Recommendation 5: UNICEF should promote the further development of independent gatekeeping commis... more Recommendation 5: UNICEF should promote the further development of independent gatekeeping commissions operating on the basis of the best interests of the child. Recommendation 6: UNICEF to promote the use of training for social workers in assessing clients' needs and providing practical support for those clients Recommendation 7: UNICEF should engage with government to press for improved record-keeping and more reliable information systems Recommendation 8: UNICEF to investigate, in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance, alternative measures of need for children's services in calculations of Oblast budgets. Recommendation 9: UNICEF to work with government ministries-and specifically the Ministry of family, Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Financeto establish Money Follows the Child as a source of parallel financing for new community based services Recommendation 10: UNICEF to investigate the scope for modifying local legislation to enable greater flexibility in who is able to provide local services and to provide models for contracting for and vetting services. Recommendation 11: UNICEF to argue that resources should be diverted from renovation of institutions into the development of family-based alternatives We suggest three areas for immediate and specific actions that would help to provide a sharp focus and clear direction for continuing reform and provide an action framework within which the above recommendations can be undertaken.
Purpose This paper aims to provide principles and to give a case study of the application of Ba... more Purpose This paper aims to provide principles and to give a case study of the application of Bateson's ideas to promote epistemological change in organisations to deal with problems which many governments in English speaking countries currently attempt to address by control ...
... its own staff and its service users in a humane fashion whilst its actions promote the operat... more ... its own staff and its service users in a humane fashion whilst its actions promote the operation of a justice system which ... I have discussed the implications, following Maturana, of considering organisations as networks of conversations (Bilson, 1997, 1996) and suggest there is a ...
The Sunshine Group was run in the Bassetlaw Area of Notting-hamshire's statutory social work... more The Sunshine Group was run in the Bassetlaw Area of Notting-hamshire's statutory social work department. The group consisted of nine members of mixed sex, aged between eight and eleven. All but two of these had been involved in sex offenses, either having been ...
Measuring Referral and Child Protection in England: One in every five children referred to childr... more Measuring Referral and Child Protection in England: One in every five children referred to children's services and 1 in 19 investigated before the age of five Abstract Based on a Freedom of Information request with data from 75% of all English children's services departments covering over ½ million children, this paper shows that 22.5% of children born in the 2009-10 financial year were referred to children's social care before their fifth birthday. Three-quarters of them were at some point assessed; almost two-thirds found to be in need; and a quarter formally investigated. These findings show the full extent of children's involvement in children's social care before the age of five. One in every 9 children born in 2009-10 was suspected by social workers of being abused and this high level of involvement is only justifiable if it is demonstrably reducing harm and promoting well-being of children-an outcome which is contested. Early Help's introduction was associated with high proportions of children being referred and assessed and rapidly increasing numbers of investigations thus questioning its ability to prevent entry to the child protection system. The paper calls for a change from the current emphasis on individualised and investigative approaches to child protection in order to provide an effective and humane response to children, the majority of whom live in families affected by high levels of deprivation and poverty.
This critical commentary reviews the research into the use of residential care for children aged ... more This critical commentary reviews the research into the use of residential care for children aged under three years and looks at some of the explanations that can be found for this in neurobiology. There continue to be high numbers and rates of these vulnerable children in institutions not only in the former soviet states but also in Western Europe. The new research provides strong evidence on the negative consequences for these children, particularly for those who remain in institutional care beyond the age of six months. Explanations from neurobiology sit well beside understandings drawn from attachment theory and start to show the mechanisms for this and also the ability of the brain to compensate.
This study provides an analysis of the 'investigative turn' in England by comparing two large coh... more This study provides an analysis of the 'investigative turn' in England by comparing two large cohorts of children, one whose fifth birthday was in 2011-12 and the other in 2016-17. It shows a 35% increase in children investigated before their fifth birthday to a rate of one in every 16 children in 2017. Investigations were less likely to lead to a child protection plan and there was a 60% increase in children facing the collateral damage of an unfounded investigation. Where it was deemed necessary to respond to child protection concerns with a plan of action concerns were focussed less on immediate safety and more on the long-term effects of neglect or emotional harm caused by a range of family related problems. The rate of children separated from their parents at the age of five had substantially increased and there were wide variations in adoption and child protection trends between local authorities. The study shows that the chances of a family receiving support or being split up are determined by national and local policies, resources and a growing culture of child rescue responses to family difficulties.
Structured experiences such as sculpting, psychodrama, r6le-play and growth games are frequently ... more Structured experiences such as sculpting, psychodrama, r6le-play and growth games are frequently used in family therapy. This article puts forward a framework for the use of structured experiences which can be used in the context of a family session to ensure that the family will gain the maximum learning and change. Use of the framework is illustrated with examples from practice.
