Social Work
When Paperwork Gets in the Way of People: Reclaiming Time in Social Work
After learning that nine in ten of our colleagues felt note-taking hindered their ability to be fully present with families, Compass implemented an AI solution that is cutting administrative time by 66%.
Key Takeaways
- Compass Fostering social workers were losing critical relationship-building time to administrative tasks.
- A six-week AI pilot reduced administrative time by 66% for supervising social workers.
- Over 80% of social workers reported better interactions with foster families once paperwork stopped getting in the way.
- Compass is rolling out this AI tool to 100% of its supervising social workers to prioritise children over paperwork.
The Hidden Toll of Paperwork on Fostering Relationships
Social workers don’t choose this work to write reports. They choose it to build relationships – to support families through difficult moments, to notice what others might miss, and to make decisions that can alter the course of a child’s life.
At Compass, we started to see the same pattern emerge. Our talented, committed social workers were spending increasing amounts of time on paperwork – often in the evenings and at weekends – trying to keep pace with supervision reports, annual reviews and case recordings. The work they cared most about was being pushed to the margins.
One social worker described it simply: “You can spend an afternoon doing meaningful work with a child, and the next two days paying for it in paperwork.”
It’s a frustration that doesn’t just wear people down – it drives them out. As one Head of Fostering put it,
“Every time I do an exit interview, it’s the same – the paperwork. That’s why they leave.”
How Administrative Burden Changes the Nature of Care
That trade-off is not just frustrating. It changes the nature of the role. When administrative demands begin to dominate, something more important is lost. Social workers become less present in conversations. Attention shifts from listening to remembering. The focus moves, subtly but significantly, from the person in front of you to the report that will need to be written afterwards.
Nearly nine in ten of our social worker colleagues told us that note-taking affected how present they could be during visits.
That matters. Because fostering succeeds on the strength of relationships – the trust between a child and their carer, the confidence a foster parent has in the support around them, and the professional judgement of a social worker who has the time and space to see what is really going on. We wanted to change that – by addressing something very practical: the time it takes to capture and write up information.
Piloting AI in Social Work to Reduce Admin Time
We ran a six-week pilot with the help of a strategic AI partner across a group of supervising social workers and managers. The aim was straightforward – reduce the time spent on administrative tasks and allow people to focus more fully on the work that sits at the heart of fostering.
The results were clear. Administrative time reduced by around 66%. Supervision reports took less than half the time they had previously required, and annual reviews saw similar reductions.
Reduced Paperwork: Better Conversations
But the more interesting changes were not about efficiency. Social workers told us they felt less rushed and more in control of their workload. They were no longer relying on evenings and weekends to stay on top of documentation. The pressure eased.
More importantly, the quality of conversations improved. Without the need to capture every detail in the moment, social workers were able to maintain eye contact, ask follow-up questions and stay focused on the person in front of them. Over 80% of our Compass social workers reported that their interactions with foster families improved as a result.
“It meant I could ask better follow-up questions, instead of focusing on writing everything down.”
That shift is easy to underestimate. But it is in those conversations – the ones where someone feels properly heard, where a small detail is noticed, where a question is asked at the right moment – that the real work happens.
It also changed how people felt about their role. Nearly every social worker told us they enjoyed their work more. Not because the job had become easier, but because it had moved back towards what they had chosen to do in the first place: support children and families in a meaningful way.
For some colleagues, particularly those managing health conditions or who are neurodivergent, reducing the mental stress of structuring and recalling information after multiple visits made a tangible difference to how manageable the role felt day to day.
Rolling Out AI Across Compass Fostering
It would be easy to tell this as a story about technology. It isn’t. It’s a story about time – and about what we choose to prioritise. If we believe that relationships are at the heart of fostering, then we have to protect the time those relationships require. Every hour spent on avoidable administrative burden is an hour not spent supporting a foster parent, building trust with a child, or noticing something that might otherwise be missed.
That’s why we’re now rolling out this AI tool across Compass – to 100% of our supervising social workers and foster carers. It’s an easy decision to strip away non-value-adding administration and give people back the time to focus on what matters most: children.
Because social work is not a paperwork profession. It is a relationship profession. And if we want better outcomes for children, we need to make it faster, easier and more rewarding for social workers to do their best work.
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