Building Effective Relationships: A Guide for Child and Family Social Workers, Exams of Social Work

Download Building Effective Relationships: A Guide for Child and Family Social Workers and more Exams Social Work in PDF only on Docsity! This document contains a breakdown of each part of the knowledge and skills statement for child and family practitioners with links to different types of learning resources on CC Inform that can help you develop and evidence your knowledge and skills in that area. This is just a selection of material on the site; use the search function and knowledge and practice hub pages on specific topics to explore further. 1. Relationships and direct work What does the statement say? A child and family social worker should be able to: • Build effective relationships with children, young people and families and ensure they receive the support to which they are entitled. • Be both authoritative and empathic and work in partnership with children, families and professionals. • Enable full participation by children, families and other professionals in assessment, planning, review and decision making. • Ensure child protection is always the first priority. • Provide support based on best evidence, and tailored to meet both individual child and family needs as well as relevant significant risks. • Secure access to services and negotiate and challenge other professionals/organisations to provide the help required. • Provide support for transitions e.g. children and young people moving to and between placements, returning home, adoption or moving to independence. • Help children separate from, and sustain, multiple relationships, recognising the impact of loss and change. Resources to help you The direct work knowledge and practice hub includes a range of resources and tools to help you build effective relationships including: • a directory of tools, with reviews from social workers who have used them in practice • how to apply trauma-informed practice in direct work • a group CPD activity focusing on developing ideas and skills for direct work with older children and teenagers • a guide to confident direct work with children, which explains the principles behind direct work, and provides tips, practice examples and videos of giving children a voice and building trusting relationships How to develop social work care plans takes a collaborative approach to developing plans in partnership with families, using SMART and POWER principles. Relationship-based practice scenario videos show examples of common social work conversations (talking to a parent about alcohol abuse, a young person about ‘contact’, a victim and a perpetrator of domestic abuse) with commentary on how relationships are built, whilst keeping the child’s safety and wellbeing in mind. They consider the use of empathy, authority and meaningful participation. The life as a looked-after child project brings together care leavers’ stories and perspectives with messages from research about going into and moving between placements or returning home, and leaving care to move to independence. Life story work to help adopted children explore and understand their early history and life before adoption. Transitions, beginnings and endings provides suggestions to support children in foster care through change. Working with looked-after teenagers covers some of the specific challenges in relationships and development for young people in care during adolescence. Community Care Inform and the KSS: find resources to help you 2. Communication What does the statement say? A child and family social worker should be able to: • Communicate clearly and sensitively with children of different ages and abilities (and their families) in a range of settings and circumstances, using methods based on best evidence. • Create immediate rapport to facilitate engagement and motivation to participate in child protection enquiries, assessments and services. • Act respectfully even when people are angry, hostile and resistant to change. • Manage tensions between parents, carers and family members - show persistence, determination and professional confidence. • Listen to the views, wishes and feelings of children and families. • Help parents and carers understand how children communicate through their behaviour and how they might communicate more effectively with their children. • Promote speech, language and communication support, identifying children and adults who are experiencing difficulties expressing themselves. • Case notes and reports should be focused and jargon free. Present a clear analysis and sound rationale for actions and conclusions so that all parties are well informed. Resources to help you Child development practice support tool summarises typical development stages from birth to 16, including communication and speech and language development. Attachment theory: applying it in your practice includes how to use the idea of mind-mindedness or mentalising capacity to help parents and carers understand and communicate more effectively with children. Rethinking ‘disguised compliance’ explores how to take a relationship-based approach when families appear resistant to change. Working with hostile and aggressive clients gives advice on risk assessing situations and ensuring personal safety, reducing the potential for violence and dealing with emotional repercussions. Working with birth parents of looked-after children looks at how social workers can form relationships with parents during care proceedings and circumstances when children are removed, and effectively support behaviour change. Learn on the go podcast: parental alienation discusses this specific tension between family members and what social workers can do. Voice of the disabled child sets out the qualities practitioners need to develop in order to gather the opinions and preferences of disabled children and young people and offers tools you can use with any child you are working with. One page profiles explains this technique for building rapport, learning how best to communicate with a child and conveying a flavour of their personality, strengths and aspirations Family group conferences explains this model of involving the wider family group in decision-making and planning, and how to use conferences effectively. Audio - using attachment theory to support families explores how to give parents the experience of being understood and show that you will treat them with empathy, and capture what they are feeling without necessarily agreeing with what they are saying. Provides suggestions for how to open a visit and start from a position of civility where resistance about concerns you need to discuss is less likely. Case recording includes how to write clear, jargon-free, accurate records that can reliably be used for decision making and court work and read by service users. 