The strategy discussion may take place at a meeting or by other means, such as telephone or video-conferencing. It should happen at the earliest opportunity however there is no specific Welsh Government guidance as to when a strategy discussion via telephone or face to face should take place.
Consideration should therefore be given to the following questions:
At this stage, indeed throughout the process, it is important that practitioners remain open-minded and do not pre-judge either whether the child has been abused and neglected or the part played by the parent or carer. What is important is to gather sufficient information to form an initial judgement. The way in which the social work practitioner/police presents the request for information from the family and others and the decision made can set the scene for what follows.
If a strategy discussion is held via a telephone conversation, several subjective factors may influence decision-making.
These include:
The focus may be one child and incident. Can you tell me about the way that Owain behaves at nursery? This can lead to very specific responses that marginalise siblings, cousins etc known to the suspected abuser. A person giving information may also be selective as to what they share because they may, for example, fear a parent’s response or over-identify with a parent.
For example, ‘what do you know about the Smith family and the way they treat their children? A generalised request for information may be made’. When this occurs, the practitioner providing information is left to decide what is relevant or not.
For example, ‘I just thought I better check this out with you but I’m sure there is nothing to warrant looking at this further’. If the practitioner eliciting information at a strategy discussion believes that there is no real issue but are following the procedures, they may take a dismissive -nothing to worry - approach which elicits a similar optimistic response from the person supplying the information.
For example, ‘Can you tell us about Dylan Smith we know him of old and I’m not surprised we’ve had a report about physical abuse in the family. The police or social worker who has taken the report may already have formed an initial view about the concerns and perpetrator. Their tone of voice or the information requested during the strategy discussion may unintentionally elicit information from others that confirms their opinion.
Other subjective factors may distort decision-making if the strategy discussion is a group meeting. These include:
Whereby all participants at the meeting develop a fixed view about the situation so that they interpret everything through that lens.
This can result in a split with opposing attitudes becoming ingrained. For example, those who work primarily with the parent/s and those who work with the child may hold different views about what should happen next.
Practitioners with the highest professional status may dismiss the views of those perceived to have less status or education. Consequently, those who may know the family best such as a family support worker have their views marginalised.