TRAUMA-INFORMED CHILD PROTECTION CONFERENCES

PROBLEM

This project stemmed out of the work on ChATR I had previously supported - a trauma-informed training programme for practitioners supporting children in City and Hackney.

Working with Children's Social Care in Hackney Council, the problem we faced was that professionals attending Child Protection Conferences for families they support often fail to complete reports on time, speak to the family about the process or their concerns outside of the conference, and don't directly address parents during the conference but instead read from a written paper.

This makes an already difficult process hard to engage with, makes families feel belittled or attacked, and therefore reduces the likelihood that they will engage with that professional.

SOLUTION

Specific changes to the Child Protection Conference process (pictured) that were developed and tested by practitioners and families, alongisde ChATR training for the practitioners involved in the pilot

trauma-informed child protection confere

"Taking part in the trauma-informed conference pilot has made me aware of the need to consistently try to create safe spaces. That this can be achieved in part through collaboration and offering choice."

Headteacher at a Hackney primary school

IMPACT

Following the pilot conference:

There was a 55% in how familiar professionals were with the findings of ACEs

40% more of the conference attendees agreed that parents were given time to voice their opinions during the conference

50% more of the conference attendees agreed that the children's voices and perspectives were brought into the conference

100% of professionals on the pilot said that the ChATR training they received has impacted how they work

MY ROLE

This was my design research project for my Healthcare & Design MSc, run through Imperial College and the Royal College of Art. I developed and ran the project from beginning to end, codesigning the solution with a group of women who had used their own self-reflection tools during their own psychological adjustment after breast cancer.