Introduction

The Digital Toolkit is a collection of ideas and tools for anyone to use. It contains a selection of methods and approaches to explore digital, hybrid and personal interactions with young people, their families and carers, and can be used with a range of ages, abilities, ethnicity and language skills. The Digital Toolkit can be used to expand your confidence and skills in using digital practices.

The Digital Toolkit was developed by the practitioners, young people and parents who participated in developing this resource, along with open access resources sourced online or used with permission, and directly references the work of Professor Harry Ferguson, Dr Laura Kelly (both University of Birmingham) and Professor Sarah Pink (Monash University) from their ESRC-funded Child protection and social distancing research over 2021-22.

We would like to add to this collection over time, so if you have resources you would like Research in Practice to share, please send them to: choosingdigital@researchinpractice.org.uk

To make best use of the Digital Toolkit, you may want to read the Role of the Practitioner and How to Meet Tool sections beforehand.

Role of the Practitioner How to Meet Tool

Parents and carers can find more information in our Parent / Carer area.

Parent / Carer area

Hearing the young person

Being creative with film

Some young people have been making short videos (either independently or with their worker) to share their views at decision-making meetings. Being able to think about what they want to say in advance feels empowering for both young people and their parents or carers.

Think about...

other ways to encourage families to feel empowered

Being led by the child

“My most successful Zoom was with a new case ... the mum thought he [young child] really wasn’t going to engage with me but … I introduced myself and showed him some of my teddies and tried to just engage in that way and he actually really opened up in the end … it gave me that opportunity to have a better conversation with him without overloading or confusing him really.” *

Preparing and planning means you can support children and young people to lead the interaction

Being creative with online space

Social care workers describe how the pandemic situation encouraged them to be both creative and curious in the ways they engaged with young people

“We (a social care organisation) created a website for young people and set a creative challenge each week where they anonymously added songs, poems and pictures that best described their experiences and feelings. Giving them space to express themselves in their own time enabled us to see a different view of the young people we work with.”

Children’s Society’s cards for connection

Being curious to increase understanding

“It was little things, like the youngest of them, she really did make me chuckle, she put her phone on the chest of drawers in the bedroom so that you could see the bed and...was trying to do backwards rolls and handstands...[It gave me]... a different perspective...of what life was like for them, was really quite good.” *

Hearing the young person

Being creative with film

Think about...

other ways to encourage families to feel empowered

Being creative with online space

Being led by the child

Preparing and planning means you can support children and young people to lead the interaction

Being curious to increase understanding

Children’s Society’s cards for connection

Power dynamics

Working with family preferences

Some families would prefer some of the work to be done virtually. If virtual results in the best quality of engagement, or if they need a longer introduction to social care, this can work really well. You can set expectations about when and why you might need to visit physically. Parents then feel they have choices which can enable positive relationships.

Power balance

Many families feel they have more control when meeting virtually, however, if they are the only people joining virtually in a larger meeting then the opposite can be true, often feeling they have very little control or influence.

Accommodating availability

“I needed to speak to a parent, and we couldn’t co-ordinate a time that suited her, around her work arrangements and my availability. … So we agreed a videocall, which is something that I would never have done before, I would have just waited until they were available...there’s no reason why it can’t be a videocall, if that works for everybody. I’ve become more confident in doing that.” *

Building relationships

Don't rush

Building a relationship, in-person or virtually takes time. The initial stages may take longer, so think about starting by getting to know each other, not asking too many questions, or filling in forms. Be willing to share a little about yourself as well.

Accelerating trust

Relationship building and forming of trust can be accelerated with a blended approach, direct visits complemented with virtual/digital interaction.

