Abstract
BackgroundSerious case reviews and research studies have indicated weaknesses in risk assessments conducted by child protection social workers. Social workers are adept at gathering information but struggle with analysis and assessment of risk. The Department for Education wants to know if the use of a structured decision-making tool can improve child protection assessments of risk.Methods/designThis multi-site, cluster-randomised trial will assess the effectiveness of the Safeguarding Children Assessment and Analysis Framework (SAAF). This structured decision-making tool aims to improve social workers’ assessments of harm, of future risk and parents’ capacity to change. The comparison is management as usual.Inclusion criteria: Children’s Services Departments (CSDs) in England willing to make relevant teams available to be randomised, and willing to meet the trial’s training and data collection requirements.Exclusion criteria: CSDs where there were concerns about performance; where a major organisational restructuring was planned or under way; or where other risk assessment tools were in use.Six CSDs are participating in this study. Social workers in the experimental arm will receive 2 days training in SAAF together with a range of support materials, and access to limited telephone consultation post-training.The primary outcome is child maltreatment. This will be assessed using data collected nationally on two key performance indicators: the first is the number of children in a year who have been subject to a second Child Protection Plan (CPP); the second is the number of re-referrals of children because of related concerns about maltreatment.Secondary outcomes are: i) the quality of assessments judged against a schedule of quality criteria and ii) the relationship between the three assessments required by the structured decision-making tool (level of harm, risk of (re)abuse and prospects for successful intervention).DiscussionThis is the first study to examine the effectiveness of SAAF. It will contribute to a very limited literature on the contribution that structured decision-making tools can make to improving risk assessment and case planning in child protection and on what is involved in their effective implementation.Trial registrationISRCTN 45137562 15 July 2014.
Highlights
Serious case reviews and research studies have indicated weaknesses in risk assessments conducted by child protection social workers
It will contribute to a very limited literature on the contribution that structured decision-making tools can make to improving risk assessment and case planning in child protection and on what is involved in their effective implementation
The study was commissioned by the government department responsible for children’s social care; they are keen to adopt robust standards of evidence, but are relatively inexperienced in commissioning randomised trials, one consequence of which is that the timetable set has proved extremely challenging; for example, the need to develop the logic model underpinning the Safeguarding Children Assessment and Analysis Framework (SAAF) had not been identified at the commissioning, resulting in subsequent delays to the original timetable
Summary
Staff in children’s social care in England have limited understanding of randomised trials, or experiencing of participating in them. One of the challenges inherent in this trial is that staff turnover is significant in most CSDs, and many rely on agency staff, but those are the realities of children’s social care at the present time. This is the first study to examine the effectiveness of SAAF. JG provided methodological advice, commented on the protocol draft and is Chair of the Trial Steering Committee.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
