MSCB Pilot of SCIE Systems Approach
Context In Britain, there is a long history of case reviews into child deaths, aimed at finding out how the tragedy occurred and learning lessons for the future. These case reviews,however, tend not to dispel the public’s bafflement. After conducting an extensive inquiry into the care provided to Victoria Climbié, Lord Laming concluded that he ‘remained amazed that nobody in any of the key agencies had the presence of mind to follow what are relatively straightforward procedures on how to respond to a child about whom there are concerns about deliberate harm.’When case reviews leave such amazement at poor practice unexplained, the amazement quickly turns to anger and condemnation of those involved. It is hard to believe that a motivated, well-meaning, competent worker could act this way, so the tendency is to conclude that it must be the result of stupidity, malice, laziness or incompetence. This is bad for public confidence and also for staff morale. In children’s services, it is reasonable to assume that most people come to work each day wanting to help children, not to allow them to be harmed. So better explanations are required as to why things go wrong and, indeed, why, more often, they go right. The systems approach to case reviews is explicitly designed to address these ‘why’ questions. At the present time MSCB is carrying out a pilot case review using the SCIE systems approach. The following resources provide further information for anyone involved in the process.
Learning together to safeguard children: developing a multi-agency systems approach for case reviews - Full guide
Learning together to safeguard children: a ‘systems’ model for case reviews - At a glance guidance
Social Care TV: Safeguarding children: a new approach to case reviews - short film (click here to watch streaming version on the SCIE website)