer Be prepared to talk about a case you are worried about and feeling stuck on. Facilitator Leads the process. Ask questions and seek the responses in clear language that describes actions and behaviours and is clearly evidenced. Advisor/Observer Observe the process and be prepared to provide feedback. Assist the facilitator. Keep time.

Signs of Safety Assessment and Planning Form What are we Worried About? Whats Working Well? What Needs to Happen? Strengths Harm SafetyGoals Danger Statements Family Goals Complicating Factors Next Steps Safety Safety Scale: On a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 means everyone knows the children are safe enough for the child protection authorities to close the case and zero means things are so bad for the children they can’t live at home, where do we rate this situation? (If different judgements place different people’s number on the continuum). 10

Mapping Process Using The 3 Columns Things to be aware of: If you ask a question that the worker doesn’t know the answer to, ask if it would be useful to know and put it under ‘Next Steps’. As you progress, you can move back and fourth between the columns. Your use of language – help the worker to keep it simple and clear. Use the worker’s exact words wherever possible

Getting Started The Facilitator (who scribes) starts the process by asking the worker for: Information to construct a genogram A 3 – 4 minute free description ‘What are you main concerns or the things you are most worried about right now?’ Worker’s Goal (at this stage)? Start asking questions to elicit information for the ‘What’s Working Well?’ column (NB: Advisor/Observer take note of good questions)

Ask for information to complete a genogram Get a 3 – 4 minute free description of the key worries in the case Ask for the worker’s goal for the exercise Begin asking questions to elicit ‘What’s working well? – Elicit and Amplify Then ask questions to elicit ‘What are we Worried about?’ – Elicit and Amplify to get behaviour, severity, incidence and impact Ask questions to help the worker develop danger statement – reflect on meaning of harm and complicating factors Ask one or more scaling questions about the levels of danger; ask from different perspectives Revisit the danger statement to see if it needs to be amended; ask more questions to elicit worries if necessary Ask questions to help the worker develop safety goals Ask questions to elicit next steps Revisit and scale the worker’s goal

Process Review Exercise Practitioners – what was most helpful? Observers: What worked best? What were the best questions? Facilitators: Which sections of the mapping flowed best? What did you struggle with?

Introduction to Safety Planning Developed from Danger Statements; parent led journey to Safety Goals How, in our house / our family’s life, is next week going to be different from last week? Comprised of decisions and ‘rules’ supported by extended family and friends, services and professionals

This is the how of safety planning Danger Statements: What Chidren’s Services is worried will happen to the child if nothing changes (i.e. the problem/concern that has to be solved) Together with the family, the practitioners journey from the problem of the danger statements to the safety goals through a structured process. This is the how of safety planning The journey is more important than the end product. Safety Goals: What Children’s Services needs to see to know the child is safe and they can close the case (not services).

Resource Planning vs Safety Planning Resource Plans Agreed at CP conferences Led by Safety Goals Specialist services Visiting and monitoring arrangements Additional assessments Contingencies Reviewed every 3 – 6 months Safety Plans Agreed by keyworker and family after conference Led by Risk Statement(s) Detail of how daily life will be different Build on exceptions and ideas developed with family Reviewed every week or two Take 3 or 4 months to ‘bed in’

Case Example 14 month old Jack – severe health needs Separated parents in their early 20s Mum Sharon has a mild learning disability Father Gary been in prison for assaulting Sharon Parents minimising impact on Jack of being exposed to fighting Sharon not providing the medicines and care needed and removed Jack from hospital x 3 against medical advice

Resources Case in Court Couples counselling Individual counselling Separate parenting classes Regular involvement with community health nurse Little co-ordination or coherence between services Parents engaging but no clarity about what needed to be achieved for Jack to stay with parents

Danger Statement 1 “The County and the Guardian are worried that Jack could be physically and emotionally hurt when Gary and Sharon get into arguments and fights and they become so wrapped up in the argument they forget to pay attention to Jack.”

