scholarly journals Social Innovation and Social Work: A Case Study of the Early Intervention Support Service

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Winter ◽  
Laura Neeson ◽  
Daryl Sweet ◽  
Aimee Smith ◽  
Sharon Millen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Early Intervention ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Support Service ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Child And Family Services ◽  
Set Up

Abstract In a national and international context where there is a concern about the effectiveness of social care services for children and families to address chronic, enduring social problems and where there are finite resources available, the concept of social innovation in social work policy and practice to address need in new ways is receiving increased attention. Whilst an attractive term, social innovation in child and family services is not without its challenges in terms of conceptualisation, operationalisation, implementation and evidencing impact. This article reports on the development and evaluation of the Early Intervention Support Service (EISS), a newly designed family support service in Northern Ireland set up as part of a government-supported innovation and transformation programme that aims to deliver a voluntary, targeted, flexible and time-limited service to families experiencing emergent problems. Using the EISS as a case study, the challenges, benefits in terms of addressing policy imperatives and future direction of social innovation in social work practice are reflected upon.

Social Work Practice Outcomes

2014 ◽  
pp. 166-185
Author(s):  
Colin Pritchard ◽  
Richard Williams
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Psychosocial Development ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Child Homicide ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Beneficial Impact

The key issue in all human services is outcome. The authors report on a series of four mixed methods research studies to conclude that good social work can bring about positive measurable differences to inform policy and practice. The first focuses on how effective Western nations have been in reducing Child Abuse Related Deaths (CARD); the second explores a three-year controlled study of a school-based social work service to reduce truancy, delinquency, and school exclusion; the third examines outcomes of “Looked After Children” (LAC); the forth re-evaluates a decade of child homicide assailants to provide evidence of the importance of the child protection-psychiatric interface in benefiting mentally ill parents and improving the psychosocial development and protection of their children. These studies show that social work has a measurable beneficial impact upon the lives of those who had been served and that social work can be cost-effective, that is, self-funding, over time.

Social Work and Youth Justice in a Global Context

2014 ◽  
pp. 149-165
Author(s):  
Bill Whyte
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Global Challenges ◽  
Social Work Practitioners ◽  
International Obligations

Social work in youth justice is directed by international standards based on an implied socio-educative paradigm that conflicts with the dominant criminal justice paradigm in operation in most jurisdictions. This creates global challenges in establishing “child-centred” policy and practice for dealing with young people under the age of 18 years in conflict with the law. Social work practitioners, directed by international imperatives and professional ethics, operate between shifting and often conflicting paradigms. It is essential they are familiar with international obligations and operate as “culture carriers” providing an ongoing challenge to systems of youth justice. This chapter examines these issues and, in the absence of consensus or of a shared paradigm for social work practice across jurisdictions, considers what a socio-educative paradigm for practice might look like.

Needs of Parents of Young Children with Developmental Delay: Implications for Social Work Practice

1996 ◽  
Vol 77 (8) ◽  
pp. 477-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lois A. Bosch
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Early Intervention ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Parental Involvement ◽  
Developmental Delay ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Emotional Needs ◽  
Early Intervention Services

Recent legislation (P.L. 99–457, Part H) requires that parental needs be addressed in the service delivery to families of infants and toddlers with a developmental delay. The author reviews the historical, empirical, and conceptual factors in early intervention services as well as the literature on parental needs and sources of social support for parents of young children with developmental delays. Seven practice principles to guide social work practice in early intervention are presented. These principles include professional competence, addressing the instrumental and emotional needs of parents, and the need for parental involvement in service plans. Recommended practice principles also include focus on parental strengths, the ecological context of families. and consideration of cultural diversity.

Guidelines for Responding to Clients Spontaneously Presenting Their Poetry in Therapy

2005 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rich Furman ◽  
Kathryn Collins
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Practice Guidelines ◽  
Work Values ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Intervention Strategies ◽  
Poetry Therapy ◽  
Social Work Values

Poetry therapy has become a valuable adjunctive tool in social work practice, as well as an important discipline in its own right. What has not been previously presented in the literature are intervention strategies designed for when clients spontaneously present their poems in treatment without prompting from the clinician. This article provides just such practice guidelines for clinicians, especially clinicians who do not normally use poetry in therapy. First, the article explores the uses of poetry in social work practice. Second, it presents general guidelines for how to handle the introduction of poetry by clients through the lens of essential social work values and principles. Third, a case study is presented to amplify these guidelines.

scholarly journals The Power of One: Why auto-ethnography, solo service-user voice and reflective case study analysis are useful strategies for researching family-centred social work practice

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Gibbs
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Service User ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Study Analysis ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Social Work Practitioners ◽  
Auto Ethnography

Family-centred social work practitioners often reflect upon and talk about their everyday work with families, but they rarely write about it, other than in case notes or for formal reports. If social work practitioners were to adopt a range of easy-to-use research strategies that focus on either one service-user, or one family case, or one practitioner experience, then they may be empowered to write and publish more about their work. This may then lead to a series of practitioner pieces aimed at improving knowledge and methods in family-centred social work practice. This article explores three ‘One Voice strategies’: those of auto-ethnography, solo service-user voice and reflective case study analysis, and their usefulness to researching family-centred social work practice. It argues that using such strategies are valid in everyday social work and that practitioners can make a difference to our knowledge of effectiveness in practice by telling us about just one story – the power of one!

scholarly journals Spiritual Wounding and Affliction

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Kruk
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Drug Addiction ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Spiritual Transformation ◽  
Social Activist ◽  
Hard Drug ◽  
Human Needs

This paper explores the writings of metaphysical philosopher and social activist Simone Weil on spiritual wounding and affliction, as well as implications for the development of a spiritually-grounded and -sensitive social work practice. The nature of spiritual affliction is considered, challenges to discerning spiritual trauma discussed, and barriers to receiving help for those in the midst of such wounding revealed. A framework for social work practice based on a spiritual foundation is articulated, which embraces social justice as focused on human needs and social obligations, toward the goal of spiritual transformation in cases of spiritual wounding. The perspective of those experiencing spiritual affliction in the area of hard drug addiction is discussed as a case study.

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