Bristol invests in early intervention to help families
Preventative work with families in east and central Bristol through a year-long social worker pilot will be expanded, Bristol City Council announced today.
The unique role will now cover the entire city through two extra posts and involves very early work with families to help identify and resolve issues that might show up at school, either through the child or parent. This could be poor attendance, challenging behaviour, housing or immigration concerns, domestic violence or early signs of neglect.
Independent evaluations of the pilot conclude that the social worker was able to prevent issues from escalating and becoming a crisis. It saved costly interventions such as case conferences and assessments and by making single agency referrals. The post also improved working relationships between schools and children’s social services.
Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Cllr Clare Campion-Smith, said: “The Munroe review into child protection clearly identified the need for reduced bureaucracy and closer links with families. This role does both these things and has brought excellent results for children, parents and carers and their schools. We are now extending this work to ensure that the benefits are spread throughout Bristol.”
The pilot was initially with a small cluster of schools and children’s centres in east central Bristol and now covers all 15 settings.
Head teacher of St Werburgh’s Primary School, Claire Smith, was one of the first to get involved. She said: “The new role has provided a real safety net for the school and our families. Michael, the social worker, is able to intervene very quickly, spend time listening to concerns and has increased confidence throughout the school in dealing with child protection issues.”
Social Worker, Michael Earle, was seconded to fulfil the early intervention role in December 2009. He said:“Families appreciate that I have time to listen to their concerns and can organise my time around their needs. I don’t have the paperwork that goes alongside case-holding social work and I find that most issues can be dealt with very quickly. Schools appreciate my advice on child protection issues and we work together to prevent what might be a series of small issues for a child becoming a crisis situation.”
