8.30am: I log on with a cup of tea by my side and read through my emails and notifications.
9.15am: We have a team brief over Microsoft Teams. We talk through the day ahead - what needs prioritising, whether anyone needs any support, who is covering duty, scheduled child visits for the day and any reports due. As it’s Friday, we also discuss our weekend plans. I think the team believes I’m being nosey, but it is my way of checking in on them. I want to ensure they have at least one thing planned for them, to allow some respite from the job. They also seem to enjoy this team ritual and it creates a lovely dynamic.
9.45am: When the team brief ends, I stay on in case anyone has an urgent question for me. This morning a newly qualified, Josie, asks me for advice on her first child protection investigation. She wants to encourage the little boy she supports to speak. So far, whenever she asks him anything, he shuts down and shakes his head.
We talk it through and she comes up with most of the ideas of how to engage him on her own. Following our conversation, she says she feels more confident and proceeds to book a visit with the boy.
10am: I chair a strategy meeting. I haven't had much time to prepare due to my conversation with Josie. However, the family has been known to our team for three months so I know a fair bit about their situation. The meeting is about videos being shared of the children’s dad physically hurting them. The mum also alleges there is domestic abuse. The father lives outside of the family home but he is on the joint tenancy with the mum and continually threatens to return.
11am: The lead social worker and I discuss the outcome of the meeting. Fortunately, the police quickly respond to say they will be arresting the dad and bail conditions will mean he won't be able to return to the property. The practitioner plans to introduce the mum to domestic abuse charities and support and discuss the possibility of seeking legal advice.
Her concern now is to promote positive time between the dad and the children, provided the children want this. We agree on seeking their views on how they feel about this and what would help them feel safe.
11.30am: I respond to emails that have arrived throughout the morning. Two are from my manager. The first asks me to review some children’s files with missing information and the second is inquiring about timescales for a case currently in court proceedings. I review both and respond accordingly.
12noon: I take a quick lunch break.
12.30pm: I join a video call with the fostering team. A foster carer has ‘given notice’ due to their young person’s substance misuse and associated aggressive behaviour. The young person’s behaviour is not particularly surprising given his early life experiences. We reflect with the fostering team that his substance misuse is a coping mechanism - he is a vulnerable young man who needs the stability of this home.
Unfortunately, there is little that can be done to change the foster carer’s mind. We begin to discuss different options. Is he ready for semi-independent living? Could anyone in his family care for him at this time? Are there other foster homes available as an alternative?
1pm: I leave the call reflective about whether we did enough to support the foster carer and the young person. I’m mindful about everything we hear from children on the impact placement moves have on them. I also wonder how I would react if I was in the foster carer’s position and feel empathy for both them and the child.
I am also running a bit late for a supervision meeting.
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I apologise to the practitioner and we start with her personal supervision. We talk about how her workload feels, what has been the best part of the job this month and what has been the most challenging. I also check in on practical points like whether she has booked annual leave and when. Like others in my team, she tells me she hasn’t booked anything because her diary feels so busy. We reflect on how important it is that she takes a break. We then move on to case supervision.
3pm: A social worker rings me to say one of her young people has been kicked out by his mum. This has happened before because of the pair’s tumultuous relationship. We talk through what happened last time - what helped and what didn’t. We decide that she needs to visit the mum and talk things through without the son there. We ask another colleague to take the young person for a walk and a snack.
3.10pm: Another social worker rings to say the family she has tried to visit for the last three days continues not to answer the door. She is convinced they are inside as the lights are on. There are concerns around neglectful home conditions so getting into the home is crucial. I suggest she calls the parents from outside the property to query where they are and to speak with the children’s school about whether it is possible to visit them during school time. We need to make this as unintrusive as possible, and the social worker confirms the pastoral lead at school will help plan around the children’s day.
3.25pm: I start to tidy up the notes of my supervision earlier and add them to the system.
4pm: I attend an ‘allocations’ meeting, where we look at new referrals. There is some frustration as a few case files are missing various documents. I always find these meetings strange as we know so little about the children and their families, yet we need to decide who could best work with them. Usually, our decisions are based on which workers have capacity, but I try to also consider their career goals and areas of interest. For example, today I allocate a pre-birth assessment to a newly qualified practitioner who’s been wanting to work with an expectant mum.
4.45pm: I speak again to the social worker who is trying to facilitate the young boy’s return to his home. She has managed to calm the mum down, but she needs to stay for another hour or two to support the son’s return. I thank the practitioner and check whether she is comfortable staying longer. She says she’s fine and agrees to check in with me when she leaves.
5pm: I check the records system and find a conference report that has just reached my inbox but needs signing off and sending to the independent reviewing officer by 9am on Monday. I feel frustrated but reflect on the social worker’s work and realise my frustrations are misplaced. He’s worked until 7pm or 8pm every night to support a child who has newly come into care. This report will have been the last thing on his mind. So I read through it and sign it off.
6pm: I turn off my laptop but leave my phone on.
6.45pm: The social worker who stayed to support the boy’s return to his home rings. She shares her concerns that this arrangement won’t last much longer. She is confident they will be okay for tonight but says the way the mum speaks about the child is worrying. She has come close to hitting him often and is turning to alcohol regularly in response to her frustration and unhappiness. We agree to spend some of our next supervision reflecting specifically on this case.
7.10pm: I turn my phone off. It’s time to take some much needed time off.
