New film helps social workers deal with child protection conferences

A new film to support social workers and personal advisers to help parents and families going to child protection conferences has been released online today by advice charity Family Rights Group.

The film helps social workers and personal advisers reflect on their role in child protection conferences and enable them to better prepare parents and families for the process. The video re-constructs a child protection conference explaining what it is all about, demystifying the process and the possible outcomes.

Marsha Rainford-May, acting service manager in the North West child protection team for Westminster City Council, who appeared as an independent chair in the film, said: “The messages in this film are important in assisting families to be better prepared for what is a very difficult situation. It will help promote good and reflective practice and give people in our profession a better appreciation of what families go through. Sometimes we can forget what it’s like and the level of emotion involved.”

Cathy Ashley, Family Rights Group chief executive, said: “Child protection conferences are a statutory intervention in a family’s life and often parents’ reaction is to feel daunted, angry and very scared that their child will be taken away.  

“Explaining the process visually will improve families’ ability to participate effectively in a child protection conference and give them greater ownership of the child protection plan.”

Yvonne Josiah, deputy service manager for Looked After Children and Leaving Care Teams at Westminster City Council, who is also in the film, said: “This will help tackle stereotypical views of what social services is about and show how a conference can bring together a protective plan to support families. It will also be beneficial for our personal advisers who are not social work trained but often attend child protection conferences.”

Family Rights Group identified a clear need for the video as more than one in four calls to its helpline are about child protection. Explaining what happens in a conference over the phone can be a complex task for advisers as they clarify the difficult process families face.

Ms Ashley said: “Film is the easiest and clearest way to explain and demystify a child protection conference. Written information, which aims to do the same thing, is inevitably long and complex. Many of the target audience for the film may have language, literacy or learning difficulties.

“Research shows that getting families and professionals to work in partnership is key to enabling children to remain safely within their family home. This has clear benefits for the family, local authorities, the government and the rest of society.”

The practitioners’ roles are played by working professionals, creating a more realistic film.

Social worker Janet Phillip-Sargeant, from Waltham Forest Children’s Services, who also appears in the film, said: “This is good for parents, families and professionals as it prepares them well for the child protection conference setting and what they can expect – it will be a great help.”

Rob Davis, personal adviser in Westminster Leaving care team, who also appears in the film, said: “This film will hopefully give outsiders a better understanding of the leaving care service.”

About the film
The film is in two parts – before, during and after the conference, plus there are interviews with four professionals – enabling parents to dip in and out of the information.

Using professionals in role, and actors as parents, the film is realistic and engaging. It will help both parents and practitioners prepare for, and participate in, these important meetings.

The film features Anne and Terry who have been together for 18 months. Anne has a son, Jack, aged four from a previous relationship and the couple have a two-month old daughter, Layla.

The midwife was concerned about Anne’s alcohol use towards the end of the pregnancy with Layla. There were two incidents of domestic violence where the police were called and the family was subsequently referred to Children’s Services. They decided that, given Anne’s history and the apparent escalation of her alcohol use and the recent domestic violence, an initial child protection conference should be convened.

The film shows key participants at the conference including a social worker, deputy headteacher, health visitor, drug and alcohol worker, personal adviser and a police officer.

Mr Davis said: “We would normally liaise closely with the social worker but this scenario was believable and I found it easy to engage with the script.”
 
To view the video go to http://www.frg.org.uk/films. The film is also available to purchase in DVD format from FRG’s online shop.