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We are an innovative borough driven by collaboration and innovation. Here, you don’t just work - you grow. We’re behind you every step of the way as we transform lives for our children, young people and families.

Our CARES acronym stands for: 

• Compassion: Kindness at the heart of all actions.
• Accountability: Trustworthy practice where practitioners do what they say they will.
• Respect: Valuing the lived experience of every child.
• Empowerment: Acting as a catalyst for positive change in families' lives.
• Sharing: Emphasising participation – ‘Nothing about you, without you.’

We believe that having the right practice ethos will mean that all our relationships and the outcomes for those we work to serve, will be the best possible. Please look at our CARES Practice Framework.

CARES pledge to our staff

• Recruit, induct, care for and develop our staff
• Celebrate success & attitude of gratitude, kindness and warmth
• Prioritise worker safety & wellbeing – create a happy, highly valued and resilient workforce
• Quality supervision and management oversight
• Actively tackling racism and oppressive behaviours, always celebrating difference
• Dispersed and flexible working: a secure base – availability, sensitivity, acceptance, cooperation and a sense of belonging
• Manageable caseloads and a multi-disciplinary approach to supporting social work practice 

Our pledge to children, young people and families

Our CARES Practice Framework provides a common language and approach across all teams. It is a relationship-based, strengths-focused model that guides practitioners to build effective relationships with children and families. 

For us

• Compassion means empathising with families’ experiences
• Accountability means doing what we say we will
• Respect means valuing diversity and voice
• Empowerment means supporting families to find their own solutions
• Sharing means working collaboratively and openly

By consistently applying CARES, we aim to deliver interventions that are child-centred and build family strengths. 

Focus on Anti-Racism 

We CARE that you feel heard in LBBD while with us on your practitioner journey. You bring uniqueness to your role, which we value and part of that is the areas of your identity; this could be your gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, religion, abilities, etc.

We are leading the way with our Black Lives Matter Action Plan, including new innovative advanced empathy "Yourself in My Shoes" sessions to imagine a day in the life of a Global Majority member of staff, where we address micro-aggressions and build allyship.

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Strengthened practice

Following a Children’s Services-focused visit that took place in 2025, inspectors highlighted that since the last inspection in 2023, leaders have sustained and, in some areas, strengthened practice.

The report also says:

‘Council leaders and local elected members have prioritised support for vulnerable children, enabling tangible progress in the local authority’s improvement journey’

‘Barking and Dagenham children benefit from a well-regarded, permanent and stable leadership team that is knowledgeable and skilled and that does not stand still’

‘Social workers benefit from a range of development and progression opportunities’

‘Morale among workers is positive and they report a strong sense of worth and value’

‘Workers spoken to said they feel well supported and liked working in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham’

Source: Children’s services focused visit. Published 29th April 2025 

Commitment to values

‘We’re proud of the progress our children's services have made. The dedication and hard work of our staff have been instrumental in achieving these positive outcomes.

We remain committed to providing the best possible support for our children and families.

Our focus on collaboration and continuous improvement ensures we will continue to meet the evolving needs of our community and provide the best possible outcomes for our children.’

Cllr Jane Jones, cabinet member for children’s social care and disabilities.

Please read our Children’s Care and Support Improvement Plan (August 2025)

Focus on support

In the 2026 HMIP inspection of our Youth Justice service, we were applauded for being ‘‘aspirational for children, and focused on supporting them to move forward, flourish and achieve’’ and were awarded an overall rating of ‘Good.’

The report also says:

‘Practitioners were skilled and motivated. They understood their children well and engaged them effectively in activities to achieve positive change and promote safety. They were supported by knowledgeable and passionate leaders, and a wide range of specialist services and provisions.’

‘An active and committed management board and responsive partnership had ensured the needs of YJS children were prioritised. Comprehensive performance data, complemented by quality assurance activity, was analysed to inform and shape operational practice with children and families’

‘Practitioners were skilled at building and maintaining trusted relationships with children and families, which support effective interventions’

‘We saw effective and sensitive diversity practice across assessing, planning and delivery for children’s individual needs, such as neurodiversity, cognitive or learning needs or the impact of trauma.’

Source: HMIP Inspection on YJS – Published 10th February 2026

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