Schools play a key part in keeping children safe, and tend to be a source of many referrals to Children's Social Care. In this evaluation three pilot projects which embedded social workers in schools were considered. The idea was to improve the way schools and social workers work together and how children, families, schools and the social care system can benefit from it. The pilots were based in Lambeth, Southampton and Stockport and offer insight about how to implement such an intervention. Mainstream schools and specialist schools for children with additional needs were also involved. 

In the evaluation focused on the feasibility, challenges and opportunities and the actual practice of the interventions. Moreover, the chances of making a difference in connection with child protection and care outcomes were also explored.

Method

Qualitative and quantitative data were also used to create a detailed picture of the intervention. Analyzes were also carried out with the administrative data from schools and range of semi-structured interviews, practice observations of activity logs that social workers kept while they worked.

Some of the key findings:

  • Pilots were successful in embedding social workers within schools and their base was also moved. 
  • The pilots were broadly successfully rated by professionals across education and CSC children, families and other professionals.
  • There is evidence also for the positive impact on reducing some of the social care outcome indicators.

Implications

  • Interventions were evaluated promising and further efforts will be made to refine them to encourage more consistent integration of social workers into schools. 
  • What Works for Children’s Social Care is requesting applications from local authorities to be part of the Social Workers in Schools (SWIS) Scale-up
  • Social Workers in Schools (SWIS) programs aims to reduce referral rates to children's social care (CSC) by embedding social workers in secondary schools. 
  • Department from Education is going to fund this scale-up to work with up to 160 schools from September 2020 and lasts through the school academic year. 
Attachment Size
The full report of the study5.7 MB 5.7 MB
Executive summary of the study1.18 MB 1.18 MB
Publication type
Author
Westlake, D., Melendez-Torres, G.J., Corliss, C., El-Banna, A., Thompson, S., Meindl, M., Talwar, R., Folkes, L., Schoenwald, E., Addis, S., Cook, L.,
Total pages
106
Countries this relates to

Childhub

You might like..

0
211
Schools can play a critical role in addressing violence against children and other child protection concerns within schools and communities. This role and responsibility can be best fulfilled with the help of on-site support staff, including social…
0
1
Bright Spots is a partnership research programme between Coram Voice and the Rees Centre at the University of Oxford, which works with local authorities across the county to understand the experience of children in care and care leavers. They want…
0
12
This SOLACE report explores how Local Authorities can improve their response to the crime of human trafficking, in particular in the area of identifying and assisting victims. This is a timely study, as the Council of Europe Convention on Action…
no
0
498
By involving social workers in schools, it can help to act faster and provide assistance to social services to those who need it in the educational environment. The study, which involved more than 150 educational institutions across England,…
0
113
Research evaluating the delivery of pilots, which tested peer support for mental health and wellbeing in schools, colleges and children and young people’s community organisations, between October 2017 and July 2019 in UK. The main findings from the…
0
15
About the webinar: Annually, World Social Work Day is celebrated on March 21 and throughout the month of March to highlight the value and contributions that social workers make every day throughout the world. The day is an opportunity for…
0
22
This report illustrates and evaluates the features of best practice in safeguarding, based on inspection evidence from the 19% of all maintained primary, secondary and special schools, residential special schools and pupil referral units inspected…
yes
0
12
To have qualitative social services in partnership with local governmental institutions, we must invest more toward building capacities of all the professionals who offer these services and maintained the standards of quality.  In support o…
0
35
This thematic report was developed to assist partners, including Governments, international organizations, human rights mechanisms, civil society actors, research institutions, teachers’ unions and communities, which all have an indispensable role…
yes
0
622
In 2020, the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth (MASR) and Terre des hommes Albania (Tdh) published and distributed the Manual for Psycho-Social Unit Workers in Schools, which serves as a work-orienting tool. In the same year, the need to…
0
340
Terre des Hommes Albania together with the Ministry of Education and Sports (MAS) organized a virtual roundtable focused on the "Challenges and Needs of Psycho-social Unit Workers in Schools",  aimed at presenting the findings of an assessment…
0
54
The purpose of this paper published by the Scottish Government is to achieve excellence and equity for all young people in a high-performing education system, so all young people can reach their full learning potential. The guidance comes with good…
0
31
Learn why despite being encouraged to come forward about bullying and tell their teachers at school, children can be recultant to report it. This course will help understand the risks children face before and after telling their teachers about…
yes
0
18
Last year, the MGS methodology has been revised in partnership with Queen Margaret University (Edinburgh). The revised methodology was named MGSC – Movement Games and Sport for Civic engagement. Its main objectives are:  To address specific…
yes
0
2769
Between justice and injustice, luxury and hunger, between excessive expectations and small benefits, where professionalism and respect for codes of ethics are not respected, but belittled, and reluctance is equated with an increased workload, a…