This is an essential part of the conference process. In the past, very limited time has been spent on planning. Therefore, both family members and practitioners are left unclear at the end of the conference as to what is expected of them and why.
Conference discussions and analysis of the risk of significant harm should lead logically to the content of the plan with both family members and practitioners understanding the rationale.
When developing the outline plan it is essential that:
- The rationale for any intended actions are clear and are clearly linked to the desired outcome. For example, how will the life of the child be expected to change if the parent attends a parenting programme?
- Priorities are set with timescales.
- The changes the parents need to make to their routines and behaviours are clear
The following are designed to assist the chair and conference participants construct meaningful outline plans:
The child
- Consider each child in turn. Do not presume that the same parental concern, such as poor home conditions, will affect each child in the same way.
- Try to think beyond the headline worry to identify the impact. For example, if the conference is concerned about domestic violence describe the way it is affecting the child’s daily life and health and development. Changes to this experience can then provide markers of progress.
- Be sure to consider what worries the child and the parent/s and what they themselves wants to see changed. All too often practitioners focus on what worries them when the child themselves may be concerned about issues that can be very easily addressed such as having clean socks every day for school.
Parenting capacity
- Make sure that consideration is given to each parent and/or carer. It is all too easy to ignore the impact that carers who avoid workers can have on the child/ren. Also, consider the impact of carers who may have limited contact with the child/ren for example, separated parents.
- Be sure to identify what the parent/s are doing well in addition to areas for improvement.
- Make explicit links between parental behaviour and impact on the child/ren. For example, mother does not get up in the morning. What does that mean for each child in the family?
What are the aims of the plan?
- The aim of the plan is to reduce the risk of significant harm and safeguard the child’s health and development.
- Draw on the information obtained about the parent/s life and practitioner concerns to provide a detailed description of what changes need to be made for each child to be safe through professional eyes. The more detail provided the more clarity the family has regarding what they need to do.
- Be sure to consider what the child/ren themselves say would make them feel safe and ensure this is reflected in the outline plan.
- Try not to set parents up to fail by bombarding them with too many changes.
- Think about how ready the family are for change. Are they in crisis, ready to engage, resilient?
How will we measure outcomes?
- Keep this child-centred by focusing on practitioners’ expectations about what the lived experience of the child will look like for them to come off the plan.
The role of practitioners
- Explain to the family that they will be supported to reach the desired outcomes.
- Emphasis that the core group will not be seeking change overnight but be looking for incremental progress, however, this must be at a pace that meets the need of the child
- Indicate that in the core group there will be opportunities to identify and explore any barriers to change that the parents may be experiencing
- Stress the core group is there to assist the family make the changes necessary for the child/ren to feel and be safe.