Dealing with errors and mistakes in child protection: similarities and differences among countries

2020 ◽  
pp. 255-274
Author(s):  
Kay Biesel ◽  
Judith Masson ◽  
Nigel Parton ◽  
Tarja Pösö
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Research Gaps ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Learning From Errors ◽  
Similarities And Differences

The closing chapter summarizes important differences, commonalities, and research gaps identified in the different national perspectives. It discusses the different discourses, approaches and strategies on errors and mistakes in child protection analyzed in the preceding chapters. Specifically, it presents an overview of the different historical and contemporary developments identified in the different countries and attempts to synthesize the similarities and differences, including what might be identified as current and future best practice. In this context, it discusses the strategies which might prove helpful in reducing errors and mistakes and in promoting quality in child protection. It discusses strategies which can aid learning from errors and mistakes and what the key methodological, policy and practice challenges in child protection might be.

Decision Making in Child and Family Social Work

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive Diaz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Protection System ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Children And Parents ◽  
Selling Point ◽  
New Research

This book presents new research on the extent to which parents and children participate in decision making when childcare social workers are involved and it considers two key meetings in depth: child protection conferences and child in care reviews. There is currently a great deal of interest in how social workers can work more effectively with families and in particular give children a voice. There is also considerable public and media interest in the child protection system, in particular relating to how children are safeguarded by social workers. This book will argue that unless we listen to (and act upon whenever possible) the views of children it is very difficult to safeguard and offer them an effective service. The unique selling point of the book will be that it is based on original solid empirical research following interviews with multiple stakeholders across two local authorities in England including children (n=75), parents (n=52), social workers (n=11, independent reviewing officers (n=8) and senior managers (n=7). This book will consider how 10 years of austerity has impacted on the child protection system and it will have a particular focus on how current practice leads to children and parents often feeling oppressed and excluded in decision making about their lives. The book promises to be authoritative and informed on issues on the ground and very relevant to both policy and practice.

What Does International Research Identify as the Best Practice Housing Pathways for Young People Transitioning from Out of Home Care?

2021 ◽  
pp. 234930032110643
Author(s):  
Jacinta Chavulak ◽  
Philip Mendes
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Transition Planning ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Out Of Home Care ◽  
Extended Care ◽  
Care Leavers ◽  
Housing Pathways

Young people transitioning from out-of-home care (often called care leavers) are globally a disadvantaged group who can be particularly vulnerable to experiences of housing instability and homelessness. This article presents a scoping review of international scholarly literature pertaining to housing pathways for care leavers from 2015–2020. The 15 publications identified were analysed according to location, methodology, sample accessed, key findings regarding housing pathways and outcomes, and recommendations for policy and practice reform. Our findings suggest that good transition planning, continuing support from responsible adults, the availability of safe and affordable housing and extended care till at least 21 years should enable more positive housing transitions.

Countering Violent Extremism in Canada and Abroad

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora Abdelrahman Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Significant Development ◽  
The Us ◽  
Violent Extremism ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
The Uk

Terrorism and violent extremism have undoubtedly become among the top security concerns of the 21st century. Despite a robust agenda of counterterrorism since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the evolution of global terrorism has continued to outpace the policy responses that have tried to address it. Recent trends such as the foreign fighter phenomenon, the rampant spread of extremist ideologies online and within communities, and a dramatic increase in terrorist incidents worldwide, have led to a recognition that “traditional” counterterrorism efforts are insufficient and ineffective in combatting these phenomena. Consequently, the focus of policy and practice has shifted towards countering violent extremism by addressing the drivers of radicalization to curb recruitment to extremist groups. Within this context, the field of countering violent extremism (CVE) has garnered attention from both the academic and policy-making worlds. While the CVE field holds promise as a significant development in counterterrorism, its policy and practice are complicated by several challenges that undermine the success of its initiatives. Building resilience to violent extremism is continuously challenged by an overly securitized narrative and unintended consequences of previous policies and practices, including divisive social undercurrents like Islamophobia, xenophobia, and far-right sentiments. These by-products make it increasingly difficult to mobilize a whole of society response that is so critical to the success and sustainability of CVE initiatives. This research project addresses these policy challenges by drawing on the CVE strategies of Canada, the US, the UK, and Denmark to collect best practice and lessons learned in order to outline a way forward. 

