Can Social Workers Forecast Future Actions, Events, and Outcomes? A Study of Referrals to Children’s Services in England

Children are one of society's populations most at risk for harm. It is essential that social workers be educated to work effectively with all children; this demands that they be taught to be culturally sensitive. An approach to incorporating content on cultural diversity intensively throughout a baccalaureate social work course on children's services is described. Course goals, organization, teaching methods and assignments are discussed. One assignment, based on the instructor's own research, requiring students to interview parents of races different than their own is outlined in detail. Student evaluations of the course reveal an increase in the ability to recognize strengths in children and families from various cultural backgrounds.

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Assessing the impact and implications for social workers of an innovative children’s services programme aimed to support workforce reform and integrated working

Social Work and Social Sciences Review ◽

10.1921/swssr.v16i3.538 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 81-90

Author(s):

Nigel Malin ◽

Jane Tunmore

Keyword(s):

Social Workers ◽

Family Support ◽

Residential Care ◽

Best Practice ◽

Child Poverty ◽

Practical Implementation ◽

Children's Services ◽

North East ◽

Children’S Services ◽

The Impact

This article reports findings from an independent audit and evaluation of an innovative children's services programme (CSP) funded 2009-2011 by twelve Local Authorities under the auspices of the North-East of England's Improvement & Efficiency Partnership (NEIEP) to manage improvements and efficiencies across the children's services sector focusing upon messages for social workers. The overall purpose of the CSP was to make demonstrable progress in tackling the challenges of child poverty by delivering high quality support to the growing number of children with social care/health needs through regional improvement. The key objectives of the CSP included supporting workforce reform and integrated working; development of personalised services; family support to reduce the need for residential care; and provision of tools to aid commissioners with needs analysis. The audit identified key outputs, for example, improvements to best practice on Whole Family approaches, safeguarding and leadership training evolved through a skills framework; and included a regional model of social work supervision training along with a provision of options to increase the range and quality of foster care placements. The evaluation considered actions arising from the above findings, including demonstrated improvements to inter-disciplinary working and pooling resources to produce better outcomes for families; setting up a data-base to improve the balance between fostering, residential care and family support; and creating opportunities for social workers to explore the practical implementation of using personal budgets.

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“You try to keep a brave face on but inside you are in bits”: Grandparent experiences of engaging with professionals in Children’s Services

Qualitative Social Work ◽

10.1177/1473325015615397 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 351-366 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Anna Tarrant ◽

Brid Featherstone ◽

Lindsay O’Dell ◽

Clare Fraser

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Social Workers ◽

Financial Support ◽

Ethic Of Care ◽

Policy Preference ◽

Work Practices ◽

Children's Services ◽

Legal Recognition ◽

Formal Support ◽

Children’S Services

This article presents findings from an evaluation conducted in 2012, of the advice and advocacy service provided by the charity Family Rights Group for families involved with children’s services. It specifically focuses on the experiences of grandparents and explores accounts from grandparents who were either in the process of seeking care of their grandchildren or were already caring for grandchildren but without formal support or recognition. The findings suggest that there is a need to pay greater attention to the fears of such grandparents about children’s services in a context where there appears to be a policy preference for adoption. Also evident is a paradox at the heart of contemporary social work practices towards grandparents. While some felt dismissed and marginalized very quickly by social workers and imaginative approaches to care possibilities did not appear to be pursued, others were carrying enormous burdens of care often for very long periods of time without either financial support or legal recognition. To strengthen the care options for children and respect the ethic of care that is clearly to be observed operating in grandparenting practices, it is suggested that a more thorough interrogation of the multiple and often highly contradictory meanings attached to family is required on the part of social workers.

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