Social Work with Children and Families


Book Description

′An excellent introduction to social work with children and families. It links practice with legislation and highlights relevant research findings′. - Mr Dan Burrows,Cardiff School of Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University Working with children and families is one of the most challenging, skilled, but ultimately rewarding, areas of social work practice. Social workers need to be able to work with a diverse group of children and their families: from babies to teenagers, single parents to two-parent families and multi-carer families, as well as with a diverse group of professionals, such as the police, schools, hospitals, health centres and various community organisations. They need to be able to understand the law, policy and legislation that surrounds social work with children and families, while continually developing their own skills. Such skills include communication, preparation and planning, intervention, recognition, identification and assessment of significant harm, recording and report writing, managing oneself and the work, problem solving, research and analysis and decision making. This fully revised new edition aims to guide you through all of these areas and more. There are chapters on safeguarding, substitute care for children, family support for children and families, life story work and direct work with children.




Social Work with Children and Families


Book Description

Social workers are constantly making decisions under pressure. How do policy, law, research and theory influence what they do? This important book provides the answers with a crystal-clear map of the field of social work with children and families. Focused on four major themes - family support work, child protection, adoption and fostering, and residential child care, and reveals in detail all the challenges that social workers face every day. Edited by the highly respected Martin Davies, this authoritative and illuminating book argues that the skill of the social worker can have life-enhancing consequences for some of the most vulnerable people in society. It is an essential investment for students, educators and practitioners alike.




Working with Denied Child Abuse


Book Description

How can professionals build constructive relationships with families where the parents dispute professional allegations of serious child abuse? How can meaningful safety for children be created in these families? How can professionals work together constructively in such cases? Situations where parents refute child abuse allegations made against them are often deemed to be impossible or untreatable by statutory and treatment professionals. These cases can consume enormous amounts of professional time and energy and frequently become bogged down by ongoing professional-family mistrust and dispute. Often, the decision to close such cases comes about not because the children are safe, but rather because the professionalsrun out of ideas, time and energy. Working with ‘Denied’ Child Abuse presents an innovative, safety-focused, partnership-based, model called Resolutions, which provides an alternative approach for responding rigourously and creatively to such cases. It describes each stage of this practical model and demonstrates the approach through many case examples from therapists, statutory social workers and other professionals working in Europe, North America and Australasia. The book is key reading for legal, health and social care professionals working in the area of child protection.




Developing Knowledge and Skills for Child and Family Social Work


Book Description

This book will provide you with the initial developing knowledge and skills needed to practice ethically and effectively with children and families. It will take you on a journey, introducing you to all the relevant theory, legislation and skills for practice, using case studies, activities and research summaries to help you navigate the complexities and challenges along the way. Since launching in 2003, Transforming Social Work Practice has become the market-leading series for social work students. These books use activities and case studies to build critical thinking and reflection skills and will help social work students to develop good practice through learning. This best-selling student series is: · Affordable · Written to the Professional Capabilities Framework · Mapped to the social work curriculum · Practical with clear links between theory and practice




Effective Social Work with Children and Families


Book Description

Social work with children and families is constantly in the headlines and social workers′ decisions are subject to ever increasing scrutiny at all levels. This aspirational book supports students and newly qualified social workers and suggests practical ways in which they might thrive, rather than just survive, in practice Written at a time when Social Work Reform Board and the Munro Enquiry are charged with looking at issues of effectiveness within children and families social work, the book tackles the different challenges that students and practitioners can be faced with, outlining common pitfalls and how to avoid these. Key topics covered include: - Legislation and policy - Child development - Safeguarding and child protection - Assessment - Communication - Looking after yourself Reflective questions are used throughout the book, ensuring that students critically evaluate their own practice. Case examples and case studies drawn from the authors′ recent practice are included throughout the book to illuminate the realities of contemporary social work with children and families. This text will be essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students, particularly as they prepare to go on placement. It will also provide valuable reading for qualified social workers who are interested in fresh and effective approaches to practice.




Young People's Transitions from Care to Adulthood


Book Description

The transition from care into adulthood is a difficult step for any young person, but young people leaving care have a high risk of social exclusion, both in terms of material disadvantage and marginalisation. In Young People's Transitions from Care to Adulthood leading academics gather together the latest international research relating to the transition of young people leaving care, outlining and comparing the range of legal and policy frameworks, welfare regimes and innovative practice across 16 countries. The book also highlights the variations that exist between different groups leaving care. Featuring key messages for policy and practice, this book will give academics, practitioners and policymakers valuable insights into how to encourage resilience and improve outcomes for care leavers.




Social Work with Children and Their Families


Book Description

An extensively revised version of the first edition, this text focuses on the practical foundational knowledge required to practice social work effectively in the complex and fast-changing world of services to children and their families. The core organizing framework consists of eight pragmatic perspectives: combating adultcentrism, family-centered practice, the strengths perspective, respect for diversity and difference, the least restrictive alternative, ecological perspective, organization and financing, and achieving outcomes. Unlike most texts that focus either on direct practice or on policy, Petr's revised volume integrates current policy-including recent reform efforts-with "best practices." The student thus gains a deep appreciation for how direct social work practice is linked to, and even guided by, contemporary policy initiatives and the values that underscore those initiatives. Two new chapters are devoted specifically to the fields of child welfare and children's mental health, providing an overview of the laws, policies, practices, and terminology pertaining to each setting. The next eight chapters focus on each pragmatic perspective and its relevance to child welfare and children's mental health. The in-depth case studies that comprise the concluding two chapters illustrate how typical client situations can be successfully addressed within the context of the pragmatic perspectives. Packed with case studies, specific practice instruction, chapter summaries, and suggested learning activities, this book prepares students and practitioners to think and act professionally in ways that are consistent with current laws, values, policies, and reform efforts in the field.




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.




Social Work with Children and Families


Book Description

Social workers are constantly making decisions under pressure. How do policy, law, research and theory influence what they do? This important book provides the answers with a crystal-clear map of the field of social work with children and families. Focused on four major themes - family support work, child protection, adoption and fostering, and residential child care, and reveals in detail all the challenges that social workers face every day. Edited by the highly respected Martin Davies, this authoritative and illuminating book argues that the skill of the social worker can have life-enhancing consequences for some of the most vulnerable people in society. It is an essential investment for students, educators and practitioners alike.




Social Work with Children and Families


Book Description

There is an increasing emphasis on post-qualifying training for social workers, especially in the complex and demanding area of working with children and families. This essential textbook is especially designed for practitioners studying at this level. Accessible and thorough, the text focuses on a mixture of conceptual and organisational topics, skills, law, policy and key practice issues. It includes chapters on: Social work values and ethics Risk, uncertainty and accountability Direct work with children and young people Promoting security and stability Working with reluctant service users Assessment of parenting Working with poverty, drugs and alcohol Going to court and the legal framework Children and young people going home Supporting others in their professional development. Using case studies and activities to link research, theory and practice, Social Work with Children and Families takes a wider look at the role and tasks of an experienced social work practitioner, and the skills and knowledge needed to develop professionally from this point.