What has Changed
• At the time of the events covered by the scope of the review, TfC's children's
social work services were judged as Inadequate by Ofsted. In June 2021,
after reinspection, TfC were judged as Outstanding, a recognition of the
widespread improvements to policy and practice within the service.
• The implementation of the Signs of Safety across the SSCP has transformed
the way professionals work with families. This relationship-based practice
model focuses on areas of strength within families at the same time as
assessing risk and building meaningful safety for children and young people
• Northumbria Police have implemented Victim Contracts which are reviewed
by supervision
• Universal health services have introduced cumulative risk assessments into
practice, to be clear about the changing circumstances and risk, so that
interactions with families are not viewed in isolation. They also conduct
welfare calls to children who are cared for at home by their parents. These
calls are in addition to attendance at multi-agency meetings. Training in
relation to Hidden Males has also been undertaken across universal health
services
• During the review, work was undertaken to engage mum in the process.
Through those meetings, mum shared information, developed by an external
agency, on appropriate ways of communicating with her. All services working
with the children have been made aware of this and copies made available
to practitioners to improve communication with mum.