by Steve LiddicottAnybody who has tried to make sense of paper-based records for a child who has been receiving social care services over a number of years will agree that they should be consigned to the past as quickly as possible. But to do that, the electronic systems that replace them have to be fit for purpose.
Unfortunately, experience so far of the Integrated Children's System
(ICS), a set of forms and processes supported by an IT system used by
nearly all local authorities, shows that we could do better. And we
must do better for the sake of many thousands of children in need that
ICS is intended to support, as well as the social work practitioners
and managers responsible for providing that support.
Oversight of work
Frontline social workers must have an electronic recording system that supports effective practice and enables managers to maintain an oversight of the work being undertaken by their staff. The system also needs to support children's services departments to collect the data required to monitor their services and provide the required statutory returns.
Improvements to ICS, which were recommended by the Social Work Task Force in May, need to be underpinned by a set of principles. Over the summer, after extensive consultation with nearly 80 social work practitioners and managers, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Association of Directors of Children's Services have jointly set out these principles:
● IT systems which support children's social care services should be locally owned and locally implemented.
● Social workers need high-quality electronic records as a critical aspect of their work.
● Local authorities must determine how IT systems can be used to support the delivery of children's social care services.
● Government's role is support, guidance and challenge - a dialogue with local authorities.
● Systems must support effective practice and improved outcomes for children, young people and their families.
Extra help
Already, some extra help is available. In July, the government provided a tool for local authorities to self-assess the causes of some of the usability issues experienced by frontline users.
Soon, a further set of improvement tools will be sent to local authorities. I urge all local authorities to consider them carefully. The onus is, rightly, on us to do the best we can for our social care workers and the children they support. And as local authorities, we need to show that we are doing just that.
News story on reform of the ICS
Steve Liddicott chairs the Improvement Expert Panel on the Integrated Children's System
Oversight of work
Frontline social workers must have an electronic recording system that supports effective practice and enables managers to maintain an oversight of the work being undertaken by their staff. The system also needs to support children's services departments to collect the data required to monitor their services and provide the required statutory returns.
Improvements to ICS, which were recommended by the Social Work Task Force in May, need to be underpinned by a set of principles. Over the summer, after extensive consultation with nearly 80 social work practitioners and managers, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Association of Directors of Children's Services have jointly set out these principles:
● IT systems which support children's social care services should be locally owned and locally implemented.
● Social workers need high-quality electronic records as a critical aspect of their work.
● Local authorities must determine how IT systems can be used to support the delivery of children's social care services.
● Government's role is support, guidance and challenge - a dialogue with local authorities.
● Systems must support effective practice and improved outcomes for children, young people and their families.
Extra help
Already, some extra help is available. In July, the government provided a tool for local authorities to self-assess the causes of some of the usability issues experienced by frontline users.
Soon, a further set of improvement tools will be sent to local authorities. I urge all local authorities to consider them carefully. The onus is, rightly, on us to do the best we can for our social care workers and the children they support. And as local authorities, we need to show that we are doing just that.
News story on reform of the ICS
Steve Liddicott chairs the Improvement Expert Panel on the Integrated Children's System
As someone who has encouraged and promoted the use of IT systems to support social work with children and their families I have been increasingly worried by the disconnect - driven by Government priorities - between the tools provided and everyday social work
The ICS paper exemplars were catastrophic - reflecting an attempt to drive social work as some sort of formulaic process - not least the paper outputs from systems which were not suitable for purpose, making information less accessible to service users and professionals (e.g. reports to CP Conferences without a "beginning, middle and end")
Good social work has been hampered by these "tools"
However - there is also a very crucial issue relating to workers "blaming" IT and ICS systems for failure to do the job. Good practitioners have managed to find ways to make systems work for them to some extent - or at least to reduce the hindrance.
The systems have contibuted to making the task of first-line managers very difficult - often measured on beaurocratic outcomes rather than effective outcomes for children
There are many opportunities to drive good outcopmes from the current reviews and initiatives but there are a lot of disillusioned and and tired practitioers and managers who need a lot of encouraging and building up to trust that the results will be worthwhile and sustained