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This paper uses critical realism to identify mechanisms that activate successful relationships. It draws data from a longitudinal, mixed‐methods study of youth who used multiple services. It examines functionality of four relational mechanisms: power, recognition, responsiveness and mutuality that lead to positive change and explores the implications of these for practice with youth with complex needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The professed aim of any social welfare or legal intervention in family life is often to bring about "better outcomes for the children." But there is considerable ambiguity about "outcomes," and the term is far too often used in far too simplistic a way. This paper draws on empirical research into the outcomes of care proceedings for a randomly selected sample of 616 children in England and Wales, about half starting proceedings in 2009–2010 and the others in 2014–2015. The paper considers the challenges of achieving and assessing "good outcomes" for the children. Outcomes are complex and fluid for all children, whatever the court order. One has to assess the progress of the children in the light of their individual needs and in the context of "normal" child development, and in terms of the legal provisions and policy expectations. A core paradox is that some of the most uncertain outcomes are for children who remain with or return to their parents; yet law and policy require that first consideration is given to this option. Greater transparency about the uncertainty of outcomes is a necessary step towards better understanding the risks and potential benefits of care proceedings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper adopts a qualitative case study on the generalist service delivery model of I‐Care, a Durban‐based non‐governmental organization that works with male street children. Fifteen face‐to‐face interviews were conducted with 10 I‐Care employees and 5 former street children. A focus group was set up with I‐Care employees. Although existing literature is forthright about a generalist approach for children at risk, it remains unclear how to implement this approach in practice. This paper reviews a continuity of 5 fundamental social work practices for working with street children: (a) outreach work, (b) child–family and child–community mediation, (c) transitory care centres and programmes, (d) brokerage, and (e) mentorship and follow‐ups. The study analyses how these practices contribute to the capability and agency expansion of the street children and outlines challenges that service providers and former street children experience. The main challenges acknowledged are balancing between the agency and protection of street children and the adaptation of children to street life. The study proposes intervention strategies to overcome these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The working relationship is considered a central feature of direct practice with human services clients. There are many challenges when it comes time to end a working relationship, yet limited guidance for workers on successful relationship ending. This paper aims to increase understanding of the process of the ending phase of the working relationship for parents and workers working with families where child neglect is an issue. The paper draws on data from a small-scale qualitative Australian study of perceptions of parents, family workers, and supervisors involved in eight parent-worker relationships. Using semistructured interviews, participants were asked to explore how they experienced the relationship. The findings illuminate important aspects about the ending phase of the relationship; in particular, challenging the idea that parents' returning to services for support is a sign that the service has not provided a successful intervention. The paper challenges social workers to consider recurring parent-worker relationships similar to other professional relationships where there are episodes of service but the relationship is there to be reactivated where needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaboration and conversations are important in meeting vulnerable children's needs in the context of Child Welfare Services (CWS). Building on 10 qualitative interviews with parents of children in Norwegian Child Welfare Services, this paper discusses parents' views on collaboration between children and child welfare professionals. The parents stated that a constructive collaborative relationship depends on professionals' attitudes towards the child, their ability to connect with the child and their awareness of how the child's emotions and how the parents influence the child–professional relationship. A collaborative relationship is essential for child welfare professionals to meet the child's needs and to help improve relations between the child and the parents. The parents asked for more collaboration between children and child welfare professionals. The findings call for more discussion of child welfare workers' tasks and competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how children experience social work interventions is an important part of gauging whether what is provided is genuinely helpful. In this paper, we describe the findings from a research project using Q‐method, aimed at understanding what children involved with statutory services think about their social workers and how they experience the time they spend together. Using a pre‐existing practice framework, we explored skills including empathy, collaboration, and purposefulness from the point of view of children and young people. The participants in our study (n = 22) were insightful observers of social work practice, able to describe not only how they experienced time spent with their workers but also inferring differences in motivation and approach. In addition, workers who were described in similar terms by different young people were nevertheless experienced differently. This suggests not an archetypal "good social worker"—instead, there are skills that are good for specific children at specific times within the context of specific relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes the opportunity of the current child welfare system change in Ireland to promote the value of learning from history to better understand the interface between family support and child protection. The paper draws from the histories of child protection and family support to illuminate the commonalities and differences that have come to define the two practices. Using findings from two historical studies - one on family support and the other on child protection - the paper demonstrates the unique features and the many integrated elements of family support and child protection in Ireland. It is argued that students and practitioners need to be provided with a stronger sense of the historical developments that have shaped the present. This will enable comprehension of the complex context within which current relations between 'protection' and 'support' are negotiated and help to avoid operating in a vacuum of a present only viewpoint. The paper concludes with reference to the need for students and practitioners to navigate the complex relationship between family support and child protection at practice, policy and organizational level through a well-informed knowledge of the historical as well as the present