Developing a measurement pathway for Dorset's Reducing Parental Conflict Programme

Developing a measurement pathway for Dorset’s Reducing Parental Conflict Programme

Summary

Dorset Council embarked on a project to create a comprehensive measurement pathway for their Reducing Parental Conflict Programme, in response to an audit that highlighted the challenges practitioners face when assessing parental conflict. By collaborating with stakeholders, experts and local services, Dorset successfully developed a pathway that balances ease of use with depth of information. Looking ahead, the council plans to integrate this pathway into their assessment systems, ensuring practitioners have essential measurement tools and resources at their disposal. Ongoing collaboration with training teams and regular progress monitoring will further support implementation.

The starting point

In December 2022, an audit revealed that practitioners in Dorset lacked formal tools for assessing parental conflict, and as a result of this, reported a lack of confidence in managing families where parental conflict is present. Practitioners also reported facing additional challenges when supporting families with increasingly complex needs.

The audit indicated that it was common for parental conflict not to be detected until it had reached a crisis point when it was more challenging for practitioners to manage. There was a need to ensure practitioners’ plans were accurately targeted and proportionate to families’ needs.

Dorset Council aimed to address these challenges by providing practitioners with tools and resources to:

  1. Capture the voice of families: Enable practitioners to better understand family dynamics and identify causes of parental conflict
  2. Track progress: Allow practitioners to share positive news with parents and address sticking points openly
  3. Boost practitioner confidence: Improve practitioner confidence in using evidence-based measurement tools to identify appropriate parental conflict support.

Overview and objectives

The project aimed to develop a robust measurement framework to empower practitioners to make informed decisions regarding conflict assessment, and in doing so facilitate the linking of families to appropriate support and relationship interventions to maximise the chance of positive outcomes. The project also sought to enhance data collection on outcomes to support the rationale for having a robust measurement framework. The key objectives were:

  1. Definition and consistency: Introduce clear definitions and consistent guidelines for assessing and measuring conflict. This will help practitioners align their understanding and approach
  2. Responsive tools: Develop a suite of validated measurement tools that are responsive to the needs of families and the practitioners working with them
  3. Sustainability: Create a framework that equips the workforce with the necessary access to measurement tools and resources for the medium to long term
  4. Evidence outcomes: support the workforce to use the measurement framework to improve family assessments and evidence outcomes.

 

Action taken

Following the audit, Dorset Council have been scoping and exploring assessment tools suitable for their RPC programme. They collaborated with key stakeholders and researchers both in the UK and beyond to assemble a collection of the most useful tools for family support workers when assessing parental conflict. These measurement tools then underwent practical testing with selected workers and families, practitioners would then provide us with feedback about what worked well and what could be improved, one example of this was the request for electronic assessments that would automatically calculate scoring or provide feedback on suggested interventions in response to scores.

In late 2023, Dorset received support from Foundations and Anna Freud, leading to the collaborative development of a proportionate measurement pathway. The aim of the pathway was to provide a concise and simple framework to improve practitioner decision-making and identification of parental conflict while ensuring parents were supported with appropriate resources and interventions.

A period of testing the pathway with practitioners took place, with a focus on: the appropriateness of the tools available; ease of their use; and practitioner understanding of the level of conflict; and any potential impacts on family life and children.

Key learning points

  • Expert partnerships: Partnering with evaluation experts helped to develop a clear assessment framework, making it easier for practitioners to identify the appropriate ones to use.
  • Stakeholder engagement: Collaboration with colleagues across Children’s Services, selected schools, and the Family Hub network ensured diverse perspectives and practical testing.
  • Direct family involvement: Families participated in testing and refining the pathway, ensuring it resonated with their experiences.
  • Outcome data: Dorset Council have found that one of the main benefits of the introduction of this assessment pathway is that it is allows us to examine the impact an intervention may have with a family, this will allow Dorset Council to offer support that is tailored for our families circumstances.

The future

By addressing the initial gaps and continuously refining their approach, Dorset Council is now well positioned to support practitioners in effectively reducing parental conflict. A number of key next steps have been identified by the council’s Children’s Services to:

  • Integrate this pathway into its assessment systems, ensuring practitioners have essential measurement tools and resources at their disposal
  • Collaborate with its training teams to support use of the tool and its effective implementation across Family Help, Child Protection, and external partners with an early help role
  • Regularly monitor the use of the pathway and the associated tools and resources to ensure practitioners are still confident using them and are using them appropriately
  • Continue to gather data on the use of parental conflict and relationship interventions, including successful intervention completions and outcomes.
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Author(s): Michael Taylor, Reducing Parental Conflict Coordinator at Dorset Council, with support from the Anna Freud Centre

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