The local authority has experienced increased success rates in its troubled families work since adopting restorative approaches.
West Berkshire's children's services were rated as "good" by Ofsted in July 2017, just two years after being found to be "inadequate".
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West Berkshire Council has been gradually introducing restorative practice across its services in recent years. Rachael Wardell, the council's director of communities, a role that includes children's services, said that one of her "pitches" when she applied for the role in 2013 was that restorative practice was how she had worked previously and was something she would bring with her.
"There's a perception that traditional children's social care veers between two extremes: putting on lots of support while worried about children and families and if someone didn't comply there would be challenge, control and a ‘see you in court' response," says Wardell. "By contrast, restorative practice is a framework of high support and high challenge where you work ‘with' people," she explains.
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