Technology in Social Work: Practice example - Slough Children's Services Trust

• Independent trust uses mobile technology such as tablets to enable social workers to access files and complete assessments while seeing clients
• Practitioners involved in a trial have used a range of apps to interact with children and families and provide information about problems and services
• The trial has shown social workers improved efficiency and effectiveness, resulting in the trust committing to roll it out to 170 practitioners

ACTION

Social workers in Slough are using mobile technology to spend more time with children and families and less time behind their desks.

Slough Children's Services Trust, an independent not-for-profit organisation that provides social care and support services to children, young people and families in the Berkshire town, introduced its "Agile Working" programme after a successful six-week pilot.

Around 30 social workers at the trust - which became fully operational on 1 October - were given Apple iPads and Microsoft Surface Pro tablets during the pilot, and Michaela Smith, consultant social worker at Slough Children's Services Trust, was among the 30 practitioners to act as "tech champions" for the trial.

Smith says that using technology outside of the office has allowed her to work more efficiently by enabling her to do "live" assessments, cutting down on travel time to and from the office, and also be more effective in her interactions with children and families.

A web-based application allows Smith to access her work desktop computer, linking her to the trust's office-based systems to access case records.

"The families find it useful when I can access information held on the work system via my iPad," she says. "If I was going to do a visit before this I wouldn't have been able to access information that has already been recorded, whereas now I can."

The tablets also enable Smith to make live assessments of the children she is visiting and case records can be updated in real time, with members of the team able to gain access to what has been written immediately.

There are also a number of applications Smith uses to interact with the children she visits, but these depend on the child's age and engagement levels because some enjoy working with the iPad and others don't.

For the trial, the trust allowed social workers to "download what they want" from the app stores to help them, so not everyone used the same applications and no applications have been built specifically for staff at the trust.

One application that Smith took from the app store to interact with children is My Three Houses by Resolutions Consultancy, which is designed for children's services workers, child counsellors and teachers to help children to write, draw and speak about worrying things in their life.

She also uses Feelings with Milo by Doonan Speech Therapy, which is an emotional literacy application that teaches children about feelings, and an application called Kaleidoscope Free, which can be "quite therapeutic for children".

"I've also got applications about mindfulness, drugs, and domestic violence and all of those applications I can use in my direct work with families," she says. "The fact it has 4G means I can use it absolutely anywhere."

Smith explains that the Apple Store gave the trust training on how to use the equipment while the trust's IT department showed staff how to use the tablets. But that was as far as training went.

She also acknowledges that the fact these devices can be stolen or lost is a worry because they hold sensitive information, but she says the tablets used by the trust are full of security measures.

"You have the screen lock, fingerprint recognition, and two additional security mechanisms so I'm quite confident it is safe and our IT systems can wipe the tablet instantly," she explains.

IMPACT

Since using technology out of the office, Smith feels she has become "more efficient and smarter" and kept "on top of things a lot easier".

She explains that she can now access her emails, look up case records, and gain access to her desktop from anywhere with ease. She can also liaise with her team while outside the office and use the digital equipment in staff meetings to check on information and make sure it reflects what is being discussed at the time.

"There is just so much I can do that before I wouldn't have been able to," she explains. "I would have been sitting at court for three or four hours and would not have been able to do any work, but now that is not an issue."

Neil Ashby, strategy and operations manager at Slough Children's Services Trust, adds: "The benefits of this new technology have been embraced by those staff selected as tech champions in the pilot phase and has already delivered results.

"In the last week, three of the larger 12.9-inch iPad Pros have been deployed. The speed and efficiency of accessing systems outside of the office and working in the community is key and these are already delivering on that.

"There will be a phased programme over the next six months where 170 devices will be issued to frontline staff to assist in direct working with children, young people and families. This will improve the agility of staff working remotely, reduce time in travelling and provide real-time recording to reduce delays."