Entry to institutional care is being used as an ineffective and expensive response to child and f... more Entry to institutional care is being used as an ineffective and expensive response to child and family poverty in a number of countries. In this paper, the practice of using institutional care for children in poverty is examined, drawing on case studies from three countriesÁthe ...
Recommendation 5: UNICEF should promote the further development of independent gatekeeping commis... more Recommendation 5: UNICEF should promote the further development of independent gatekeeping commissions operating on the basis of the best interests of the child. Recommendation 6: UNICEF to promote the use of training for social workers in assessing clients' needs and providing practical support for those clients Recommendation 7: UNICEF should engage with government to press for improved record-keeping and more reliable information systems Recommendation 8: UNICEF to investigate, in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance, alternative measures of need for children's services in calculations of Oblast budgets. Recommendation 9: UNICEF to work with government ministries-and specifically the Ministry of family, Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Financeto establish Money Follows the Child as a source of parallel financing for new community based services Recommendation 10: UNICEF to investigate the scope for modifying local legislation to enable greater flexibility in who is able to provide local services and to provide models for contracting for and vetting services. Recommendation 11: UNICEF to argue that resources should be diverted from renovation of institutions into the development of family-based alternatives We suggest three areas for immediate and specific actions that would help to provide a sharp focus and clear direction for continuing reform and provide an action framework within which the above recommendations can be undertaken.
Purpose This paper aims to provide principles and to give a case study of the application of Ba... more Purpose This paper aims to provide principles and to give a case study of the application of Bateson's ideas to promote epistemological change in organisations to deal with problems which many governments in English speaking countries currently attempt to address by control ...
... its own staff and its service users in a humane fashion whilst its actions promote the operat... more ... its own staff and its service users in a humane fashion whilst its actions promote the operation of a justice system which ... I have discussed the implications, following Maturana, of considering organisations as networks of conversations (Bilson, 1997, 1996) and suggest there is a ...
The Sunshine Group was run in the Bassetlaw Area of Notting-hamshire's statutory social work... more The Sunshine Group was run in the Bassetlaw Area of Notting-hamshire's statutory social work department. The group consisted of nine members of mixed sex, aged between eight and eleven. All but two of these had been involved in sex offenses, either having been ...
Measuring Referral and Child Protection in England: One in every five children referred to childr... more Measuring Referral and Child Protection in England: One in every five children referred to children's services and 1 in 19 investigated before the age of five Abstract Based on a Freedom of Information request with data from 75% of all English children's services departments covering over ½ million children, this paper shows that 22.5% of children born in the 2009-10 financial year were referred to children's social care before their fifth birthday. Three-quarters of them were at some point assessed; almost two-thirds found to be in need; and a quarter formally investigated. These findings show the full extent of children's involvement in children's social care before the age of five. One in every 9 children born in 2009-10 was suspected by social workers of being abused and this high level of involvement is only justifiable if it is demonstrably reducing harm and promoting well-being of children-an outcome which is contested. Early Help's introduction was associated with high proportions of children being referred and assessed and rapidly increasing numbers of investigations thus questioning its ability to prevent entry to the child protection system. The paper calls for a change from the current emphasis on individualised and investigative approaches to child protection in order to provide an effective and humane response to children, the majority of whom live in families affected by high levels of deprivation and poverty.
This critical commentary reviews the research into the use of residential care for children aged ... more This critical commentary reviews the research into the use of residential care for children aged under three years and looks at some of the explanations that can be found for this in neurobiology. There continue to be high numbers and rates of these vulnerable children in institutions not only in the former soviet states but also in Western Europe. The new research provides strong evidence on the negative consequences for these children, particularly for those who remain in institutional care beyond the age of six months. Explanations from neurobiology sit well beside understandings drawn from attachment theory and start to show the mechanisms for this and also the ability of the brain to compensate.
This study provides an analysis of the 'investigative turn' in England by comparing two large coh... more This study provides an analysis of the 'investigative turn' in England by comparing two large cohorts of children, one whose fifth birthday was in 2011-12 and the other in 2016-17. It shows a 35% increase in children investigated before their fifth birthday to a rate of one in every 16 children in 2017. Investigations were less likely to lead to a child protection plan and there was a 60% increase in children facing the collateral damage of an unfounded investigation. Where it was deemed necessary to respond to child protection concerns with a plan of action concerns were focussed less on immediate safety and more on the long-term effects of neglect or emotional harm caused by a range of family related problems. The rate of children separated from their parents at the age of five had substantially increased and there were wide variations in adoption and child protection trends between local authorities. The study shows that the chances of a family receiving support or being split up are determined by national and local policies, resources and a growing culture of child rescue responses to family difficulties.
Structured experiences such as sculpting, psychodrama, r6le-play and growth games are frequently ... more Structured experiences such as sculpting, psychodrama, r6le-play and growth games are frequently used in family therapy. This article puts forward a framework for the use of structured experiences which can be used in the context of a family session to ensure that the family will gain the maximum learning and change. Use of the framework is illustrated with examples from practice.
