26th October 2026
Transforming children's services through smarter case management
Birmingham Children’s Trust transformed case management with Civica ECLIPSE, reducing administration and freeing up more time for children and families.
- Over 2,000 users live on the platform
- Millions of records stored
- Simpler, multi-agency collaboration
England’s largest children’s services department became operationally independent in 2018, forming Birmingham Children’s Trust (BCT). Wholly owned by Birmingham City Council and working in close partnership, the Trust can now respond faster to change and decide how to deliver services to up to 10,000 vulnerable children every day.
The Trust needed a better way to manage complex, multi-agency work at scale. Its existing social care case management systems offered limited support for genuine multi-agency working, resulting in convoluted processes, fragmented records and difficulties storing and using different media types. With information held across multiple systems, teams found it difficult to manage cases effectively and efficiently.
Freeing up social worker time
The Trust wanted to reduce the administrative burden so social workers could spend more time with children and families. It was looking for children's social care case management software that would support modern working practices and improve visibility across services.
It also wanted to better capture the voice of the child, including photos, audio and video, and to use integrated reporting across the full end-to-end journey.
Andy Couldrick, chief executive at the Trust, explained: “We want our workforce to know we “have their backs” while they do difficult work. And we want to empower them to be decision makers, to use their professional judgment, build their confidence and equip them with the right skills and tools.”
New collaborative working through Civica ECLIPSE
BCT selected Civica ECLIPSE, a social work case management solution, to enable effective collaborative working and clearer communication across a large, complex organisation.
ECLIPSE helps practitioners manage cases more efficiently through configurable workflows, integrated reporting and greater visibility of performance and demand. It gives social workers the tools they need day-to-day, from the ability to embed audio, video and images into case notes, to guiding consistent practice through forms and worklists. The solution also includes secure access with two-factor authentication for robust data security, enhanced and configurable workflows, and offers clear, plain-English outputs for children and families.
Director of practice, Jenny Turnross, said: “The ability to use interactive recording, such as voice notes, has had a huge impact on our teams. It enables them to record information more quickly and efficiently on the move. Meanwhile, the improved workflows in the system means that handovers are better and data visibility has improved.”
Providing managers with a holistic view
More than 2,000 users at Birmingham Children’s Trust are now live on ECLIPSE, with millions of records available via the platform. Using ECLIPSE alongside Microsoft Power BI has improved understanding of activity across the organisation, helping teams adapt and improve continuously.
From the first contact, social workers can record quickly and accurately on any device, alongside children and families, while managers have clearer oversight and can spot patterns earlier.
Jenny continued: “Managers can easily look at the worklist in ECLIPSE. It highlights pinch-points and enables them to spot patterns. Visibility of workload is very apparent, which means as a manager you can clearly see and know what you need to do.”
Next generation case management
BCT has made strong progress in improving processes and collaboration between partners, with technology playing a key role. Three months after implementation, Ofsted visited and provided positive feedback, reinforcing confidence in the approach.
“We had a visit from Ofsted three months after implementation. The feedback was positive, and they really liked the system,” concluded Jenny.
Using ECLIPSE as a next generation social care case management system has played a key role in Birmingham Children's Trust creating a truly holistic service for children and families.