Signs of Safety

Presentation on theme: "Signs of Safety"— Presentation transcript:

Signs of Safety

2 Day Training

Programme

Best Hopes/Objectives

The

‘Signs of Safety Assessment & Planning Framework’

A Little History: the creation & evolution of the approach

An Interactive Demonstration of the Framework

Practicing

‘Mapping’

in groups of 3

‘Safety Planning’

in brief

Involving Children with

‘The Three Houses’

& the

‘Safety House’

Using the

‘Words & Pictures Explanations’

Best Hopes

Provide a comprehensive introduction to the thinking and practice skills of the

Signs of Safety

approach to child protection work so that you can immediately begin to use it in your own practice (including supervisors).

Best Hopes

Equip participants to use the

Signs of Safety

risk assessment protocol collaboratively with families and other professionals in Child Protection Conferences and elsewhere

Ground all the training in actual case material including local cases – via a live ‘mapping’ demonstration & group work.

Best Hopes

Introduce the tools for involving children and young people in child protection assessment and planning.

Share solution-focused, safety-organised interviewing and questioning skills to use with parents, children & professionals.

Best Hopes

Provide a brief introduction to methods for building rigorous, sustainable

safety plans

with the family that address the child protection concerns.

Reading About Signs of Safety

Signs of Safety 1999, Andrew

Turnell

& Steve Edwards, WW Norton, New York

Signs of Safety Comprehensive Briefing Paper, 2012, Andrew

Turnell

, Resolutions Consultancy

Working with Denied Child Abuse – The Resolutions Approach 2006, Andrew

Turnell

& Susie

Essex,Open

University Press, Buckingham

Experiencing The Framework

Think about a child/teenager in your life who has a problem you are worried about.

(A child or young person other than someone you are working with)

Thinking about a child/teenager in your life that you feel a worried about:

What’s Working Well?

What are you Worried About?

What Needs to Happen?

On a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 means this problem is sorted out as much as it can be and zero means things are so bad for the young person you need to get professional or other outside help, where do you rate this situation today? (Put different judgment numbers on scale for different people e.g., you, child, teacher etc).

0

10

What has happened, what have you seen, that makes you worried about this child/teenager?

When you think about what has already happened to ____ what do you think is the worst thing that could happen to ____ because of this problem?

What do you like about ___ what are his/her best attributes?

Having thought more about this problem now, what would you need to see that would make you satisfied the situation is at a 10?

What words would use to talk about this problem so that ____ would understand what you’re worried about?

Are their things happening in ____’

s

life or family that make this problem harder to deal with?

Who are the people that care most about ___? What are the best things about how they care for ____?

What would ___ say are the best things about his/her life?

Who would ___ say are the most important people in his/her life? How do they help ___ grow up well?

Has there been times when this problem has been dealt with or was even a little better? How did that happen?

STEP ONE: START HERE, BACK AND FORWARDS

STEP TWO: JUDGEMENT

STEP THREE

What would ___ need to see that would make them say this problem is completely sorted out?

What do you think is the next step that should happen to get this worry sorted out?

Animations Off

HARM

Complicating

Factors

Existing

Strengths

FUTURE

SAFETY

Existing

Safety

Next Steps

DANGER

Safety Scale: On a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 means everyone knows the children are safe enough for the child protection authorities to close the case and zero means things are so bad for the children they can’t live at home, where do we rate this situation? (If different judgements place different people’s number on the continuum).

What are we Worried About?

What

s Working Well?

What Needs to Happen?

Signs of Safety Assessment and Planning Form

0

10

Past Harm to Children

Action/Behaviour – who, what, where, when; Severity; Incidence & Impact

Danger Statements: Future Danger for Children

Worries for the future if nothing changes.

Complicating Factors

Factors which make the situation more difficult to resolve.

Existing Safety/Protection

The Strengths demonstrated as protection over time.

Must directly relate to danger.

Existing Strengths

SafetyGoals:Future Safety/ProtectionWhat must the caregivers be doing in their care of the child that addresses the future danger?

Next StepsWhat are the next steps to be taken to move towards achieving the goal?

Family Goals:

What does the family want generally and in relation to safety?

What is the Signs of Safety Approach?

