Displaying 1 - 7 of 7
Abstract
The relationships that children in care have with social workers and how their experiences are recorded has been identified as a key area of development for social work practice. This paper reports on a small-scale, qualitative evaluation of an approach to working with children in care launched in Brighton and Hove called Me and My World. Core principles of the model are explained including continuity of relationship between social workers and children in care; a statutory review process which promotes participation of the child and young person and a recording system where social…
Abstract
This study presents the feasibility and pilot evaluation of the Reflective Fostering Programme (RFP), a recently developed, group-based program to support foster carers, based on the concept of “reflective parenting.” This innovative development follows calls by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and other organizations to help improve outcomes for children in care by providing better support to their carers. This study aimed to establish whether it is possible to implement the RFP and to gather preliminary data on the acceptability and effectiveness of the…
Abstract
Children and young people in public care have long been recognised as a particularly vulnerable group in our society. Many have complex personal, inter-personal and educational needs as a result of pre-care maltreatment. Despite a number of initiatives to change the often negative outcomes for these children, results have remained stubbornly disappointing. The model of professional childcare, rooted in psychological research and theory, was designed to enable and empower foster and adoptive parents and residential carers to acquire a deeper understanding of their children’s needs…
Abstract
Understanding the interplay between genetic factors and family environmental processes (e.g., inter-parental relationship quality, positive versus negative parenting practices) and children’s mental health (e.g., anxiety, depression, conduct problems, ADHD) in the contexts of adoption and foster-care research and practice is critical for effective prevention and intervention programme development. Whilst evidence highlights the importance of family environmental processes for the mental health and well-being of children in adoption and foster care, there is relatively limited…
This Practice Guidance seeks to promote improvements in practice that should have a positive impact for young people during and after the leaving care process. It is grounded first and foremost in the realities of the national and local contexts in which leaving care is currently carried out. It was produced as part of the Prepare for Leaving Care project…
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Abstract.
Despite that there is an operating social support system for families, social workers are affected by factors that limit effectiveness of their activities in working with families whose children are taken into temporary custody. The article aims to uncover what hinders social worker to carry out effective work in providing social services for families whose children are in temporary custody. Qualitative research data shows that the research participants’ awareness of social work effectiveness is limited to its individual components. Putting together these components one can get a…
Abstract
For many social workers, participatory practice may seem an unachievable goal, particularly in the field of child protection. In this paper, we discuss a significant programme of change in one London local authority, as part of which we undertook 110 observations of practice and provided more than eighty follow-up coaching sessions for workers. Through these observations, we saw many examples of key participatory practice skills such as empathy, collaboration and involvement in decision making. We also saw many examples of reducing autonomy and excluding parents from decision…