Building on Strengths Gary had tried to walk away on occasions when he felt an argument was getting out of control Sharon would follow him when he did this and continue the argument Sharon worked with her counselor on avoiding escalation and not following Gary

Concrete Actions Written signed plan which said that Gary would always walk away from fights when they began to escalate and that Sharon would not follow him Gary agreed to keep a diary of times when he and Sharon began to argue and he walked away Confirmed by each parent independently to their counsellor and observed and reported by family members and professionals

Danger Statement 2 “The County and the Guardian are worried that Jack’s illnesses may get worse when Sharon does not follow medical recommendations.”

Collaborating on Safety Social worker brought Sharon and the community health nurse together to ‘concretize’ the concerns Sharon agreed to keep a log of every medical intervention she made with Jack Sharon and the nurse reviewed the log together each week Nurse prepared a series of cards with simple directions to cue Sharon in different medical situations (e.g. asthma attack, coughing, vomiting)

Children’s Tools

Children’s Tools For Listening… The Three Houses The Wizard and Fairy Nikki Weld & Maggie Greening The Wizard and Fairy Vania de Paz The Safety House Sonja Parker For Telling… The Words and Pictures Susie Essex

Words & Pictures A storyboard (words and pictures) for children to help them understand events that are difficult for adults around them to talk about Parents and worker develop the words together using the family’s own words. 3. Primarily used to explain worries, concerns and difficult situations to younger children 4. Also used as part of a safety planning process

Exercise – in Pairs In pairs:- Why is it important for children to know the truth / is it important for children to know the truth? How well are you doing in your Agency? To what extent do children have the best possible understanding where:- 0 = involved with our service have little understanding of their situation 10 = children involved with our service always have a good understanding of their situation

Jennifer Levitt - Wandsworth Practice Example Jennifer Levitt - Wandsworth

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Exercise – Words & Pictures In pairs talk about: What do you think will be the benefits to the child in the future as a result of this work?

Follow-on Exercise In pairs: Thinking of the children on your caseload today – which of these do you think it could be useful to use this tool with?

Exercise – in Pairs Why is it important for children to be heard? Think about a time in your childhood when you were listened to by an adult and a time when you were just paid lip service to – what was the difference? What is the importance of the child’s voice in Safeguarding work

Poppy’s House of Good Things 84

Poppy’s House of Worries 85

Poppy’s House of Dreams Poppy – 7 years old 86

3 Houses - Process Consent – is it needed? Deciding where to meet with the child. Wherever possible talk through the idea of using the tool with the parents and obtain their permission to speak with the child. Is there benefit to having the parent/s present? Involved? Talking with children separately or together? Introducing your role and the Three Houses to the child. Which house to start with? Pictures, words or both? Who will write? Talking with the child about what will happen next. Sharing the assessment with the parents. What if the child makes a disclosure?

The Wizard and… Created and illustrated by Vania da Paz 88

…Fairy Created and illustrated by Vania da Paz 89

The Safety House Created by Sonja Parker Rules of my safety house www.aspirationsconsultancy.com Rules of my safety house People who live in my safety house What we do in my safety house People who come to visit my safety house People I don’t feel safe with Path to my safety house

Safety House Preparations: decide how you want to use the process its usually a good thing to draw Safety House together but pre-drawn is fine 2. Wherever possible explain the Safety House interview process to the parents and obtain permission to interview child/ren. You might involve the children in this discussion. If explained to parents ask them to tell child its okay. 3. Make decision whether to work with child with/without parents present. 4. Explain the Safety House to child working through each element 5. Use words and drawings as appropriate. The more time you have the more creative you can be, if you are on a tight time line probably need to stay more word focused and do at least some of the writing. Make sure it’s the child’s words and images throughout – don’t alter or paraphrase.

Safety House 6. Typically process is to start with who lives in my Safety House, what we do in Safety House, who visits, who isn’t allowed in my Safety House, and Safety House rules 7. Once finished obtain permission of child to show to others - parents, extended family, professionals. Explain what happens next to the child. 8. Present to parents/caregivers and safety network. Explore with them how to integrate the child’s ideas into the final safety plan and how to show the child their concerns and what they want is addressed. 9. Makes sure the Safety House is put on the file.

Follow on Exercise In pairs: Thinking of the children on your caseload today – which of these do you think it could be useful to use these tools with? Which tools would you use and why?

The End THANK YOU – SAFE HOME! damiangriffiths898@gmail.com