“Having an initial meeting through Teams or Skype has been a good way of getting to know people and has made the first visit easier.” (Early Help)

Deepr’s Framework for human connection

Digital intimacy

“We learned of many instances of ‘digital intimacy’ being generated through WhatsApp video calls and the use of other digital platforms. This included engaging younger children in playful activities and getting up close to the camera when communicating with babies. In video recordings between social workers and mothers, phones were often held close to faces, and conversations tended to focus on mothers’ feelings, with the empathetic but guiding frames offered by social workers as they structured and sensed their way through conversations which sought to, for instance, boost mothers’ confidence”. *

“So far [during the Covid-19 pandemic] since social services involvement we have started communicating better and since then I think we managed to have a good understanding and things are 2-300% better than it was. … The social workers never visited in person. They came on video WhatsApp and talked to us a lot, and gave a lot of advice, such as if things get heated, somebody has to walk out and not come back until you feel calm. … It was good I think, they were very helpful, very observant of what’s around and how the baby is behaving, looking for any stress, it was good, it was very helpful.” *

Deepr’s Framework for human connection

Being prepared

The importance of planning

“We found that practitioners needed to put some planning into virtual visits. Initially, they were very ‘tick-boxy’, but when senior management looked at the quality of visits it was really evident that those consisting of a planned piece of virtual direct work were much more useful.”

Have a Plan B

You need a Plan B if using digital technology i.e. telephone numbers ready should the connection fail.

Think about...

Making contact meaningful

“ I observed/supervised a family contact where mum was giving her son a music lesson - really lovely! Less intrusive, gives you a different view of a family, they feel less 'judged'.”

Making technology work

The young people we spoke to said that their social care workers need to have better digital skills, understand the platforms available and how to navigate them. And their organisations need to give them devices that work for the activities they want to undertake.

Think about...

What is your organisation is doing to support you to be prepared for successful digital practice?

Considering purpose

Consider the intended purpose of meetings when deciding if they can be successfully moved online. The support needs of some individuals or groups could be better met without having to travel, or by enabling a more rapid response by social care workers. However, meetings that provide respite might function less successfully:

“Young Carers go to the Young Carers events in the evenings, like respite. Actually if you’re doing the video call to that young person at home in the evening that’s not respite, that is not even a change of scenery for them, is it? ....We need to acknowledge the emotional impact that that’s going to be having on them.” *

Strengths-based working in digital meetings Best practice in virtual meetings

Improve your digital skills PSDP: Digital by default?

Being flexible

Adapting resources:

“We’ve adapted some of our conference rooms so that they have screens for virtual meetings, we’ve used them for case conferences and for court hearings. The flexibility means we can be responsive to parents and young people, whilst reducing delay in the system.”

Virtual contact: unexpected opportunities

Using hybrid methods in case conferences:

“We are making sure that parents and young people feel supported in virtual decision-making meetings through a hybrid approach. The Meeting Chair and practitioner can be with them in the same physical space, whilst other professionals attend by video call. This means you have the emotional connection with the family whilst observing the nuances of family interaction. Other professionals, who may not be able to attend an in-person meeting, now have the opportunity to contribute to the discussion and decision-making.”

Virtual contact: unexpected opportunities

Being open

Digital presence

Screens can act as magnifiers or filters. Understanding how you come across online and the impact you have can be tricky to work out – ask the parents and young people you work with for feedback and talk to colleagues about your digital presence so you can understand your impact and manage your responses.

Being transparent

Sharing your screen during direct work sessions with parents is useful as they can see exactly what you are noting down. This adds a level of transparency to working with parents and opens up the conversation, as you both may have questions what has been noted down.

Conveying attentiveness

“So in terms of reading body language, I tend to turn off the big screen so that only the person who’s talking appears, then I’m not conscious of me, or if other people are looking at me, or what they’re thinking about me. I’m just focused on the person who’s talking, and my reactions are appropriate to what I’m supposed to be concentrating on.” *

“I thought quite a lot about the fact that it’s...put us on a kind of more equal…power. Because I am in my home, they are in their home...Of course they still don’t know where I live but they are seeing me in my home...and I have certainly disclosed a lot more to other people about my family and my circumstances in lockdown and on Zoom than I ever have before.”*

Providing support

Responsive support

“Using Microsoft Teams allows us to provide more immediate responses to foster carers and young people.”

