Our Vision
Whole-system Supported Practice that Changes Outcomes for Families
Our vision of practice that changes outcomes for vulnerable children and their families as well shifts as the professionally controlled culture of children’s services is practice that:
Enables children’s services agencies to deliver all their services with a rigorous focus on child well-being, belonging and safety. This occurs within agencies that set up their practice, procedures, structures and culture so the practitioners can do everything possible to put parents, children and everyone naturally connected to the children at the centre of the assessment, decision making, planning and action. Families are provided with every opportunity to come up with and apply their solutions before professionals offer or impose theirs.
Full involvement of family and network is always pursued whether the child lives within or outside their family and kin. Everything possible is done so the child knows they belong to their family, culture and community of origin. This is connection is sustained throughout children's services involvement whether a few weeks or for the entirety of their life as a child.
Practice that is genuinely participatory is created by practitioners fully engaged with the family.
Since child protection agencies easily become defensive, are under resourced, over regulated and often utilise a confusing mix of practice models, practitioners can often feel they should protect the agency and themselves rather than risk collaborating authentically with families.
Practitioners want to work alongside children, parents and the family’s network. To do this consistently, practitioners need the support of an organisation that aligns its systems, supervision, partnerships, leadership and culture to the participatory practice in wants specified for that agency’s unique context and case practice workflow.
We think about this organisational work through this implementation framework:
Procedures and systems, including the management system together with organisational culture and risk appetite hold more influence over what practitioners can do than practice models. Aligning an organisation with the practice the agency wants is challenging and continuous work, which is why the implementation framework is an infinity loop. The key to success is to stick to it.
Key aspects of an implementation journey involves:
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Including practitioners in choosing a practice approach that makes sense to them
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The organisation being clear about what it wants to achieve in choosing that framework (the common unstated goal of children’s services agencies is to keep itself safe)
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Train all staff and partners in the approach recognising this is only the beginning of the implementation learning journey
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Wrap continuous learning processes around the application of the practice approach
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Align performance measures, leadership, policy, recording systems, funding arrangements, and guidance with the practice approach. This takes time and sustained attention
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Analyse as a whole organisation what’s working and what’s not and adjust both the organisational arrangements and the practice approach to secure the desired outcomes
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Stick to it! It’s a continuous learning journey.
These are the aspirations and the thinking that underpins our work. We also know that without clear methods of enacting these ideas and vision nothing really will change.
Our Offer
The Turnell Plus offer to children’s services is always grounded in methods within the implementation framework and vision of participatory practice we have just described. Our work involves walking alongside the agency and its staff over a set period of time assisting the organisation in its service delivery and in all aspects of the implementation to support the practice it wants.
We would welcome the opportunity working with your children’s service agency in this way.