Putting Analysis Into Child and Family Assessment, Third Edition


Book Description

Putting Analysis into Child and Family Assessment bridges theory and practice, and provides clear guidance to improve assessments in child and family social work. It addresses the issues of central concern to child and family social workers, including analytical assessment, outlines how to avoid common pitfalls, provides strong theoretical foundations, and demonstrates how the theory can be translated into practice. With reference to common and specialist assessments, the book covers every stage of the assessment process: planning and preparation, hypothesising, involving children, and making, recording and reviewing decisions. It features practice tools, case studies and practice development sessions and activities. This third edition has been fully updated with recent policy changes and new research findings. This book will be valued by practitioners, managers, trainers and lecturers looking for a grounded resource which provides practical guidance on how to improve assessments.




The Child's World, Third Edition


Book Description

This definitive textbook provides accessible information on best practice for assessing the needs and strengths of vulnerable children and their families. It explores the challenges that practitioners face routinely - with suggestions as to how to address them - as well as the established areas for assessment, of children's developmental needs, parenting ability and motivation, and socio-economic factors. This new edition has been extended substantially to include recent practice, policy and theoretical developments, such as understanding the lived experience of children, young people, and family members. It also considers children's neurological development, assessing parental capacity to change, early help assessments, emerging areas of practice such as child sexual exploitation, and working with asylum-seeking and trafficked children. Crucially, this updated edition takes a broader approach in offering relevant information to a range of professionals working with vulnerable children. The importance of inter-professional working is emphasised throughout.




Creative Ideas for Assessing Vulnerable Children and Families


Book Description

For the busy frontline practitioner with little time to plan ahead, this hands-on guide presents imaginative and unique methods to engage families and caregivers throughout the process of assessing vulnerable children. Setting the context for each area of assessment, including strengths and resilience, risk and needs and the child's lived experience, the book then describes a series of activities or creative techniques to engage young people and their caregivers within this area. It outlines the materials required, aims of the exercise and method. It includes 'handy hints' based upon practical experience, making it a quick go-to guide for every day practice. It encourages practitioners to focus on building safety into relationships and to adapt their approach to take into account the impact of trauma and abuse on an individual's capacity to engage and to communicate verbally.




Risk in Child Protection


Book Description

Assessing risk is a key challenge in child protection work. Martin C. Calder presents a clear and accessible guide to understanding risk and the part it plays. This book considers what risk means and how risk assessments should be defined, it outlines the key challenges practitioners face day-to-day, and offers a helpful evidence-based assessment framework for use by frontline staff. Calder argues that risk now has to be reconceived as a multi-disciplinary activity which stretches beyond social work. As such, he highlights a need for a clearer shared terminology among professionals and encourages the social work profession to look to related disciplines, such as criminal justice, for ideas to improve practice. Demystifying the complex debates around risk and showing how to deliver effective risk assessment, this is an essential reference for social workers and social work students, as well as lecturers.




A Practical Guide to Early Intervention and Family Support


Book Description

Parental mental health problems and substance misuse affect a significant number of families. This handbook provides practitioners with early intervention techniques and effective support strategies for ensuring the best outcomes for these vulnerable families. Featuring pointers, models and practice examples, A Practical Guide to Early Intervention and Family Support considers the concept of resilience and effective family support. Assessing the policy context and possible barriers to support, it looks at assessment of need, safeguarding children, minimising negative impact, and most importantly, keeping families together where possible. Drawing on key research on the risks and impacts, this book demonstrates the need for a unified approach from a range of adult and children's services. This third edition has been fully updated to reflect developments in policy and services. Essential reading for all professionals who are involved in providing services to families, it will also be of interest to service commissioners and those with an academic interest in what helps to support children and families in these circumstances.




Putting Analysis Into Child and Family Assessment, Third Edition


Book Description

Earlier editions published as: Putting analysis into assessment: undertaking assessments of need - a toolkit for practitioners.




Assessing Culturally Informed Parenting in Social Work


Book Description

This book explores how social workers incorporate issues of culture when evaluating the parenting competence of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) parents and highlights the gap in how social workers assess safe parenting in BAME families. Drawing on a study that combined a phenomenological research philosophy with frame analysis, the book explores how culturally informed parenting is construed by social workers and BAME parents. It argues that effective assessment of the parenting competence of BAME parents is predicated on understanding how culture frames perspectives of what constitutes competent parenting. Throughout the eight chapters, the book moves the debate within the literature away from the universality of parenting concepts to a focus on a deeper understanding of culture. It highlights the influence that culture has on the way that BAME parents socialise their children, as well as how parents and social workers conceptualise safe parenting. The result is useful insights into the cultural context of parenting. The book will be of interest to all scholars and students of social work, childhood studies, sociology, and social policy, as well as social work professionals more broadly.




Putting Analysis into Assessment, Second Edition


Book Description

Putting Analysis into Assessment is the essential guide to improving assessment practice in child care social work. It addresses the issues of central concern to child care social workers, including analytical assessment, outlines how to avoid common pitfalls in thinking and practice, provides strong theoretical foundations, and successfully demonstrates how these theory can be translated into practice. With reference to common and specialist assessments, the book covers every stage of the assessment process: planning and preparation, hypothesising, involving children and making, recording and reviewing decisions. This second edition features new and tested practice tools, practice development sessions and activities, plus new sections on risk and resilience and assessing need and risk in chronic situations. This toolkit will be valued by practitioners, managers, trainers and lecturers looking for a grounded resource which bridges theory and practice, and provides clear guidance to improve assessments.




Transforming Early Head Start Home Visiting


Book Description

Research on home visiting shows that Early Head Start (EHS) home-based programs benefit from additional training and resources that streamline philosophy and content. In this essential guide, Walsh and Mortensen propose that alignment with Family Life Education’s (FLE) strengths-based methodology results in greater consistency through a model of prevention, education, and collaboration with families. This text is the first to outline linkages between FLE and EHS home visiting. It explores a qualitative study of FLE integrated in a current EHS home-based program and application of FLE methodology to home visiting topics. This approach will influence professional practice and provide a foundation for developing evidence-based home visiting practices. Online content accompanies the text, with videos demonstrating the FLE approach in action and discussion questions to encourage engagement with and understanding of the core material. Transforming Early Head Start Home Visiting: A Family Life Education Approach is essential reading for upper-level undergraduate and masters students in family studies and early childhood education, as well as practitioners working with children and families.




Social Work with Children, Young People and their Families in Scotland


Book Description

This fully-updated and revised third edition addresses the changes to law and practice in relation to adoption and permanency, the children’s hearing system and the implications of the provisions of the Children and Young People (S) Act 2014 and other related matters, including the National Practice Model of GIRFEC. This is the only text to provide coverage of the new legal, policy and practice landscape of social work with children and families in Scotland, and as such, it is an indispensable guide for students, newly-qualified social workers, managers and practice teachers and a range of other professionals in health, education, the police and others in cognate disciplines.