Child Protection and Risk-Management: The Death of Victoria Climbie

2004 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHEENA JOHNSON ◽  
STEPHANIE PETRIE
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Safety Culture ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Space Shuttle ◽  
Child Death ◽  
Commercial Sector ◽  
Communication Failure ◽  
Child Protection Services ◽  
High Profile

This paper looks at the concepts of ‘risk’ and ‘safety culture’ within a Social Work context, specifically in relation to child protection. Discussion is made of the systemic and organisational issues that are apparent in many inquiries into child death from abuse, and the authors argue that these issues need to be given a higher profile to ensure avoidable tragedies do not occur as a result of organisational failure. The concept of ‘safety culture’ is described as a tool of best practice used by some organisations in the commercial sector to ensure their risk, for example communication failure, in relation to organisational issues is both understood and controlled. The parallels between an organisational breakdown resulting in a disaster and those relating to the breakdown of childcare services are outlined in relation to two high profile examples, the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster and the tragic death of Victoria Climbie respectively. The authors discuss how the lessons learnt from such disasters and the ways in which high risk commercial organisations give organisational issues such high priority can, and should be, successfully transferred into other sectors, namely Social Work and Child Protection services.

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.

Child sexual abuse: A critical analysis of social workers' role in recognising and responding to it

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-33
Author(s):  
Gary Wade
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
It Services ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Critical Attention

The role of social workers in safeguarding and child protection has received much critical attention in recent years, in an evolving political and social arena, where policy and practice has shifted following both public outcry of serious case reviews and subsequent policy and practice changes concerning the profession and how it services the needs of the most vulnerable in society. This article seeks to critically examine the current methodology for identifying suspected child sexual abuse signs and indicators, the evolving spectrum of abuse, including critical evaluation of current perspectives on child sexual exploitation.

Preventing and responding to errors in US child protection

2020 ◽  
pp. 235-254
Author(s):  
Jill Duerr Berrick ◽  
Jaclyn Chambers
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Predictive Analytics ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Protection Policy ◽  
Risk Assessment Tools ◽  
The Us ◽  
Child Protection Policy

This chapter demonstrates how concerns about avoiding errors and mistakes have been at the centre of child protection policy and practice in the US for many years. In particular the chapter focuses on providing a summary of the state of the art relating to risk assessment tools and predictive analytics as strategies to reduce error in child welfare decision making. It also examines whether our understanding of ‘error’ needs to shift to account for the unknowns. When social workers make decisions based upon fundamental principles, and when they determine that it is in the interests of a child to privilege one principle over another, the result may appear in hindsight as an “error”, but when made as a decision guided by one widely-held principle which was in direct conflict with another. Examining child welfare decision making as a process of selecting and then privileging one principle over another narrows what we might otherwise think of as an ‘error’ and instead recasts some decisions as exceedingly difficult to get ‘right’.

scholarly journals The contemporary refocusing of children’s services in England

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 85-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Parton ◽  
Sasha Williams
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Protection Policy ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
Social Reaction ◽  
Child Protection Policy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the changes in child protection policy and practice in England over the last 30 years, in particular to critically analyse the nature and impact of the “refocusing” initiative of the mid-1990s. Design/methodology/approach Policy analysis. Findings While the period from the mid-1990s until 2008 can be seen to show how policy and practice attempted to build on a number of the central principles of the “refocusing” initiative, the period since 2008 has been very different. Following the huge social reaction to the death of Peter Connelly, policy and practice moved in directions quite contra to the “refocusing” initiative’s aims and aspirations such that we can identify a refocusing of “refocusing”. Such developments were given a major impetus with the election of the Coalition government in 2010 and have been reinforced further following the election of the Conservative government in May 2015. Originality/value The paper places the changes in child protection policy and practice in England in their political and economic contexts and makes explicit how the changes impact on the role and responsibilities of professionals, particularly social workers.

Building Collaboration with Child Protection and Domestic and Family Violence Sectors: Trialling a Living Lab Approach

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Wendt ◽  
Carmela Bastian ◽  
Michelle Jones
Keyword(s):  
Family Violence ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Cultural Safety ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Living Lab ◽  
Competing Priorities ◽  
Future Work

Abstract Collaboration across child protection and domestic and family violence (DFV) sectors have long been sought despite the competing priorities found in these practice fields. This article describes a research partnership that aimed to explore the competing priorities by focusing on how workers interact across child protection and DFV specialist agencies. Using a Living Lab Approach, enabled twelve focus groups with child protection and DFV social workers (n = 100). Thematic analysis was conducted, and it was found that diverse understandings of DFV created tensions when trying to form collaborations. These tensions were often amplified when other intersecting issues were present in family lives such as drug and alcohol and mental health problems. Understandings of Aboriginal cultural safety, and religious and culture impacts for cultural and linguistically diverse families were unintentionally sidelined. However, practitioners also formed common understandings of opportunities to progress and sustain collaboration across the sectors. The Living Lab Approach facilitated the development of a policy and practice guide for child protection to support future work. This has implications for social work practice because the Living Lab Approach enabled a call for a consistent approach to DFV that should be gender sensitive, trauma informed and culturally safe, and collaboration at practitioner, team and organisational levels.

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