Mother-of-three Caroline Maggs was so traumatised by the death of her father that she became unable to care for her children properly.
Staff at her local children's centre noticed her distress and encouraged her to seek counselling and attend parenting courses, setting her on the road to recovery.
The support she received was "a life saver", says Maggs — and is just one example of the highly effective prevention work happening within Lincolnshire County Council's children's services, rated "outstanding" in Ofsted's latest inspection of safeguarding.
Inspectors highlighted the fact that decisive intervention and multi-agency co-ordination — like that which helped save the Maggs family from crisis — is "helping to reduce the number of children entering the care system, against a national trend of rising admissions".
Investment in workforce
They also acknowledged major investment in the workforce (funding for nine advanced practitioner posts and 10 frontline social workers), to ensure all looked-after children are allocated qualified social workers, and noted the council's "very good" track record of retaining staff.
Patricia Bradwell, executive councillor for children's services, says this recognition was immensely satisfying since the council had, in recent years, placed prevention work, and recruitment and retention, at the heart of its safeguarding strategy.
"We have recruited and trained many family support workers, foster carers and social workers in recent years, ensuring pay and conditions are good," she says.
"Sometimes mum or dad simply does not bother to put a meal on the table, or fails to get the children to school - these things add up, so we have made it our focus to act wherever possible to prevent an escalation to more critical levels of need and intervention."
A key factor in the council's success in prevention, says Bradwell, is the team of phone operators based in the council's customer service centre who screen all calls relating to children's services.
"A small team handles all initial queries — from 'where's my nearest nursery?' to 'I think my child is being abused by my boyfriend'," she says.
"Those enquiries are dealt with instantly — information is logged on the computer system and social work teams alerted by email. This means frontline workers are only notified about calls they need to act on — the others are screened out."
The screening process ensures every referral that comes in via the customer service team results in an initial assessment — described in the Ofsted report as "exceptional performance".
Social workers' forum
Another key factor is the executive's responsiveness to staff concerns. One example is the new social workers' forum, made up of 15 to 20 practitioners from all areas of the service, who meet quarterly.
Points for action are passed directly to the chief executive in follow-up meetings, providing "a meaningful opportunity to contribute to identifying service needs and developing policy", according to Ofsted.
Bryan Glover, principal practitioner (fostering), says the forum has created a sense of shared responsibility at all levels of the service, and open, honest dialogue between managers and staff.
"I would not have got involved if I did not think it could make a real difference - and it has," he says. "Frontline staff are contributing ideas about new ways of working."
Improvements to the council's implementation of the Integrated Children's System were a direct result of feedback from the forum.
"The system was very problematic, and it is still not perfect, but at least now it is easier to access the different screens," says Glover. "We told managers it was driving us potty on a daily basis, and they listened."
DEMOGRAPHICS
Location Lincolnshire
Description Large, mainly rural county in the East of England
Population Just over one million
Children aged 0-18 150,000
Children in care 533
Out of authority placements 39
Children with child protection plans 232
Referrals Average of 500 per month for child protection and children in need
HELPFUL HINTS FROM LINCOLNSHIRE
- Managers should have an open door policy. Loren Miller, a social worker in the North Kesteven Family Assessment and Support Team, says: "I know I can go to my manager with a problem, or for advice on a case, and they will help. Staff do not feel they are treading on eggshells, there is a culture of mutual respect."
- Ensure technology is a help, not a hindrance. When the council first implemented the Integrated Children's System and palmtop computers for staff, it helped line managers track and audit casework but seemed to make frontline workers' jobs more difficult. After feedback from staff, the system was refined to make data entry more intuitive and quicker.
- Show you can learn from your mistakes. Lincolnshire County Council, which recently apologised for its role in the Family Q tragedy, was praised by Ofsted for "robust implementation" of points raised by serious case reviews.
