Support for reform of SCRs gathers momentum

Momentum is gathering behind a push to replace the current system of serious case reviews with a model devised by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE).

The current SCR system is being examined as part of review of the child protection system led by Professor Eileen Munro, who developed the Scie model.

Association of Directors of Children’s Services president Marion Davis, who is part of Munro’s review panel, told the association’s annual conference last week that the Scie model should be rolled out across the country.

She said the model, currently being piloted, was a “much more thoughtful, wider-ranging way of going about looking at what’s happened”.

Davis also claimed the pilots were producing solid evidence that cases put through this approach led to “much more learning” than in the current SCR system. She believed there was “a lot of scope” within the Munro review to “have a good look at this”.

The Scie system, developed in 2008, was presented in a research paper co-authored by Munro, and is based on a model from the USA. It uses a more “novel-like” structure to SCRs to better capture contrasting viewpoints from different professionals and agencies involved in a case. A simple chronology, the paper argued, does not give the holistic picture required.

It also creates recommendations based on good practice and involves practitioners in the process of identifying good practice alongside researchers.

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