Inspectors have praised social workers in Hampshire for the quality of their practice when responding to domestic abuse.
A joint inspection of multi-agency responses to domestic violence conducted by Ofsted, the CQC and probation and criminal justice inspectors identified good practice across partner agencies. Social workers were found to be “committed and highly knowledgeable” and managing well with “higher than expected” caseloads.
“There is a high level of senior leadership awareness of the ‘front door’ service and domestic abuse, which is assisted by a continuity of leadership and a focus on keeping in touch with frontline practice and individual outcomes for children,” the inspectors’ report said.
Effort
Inspectors praised the quality of management oversight in children’s social work but warned some case records failed to “fully reflect the degree of detail, understanding or effort that is made by social workers”. They also complimented the “maturity” of partnership working locally, with local agencies having run a dedicated domestic abuse steering group for more than five years.
“The partnership in Hampshire has thoughtful and accessible senior managers who are visible to practitioners and who know their services well. There are clear performance management arrangements in each agency, and these are particularly strong in the local authority,” the report said.
Inspectors said the consistency of frontline practice needed to be improved, and highlighted “a very small number” of cases that were stepped down from child protection before significant change had been maintained in a family’s life. The needs of individuals within large families needed to be fully evident in children’s plans, they added.
Assistive technology and dementia: practice tips 
A trauma-informed approach to social work: practice tips 
Find out how to develop your emotional resilience with our free downloadable guide 
Develop your social work career with Community Care’s Careers and Training Guide 
‘Dear Sajid Javid: please end the inappropriate detention of autistic people and those with learning disabilities’
Ofsted calls for power to scrutinise children’s home groups
Seven in eight commissioners paying below ‘minimum rate for home care’
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
Instagram
good to hear positive feedback . Congratulations to hampshire children’s services
Excellent work and very well done to all of the social workers and team , it’s so uplifting to hear positive feedback and praise from inspectors. I do hope that this will be fed back to the government and printed on the front page of the media?
Well done to HCC Children’s Services, well deserved.
A wonderful story and commendation, well done HCC for show casing good social work practice and for achieving good outcomes for children.