Although a widely-accepted term in child welfare discourses, there remains a vagueness as to what Family Support as a named orientation in children and family services entails. This lack of clarity is, at times, used to detract from its usefulness within the policy and practice arena. Using the accumulated wisdom of a select group of accomplished managers, academics and policy makers in social work and social care, this paper retrospectively reviews the evolution of Family Support within the Irish context and distils the core characteristics of Family Support practice and service delivery. An unstructured narrative inducing interview was conducted with 14 veterans of Family Support and child welfare. Participants who are based in the USA, the UK and Ireland each had between 30 and 60 years’ experience working in this field. Participants identified salient factors as having contributed to the growth of Family Support. These veterans also categorized specific and distinct characteristics of Family Support practice and services, providing voice and meaning to Family Support as a specific approach. This paper addresses the debate on Family Support with its place as an accepted and valued orientation within the child welfare arena acknowledged.
