This article is written by Cordula Gwilym, Social Work Practice Manager at Trafford Council, England.

“The purpose of social [care]  is to support people to achieve positive change. To keep children and young people safe.” Holly Ritchie, Children’s Social Worker in Trafford Council.

The safety and wellbeing of children is a shared priority for most of us who remember being a child, or have a child. In the UK, children's social care involves systems of people, processes and skills, with increasing demand, limited budgets and huge stigma.

Tangled systems are buffeted by financial, political, emotional, commercial and regulatory interests and powerful drivers are at play in every part of the system. Social workers are dedicated professionals who want to make people's lives better, and who don’t give up easily. However, many social workers report that they are simply not able to do their job to the standard they want to and have little time, funding or headspace for innovation or relational practice. Social workers spend 80% of time on admin. They are frustrated, making staff recruitment and retention incredibly challenging.

There is a clear desire by UK local authorities for community capacity building and keeping children out of care with more streamlined, preventative support in community settings. However, this requires a huge shift in culture, particularly in the way systems communicate with each other and with service users. Meanwhile, services users expectations are changing, driven by a trend of consumerism.

As we embrace and enjoy “digital” in almost every part of our lives (smartphones, tablets, wearables and the “internet of things” at home and work) people not only want, but demand, more involvement in their local offer, including how and when services are delivered.

With 40 years of working in and for public sector organisations between us, my dear friend and colleague Lyndsey Lynch and I are embarking on a project bringing 21st century technology to relational social work practice. To help social workers to do their jobs better and give children and families a true, crystal clear voice.

But first, I want to describe the problem as we see it.

Why is it so important to look at innovation in Children's Social Care?

Adversity does not discriminate. Accessing social care is often a high-anxiety process for children and their families and is associated with shame.

Whilst there is an expectation for interventions to be strengths based and transparent, in reality support can feel deficit focused and assessments are often shared retrospectively.

Social workers are under enormous pressure to record key information discussed with families for quality assurance within 48 hours

Social work, in its essence, is about supporting individuals with behavioural change. Behaviour that is observable and changeable. But the processes of how social workers utilise relationships they build, and support families to change maladaptive behaviours through learning new skills, are often unstructured and lack visual stimuli.

Social workers' written and visual communication often does not account for the real experiences and feelings of people when embarking on behavioural change. In UK social work, the benefits of technology focuses on improving convoluted data management systems with minimal input of children and their families.

Social workers are under enormous pressure to record key information discussed with families for quality assurance within 48 hours. Recording can be descriptive and defensive, lacking structure, analyses, reflection and evidence of co-production and participation of children and families.

Cumulatively, all of this means families and practitioners often feel unclear about the purpose and meaning of interactions. For both sides, it can be unclear how social work practice is linked to the problems families want help with. Families rely on making their own notes and they have limited opportunity to reflect and comment on what was discussed with social workers outside of meetings and visits. Formal system reviews (e.g. by Eileen Munro) highlight how the voices of children and families are often lost in convoluted, bureaucratic processes, negatively impacting on both trust and engagement of families in support.

The opportunity

In the UK, social workers' relational tools have largely been untouched by the advance technology has brought to commercial sectors concerned with behavioural change. However, when it does happen the impact is promising:

The Kooth app, designed by Xenzone, is now commissioned within 95 Care Commissioning Groups across the UK, providing mental health support to children and young people online. Using technology, Kooth has engaged with the hardest to reach, reducing stigma of access to mental health services.

“Mind Of My Own” focuses specifically on supporting participation of young people who are finding it hard to talk to a social worker, health professional or teacher. "One App" is a tool for young people to share their thoughts when they want to.

Can technology make the complex process of behavioural change more visual? Easier to understand? Breaking goals down into manageable achievable actions?

Dorset Council is working to roll out more app technology that arms families with more information on how they can lead on meeting their care needs. Currently, there is an app that has been developed that enables families with children with special educational needs to track the progress of education, health and care plans.

“We have had great feedback from families who have been able to track the progress of these plans,” Theresa Leavy (Director of Children’s Services) says. “Another benefit is that families are getting access and information about their experiences and [...] Teams are then able to prioritise these needs. Staff are saying they want more of that kind of feedback” (Community Care, 2020).

What’s more, we know that social workers would welcome these innovations.

A stakeholders report by SCIE and BASWA found that:

  • Social workers engage with digital technologies in their private lives and want this to be replicated in their professional roles. They understand the benefits of technology.

  • Social workers believe that new systems in workplaces should prioritise relationship-based practice and person-centred care over performance management.

  • There is the need for co-production principles to underpin development and installation of digital technology.

  • New technologies should augment the work of social workers rather than trying to replace it. Service users must have choice over how they interact with services, and their right to self-determination should be enhanced by technology.

Can technology make the complex process of behavioural change more visual? Easier to understand? Breaking goals down into manageable achievable actions?

Crucially, social care safeguarding policies are paramount and strictly monitored and audited. Effective use of technology is dependable on skilled experts leading through the maze of regulatory tech, social and ethical considerations.

Human nuances and soft skills are irreplaceable in relational social work practice. So what if they were doubled up with visual prompts and tech that makes complex and emotionally challenging behavioural change fun? Adopting concepts of gamification and journifying to celebrate successes through rewards that grow confidence, problem solving skills, emotional intelligence and positive connections?

Has “going digital” potential to reduce stigma for families, pressure on social workers and the human cost of child protection proceedings?

The idea!

We want to design a prototype in collaboration with a team of children, young people, parents, social workers, local authority leaders, designers, programmers and marketing and branding experts to test the potential for a digital product to guide global change from the ground up.

UK social care systems are process heavy, defensive and children and young people can feel at the bottom of the pile of the bureaucratic load. We want to use a collaborative, design thinking approach, inspired Hilary Cottam and her book, Radical Help, to create a tool with vulnerable children and their families to empower them to achieve key outcomes defined as:

  • Vision and Goals: Children, young people and their families have positive aspirations and feel that they are valued and supported to flourish within their communities.

  • Connections: Children, young people and their families have bonding and bridging relationships with diverse adults and peers within their communities.

  • Capabilities: Children, young people and their families know their strength, skills and talents and are supported to develop them through employment, education and training.

  • Safety: Children, young people and their families understand their dangers statements and have emotional intelligence and risk management skills to navigate risks and uncertainties safely.

The key principles of the app design is to put children and their families at the heart of the process (user experience), share insights and information in a simple way (visualise), validate and test users assumptions (collaborate) and refine ideas through prototyping (iterate). The goal is to build an app around its users, ideally to the point that they barely notice that they are within a linear process, as their experience is so easy, enjoyable and seamless.

The “design thinking approach” will review the usefulness of tech to support behavioural change in systemic, trauma informed and restorative social work practice with vulnerable children and their families.

Consumer psychology proves the effectiveness of digital tools in helping people structure behavioural change via a fun, chip and chunk approach that is accessible, flexible and adaptable.

I want to encourage conversation about the innovative use of technology in a profession that is profoundly focused on human interactions. Call out for designers with a passion for global thinking. To become part of discovery that could hand back power to our most vulnerable children and their families reach out and join the debate by emailing cordie@coco-operative.co.uk

— Cordula Gwilym

(Picture credit: Unsplash)