The digital turn in child and family social work: challenges, opportunities and imagined futures: The changing digital landscape for looked after children

In his influential paper Walter LaMendola (2010) put forth the idea that social workers need to go beyond mobile emerging encounters of place and space (see Ferguson, 2008) toward the development of ‘innovative tools to help people navigate and find new knowledge in the birthing of a culture propelled by mediated encounters’ (p113). The subsequent decade witnessed a proliferation in the everyday use of digital technology enabling the storage and flow of information (Horst et al 2021) ref) with an estimated one in three internet users being children (Livingstone et al 2015). The worldwide pandemic of 2020 saw governments across the globe order their citizens to stay at home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus: Covid19. This singular response to the pandemic enabled a significant digital shift in all areas of social, political and economic life This global acceleration transformed lifestyles and working lives, and the pandemic was a catalysis for widespread adoption of digitalization (Amankwah-Amoah 2021). It also led to an unprecedented change and development in the provision of social work, that not only propelled but necessitated that the sector navigate and develop services to encompass the mediated encounters of the type LaMendola foresaw (Mishna et al 2021refs). For children and young people, the digital shift brought about as a direct result of the pandemic transformation of their daily lives, schools were closed to all but the most vulnerable children. Children’s social lives were disrupted and circumscribed so that the everyday activities such as playing out with friends were denied. For children who are looked after away from home, legislation was swiftly enacted to facilitate remote practice, which meant that assessments, visits, statutory reviews and other meetings could be held on video or on telephone calls (UK Gov 2020) . One could argue that LaMendola’s (2010) article was also prophetic in recognising that service users would inhabit the virtual s