Social care reform is moving at pace. Evidence-informed workforce development is critical in implementing what is arguably the most significant programme of change since the Children Act 1989.
Local councils and their partners have been implementing government’s reforms to family support and child protection since April this year. These transformational reforms are built upon the Stable homes, built on love strategy and Keeping children safe, helping families thrive policy statement.
The Department for Education Families First Partnership programme sets out the practice changes it expects to see to improve support for children and families. This involves safeguarding partners implementing family help, multi-agency child protection and family group decision-making reforms.
Supporting change at local system level
Research in Practice has an excellent track record in engaging across regions and supporting change at local system level. We have brought together examples from our comprehensive learning resources to support you – leaders, managers and practitioners across early help, targeted support and statutory services with the reforms. Research in Practice members can access these by logging in or creating an account.
We will continue to provide professional development that connects with the national picture with planned resource releases in early 2026.
Supporting the workforce through change
Change requires leadership at all levels. These resources, informed by up-to-date evidence, support leaders build and maintain a resilient organisational culture.
A briefing for leaders on how organisations can retain experienced social workers through maximising ‘pull factors’.
A series of videos exploring the role of leaders in building and sustaining a resilient system.
Explore resources on organisational resilience and how they can be used by practitioners and supervisors.
Draw on our expertise in delivering effective practice leadership development programmes. Contact us to commission for your organisation.
Or purchase individual places on a multi-organisational leadership development programme.
Families First: working with family networks
Involving family networks in decisions about children and better supporting kinship care are key aspects of the reforms. These resources support embedding a whole-family approach.
Read this blog for leaders on family group decision making and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
Share a briefing to support practitioners work inclusively and effectively with men where children’s welfare and safety is a concern.
Practice decision-making about brothers and sisters involved in public law proceedings.
Using Family Group Conferences to enable family-led decision-making: videos for practice leaders made in partnership with Family Rights Group.
Also explore (videos) North Yorkshire’s innovative approach to family time for children in care and their networks.
Share this podcast with practitioners, exploring the importance of working together with fathers, from the perspective of the Journey Project in Leeds.
Share workshops with practitioners supporting contact for children who are adopted, fostered or in kinship care. This builds on resources developed for the Staying in touch: Contact after adoption hub.
Leading multi-agency practice
A significant change is the creation of multi-agency child protection teams in all areas and making improvements to multi-disciplinary working. These resources support building an integrated multi-agency system and workforce.
For leaders:
This report on our work for the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel builds the quality of learning from serious incidents.
Explore key elements of anti-racist systems leadership.
Support families effectively at the intersection of social care and housing.
This blog shows that effective supervision is at the heart of social care reform.
For supervisors:
The supervision hub for our acclaimed resources for practice supervisors includes this practice tool for interprofessional supervision.
Defensible decision-making: a resource pack to support practice supervisors facilitate reflective supervision, develop recording skills and lead team learning. The accompanying CPD guide contains all required to run three CPD sessions for practice supervisors.
This video for leaders discusses the importance of multi-agency working across social care and housing.
Learn from Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton’s collaborative model of safeguarding.
Listen to a podcast for leaders exploring Somerset’s experience developing a single digital view of a child.
Draw on our expertise in delivering effective practice leadership development programmes. Contact us to commission for your organisation.
Or purchase individual places on a multi-organisational leadership development programme.
Early help and Family Help: supporting Lead Practitioners
Family help will be led by Family Help Lead practitioners. These will be a range of practitioners from different disciplines. These succinct, robust resources support shared learning and skills development in multi-disciplinary teams.
A video learning programme to support practitioners working with trauma experienced parents in children’s social care.
Featuring Professor Eileen Munro these videos support practitioner decision-making in working with uncertainty and risk.
This podcast supports practitioners develop productive relationships with parents.
A co-produced three-part podcast series provides unique insights into the complexity of child protection work in the context of domestic abuse.
Share these practice pointer webinars – introducing resources to support core areas of practice.
Share a learning pathway for self-directed learning in critical reflection and analysis.
Book development workshops for your teams.
Family group decision-making and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
In this blog Susannah Bowyer explores the inclusion of family group decision-making in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. How can we make the most of the ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ this element of the Bill presents?
Families and homes: Change Project
The Families and Homes Change Project brought together academics, professionals from housing, children and families and adults social care, and people with lived experience. They worked together to develop tools to enable better support for families at the intersection of social care and housing.
Working effectively with men in child and family social care: Frontline Briefing (2024)
The briefing and tool aim to help professionals work with men where children’s welfare and safety is a concern.