5. Abuse and neglect of children What does the statement say? A child and family social worker should be able to: • Exchange information with partner agencies where there is concern about safety and welfare and analyse evidence from all agencies to ensure robust conclusions are drawn. • Recognise harm and the risk indicators of sexual, physical, emotional abuse and neglect. • Take into account the long-term effects of cumulative harm, particularly in relation to early indicators of neglect. • Consider the possibility of child sexual exploitation, grooming (on and offline), female genital mutilation and enforced marriage and the range of adult behaviours which pose a risk to children, recognising too that children may be perpetrators of abuse. • Lead the investigation of allegations of significant harm in consultation with other professionals and practice supervisors. • Draw own conclusions about the likelihood of, for example, sexual abuse or non-accidental injury having occurred and the extent to which any injury is consistent with the explanation offered. Commission a second professional opinion and take legal advice where necessary. Resources to help you The neglect knowledge and practice hub includes: • The impact of neglect at different ages • Neglect cases: a model for concurrent interventions • Learn as a group: understand what neglect felt and looked like for Jenny Molloy • Learn on the go podcast: neglect, poverty and affluence Child sexual abuse knowledge and practice hub includes risk factors, signs and indicators, working with partner agencies, supporting children to speak about abuse with case studies and survivor perspectives throughout. CSE knowledge and practice hub includes: • Signs and indicators of child sexual exploitation: quick guide • Using a trauma model to work with victims • Understanding the role of the criminal justice system and research on perpetration FGM knowledge and practice hub includes practice guidance, the law, a podcast and case examples you can use for group learning. Attachment knowledge and practice hub includes quick guides, tools and case studies to help you understand the links between maltreatment and attachment behaviours. Pre-birth risk assessments considers how information should be shared between agencies and how to assess need indicators and protective factors. Child protection conferences sets out what follows a section 47 investigation with good practice pointers. Working Together guidance: how it affects your social work role summarises and explains how the key statutory safeguarding guidance operates. Interactive supported learning If your organisation has a workforce licence, you can access interactive quizzes and case scenarios to help you prepare for NAAS. There are quizzes on research, practice and the law around neglect, child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation. You can also take a quiz and practice decision-making using our case scenario about safeguarding disabled children. Find out more about supported learning here. 6. Child and family assessment What does the statement say? A child and family social worker should be able to: • Carry out in-depth and ongoing assessment of social need and risk to children, with emphasis on parental capacity and capability to change. • Use professional curiosity and authority while maintaining a position of partnership, involving the family members, including fathers. • Acknowledge any conflict between parental and children’s interests, prioritising the protection of children. • Use child observation skills, genograms, ecomaps, chronologies and other evidence- based tools ensuring active family participation. • Incorporate contributions from other professional disciplines. • Hold an empathic position about difficult social circumstances, the relationship between poverty and social deprivation, and the effect of stress on family functioning, providing help and support. • Take into account how individual histories might affect the ability of adults and children to engage with services. • Recognise and address behaviour that may indicate resistance to change, ambivalent or selective cooperation with services, and recognise when there is a need for immediate action, and what other steps can be taken to protect children. Resources to help you Writing chronologies explores how to put people first in chronologies and use chronologies as a key tool in assessment and analysis, rather than seeing them as an administrative chore. Parenting assessments looks in detail at what parenting assessments involve and the messages from research about effective approaches and tools in different circumstances, with a particular emphasis on parents’ capacity to change. How to apply systemic practice in your work includes the use of ecomaps and genograms, with case studies to help you think about how you assess and support families. Guide to risk assessment of child neglect sets out a framework to help practitioners better identify and assess neglect. Assessing attachment quick guide explains how to use attachment-related knowledge and tools to understand the dynamics of parent-child interaction. Working with fathers in child protection: lessons from research explores the potential barriers in work with fathers, and how to overcome these. Learn on the go: poverty, child protection and the care system discusses research into poverty and deprivation and how this links locally to the proportion of children in care and on child protection plans. Pre-birth risk assessments looks at different models of assessing risk for unborn children with case examples and tips on overcoming challenges Working with resistant parents: lessons from research looks at different forms of resistance and identifies messages from research to help practitioners recognise risks and challenge parents when necessary. Rethinking ‘disguised compliance’ critically considers the use of this term in practice and suggests relationship-based approaches to working with families who are resistant to change and cooperate selectively with services. 7. Analysis, decision-making, planning and review What does the statement say? A child and family social worker should be able to: • Establish the seriousness of different risks and any harm already suffered by a child, balanced with family strengths and potential solutions. • Set out the best options for resolving difficulties considering the risk of future harm and the likelihood of successful change . • Prioritise children’s need for emotional warmth, stability and sense of belonging, particularly those in public care, as well as identity development, health and education. • Test multiple hypotheses using evidence and professional judgement to reach timely conclusions. • Challenge any prevailing professional conclusions in the light of new evidence or practice reflection. • Make realistic, child-centred plans within a review timeline, to manage and reduce identified risks and meet their needs. • Ensure sufficient multi-disciplinary input into the process at all stages. • Use twin and triple track planning to minimise chances of drift or delay, and monitor effectiveness of support plans. Resources to help you Managing risk considers what practitioners and managers understand by ‘risk’ and how to take a balanced, proportionate approach to managing concerns. Strengths-based practice with families: this hub brings together information and guidance on approaches such as motivational interviewing; solution-focused, systemic and relationship-based practice; and Signs of Safety, along with video and audio examples of approaches in action. Analysis and decision-making explains how to use a model of continual hypothesising and information gathering to ensure analysis and professional judgement underpins all your assessments and decision-making. (See also the learn as a group session on this topic.) Developing social work care plans incorporates statutory guidance and research on what works in care planning, with case studies and exercises to help you implement child-centred 'SMART' (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely) and ‘POWER’ (Positive, Own role, What specifically, Evidence and Relationship) approaches in your own practice. (See also the learn as a group session on this topic.) Multi-agency working: leading the professional network and chairing meetings provides tips on effective multi-disciplinary working and challenging other professionals when necessary. Evidence-based practice explores how to use evidence to inform your practice and ways to find relevant information and stay up-to-date. Concurrent planning describes an approach where foster carers are recruited with a view to potentially becoming adopters for children when there is a high risk they will be unable to safely return to their birth parents. Interactive supported learning If your organisation has a workforce licence, you can access interactive quizzes and case scenarios to help you prepare for NAAS. The scenarios looking at decision-making for young people at risk of child sexual exploitation and safeguarding concerns about a boy with autism can help you practice analysis and decision-making skills in a simulated case scenario environment. Find out more about supported learning here.