A

Questioning not an expert approach

Informed byCore & Practice Principles and Practice ElementsFrom research and from what workers and families say is good practice!

Supported by aSkill BaseSFBT questioningSafety PlanningEngaging ChildrenSkillful Use of Authority

Constructed around a comprehensive risk assessment framework that involves everyone in the assessment (families and professionals) and that incorporates harm, danger, complicating factors, strengths and safety.

Focused above all on BUILDING ENOUGH SAFETY to close the case.

Practiced from a Stance of Humility about what we think we know

Involves building relationships with all stakeholders that are focused on safety for children.

Good Performance - Human Needs

Choice

Respect

& Appreciation

Communication &

Clear objectives

Empowerment

Initiative

Frustration

Resentment

Confidence

Enthusiasm

Anxiety

Confusion

High morale

Low morale

Absenteism

Motivators

Adapted from Human Needs at Work, University of Nottingham

Partnership in practice – the social discipline window(Wachtel & McCold)

TO

WITH

NOT

FOR

Punitive

Restorative

Neglectful

Permissive

Support (encouragement, nurture)

Low

High

Control (limit-setting, discipline)

High

A little History

A

ndrew

Turnell

& Steve Edwards Collaboration 1993.

Interested in how SFBT fitted with Child Protection Work.

150 Practitioners

A Little History

What they did was created safety through partnership & collaboration:

Partnerships with parents/carers;

Collaboration between agencies/professionals; &

Worked with practitioners to develop the model

A Little History

What the

practitioners

asked for:

Capture & balance the concerns and strengths so as to make judgements on balanced information.

Doesn’t just tell us what we already know but provides guidance about what to do about the problem.

A Little History

The

team leaders & managers

wanted an approach that:

would increase the confidence of CP workers in their own practice;

Would help workers get unstuck in difficult and protracted cases; and

Minimal paperwork.

18

Assessment

form

on one

page!

A Little History

“

If workers use the ideas they are in the model.

If workers don't

, they

’

re in the bin!

”

Steve Edwards

What makes a difference?

The most important factor in making a difference in the lives of vulnerable children in open child protection cases is relationships

Realtionships

between family and professionals (partnership) and relationships between professionals themselves (collaboration)

Review of what works in family support interventions

WHY?

Kieran McKeowan (Dublin, 2000)

% of Variance in Outcome Explained

Summary of the Tool

It is a

QUESTIONING

approach

Keeps the child at the centre – Impact

Designed to be used with young people and their families

Highlights what is already working well

Practice Principles

Respect service users as people worth doing business with

Cooperate with the person, not the abuse

Recognise that cooperation is possible even where coercion is required

Recognise that all families have signs of safety

Maintain a focus on safety

Learn what the service user wants

Practice Principles

Always search for detail

Focus on creating small change

Don’t confuse case details with judgments

Offer choices

Treat the interview as a forum for change

Exercise

What do you like about what you have heard?

What worries / questions do you have?

Demonstrating the Framework

Family map

3 – 4 free description ‘Why are Children’s Services involved?’ or ‘What are your main concerns or the things you most worried about?’

Worker’s goal

What’s Working Well?

‘Strengths’

Who is doing what for the child, where and when, that reduces the worries and how do we know?

Exceptions to the harm? Presence of?

‘Existing Safety’

Examples of the ‘strengths that have been demonstrated as protection over time’.

(

Boffa

and

Podesta

, 2004 refined from an earlier definition used by McPherson,

Macnamara

and Hemsworth, 1997)

Demonstrating the Framework

Based on the initial background information you have just heard, develop questions you could ask the worker if you were facilitating the process to capture information for the

What’s Working Well?

column i.e.

Strengths

that might translate into

Safety

or

Existing Safety

What Are We Worried About?

Past Harm

–

Clear & specific statements of harm that has occurred to any children in the care of the parents/caregivers. When there has been an extensive history of abuse, focus on mapping First, Worst & Last incidents alongside a description of Frequency e.g. how many times a week / month would the harm typically happen?

Danger Statements –

Who is worried about whose behaviour towards whom in the future based on the past harm and /or Complicating Factors and what is the likely impact on the child.

