Managing Children's Services Committee: Lockdowns and Lobby Service: Partnering in Time of Pandemic

As libraries closed physical doors to protect the families we serve, collaborations and partnerships to meet the needs of children and families took on an even greater importance.Libraries scrambled to ramp up virtual programming, grew digital collections and resources, and built outdoor story walks, all while facing the very real concern that many families continue to lack access to these important services. The ongoing lack of equitable access, further exacerbated by the pandemic, left staff with the need to do what we do best—get creative.

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The Color of the Wrapping Paper: Teaching Cultural Diversity in a Children's Services Course

Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work ◽

10.18084/1084-7219.1.2.77 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 77-83 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Elisabeth Porter Hurd

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Social Work ◽

Cultural Diversity ◽

Social Workers ◽

Teaching Methods ◽

Student Evaluations ◽

Children And Families ◽

Cultural Backgrounds ◽

Children's Services ◽

Children’S Services

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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Transforming children's futures: the challenges and benefits of using data linkage to improve the planning of children's services within Scotland

International Journal for Population Data Science ◽

10.23889/ijpds.v1i1.281 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Harriet Waugh ◽

Gita Anand ◽

Simon Anderson ◽

Isabella De Wit

Keyword(s):

Local Community ◽

Data Linkage ◽

Local Level ◽

Children And Families ◽

Children's Services ◽

Process Measures ◽

Critical Data ◽

Local Areas ◽

Children’S Services ◽

Using Data

ABSTRACT BackgroundRealigning Children’s Services is a programme which aims to improve the commissioning and planning of children’s services through the use of evidence and implementation science. A key focus of this is an ambitious data linkage project which links two sets of survey data with local administrative data from Education and Social Work in local Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs) within Scotland. The initial tranche for the programme worked with three CPPs in 2015/16 and has involved work at a national and local level. AimsThe data linkage component to the project has been closely aligned to local need and interest with continued collaboration with professionals in local areas from strategic managers to schools. The data resulting from the linkage will allow for a series of reports tailored to local priorities and will also inform a data visualisation tool which will help professionals to look closely at the data. It has also prompted discussion and reflection within the local areas around what data is currently used in each locality, how evidence can inform their planning and what gaps exist within their knowledge base which could be filled through the data linkage. ApproachContribution Analysis was used as a framework to evaluate the effectiveness of the Realigning Children’s Services programme. This allowed a focus on far reaching outcome measures alongside process measures through a mix of qualitative and quantitative data. Data from this evaluation will inform future linkage projects and evaluate the use of linked data in strategic planning in children’s services. ConclusionThe Realigning Children’s Services programme has shown that data linkage within a children and families context can be complex and ethically challenging. However it also offers professionals access to critical data which can otherwise go overlooked. This presentation will discuss these challenges and consider how this work has been used to help local areas improve their planning of their services for children and families within a multidisciplinary setting.

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