Professional trust and relationships in Children's Hearings.

Kurlus, Indiya; Rogon, Paul; Henderson, Gillian; Woods, Ruth

Abstract

This is one of a series of reports on research on the effectiveness of Compulsory Supervision Orders where the child remains at home with their parents (home CSOs). This report explores the impact of the dynamics in a Children’s Hearing between those involved in it. Effective decision making in child protection is a complex issue, and one with significant implications for achieving good outcomes for children. It is widely accepted that good professional relationships are essential in child protection – where agencies work together, the best decisions and outcomes for the child are realised. Previous studies have found that professional respect and trust can impact on the effectiveness of decision making in Hearings. This research explores this further from the perspectives of those in the Hearing (Children’s Panel Members, Children’s Reporters, social workers and parents), and from data on Hearings decisions and reasons. In focus groups, social workers described how they felt that their professionalism was not always respected and their reports not taken fully into account by Panel Members. There was also a more general view amongst practitioners in this research that safeguarders have disproportionate influence on decision making by Hearings. These perceptions were not fully borne out when children’s cases were examined. In almost all cases Hearings’ decisions agreed with the social work or multi-agency recommendations. The perception that Hearings do not always focus on or trust social worker’ assessments and recommendations in making decisions is of long standing and has been repeatedly found in research. This perception is therefore very real for professionals, especially social workers. This research shows that the level of trust placed on the information (both written and verbal) considered in Hearings decision making is heavily dependent on the professional relationships between practitioners, particularly between social workers and Panel Members. It is also very dependent on the format and quality of reports presented to Hearings. The findings are not unique to Hearings decisions on home CSOs and, as found in previous studies, illustrate a wider issue in the Hearings System on perceptions of trust and respect between different practitioners and the evidence they provide to support decision making.

Citation

KURLUS, I., ROGON, P., HENDERSON, G. et al. 2019. Professional trust and relationships in Children's Hearings. Home compulsory supervision orders: effectiveness of decision making and outcomes, Report 4. Stirling: SCRA [online]. Available from: https://www.scra.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Report-4-Trust-and-relationships.pdf

• Report Type: Research Report
• Online Publication Date: Mar 31, 2019
• Publication Date: Mar 31, 2019
• Deposit Date: Mar 7, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 7, 2022
• Publisher: Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA)
• Series Title: Home compulsory supervision orders: effectiveness of decision making and outcomes
• Series Number: Report 4
• Keywords: Compulsory supervision orders (CSO); Children's hearing; Child protection; Agencies; Decision making
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1615480
• Publisher URL: https://www.scra.gov.uk/resources_articles_category/research/
• Related Public URLs: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1602865; https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1602887 ; https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1602912; https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1615514; https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1352089