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In January 2015, Leeds received confirmation that it had been successful in bidding for Innovations funding from the Department of Education to expand its work on restorative practice to a scale not previously seen in the UK. Family Valued sought to increase the scale and speed of the implementation of restorative practice, and to target the work where it was most needed; namely, in local area clusters where the demand for social work services was high, and for families who were experiencing domestic abuse.
The ambition of Family Valued was to embed restorative practice further across the children’s workforce; beyond local authority children’s services and into partner agencies across the city, with the recognition that their practitioners play a key role in preventative approaches and the culture change we wanted to see. The programme expanded access to the three levels of restorative practice training; opening up awareness training for a vast number of practitioners, from child minders to police officers, whilst offering deep dive training to practitioners going into homes or settings and having regular contact with vulnerable families – including colleagues in health and third sector organisations. The programme also expanded the availability of Train the Trainer courses to create a pool of highly-skilled multi-agency professionals equipped to train their colleagues in restorative practices and thus ensure the sustainability of the programme.
In addition to the wider training offer, Family Valued targeted its efforts where it could have the most impact; on the six ‘high need’ locality-based cluster areas which, collectively, contributed around 50% of the total demand for social work services in Leeds. Each area was offered support to establish Restorative Clusters, which included tailored multi-agency deep dive restorative practice training as well as dedicated Family Group Conference co-ordinator and social worker time to facilitate the implementation of restorative practice. This targeted approach delivered impressive results; the external Family Valued evaluation found that, over the lifetime of the programme, the average reduction in the Child in Need caseload in these areas was 6.5%, compared to a citywide average of 1.2%.
The impact of the programme as a whole was significant, with the evaluation noting the following in relation to creating the conditions for restorative social work:
However, what means more to us than external evaluations is the feedback we receive from families in Leeds. Our Family Group Conference service user groups tell us how social work approaches have improved since the introduction of restorative practice and FGCs, and we now have a culture where more parents believe that we will help them and are approaching us for support. Parents are contacting our senior leaders to share their experiences, and are invited to talk to social worker directly at our annual Celebrating Social Work conference.
However, what means more to us than external evaluations is the feedback we receive from families in Leeds. Our Family Group Conference service user groups tell us how social work approaches have improved since the introduction of restorative practice and FGCs, and we now have a culture where more parents believe that we will help them and are approaching us for support. Parents are contacting our senior leaders to share their experiences, and are invited to talk to social worker directly at our annual Celebrating Social Work conference.
The most recent Ofsted inspection in Leeds, under the Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) framework judged Leeds to be outstanding for overall effectiveness, the impact of leaders on social work practice and the experiences and progress of children in need of help and protection. It confirmed that Leeds’s commitment to restorative practice remains strong and effective:
Restorative practice is well understood by all staff and partners, and the vision set by senior leaders impacts at all levels. The workforce is motivated and committed to ensuring that this is translated into practice with families. (Ofsted ILACS, November 2018)
The large-scale – and ongoing – rollout of restorative practice awareness sessions across the city, from Family Valued and beyond, doesn’t mean that our work on restorative practice is finished, but it does mean that there is a baseline of knowledge and understanding of restorative practice across Leeds.