Enquiries following child deaths and serious injury, have highlighted that in some cases several reports are required before action is taken by local authority social services. Researchers have found responses to reports are influenced by a range of factors that detract away from the child and influence the way in which decisions are made regarding next steps. These are considered below alongside questions that report-takers can ask of themselves to ensure that the initial checks remain child-centred:
- team caseload and /or report-taker is feeling overworked and stressed
- to what extent is my response affected by the number of reports that need processing?
- have I obtained enough information to make an informed decision about next steps?
- have my personal commitments impacted on my response to this report?
- did I give the reporter sufficient time to explain their concerns? Did I prompt them to elicit detail?
- children’s age
- am I making presumptions about a young person’s ability to protect themselves because of age?
- have I got views about lack of engagement in services by older children and their families that are affecting my response?
- disability status
- am I applying the same standards as I would do a non-disabled child?
- am I over-empathising with the parent/s?
- the referral source – reports from schools are most likely to lead to action whilst those from family members are least likely to do so
- am I making a judgement about the severity of the report based on the status of the reporter?
- Would I respond differently if this report was from someone else?
- Am I dismissing this report as malicious because the reporter wants to remain anonymous?
- past knowledge of agency
- how is my past relationship with the reporter and their agency affecting my judgement?
- previous knowledge about the family
- am I making assumptions and pre-judging this report based on what I know about this family?
- what observations and evidence is there to support/refute my view of this family?
- possible unconscious bias for example believing abuse is much less likely to occur in families from higher socio-economic groups
- if I received this report from a family living in a deprived community would I respond in the same way?
- have my past experiences of working with particular families affected my judgement?
- time of report – reports over a weekend are less likely to lead to action than those received during the week.
- if I was looking at this report during office hours would I respond to it differently?
- am I responding to this report differently as it is 3pm on a Friday to the way I’d respond if it was 9 am on a Monday morning?
- form of report – reports received by email (or another written form) are a less likely to be responded to than those received by phone calls or visits to the family
- am I presuming this is not urgent?
- how would I respond to this information if the reporter contacted me by phone or had visited the family and gained the information resulting in the report?
- reports relating to black, Asian, or mixed-race children are significantly more likely to proceed to further action, including enquiries under s47 of the Children Act 1989, than those for white children
- what assumptions am I making?
- if this was a white child would I respond in a similar way?
- limited resources.
- is my response informed by my knowledge of waiting lists and/or lack of resources etc?
Report-takers should reflect on the influences that have informed their response to a report. If they believe subjective influences have played a part this should be discussed with their supervisor.
Further information:
Reder, P. and S. Duncan (2003). Understanding Communication in Child Protection Networks. Child Abuse Review 12: 82-100.
Benbenishtya, R., et al. (2015). Decision making in child protection: An international comparative study on maltreatment substantiation, risk assessment and interventions recommendations, and the role of professionals’ child welfare attitudes. Child Abuse & Neglect.49; 63-75.
Tupper, A., et al. (2016). Decision-making in children's social care. quantitative data analysis. London, Department for Education.