Bringing solutions focused practice to frontline social care in England

Abstract

The Essex Solution Focused Centre (ESFC) was tasked with providing a wraparound Solution Focused (SF) training and support provision to a cohort of Newly Qualified social workers in Essex County Council Children's Social Care, UK. The project was led by experienced social work practitioner and solution focused trainer Allegra Harrison, who designed and implemented a robust programme in which weekly SF training and support was provided throughout the year to 20 Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSW's) in frontline social care teams across Essex. Ongoing Solution Focused Supervision training and support was also provided to their Practice Educators and Team Managers. Ongoing review and evaluation of the SF provision was also implemented to ensure it was meeting the needs of the service, as well as to measure its impact on NQSW's practice and on the service as a whole. In this article we are given a tour of how this project came to be, what it looked like, how it was evaluated, the difference it made, and ponders the question of what it might lead to.