Donald Forrester’s research while affiliated with Cardiff University and other places

Purpose “Social Workers in Schools” (SWIS) is a school-based intervention aiming to reduce the need for children to receive child protection services in England. This article reports the findings of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) designed to evaluate SWIS. Method: The study was a two-arm pragmatic cluster RCT with an embedded process and economic evaluation. The intervention physically located social workers within schools. The primary outcome was the rate of child protection inquiries and secondary outcomes included care entry and educational outcomes. Results: 278,858 students in 268 schools were randomized to the intervention (136 schools) or control arm (132 schools). We found no statistically significant effects on primary or secondary outcomes. SWIS was implemented well and positively perceived. Discussion: SWIS appears ineffective in reducing the need for statutory services. The study demonstrates it is possible to conduct a large-scale school-based social work RCT. The study was registered at https://www.isrctn.com/ , ref: ISRCTN90922032.

Purpose School social work, in various forms, is well established internationally and has a growing evidence base. Yet existing research focuses on professional perspectives rather than those of students. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring secondary school student perspectives of having social workers in schools (SWIS). It was undertaken in England as part of the SWIS trial, which tested whether secondary school-based social workers could improve child safety and well-being, identify issues more quickly and reduce the need for statutory services. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods approach comprised a survey ( n = 1,998 students) and interviews ( n = 27 students). Surveys included questions on awareness, understanding, interaction with and attitudes towards the school-based social workers. Interviews involved a Q-sort activity followed by semi-structured questions on general attitudes and experiences. The Q-sort characterised prominent perspectives and how many students subscribed to them. Findings Students were broadly positive about having a social worker in their school in the survey and interviews. Two prominent perspectives on SWIS were identified. The first ( n = 17) was defined by students feeling positively overall and strongly agreeing that they trusted the social worker. The second ( n = 4) was mixed in sentiment, defined by some anxiety about working with the social worker. In interviews, students relayed that social workers were easily accessible, offered emotional support and acted as a bridge between school and home. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to quantify student perspectives on having social workers at school and evidence attitudes and experiences about school-based social work as practiced during the SWIS trial.

Meetings to enhance shared decision-making, such as family group conferences, potentially contribute to enhancing meaningful involvement of families. Such meetings are also claimed by some to reduce the need for children to be in care, either by increasing support from family for parents or by identifying care from within the family network. This rapid realist review aims to develop an understanding of how meetings that facilitate shared decision-making between professionals and families might work to safely reduce the need for children to be in care. It identifies mechanisms that are thought to make a difference and contextual factors that influence the impact of identified mechanisms. Findings A comprehensive search of academic and gray literature identified 64 documents spanning seven types of shared decision-making meetings. Data from these papers were collected using an iterative process of juxtaposition, comparison, contrast, and combination with a developing program theory. Data from the literature was supplemented with consultation to ensure relevance to the UK setting. The review identified three key mechanisms that made shared decision-making meetings more likely to be effective in safely reducing children's entry to care: enabling participation and engagement; building trust and reducing shame; enabling participation in decision-making processes. It describes how these work before, during, and after meetings. Applications The findings help us understand the complicated research findings about the relationship between meetings and care entry and provide a theory about what is needed to make such meetings work that is of practical use for practice and future research

Purpose Secure children’s homes (SCHs) restrict the liberty of young people considered to be a danger to themselves or others. However, not all young people referred to SCHs find a placement, and little is known about the outcomes of the young person after an SCH or alternative placement. The purpose of this paper is to understand which characteristics most likely predict allocation to an SCH placement, and to explore the outcomes of the young people in the year after referral. Design/methodology/approach A retrospective electronic cohort study was conducted using linked social care data sets in England. The study population was all young people from England referred to SCHs for welfare reasons between 1st October 2016 to 31st March 2018 ( n = 527). Logistic regression tested for differences in characteristics of SCH placement allocation and outcomes in the year after referral. Findings In total, 60% of young people referred to an SCH were allocated a place. Factors predicting successful or unsuccessful SCH allocation were previous placement in an SCH (OR = 2.12, p = 0.01); being female (OR = 2.26, p = 0.001); older age (OR = 0.75, p = 0.001); and a history of challenging behaviour (OR = 0.34, p = 0.01). In the year after referral, there were little differences in outcomes between young people placed in a SCH versus alternative accommodation. Originality/value The study raised concerns about the capacity of current services to recognise and meet the needs of this complex and vulnerable group of young people and highlights the necessity to explore and evaluate alternatives to SCHs.

Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is a relatively new term within policy and practice. Whilst policy responses have shifted from criminalisation to recognising CSE as child abuse, a review of the 2011 Child Sexual Exploitation Guidance commissioned by the Welsh Government found a growing, yet limited, understanding of CSE in professional contexts. In this article, we explore practitioners’ perceptions of how they work with young people experiencing, or at risk of, CSE and whether they believe the new Welsh CSE Guidance is effectively implemented in their practice. This small-scale qualitative study utilised small group interviews and semi-structured interviews to explore the perspectives of twelve participants in the initial phase of the guidance release. A thematic analysis of the data demonstrates a lack of professional awareness of the new Welsh CSE guidance, raising questions surrounding implementation efficacy. These findings highlight the complexity of implementation, illustrating a need for manageable caseloads and supportive cultures, which policymakers, senior management and front line managers need to be aware of. Clear and effective implementation strategies that consider these factors, pre- and post-release, are required to improve implementation efficacy in supporting best practice.

The rate of children in care in Wales is one of the highest in the world and has increased considerably in the past two decades. Whilst many factors may be driving these increases, there is considerable variation between local authorities. This article presents findings from a survey completed by children’s social care workers in Wales (n = 792). It compares the views, values and responses to case study vignettes of workers in authorities with increasing to those with decreasing care rates over five years (2016–2020). Statistically significant differences were found relating to the values and the practices of workers, with workers in local authorities with reducing rates having stronger pro-family values, less risk averse responses to case vignettes, more confidence in the decisions made in their local authority and being more positive about support for practice. The findings indicate that variations in local authority values and practices may influence the rate of children in care and that some with significant social problems seem able to avoid the large numbers of children in care found in other authorities. The challenge faced in Wales and the UK is how local authorities can learn from one another to ensure consistency and quality in services.

Interventions that change family income include any policy or practice that directly or indirectly changes the amount of money a family have. Although theory regarding the relationship between poverty and child maltreatment is well established, theories of how family income change affects the likelihood of children being in out-of-home are not well developed. This realist rapid evidence assessment provides an overview of the process of how interventions that change family income affect the rate of children in out-of-home care. The study population is families at risk of their children entering care and families whose children are in care and are pursuing reunification. Ten studies were identified from an earlier scoping review. Intervention effect results are described and qualitative evidence about mechanisms and moderators is presented as an initial “programme theory”. The review makes an initial suggestion of four pathways through which a change in family income can alter the risk of child abuse and neglect and thus affect the rate of children in out-of-home care. These are: 1) the impact of employment; 2) changes to the home environment; 3) risk/prevention of homelessness; 4) building trusting relationships with social workers. National or local policies which increase a family’s income, for instance through tax and benefits regimes or the provision of free childcare, could potentially reduce the rate of children in out-of-home care. There is also a role for social workers in providing direct material help to families. More work is needed to develop intervention theories and better understanding of the process of using material resources to help families at risk of their children being in out-of-home care.

The importance of supervision for social work practice is widely accepted. This paper focuses on one type of supervision: systemic group supervision or “systemic supervision”. Systemic social work practice is generally a group-based, multi-disciplinary model of service delivery that aims to work therapeutically with the whole family. Central to this model is the use of systemically-informed group supervision. This has been shown to impact positively on the quality of direct practice with families, but what is it about this type of supervision that supports frontline practitioners to practice more skillfully? This paper is based on interviews with 49 frontline staff across five children’s services departments in the UK. It identifies the key features of systemic supervision and explores why workers think that developing shared understandings of risk to children supports them to intervene more effectively with families in contact with children’s services. These findings contribute to a growing body of knowledge about the practice shaping function of supervision within child and family social work.

Although children's social care is an area rich in guidance, there is very little research looking at the implementation of new policies in the United Kingdom. In this article, we report on the first stage of a realist evaluation of the implementation of the new Safeguarding Children from Child Sexual Exploitation guidance in Wales. We discuss the development of an initial programme theory, for which we conducted semi‐structured interviews with practitioners and managers in three local authorities. We developed programme theories across three areas: policy nature and development, implementation plans and organizational context. Findings suggest that, for policies to produce a significant impact on practice, they need to be sufficiently different to social workers' current perceptions of practice. Second, we found that the coordination between national and local policies is critical for successful implementation as contradictions between them might lead to confusion in what local teams should prioritize. Finally, our findings highlight the importance of effective communication of policy changes, as well as a supportive organizational culture to strengthen implementation in local contexts. These findings illustrate the complexity of policy implementation and the need for policymakers to consider the meaningful involvement of local practitioners in national policy development.