Defensible decision-making in children’s social care - challenge questions for leaders: Leaders' Briefing (2022)
Introduction
Defensible decision-making should run like a golden thread throughout social care practice with children and families. It should be evident in every supervision discussion between first-line managers and practitioners, and all case records and management oversight summaries on a child’s file. Three key elements need to be in place to support defensible decision-making within the organisation;
- Practitioners need high quality supervision which supports the process of defensible decision-making.
- Both practitioners and practice supervisors should be able to provide clearly written commentary on a child’s file which explains how and why decisions were made.
- A child’s file belongs to them. We need to be confident that decision-making is recorded in respectful and clear language, providing a coherent narrative about ongoing work with a family and the rationale behind key decisions.
This open-access short publication:
- Provides an overview of key issues to prompt discussion and enhance organisational capability in defensible decision-making.
- Includes challenge questions for middle managers and senior leaders to consider.
It is designed to be used alongside two other related resources exploring defensible decision-making. See Related Content below.
Professional Standards
PQS:KSS - Support effective decision-making | Quality assurance and improvement
Defensible decision-making in children’s social care - resource pack for practice supervisors: Frontline Briefing (2022)
This open-access resource pack has been developed to support practice supervisors to; facilitate reflective and analytical supervision discussions which inform defensible decision-making; ensure that each child’s social care record demonstrates evidence of defensible decision-making, and promote team-wide discussion and shared learning about defensible decision-making with practitioners.
Defensible decision-making in children’s social care - CPD Guide: Practice Guide (2022)
This open-access CPD Guide is written for staff who have responsibility for training and development in children’s social care, The guide contains all the information you need to run three CPD sessions for practice supervisors using tools provided in the 'Defensible decision-making in children’s social care - a resource pack for practice supervisors: Supervisors' Briefing (2022)'.
Good practice in recording and access to records: Strategic Briefing (2022)
This briefing is for managers and senior leaders in children’s social care. Its aim is to enable a better understanding of the benefits of person-centred recording and to help strategic leaders and managers think about how they might implement improvements in this area of their local practice.
Analysis and critical thinking in assessment: Resource Pack (2014)
The handbook includes key research and practice messages around analysis and critical thinking in assessment. It combines research evidence with the practice experience of agencies to explore how identified barriers to good assessment might be overcome. The focus is on ‘thinking in practice’ and, above all, on supporting practitioners to be more analytical in their assessments.
Analysis and critical thinking in assessment: Literature review (2014)
The Literature Review examines analytical, critical and reflective thinking and writing in assessment, which is vital not only in social work but across a range of disciplines that work together to achieve the best possible outcomes for children, young people and their families.