Inspectors praise Sheffield social work teams looking after older children in crisis
The service has had a positive Ofsted report
Sheffield social workers have been praised by government inspectors for their work with older children who have to be taken from their families and go into care.
A positive Ofsted report on the service was discussed today (December 18) by Sheffield City Council’s education, children and families policy committee. The inspectors visited in October and looked at placement decisions made for children aged 14 to 17, speaking to children, parents and carers, social workers and managers.
The report concluded: “Placement decision-making for older children in care is effective and based on children’s assessed needs and plans.
“Social work practice is child-centred and workers understand older children’s needs very well. They see beyond teenage behaviours, recognising when behaviours are the child’s coping mechanisms, often in response to neglect and trauma.
“Older children become looked after in a timely manner and when it is in their best interests. Permanence plans are identified at the earliest opportunity and children are supported to return home or live with family members when it is safe to do so.
“Frontline management oversight is mostly robust, although staffing challenges in the Young Refugee Team have led to a small number of children’s plans drifting, and children not having access to their written records in their own language.”
The inspectors concluded: “Overall, senior leaders have a firm grip and clear understanding of what older children in care need and this area of practice.
“Leaders have created a culture of high aspirations across the council and wider partnership for older children and their futures into adulthood. This ethos permeates into the teams working with these children, inspiring practitioners to deliver high-quality services that make a difference to children’s lives.”
The report said that the quality of care in the council’s children’s homes has “significantly improved” during the past 12 months.
Council strategic head of children’s services, Meredith Dixon-Teasdale, told the committee that the child-centred approach of staff focuses on reaching the best outcomes for young people. She said the aim was “having a positive impact in an area which is really tough and really difficult”.
Committee chair Coun Dawn Dale called the feedback was “inspiring”, adding: “Everyone really does work so hard and the transformation work that is going on at the moment and the improvements that are being made is really reflected in this report.”
She thanked staff for the hard work and later gave thanks to children’s services workers who miss out on Christmas with their own families to look after city children.