There are 11 participating local authorities across England running pilot projects to remodel social work. The aim of the projects is to improve outcomes for vulnerable groups by allowing social workers to spend more time engaging with children and families. The pilot projects are now in their third year and an evaluation report outlining findings is due to be published in the summer.
Each project focuses on improving outcomes for vulnerable groups by creating new ways of working, which test new approaches to social work delivery, so that staff expertise can be used more widely, enabling social workers to spend more time on the frontline.
Each project will help local authorities to identify ways in which their social work services can be reconfigured, providing:
- Additional early intervention for those who are at risk
- More support for social workers in making well-informed decisions
- Greater opportunity for social workers to assess the needs of children and young people.
One of the participating authorities is Westminster. The council has been highlighted in the interim Munro report as an authority which is delivering positive changes that the review wishes to encourage. The remodelling social work pilot has now become part of a wider project it is delivering to improve practice based on locality teams.
Westminster is focusing on developing closer relationships with partner agencies, schools and health visitors. It has done this by co-locating social workers with partner agencies to allow them to work more closely together.
This approach has aimed to improve outcomes through enabling social workers to undertake more direct work with children.
Helen Farrell, Locality Manager at Westminster said: "The co-location of social workers within primary schools has been particularly successful as it has allowed us to work with families much earlier and has improved integrated working and communication with partner agencies. Working earlier with families has improved outcomes for children and has enabled support to be implemented before families experience crises."