Complicating Factors –

What are the factors/ issues/ things that make this situation more complicated both for the family and the professionals.

Complicating Factors Typically Include…

Poverty

Addiction

Issues of Mental Health

Disability

Isolation

Disputes between family members and professionals

Fear & misunderstanding between people of different cultures

Oppressive use of professional authority

Too many professionals involved

Professionals not working together

Demonstrating the Framework

Develop as many questions as you can think of to get the harm and complicating factors articulated simply and clearly including details on:

Action / Behaviour

Severity

Incidence

Impact

Demonstrating the Framework

Thinking about the information gathered in the

‘What are We Worried About?’

column develop a possible

‘Danger Statement’

, i.e. a statement about your worries for the future for the child if nothing changes based on the

‘Past Harm’

and the

‘Complicating Factors’

(where relevant)

Danger Statements

What are you worried will happen to these children if nothing changes?

Need to be based on (the evidence of) past harm and complicating factors, not on catastrophic thinking

Danger statements need to be in simple straightforward language that make sense to the family without minimising the seriousness

Can draw on professional expertise and knowledge e.g. research

Danger Statement Examples

Rob will almost certainly carry on feeling he is no good, not wanted, sad, scared and angry because step-dad

Shabs

and brother Lyle are telling him so every day.

Danger Statement Examples

There is a good chance that Rob will get into crime or drink; as likely as not he will get permanently excluded from school

Danger Statement Examples

Rob will get hit again a lot by Lyle and probably will get injured.

Judgement

On a scale of 0 – 10, rate the situation where 10 = there is sufficient safety to close the case and 0 = things are so serious the children need to be removed immediately

Look at this from a number of different perspectives

You may ask further questions based on the rating

Consider whether the danger statement needs to be changed?

Danger Statements:

Safety Goals:

What

Chidren’s

Services is worried will happen to the child if nothing changes (i.e. the problem/concern that has to be solved)

What

Children’s Services needs to see to know the child is safe and they can close the case (not services).

Safety Goals

‘Safety goals’

are clear statements about what the parents/caregivers will be doing in their care of the child to address the

‘Future Danger’

.

‘Safety goals’

are not attendance at services; services are likely to be part of the ‘how’

‘Safety goals’

= safe ‘preferred future’ / outcome / what safety will look like

Safety Goals Examples

Rob will almost certainly carry on feeling he is no good, not wanted, sad, scared and angry because step-dad

Shabs

and brother Lyle are telling him so every day.

Those visiting will see

Shabs

and Gaynor both being fair, firm but kind to Rob, speaking respectfully to him and protecting him from verbal abuse

Safety Goals Examples

There is a good chance that Rob will get into crime or drink; as likely as not he will get permanently excluded from school

Rob will be happier and less inclined to steal or drink and Gaynor and

Shabs

will praise and reward him for this

Because he feels better about himself, Rob will want to do and behave better in school – school will see improvement

Safety Goals Examples

Rob will get hit again a lot by Lyle and probably will get injured.

Rob will be kept safe by Gaynor and

Shabs

from being hit and

criticised

by Lyle – they will be able to describe their plan for this and how it is working and Rob will say he feels safer

Safety Goals

‘Safety Goal’

What would the parents/caregivers changed behaviour be achieving in their day-to-day care of the children, which addresses the

worries for the future

i.e. the

Danger Statement

?

‘Next Steps’

What are the very next steps to move closer towards to the

safety goal/s

? Who needs to do what and when?

Have a go…In your groups develop a

Safety Goal

that relates to the

Danger Statement

Exercise – Groups of 3

Practitioner

Be prepared to talk about a case you are worried about and feeling stuck on.

Facilitator

Leads the process.

Ask questions and seek the responses in clear language that describes actions and

behaviours

and is clearly evidenced.

Advisor/Observer

Observe the process and be prepared to provide feedback.

Assist the facilitator.

Keep time.

Safety Scale: On a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 means everyone knows the children are safe enough for the child protection authorities to close the case and zero means things are so bad for the children they can’t live at home, where do we rate this situation? (If different judgements place different people’s number on the continuum).

What are we Worried About?

What

s Working Well?

What Needs to Happen?

