David Brindle, London, 2 Apr 2020<\/p>\n
Face-to-face visits are integral to social work practice, but the coronavirus crisis has reduced contact with at-risk children<\/em><\/p>\n W<\/span><\/span>hen Kate* went to do an initial child protection assessment<\/a> the other day, she had to see the youngster in the garden. \u201cThey didn\u2019t really understand what was going on, they were cold and they didn\u2019t want to talk,\u201d she says. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t very effective.\u201d<\/p>\n At least Kate, a 32-year-old children and families social worker, got to see the child who had been referred to her local authority in the south-west of England. Other social workers report that the coronavirus crisis has reduced their contact with at-risk children to a WhatsApp call, or being shown them at a safe distance on the doorstep by parents who say they are self-isolating or are anxious about infection.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a deeply unsatisfactory state of affairs that is alarming social workers across the country. \u201cThere are four families on my books \u2013 10 children in all \u2013 where, however hard I try, I really can\u2019t know that the children are safe,\u201d says Kirsty, a senior practitioner with a council in the Midlands. \u201cIf it all goes Pete Tong, who is going to be accountable?\u201d<\/p>\n Face-to-face contact is integral to social workers\u2019 practice. The coronavirus lockdown has left children and families specialists, as well as those working with vulnerable adults, without any national rules or advice on how to adapt their approach to ensure even minimal safeguards when contact is limited.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fundamental problem is that there is no public health guidance for social work,\u201d says Ruth Allen, chief executive of the British Association of Social Workers<\/a> (BASW). \u201cThere\u2019s also a concern that this situation may enable some families to put up barriers. But it\u2019s the social worker\u2019s job to overcome those barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n Kate\u2019s authority is still requiring her and her \u2018front-door\u2019 colleagues to make visits to follow-up referrals, even though other services such as family support have stopped.<\/p>\n