Why?

Not all children and young people knew who their social worker was. There were comments from children in the Bright Spots report such as, “You know everything about us and we know nothing about you.” These introductory cards were one of the approaches that North Somerset took to improve this.

What?

The Local Authority produced small introductory cards that were easily edited. They ask social workers to: put a drawing, picture, or a photo and three things about themselves that they are happy to share on the card (e.g. my favourite colour is, my pet is…).

The social worker’s contact details are also added. This intervention was quick and simple to implement. Because of staff turnover for the impact to be maintained it needs to become embedded in policy and practice.

Impact

The following year the Bright Spots survey was repeated in North Somerset. There was an increase in the percentage of children who knew who their worker was.

It worked really well and the results the following year showed that we’d made fantastic impact.

Service Leader