Signs of Safety Assessment and Planning Form

0

10

Harm

Danger Statements

Complicating Factors

Safety

Strengths

SafetyGoals

Next Steps

Family Goals

Mapping Process Using The 3 Columns

Things to be aware of

:

If you ask a question that the worker doesn’t know the answer to, ask if it would be useful to know and put it under

‘Next Steps’

.

As you progress, you can move back and fourth between the columns.

Your use of language – help the worker to keep it simple and clear. Use the worker’s exact words wherever possible

Getting Started

The Facilitator (who scribes) starts the process by asking the worker for:

Information to construct a genogram

A 3 – 4 minute free description ‘What are you main concerns or the things you are most worried about right now?’

Worker’s Goal (at this stage)?

Start asking questions to elicit information for the ‘What’s Working Well?’ column

(NB: Advisor/Observer take note of good questions)

Ask for information to complete a genogram

Get a 3 – 4 minute free description of the key worries in

the case

Ask for the worker’s goal for the exercise

Begin asking questions to elicit ‘What’s working well?

– Elicit and Amplify

Then ask questions to elicit ‘What are we Worried about?’

– Elicit and Amplify to get

behaviour

, severity, incidence

and impact

Ask questions to help the worker develop danger statement –

reflect on meaning of harm and complicating factors

Ask one or more scaling questions about the levels of

danger; ask from different perspectives

Revisit the danger statement to see if it needs to be amended; ask more questions to elicit worries if necessary

Ask questions to help the worker develop safety goals

Ask questions to elicit next steps

Revisit and scale the worker’s goal

Process Review Exercise

Practitioners – what was most helpful?

Observers:

What worked best? What were the best questions?

Facilitators:

Which sections of the mapping flowed best?

What did you struggle with?

Introduction to Safety Planning

Developed from Danger Statements; parent led journey to Safety Goals

How, in our house / our family’s life, is next week going to be different from last week?

Comprised of decisions and ‘rules’ supported by extended family and friends, services and professionals

Danger Statements:

Safety Goals:

Together with the family, the practitioners journey from the problem of the danger statements to the safety goals through a structured process.

This is the

how of safety planningThe journey is more important than the end product.

What Chidren’s Services is worried will happen to the child if nothing changes (i.e. the problem/concern that has to be solved)

What

Children’s Services needs to see to know the child is safe and they can close the case (not services).

Resource Planning vs Safety Planning

Resource Plans

Agreed at CP conferences

Led by Safety Goals

Specialist services

Visiting and monitoring arrangements

Additional assessments

Contingencies

Reviewed every 3 – 6 months

Safety Plans

Agreed by keyworker and family after conference

Led by Risk Statement(s)

Detail of how daily life will be different

Build on exceptions and ideas developed with family

Reviewed every week or two

Take 3 or 4 months to ‘bed in’

Case Example

14 month old Jack – severe health needs

Separated parents in their early 20s

Mum Sharon has a mild learning disability

Father Gary been in prison for assaulting Sharon

Parents

minimising

impact on Jack of being exposed to fighting

Sharon not providing the medicines and care needed and removed Jack from hospital x 3 against medical advice

Resources

Case in Court

Couples

counselling

Individual

counselling

Separate parenting classes

Regular involvement with community health nurse

Little co-ordination or coherence between services

Parents engaging but no clarity about what needed to be achieved for Jack to stay with parents

Danger Statement 1

“The County and the Guardian are worried that Jack could be physically and emotionally hurt when Gary and Sharon get into arguments and fights and they become so wrapped up in the argument they forget to pay attention to Jack.”

Building on Strengths

Gary had tried to walk away on occasions when he felt an argument was getting out of control

Sharon would follow him when he did this and continue the argument

Sharon worked with her counselor on avoiding escalation and not following Gary

Concrete Actions

Written signed plan which said that Gary would always walk away from fights when they began to escalate and that Sharon would not follow him

Gary agreed to keep a diary of times when he and Sharon began to argue and he walked away

Confirmed by each parent independently to their

counsellor

and observed and reported by family members and professionals

Danger Statement 2

“The County and the Guardian are worried that Jack’s illnesses may get worse when Sharon does not follow medical recommendations.”

