Signs of Safety Toolkit
The Toolkit
We need a range of practice tools to support our assessment and helping work at all stages of ‘Right Help, Right Time’ Delivering effective support for children and families in Birmingham. Practitioners will be using a range of assessment tools and these might vary between agencies. In line with ‘Right Help, Right Time,’ assessment tools help us to develop relationships with families, and help us to support families to resolve worries and address needs. However, one of the challenges in our work is when we are worried that the family might have additional or complex or significant needs. What do we use to help our decision making in these cases? We need a way to share our practice thinking with families and across agencies and in our conversations about referring to agency partners when this happens. The Signs of Safety and Wellbeing approach can help us do both. The toolkit offers a range of practice tools that help us build respectful relationships with families, help us to assess need, risk, harm, well-being and safety and provides us a way to share our analysis with families and partners in a range of settings like family support, health, schools, MASH and social care.
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Key Questions and Considerations This document outlines the four key Signs of Safety and Wellbeing Assessment questions and also outlines things you should consider when you are writing:
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Safety and Wellbeing Scale Example strength and scaling questions that help you to talk about what you see on a scale of 10 to 0, where 10, is wellbeing is at its highest and 0, when wellbeing and safety is a concern. |
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Early Help Conversation Tool A tool for you to fill in, that helps you start an early help conversation. Early Help Conversation Tool guidance
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The Three columns A tool for you to use and fill in, as you start to plan, write and analyse:
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The Three houses A visual tool for working with children, helping children to think about what is in their:
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EARS Process A tool to help turn questions into conversations, covering strengths, worries and goals |
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Other Toolkit components
| Family tree/ genogram |
A visual drawing of family and extended family Who is there, who is missing, who is important, meaningful and helpful, who might not be |
| Eco-map |
A visual drawing of the relationships we have with organisations, people who work there and social networks What is in place (eg GP, school); who works there, who might we need to add and include? |
| Wellbeing circles |
A visual tool for plotting out the people who help improve the child’s wellbeing Highlights, visually, who does what to help improve wellbeing |
| Safety circles |
A visual tool for plotting out the people who help improve the child’s safety today and in the near future Highlights, visually, who does what to help improve safety |
| Other tools that are already helpful |
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