Performing ‘initial assessment’: identifying the latent conditions for error at the front-door of local authority children’s services

Broadhurst, K.; Wastell, D.; White, S.; Hall, C.; Peckover, S.; Thompson, K.; Pithouse, A.; Davey., D.

Abstract

This article draws attention to the faulty design elements at the front-door of children's local authority services, arguing that current attempts to increase safety, through the formalization of organizational procedures and their enactment by IT systems, may have had the contrary effect. We argue that the analysis of errors in organizational settings should focus on immanent systemic weaknesses, particularly the ‘latent conditions’ for error that generally increase the risk of failure. Reporting the findings from a two-year ESRC-funded ethnographic study, and examining the local adaptations of practice arising in the performance context of the ‘modernized’ front-door of children's services, we draw attention to the short-cuts that the current configuration of the initial assessment system appears to necessitate, given the immutable timescales and excessive audit requirements. New modes of governance can clearly play a central role in error management, but the design of an effective system needs to be based on the needs of users and on a thorough understanding of their working practices.

Citation

Broadhurst, K., Wastell, D., White, S., Hall, C., Peckover, S., Thompson, K., …Davey., D. (2010). Performing ‘initial assessment’: identifying the latent conditions for error at the front-door of local authority children’s services. The British Journal of Social Work, 40(2), 352-370. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcn162

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Feb 17, 2011
• Journal: British Journal of Social Work
• Print ISSN: 0045-3102
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-263X
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 40
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 352-370
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcn162
• Keywords: Initial assessment, Child welfare, Error, Latent conditions, Performance management.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1511153