Collaborating on Safety

Social worker brought Sharon and the community health nurse together to ‘concretize’ the concerns

Sharon agreed to keep a log of every medical intervention she made with Jack

Sharon and the nurse reviewed the log together each week

Nurse prepared a series of cards with simple directions to cue Sharon in different medical situations (e.g. asthma attack,

coughing, vomiting)

Children’s Tools

Children’s Tools

For Listening…

The Three Houses

Nikki Weld & Maggie Greening

The Wizard and Fairy

Vania

de Paz

The Safety House

Sonja Parker

For Telling…

The Words and Pictures

Susie Essex

Words & Pictures

A storyboard (words and pictures) for children to help them understand events that are difficult for adults around them to talk about

Parents and worker develop the words together using the family’s own words.

3. Primarily used to explain worries, concerns and difficult situations to younger children

4. Also used as part of a safety planning process

Exercise – in Pairs

In pairs:-

Why is it important for children to know the truth / is it important for children to know the truth? How well are you doing in your Agency?

To what extent do children have the best possible understanding where:-

0 = involved with our service have little understanding of their situation

10 = children involved with our service always have a good understanding of their situation

Practice Example

Jennifer Levitt -

Wandsworth

65

Practice Example

66

Practice Example

67

Practice Example

68

Practice Example

69

Practice Example

70

Practice Example

71

Practice Example

72

Practice Example

73

Practice Example

74

Practice Example

75

Practice Example

76

Practice Example

77

Practice Example

78

Practice Example

79

Practice Example

Exercise – Words & Pictures

In pairs talk about:

What do you think will be the benefits to the child in the future as a result of this work?

Follow-on Exercise

In pairs:

Thinking of the children on your caseload today – which of these do you think it could be useful to use this tool with?

Exercise – in Pairs

Why is it important for children to be heard?

Think about a time in your childhood when you were listened to by an adult and a time when you were just paid lip service to – what was the difference?

What is the importance of the child’s voice in Safeguarding work

84

Poppy’s House of Good Things

85

Poppy’s House of Worries

86

Poppy’s House of Dreams

3 Houses - Process

Consent – is it needed?

Deciding where to meet with the child.

Wherever possible talk through the idea of using the tool with the parents and obtain their permission to speak with the child.

Is there benefit to having the parent/s present? Involved?

Talking with children separately or together?

Introducing your role and the

Three Houses

to the child.

Which house to start with? Pictures, words or both? Who will write?

Talking with the child about what will happen next.

Sharing the assessment with the parents.

What if the child makes a disclosure?

88

Created and

illustrated by Vania da Paz

The Wizard and…

89

…Fairy

Created and

illustrated by

Vania

da Paz

People who live in

my safety house

People I don

’

t feel safe with

Rules of my safety house

People who come to visit my safety house

Path to my

safety house

What we do in my safety house

The Safety House

Created by Sonja Parker

www.aspirationsconsultancy.com

Safety House

Preparations: decide how you want to use the process its usually a good thing to draw

Safety House

together but pre-drawn is fine

2. Wherever possible explain the

Safety House

interview process to the parents and obtain permission to interview child/

ren

. You might involve the children in this discussion. If explained to parents ask them to tell child its okay.

3. Make decision whether to work with child with/without parents present.

4. Explain the

Safety House

to child working through each element

5. Use words and drawings as appropriate. The more time you have the more creative you can be, if you are on a tight time line probably need to stay more word focused and do at least some of the writing.

Make sure it’s the child’s words and images throughout – don’t alter or paraphrase.

Safety House

6

. Typically process is to start with who lives in my

Safety House

, what we do in

Safety House

, who visits, who isn’t allowed in my

Safety House

, and

Safety House

rules

7. Once finished obtain permission of child to show to others - parents, extended family, professionals. Explain what happens next to the child.

8. Present to parents/caregivers and safety network. Explore with them how to integrate the child’s ideas into the final

safety plan

and how to show the child their concerns and what they want is addressed.

9. Makes sure the

Safety House

is put on the file.

Follow on Exercise

In pairs:

Thinking of the children on your caseload today – which of these do you think it could be useful to use these tools with? Which tools would you use and why?

The End

THANK YOU – SAFE HOME!

damiangriffiths898@gmail.com