Inspectors have hailed the impact of the family safeguarding model in helping a council move from 'good' to 'outstanding', in a report this week.
Ofsted credited the approach for enhancing the quality of practice and supervision, helping parents gain insight into the impact of negative behaviours on their children and enabling families to stay together.
Bracknell Forest implemented the model - pioneered in Hertfordshire - in 2017, with government funding, and a 2020 evaluation found the numbers of child protection plans and looked-after children had subsequently fallen in the Berkshire authority.
The model involves placing domestic abuse, substance use and mental health practitioners in multi-disciplinary teams with children's social workers, to enable them to work with parents in tackling the root causes of their children's needs and risks, including through the use of motivational interviewing. The workers also share regular group supervision sessions.