Entry to institutional care is being used as an ineffective and expensive response to child and f... more Entry to institutional care is being used as an ineffective and expensive response to child and family poverty in a number of countries. In this paper, the practice of using institutional care for children in poverty is examined, drawing on case studies from three countriesÁthe ...
Social Work Practices (SWPs) were established in England in 2009 to deliver social work services ... more Social Work Practices (SWPs) were established in England in 2009 to deliver social work services to looked after children and care leavers. The introduction of independent social work-led organisations generated controversy focused on issues such as the privatisation of children's services and social workers' conditions of employment. This paper reports early findings from the evaluation of four of these pilots, drawing on interviews with children and young people, staff, and local authority and national stakeholders. The SWPs assumed a variety of organisational forms. The procurement process was demanding, with protracted negotiations over matters such as budgetary control and providing a round-the-clock service. Start-up was facilitated by an established relationship between the SWP provider and the local authority. Once operational, SWPs continued to rely on local authorities for various functions; in most cases, local authorities retained control of placement budgets. Levels of consultation and choice offered to children and young people regarding the move to an SWP varied considerably. Children's understanding about SWPs was generally low except in the pilot where most children retained their original social worker. These early findings show some dilution of the original SWP model, while the pilots' diversity allows the benefits of particular models to emerge.
This paper reports on the evaluation of an English experiment which, for the first time, moved st... more This paper reports on the evaluation of an English experiment which, for the first time, moved statutory social work support for children and young people in out-of-home care from the public to the private or independent sector. Five social work practices (SWPs), independent or semi-independent of local government, were established and evaluated using a matched control design with integrated process evaluation. Social work teams in the public sector, selected to correspond to key characteristics of the SWP sites, provided control sites.
While most SWPs were perceived to be accessible and user-friendly organizations, children's and young people's accounts showed no differences between pilots and control sites in terms of workers' accessibility and responsiveness. Perceptions of SWP staff's decision-making were mixed. SWP staff reported spending more time in direct face-to-face work with children and families but this was attributed to reduced caseload size and a tight remit which excluded child protection work rather than to decreased bureaucracy. SWP staff morale was generally found to be high in terms of depersonalization and social support, reflecting an emphasis on staff supervision in these organizations. However, this was offset by slightly higher job insecurity which reflected the precariousness of employment in the independent as opposed to state sector.
Staff retention varied between the SWPs, but although children and young people in the pilots were more likely to retain their key worker than those in control sites, they experienced disruption in the move into SWPs and back to public services when SWP contracts were not renewed. While some SWPs succeeded in reducing placement change rates for children and young people, a policy of switching placement providers to achieve flexibility and savings increased placement change rates in some SWPs. SWPs did not achieve financial independence from the local authority commissioners with only one assuming full responsibility for managing the placement budget. Payment by results was not used consistently. None of the commissioners interviewed considered that the SWP model had resulted in savings.
The study highlighted the interdependence of public and private sectors. As small organizations, most of the SWPs succeeded in offering an accessible and personalized service, and public services should consider reorganizing to achieve similar outcomes. However, this evaluation found that contracted-out organizations struggled to provide children in out-of home care with the consistency and continuity they require.
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Papers by Andy Bilson
While most SWPs were perceived to be accessible and user-friendly organizations, children's and young people's accounts showed no differences between pilots and control sites in terms of workers' accessibility and responsiveness. Perceptions of SWP staff's decision-making were mixed. SWP staff reported spending more time in direct face-to-face work with children and families but this was attributed to reduced caseload size and a tight remit which excluded child protection work rather than to decreased bureaucracy. SWP staff morale was generally found to be high in terms of depersonalization and social support, reflecting an emphasis on staff supervision in these organizations. However, this was offset by slightly higher job insecurity which reflected the precariousness of employment in the independent as opposed to state sector.
Staff retention varied between the SWPs, but although children and young people in the pilots were more likely to retain their key worker than those in control sites, they experienced disruption in the move into SWPs and back to public services when SWP contracts were not renewed. While some SWPs succeeded in reducing placement change rates for children and young people, a policy of switching placement providers to achieve flexibility and savings increased placement change rates in some SWPs. SWPs did not achieve financial independence from the local authority commissioners with only one assuming full responsibility for managing the placement budget. Payment by results was not used consistently. None of the commissioners interviewed considered that the SWP model had resulted in savings.
The study highlighted the interdependence of public and private sectors. As small organizations, most of the SWPs succeeded in offering an accessible and personalized service, and public services should consider reorganizing to achieve similar outcomes. However, this evaluation found that contracted-out organizations struggled to provide children in out-of home care with the consistency and continuity they require.