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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences that people with HIV faced as they navigated through the intricate processes of trying to access adoption services in the south of England. It proposes the need to pay more attention to people living with HIV (PLWHIV) able to adopt children. The study aims to develop an increased focus on PLWHIV able to adopt.Design/methodology/approach The paper is an exploratory study using an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. Open-ended interviews were conducted with seven participants including individuals and couples. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using IPA’s cross-case and ideographic analysis.Findings The paper provides empirical insights about the challenges that PLWHIV experienced with social workers. Positive experiences were in the minority. Lack of information, inadequate support, stigma and discrimination, cultural insensitivity and disempowerment were frequently reported. The paper suggests that greater understanding and better education for social workers would improve access to adoption by people with HIV.Research limitations/implications Given the chosen approach and small sample size, results may not be generalisable.Practical implications This study increases knowledge, promotes positive attitudes and improved support for PLWHIV who are stable and able to offer permanency to adoptive children.Originality/value This paper provides new ideas in an area that is scarcely researched. It identifies the need to undertake further studies to understand how social workers assess PLWHIV and what can be done to provide adequate support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the aspects of social work for children, primarily in England.Design/methodology/approach It is based on reflections on research undertaken by the author prior to 1995 and after 2015.Findings The paper explores the interaction between people – effective leaders and practitioners – and systems.Research limitations/implications It is an opinion piece, and does not present findings from a single study.Practical implications It urges systems that do not restrict the capability of practitioners.Social implications The value of social work services at times of significant social disadvantage demands strong public policy attention.Originality/value The study draws on several research and case studies in over 20 English local authorities [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to expose and dispel some outdated dilemmas and straw men that have drawn attention away from debates of substance in social work. The paper presents what Frontline believes to be the substantive dilemmas facing the social work profession, as it looks into the future.Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on the insights and experiences of the past four years during which Frontline has been innovating in the field of social work education and leadership development.Findings Building a better social work system requires addressing several important questions, namely, whether social work; first, is a practical or intellectual task; second, is a generic or specialist profession; third, focuses on social or therapeutic change; fourth, requires bureaucrats or change agents; and fifth, involves measuring inspections or measuring outcomes.Originality/value The paper sets out the key dilemmas facing the social work profession, which must be debated and addressed in order to build a better social work system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on development in children’s social work over 35 years from the perspective of someone who has worked in the field as a practitioner and director.Design/methodology/approach Interview.Findings The paper provides insights into implementing the Reclaiming Social Work model and how systems can better support social work practice with children and families.Originality/value The paper offers a unique perspective on developments in the field and implications for the future of children’s social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to argue for the need to move away from a sole focus on assessing and dealing with individualised risk factors in order to more fully engage with and understand the social determinants of many of the harms that are manifest in families.Design/methodology/approach It draws from a number of research studies being conducted by the authors and a literature on psycho-social approaches to social suffering.Findings It highlights the evidence on the contribution of poverty and inequality to many of the problems encountered within families. It explores how hurt, shame and loss are experienced by those who are marginalised and struggling to live well and care safely for themselves and others.Practical implications It highlights the practice implications of adopting an approach that engages with both the social and the psychological and understands their inter-relationship. It offers some thoughts on how the social in psycho-social might receive the attention it deserves, a situation which does not pertain currently.Originality/value It offers an original contribution to thinking in the area of child protection where the focus is primarily on individualised risk factors. It highlights the importance of understanding the social determinants of many of the harms experienced in families and offers some pointers towards thinking and practising differently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer a view about the future of children’s social work from the perspective of a frontline practitioner.Design/methodology/approach Reflections of a frontline practitioner are based on his experience of practising social work with children and families.Findings The professional task of assessment and intervention in order to protect the nation’s children from significant harm is probably one of the most complex in modern society. However, a focus on gathering too much information and the need for certainty can be detrimental to analysis and judgement. Further, the most complex and challenging part of the social work task, namely, direct work in the family home, is rarely subject to formally structured analysis or feedback. There is insufficient analysis of good practice, and the organisational conditions that will promote and sustain it, but there are alternative models, including outside local government and including from other countries, that appear promising.Originality/value The study offers the perspective of a frontline children and families social worker on issues facing the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on progress and lessons in improving the social work system in England in the interests of children and families.Design/methodology/approach Based on an interview with the author by Michael Little (one of the Guest Editors of this edition).Findings Social work is best placed to lead the child protection system given its ability to manage risks in a challenging social and political environment. However, there is a need to address common concerns about the system, for instance to give social workers more autonomy, and to improve the quality in the workforce, especially at the senior level. The best authorities are practice focused, led by practitioners who are part of a stable team, and do well at a systems level.Originality/value Offers the perspective of the Chief Social Worker for Children in England on the process of reforming the social work system for children and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]