In 2010/11 Professor Eileen Munro reviewed the English children’s services system and found organizations and workers had become over-bureaucratized and compliance driven at the expense of direct work with families, parents and children. Following the recommendations of the Munro review, the UK government launched a Children’s Services Innovations programme which, amongst other things, has financed the development of a new app for social workers to use in their practice with children and families.
 
Developed in Western Australia and designed with children’s services practitioners in UK, USA and Australia, the My Three Houses App offers a tool that taps into children’s love of all things iPad and encourages them to speak about what is happening in their life.
 
The three houses tool was first conceived in New Zealand in 2003 and since then has been used by social workers all over the globe to place the voice of the child at the centre of child protection assessment and planning. I've blogged about using the analogue version here. This app brings the tool into the digital realm.

There's video...

and a drawing pad for children.

​I think it's fantastic!

Download it now from the App Store or Google Play

​The national social work evidence template (SWET) was launched in summer 2014 and all local authorities were encouraged to adopt it when submitting to court evidence to support and application for a care or supervision order. Its aim was to support local authority social workers in providing consistent and analytical court statements, in line with the Public Law Outline which requires succinct, clear social work analysis.
 
Following consultation, a review of the template and supporting documents was undertaken by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) which has resulted in the launch of a new updated social work evidence template.
 
So, what’s changed?

1. The accompanying guidance has been simplified and incorporated into the template
2. The templates thenselves have also been simplified
3. The final analysis template now uses the same headings as the basic template
4. The two relevant welfare checklists as set out in the Children Act 1989 and the Adoption and Children Act 2002 has been incorporated for ease of reference.

 
Social Work Evidence Template (revised February 2016)
Social Work Evidence Template – Final Evidence (revised February 2016)