1. SOLACE in the East of England
Systems change in children’s social care

2. System Improvement in Children’s Services?
A little background about Children’s Services
Why it’s a systems problem
Wicked problems and simplifying change
Adults’ and Children’s Services have some common features

3. Common Features of poorly performing Services
Turnover in senior leadership
High use of agency staff
High numbers of newly qualified staff
Inability to cope with service volumes
High numbers in touch with statutory services
Spend on placements sucking resources from all other areas
Overspending/poor budget control
Conflict within the service
Poor partnership working

4. Why do systems get stuck?
Lack of hope, trust and agency
Causes and effects can’t be distinguished
There are external or internal pay-offs rewarding/encouraging failure
Professional capture
Narratives develop to justify the status quo

5. Some approaches in Children’s Services
Give hope by proving the possibility of change
“Changing the things you can”
A stuck system is in balance – you must upset it
Vicious circles (invariably?) can be virtuous ones

6. Beliefs

7. Older people in residential care: some stories
Too many people in residential care? Try this one
Too few? What about this one?

8. xxx

9. Least deprived
Most deprived

10. Most deprived
Least deprived

11. Coventry Research: Paul Bywaters
Huge variation (ten times) between deprivation
deciles
Huge variation in terms of race (five times) between
white and asian groups

12. The Inverse Intervention Law
Overall, local authorities areas that have high average deprivation also have higher rates of children on child protection plans or who are in out-of-home care.
BUT when you compare similar neighbourhoods in local authorities that overall have high or low deprivation, it is the low deprivation local authorities that have much higher rates.

13. The M25 and systems theory

14. Doing the right thing

15. Average spend per child
Looked after children - £49,956
Children with Special Educational Needs - £17,351
Children who are in need or on a child protection plan - £4,605
Secondary school children - £5,866
Primary school children – £5,255
Early Years (2,3 and 4 year olds) - £2,617

16. Protective factors for children potentially at risk of harm
Family
Community
Good health
Hobbies and interests
Positive Peer relationships
Intelligence
Positive personality factors
Secure attachments
Warm relationships
Rules and structure
Presence of extended family
Stable relationships
Pro social family values
Parents education
Explicit parenting skills/models
Thriving economy
Access to /contact with health and social services
Parental employment
Adequate housing
Participation in faith activities
Good schools
Supportive adults outside family
Safe, socially cohesive neighbourhoods

17. Connecting Families & the Future
Two key insights
Families always have reasons for what they do
Much work is ineffective
Use of key worker central to model
Built around the families own goals
Multi disciplinary back up
Good risk assessments
Re-creating agency, reducing dependency
The difference between fault and responsibility

18. Discussion and Questions

19. Working the work

20. Challenging practice Understanding the incidence of serious harm
“Children in need” of services
Early and late closures
“Next activity” analysis
Repeat Assessments
Incidence of “voluntary” care
Poor outcomes from care – when care makes things worse

21. Practical Responses Replacing agency staff
Active management of workflow
MASH
Reducing assessments and repeat assessments
Case holding in Early Help
Recruiting a permanent management team
Reducing CiN caseloads
Reducing LAC numbers

22. Data Analysis – Redditch
Total: 37,413 Households
I MIGHT NEED SOME HELP
I’M IN NEED OF SERIOUS HELP
I’M LIVING MY LIFE OK
532, (1.4%)
(Social Care Measure)
416, (1.1%)
(2 or more Measures)
4,112, (11.0%)
1 Measure
32,353, (86.5%)
TIE 3
TIER 4
TIER 2
TIER 1

23. Needles in a Haystack