Updates
The Changing Role of the Education Welfare Practitioner
This PDF provides an insight in to the changing role of the education welfare
practitioner.
When I took on this job, you would identify the needs but you wouldn’t have to fix them,
or find the support yourself, but you would be able to refer it out. We would be the main referrers.
We’ve visited this family and we’ve discovered the family needs this you know. I’m asking your service
if you can provide it please. It’s now become that if we don’t offer it, very often doesn’t get offered
all, the support that the family needs.
We do so much outside the box as well you know, we have examples of people chairing CHIN
(Children In Need) meetings when social services are unavailable to do it, making referrals for schools
into social care because they either haven’t got the time or the experience to do it. So we do an awful
lot in the way of which doesn’t perhaps technically doesn’t fall under our remit but do it for the sake
of the child.
To read the
full report background...(73 KB)
Summary of LDSS audit findings
by Ryan Tunnard Brown
- This report describes the findings from an audit of a sample of the files of 197 children in touch with education
welfare services in 4 local authority areas: Cumbria, Warwickshire, Bromley and Havering. It includes an analysis of
the patterns of need in the sample, information about the services provided to meet those needs and the views of the
auditors as to whether services provided were meeting the identified needs.
- The identification of need and judgements about whether needs were being met has been undertaken collectively by a
large group of professionals from the Education Welfare Services (EWS) across the four areas, led by r t b. Each authority
approached the task in a way that best suited their operational circumstances within a common agreed framework.
- The audit findings provide an agreed picture of the needs of children and families in contact with EWS and will inform
and assist discussions around the future development of the Learning Development and Support Services (LDSS) and the service
responses that may need to be developed further.
- The results of the audit will also contribute to evidence being compiled by NASWE in relation to the proportion of
cases coming to the attention of Education Welfare Services that could be described as complex and challenging and in
this way will help with the identification of training and supervision necessary to support staff in addressing those needs.
- Three main clusters of need emerged from the audit. The largest cluster, about parenting, comprises almost a half of the
sample (44%). Next came family relationships, comprising a third of the sample (31%), and third are needs about the emotional
and mental health needs of parents and children accounting for a quarter of cases (25%).
- A threshold exercise on each case was completed by those doing the audit. This was designed to measure the seriousness
of children and family needs. Cases were scored, using an adapted version of the levels of seriousness described in section
17 of the Children Act 1989; as 3 (serious/complex needs), 2 (moderate/additional needs), or 1 (lower level). These three
levels of need correspond with the levels of need described in guidance to the Common Assessment Framework (CAF).
- More than a third (37%) of the cases were scored at level 3 (serious/complex needs), indicating them to be children
whose development was being affected adversely to a significant extent. This finding confirms the impression of many
professionals that education welfare officers are dealing with complex cases.
- Given the seriousness of the needs coming to attention it is impressive to note that 65% of children are having
their needs met fully or partially.
- Children whose pressing needs are in relation to their parents’ mental health, trauma, much improved care at
home and adult/child relationships have the most serious needs and the least successful outcomes. They will need to
be the focus of future developments in EWS and more widely across children’s services.
- As well as identifying the pressing need for each child, the audit identified that children and their parents
are facing a range of difficulties and a range of responses will therefore be needed from across both adult and children's
services.
- The range of services and activities undertaken and provided by education welfare officers (EWOs) with and on behalf
of children and families is extensive and impressive. In many cases it exceeds traditional expectations of the service
as a tier two provider. It may be that services have developed in some areas as a response to need. This is obviously
desirable but means that there is currently inconsistency across authorities in the range of services offered.
- A third of children were not seen by auditors as having their needs met. The most frequently expressed reason for not
addressing children’s needs was lack of involvement by children’s social care and failure of parents to engage with services.
- At this stage, there is little evidence of co-ordinated, needs-led, outcome-focused, multi-agency planning or of the
involvement of adult services in any of the audit areas. In the main services operate on a single agency basis and do not
routinely focus on children’s needs or develop plans which contain clear outcomes.
- Focused work to develop services to address the needs that have emerged and to develop multi-agency mechanisms for
assessment, planning, and review will need to be central to any future strategy.
To read the report in full please click on this
PDF (393 KB).
To read the Learning Development & Support Services Education Welfare Case File Audit Project Report and Recommendations
login to the members area.
Independent Safeguarding Authority
Stakeholders Newsletter inside this issue Direct Communications Campaigns, What the Papers Say... .
Latest Guidance from DCSF on
Ensuring Children's Right to Education
This guidance Ensuring Children's Right to Education replaces the 2003 edition 'Ensuring Regular School Attendance'.
It provides information on the measures available under the law for ensuring regular school attendance in England. It
explains:
- Roles and responsibilities of parents, schools and local authorities;
- The law relating to school attendance;
- The range of legal interventions available to the authority and, in some circumstances, to the school;
- The procedure for bringing a prosecution against a parent who has failed to ensure their child's regular school attendance; and
- What happens at the court hearing and the sentencing options available to the court in the event that the parent is found guilty.
Download your copy
Ensuring Children's Right to Education (575KB).
For more
information from the DCFS.
Truancy
In addition to the articles on truancy here on the 
website you can review more truancy resources
on the teachernet website.
Integrated Qualification Framework
Read the latest
6th Newsletter from CWDC (407KB).
- Annual Conference 27th February 2008
- Putting Children high up the Governments Agenda
- An update of IQF Activity
- FAQs