Reflective digital space

Using breakout rooms can provide spaces for reflection and time out during emotional virtual meetings.

Think ahead

Can you provide the level of required support? For example, people may leave virtual meetings upset and you may not be able to get back in touch with them. This can mean that emotional conversations end abruptly and aren’t dealt with at the time.

Partnerships

“We used lockdown to develop partnerships with youth work services and they now routinely work with our Looked After Cohort on a longer term basis and we get really positive feedback from young people about it.”

Making support less intrusive

“We been successfully using Microsoft Teams for Family Support Workers to connect with families, helping to establish morning, evening and weekend routines.”

Adapting to digital support

Many social care workers can now incorporate technologies such as video calls and video diaries into the support they offer. Many parents find digital interactions helpful, although may need support in using the technology. Practitioners should be sensitive to the specific needs and preferences of the people they’re working with.

Digital support does work well for many young people and their families, but in different ways, at different times.

Maximising the benefits of digital social work involves nuanced professional judgement – there is no one-size-fits-all model.

Virtual as a space safe

Resistant, avoidant or frightened?

Parents can be resistant to working with social care for all sorts of reasons. Virtual communication can be a first step in working with parents who have historically been avoidant or resistant.

Make it easy to communicate

“Some young people don't want to say things face-to-face - digital allows them to communicate with you without saying it out loud and without being in the same room as you which can help make them more comfortable. It’s like car journeys when you aren’t looking at each other, it’s easier to share the information you feel uncomfortable sharing.”

Virtual Life Story work

“We’ve used virtual meetings to do life story work with young people. Not being in the same room has meant that young people feel more in control of their emotions, as they are in a familiar place (where they live), and are more able to explore complex life experiences.”

Children with disabilities

Convenience

Children with disabilities and their parents can often attend meetings more easily if the meetings are virtual, removing the need and complexities of travelling.

Sharing techniques

Children with disabilities social care workers use strategies and techniques that could potentially be shared to support online work with other groups that struggle to communicate digitally, particularly younger children (e.g. symbol cards to aid communication).

Don't assume

Some young people will not be able to engage at all with virtual activities, while other young people may find it much easier to engage virtually. Don’t assume that you you should always or never use digital with them – we’re all different.

“I think there are occasions that we can do things very similar to how we would be doing it in person and I think again that comes down to having that relationship. I had a nice virtual interaction with a family where we re-enacted the Gruffalo using teddies, but I think there are also times when you can’t. Some children in particular are quite capable so you can have those verbal conversations with them whereas some...aren’t as capable... so they’re basically just looking at a screen and they struggle with attention for more than two or three minutes...so I guess it depends what family it is as to how it impacts and what we can do differently.”*

The tech

Develop digital champions

Think about how you can utilise the digital skills and abilities within your workforce by identifying ‘superusers’ who can advise others. You could also engage the young people you work with to help you do this.

Adapting to digital engagement

Organisations need to decide which selection of platforms to use and approve, and provide clear guidance around who they are most suitable for and when they are most useful. These platforms should result in providing a breadth of options for communication. Remember the need to be flexible!

What works for you

“The Mind of My Own app has worked really well for our young people.”

“The Mind of My Own app hasn’t been used by our young people.”

Think about your context when making decisions about using technology and apps and make decisions that work for your area, your organisation and your young people. It’s important to remember that successful uptake of tech will also depend on how it’s introduced (training, support, etc).

Adapting to digital engagement

Wellbeing

During the pandemic we had to change our work spaces and the ways we interact with each other and with families. This added a lot of stress to already stressful jobs, which is not sustainable over the longer term.

As we move from ‘virtual by emergency’ to planned hybrid working practices using ‘digital by design’, keep focusing on self-care and making sure you take screen breaks, get outside every day, and have regular contact with your peers and line manager.

Many organisations are developing new ways to support workforce wellbeing. Visit the Role of the Organisation section to find out more (currently under construction).

Virtual meetings and wellbeings Creating thinking spaces

Embedding digital practice: The digital toolkit

Introduction