Lolita Gerald had just reached the office and opened her laptop when an important email came through from Anthony Douglas, the chief executive: Cafcass had been rated outstanding by Ofsted.
“This was amazing news, for all of us but especially in NIS – the National Improvement Service – because it’s our job to constantly monitor and raise performance across the organisation,” says Gerald, the NIS’s current head of practice.
NIS plays a key role within Cafcass, with a remit to monitor and benchmark standards and drive improvement. It analyses reports and outcomes for children in cases across the UK and draws up guidance based on its findings. It also works with the human resources and IT departments to support staff training and career development.
Ofsted praised the NIS’s drive for continuous improvement and noted Cafcass’s “culture of professional accountability and respectful challenge at every level across the organisation” in its 2018 report.
“Seeing a wholesale shift in quality throughout Cafcass has been incredible,” says NIS assistant director Anji Owens. “A key factor in this was engaging staff in what good quality work looks like and keeping a lens on the impact of our work on the outcome for the child.”
The relentless focus on making sure the voice of the child takes centre stage in proceedings was recognised by the inspectors, who said listening to children and understanding their world was strongly embedded in frontline practice across the organisation.
Whether it’s via an app to get children to explore their feelings through the use of avatars, or fresh guidance on assessing the impact of conflict in the home, the NIS seeks to use its ongoing auditing and quality assessment to be at the cutting edge of good practice.
“There has been a huge drive to promote diversity, and to recognising the uniqueness of each child, avoiding generic phrases such as: ‘Jonny is a lively seven-year-old and his development is as expected for a child of his age.’ Tell us something about Jonny: ‘Jonny has expressed his love for football and his hope to be in the school team,’ for example,” says Gerald.
She points out that Cafcass is at the forefront of some policy development: “For example, it recently rolled out a child impact assessment framework that makes its materials available to staff outside the organisation, such as local authority social workers.”
The child impact assessment framework sets out how children might experience parental separation and how this can be understood and acted on by professionals. The framework is broken down into four common case factors, each containing resources that can be used to strengthen our understanding of the child’s world and how to keep them safe. Initial feedback from Cafcass staff and the judiciary is encouraging.
She says Cafcass takes an overview of what works well and what needs attention in complex areas, such as when children refuse or resist spending time with a parent or carer. “We have drawn up guidelines on how we can best express and explain the impact of harmful conflict on children and young people,” she says.
NIS staff also contribute to serious case reviews where children have been significantly harmed or have died. Area quality reviews identify strengths and areas for development, and inform management of the quality of practice and of individual staff.
Cafcass social workers represent nearly 135,000 children a year, working from 33 different offices across England, and it’s the job of NIS to ensure consistency of good practice. Ofsted said it found staff “extremely positive about working for an organisation in which they are treated well, as professional adults whose views and needs are important and highly valued”.
That’s because our approach to performance management is collegiate and positive, says NIS improvement manager Dawn Goodwin. “We are not punitive. We do not go in and say what you are doing is wrong. Our staff are experienced and skilled practitioners and it is a question of helping them understand what blocks there might be for them, or sharing with them how things have worked better elsewhere or, perhaps, helping them to get the best out of new technology,” she says.
“I’ve found staff welcome working with us because we are not looking to undermine them, but to learn from them and support them, because we all want the same thing – the very best and safest outcomes for children,” she says.
Working alongside the human resources team, NIS provides a comprehensive package of core training to new staff including face-to-face and e-learning. It can also provide bespoke support for specific skills, such as case planning or analytical writing, says Goodwin. “The move from working for a local authority to being a Cafcass family court adviser can be a culture change, and our training for new starters is designed to make the move as easy as possible,” she adds.
Goodwin was an experienced local authority social worker when she joined Cafcass as a family court adviser seven years ago. She found the organisation keen to support career development and, wanting to progress in her career, she took on the role of supervisor.
“I loved the court work and didn’t want to give it up and took advantage of a secondment that allowed me to work two days per week within NIS and continue my practice work for the other three. I was able to develop my skills through delivering training in my local area, mentoring other team members and supporting my line manager. I could see how the work of NIS was making a difference and when a post came up for a full-time improvement manager I applied and was successful,” she says.
She joined Cafcass’s emerging talent programme, which challenges staff to aim high and opens up new opportunities. “I was very fortunate that Lolita was my strengths coach. The programme gave me the confidence to apply for a full-time role with NIS and I was successful,” she adds.
“My base is in Bournemouth but I have a national remit, and what I really enjoy is working closely with different local areas on development and training. Yesterday I was in London delivering bespoke training at a team meeting and I still got home for bath time! This morning I have been meeting colleagues in Southampton and now I’m back in Bournemouth for a Skype meeting to set up training in another local area,” she says.
The courage of some children as they seek to negotiate relationships or support a parent in chaotic homes can be humbling, says Goodwin. “We are working with children who are often having really difficult times and find it hard to express their feelings in conflicted families, sometimes with worrying child protection aspects as well. Our whole focus is on the child, and being able to advocate for them in the family courts is an absolute privilege.”
