Social workers seldom have access to all the information they need on a child and their family when deciding whether there is a safeguarding risk and what support is most appropriate. Social workers need access to information on a child’s family members and which other services are engaged with the family so that children are safeguarded, the right decisions are made the first time around, and services work together to provide wraparound support to the family.
Together with Leeds City Council and Stockport Metropolitan Borough we conducted extensive user research including 80+ interviews, workshops, consultation and surveys with families, social workers, team leaders, senior leadership and more. We found that social workers want access to the contact details of the lead practitioner of a case from other services (police, housing, schools and adult social care) and basic information on when the service was last involved with the family.
Our team have enabled Leeds and Stockport to design, build and embed a data sharing solution that empowers social workers, enables professional judgment, protects privacy and ultimately enables children and their families to access the right support and reach their potential. Family Context will:
- Reduce the amount of time social workers spend chasing information
- Enable more joint working between services (e.g. children’s social care working more closely with adult social care)
- Ensure social workers have access to all the information they need when assessing safeguarding risk and making support decisions for children and their family
- Allow children and families to access better, more timely services.