context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the provision of family support services for young mothers within a Sure Start Children's Centre, drawing on data collected within a larger study. It identifies how the family support team attempted to build supportive relationships with young mothers between the ages of 16 and 19 years. The findings presented here draw on narrative interviews ( n = 10) and focus group interviews ( n = 2) with the family support team that included early years workers, family support workers and their managers. The findings captured how the participants actively resisted the stigma (Goffman 1963) of teenage motherhood in order to support young mothers in gaining the necessary skills and knowledge to care for their child. Drawing on the findings, this paper argues that the building of a supportive relationship enables a young mother to construct positive counter-narratives about her parenting experience. This suggests that the family \to offer informal early support to young mothers who are at risk of more formal intervention. However, the complexity of this task should not be underestimated because in doing this, the family support team must at all times ensure the well-being and safety of the child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper presents findings from qualitative interviews with 24 young people (11-17 years) who have been referred to Children's Social Care Services in England. The paper explores young people's experiences of help seeking and their experiences of receiving help for maltreatment through statutory agencies. A central finding is the importance of relationships for young people when seeking and receiving help. It is through trusting relationships with professionals that young people are most likely to disclose maltreatment and/or engage with services. The paper concludes that young people's expectations and needs are not always met by the current safeguarding system and that the system needs to become more child-centred if it is to address the concerns maltreated young people have consistently voiced through research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of a scoping study into looked after children and care leavers who are parents in Wales. Eight parents engaged in a qualitative interview. Thirty-one pregnancies were discussed during the interviews: 16 live births, two ongoing pregnancies, one stillbirth, one termination and 11 miscarriages. At the point of interview, two parents continued to care for their children, but six had experienced the permanent removal of their child/ren as a result of social services intervention. Twelve of the 16 children discussed in the interviews were 'looked after' or adopted. Despite its small-scale nature, the study highlights important considerations before, during and after participants became parents. Broadly categorized, these relate to the influence of parents' childhood experiences on their capacity to be parents, the availability and adequacy of support during parenting and the ensuing impact of parenting 'success' or 'failure'. For parents who had experienced the loss of a child, some were resigned to having no further children, some continued to hope for a family in the future, while others had experienced cycles of repeated pregnancies and compulsory removals. The findings are considered in the context of related literature and suggest that increased attention is required in this under-researched but highly emotive area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family group conferencing (FGC) coordinators in public mental healthcare are confronted with clients who have little faith in professionals and organizations, who hold off decisions in their family life, who avoid care and who sometimes behave in a hostile manner. A lack of initiative to deal with their situation is not only reserved for clients - all bystanders, including professionals, can suffer from it. The multiplicity and severity of the client's problems lead to a situation wherein everyone involved waits for the initiative of the other. The independence of the FGC coordinator - a fellow citizen, who is free of organizational loyalties and comes to assist other citizens in establishing a plan - seems to work well with the client group of the public mental healthcare. However, the coordinator cannot always prevent deferral or failure of conferences. Drawing on empirical and theoretical findings, this paper considers the possibility of collecting feedback as a way to contribute positively to the alliance between FGC coordinators and those for whom a conference is deployed. We highlight findings from three case studies that centred on multiproblem families. The findings indicate the importance of feedback theory for FGC coordinators in enhancing trust and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports into incidents of child death and serious injury have highlighted consistently concern about the capacity of social workers to communicate skilfully with children. Drawing on data collected as part of an Economic and Social Research Council funded UK-wide research project exploring social workers' communicative practices with children, this paper explores how approaches informed by social pedagogy can assist social workers in connecting and communicating with with children. The qualitative research included data generated from 82 observations of social workers' everyday encounters with children. Social pedagogical concepts of 'haltung' (attitude), 'head, heart and hands' and 'the common third' are outlined as potentially helpful approaches for facilitating the intimacies of inter-personal connections and enhancing social workers' capacity to establish and sustain meaningful communication and relationships with children in the face of austere social, political and organisational contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the importance of including fathers in child welfare services has been increasingly recognized, social workers' engagement with fathers is still limited and sometimes fraught with negative bias. This paper attempts to lay some needed foundation to meet the challenge of working with fathers. It presents in succinct form the existing knowledge on how fathers experience and manifest their distress and on how they view the social services and social workers. It discusses, in some detail, three main issues – power relations, mutual fear and communication differences – in the interactions between female social workers and the fathers in the social welfare services. And it emphasizes the need for social workers to be aware of how their experiences with their own fathers may affect their interventions with men. It ends with observations and recommendations for developing the gender awareness that is necessary for effective practice with fathers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the key lessons learnt in the UK from the Laming Inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié was the importance of social workers developing consistent and long-term relationships with young children in whose lives they are involved. This issue is now informing policy developments, including the proposed Social Work Practices which, based on a similar model to General Practitioner practices, aim to provide a lead professional to act as a parental figure and an advocate for every child in care. This paper begins by confirming the importance of developing relationships between social workers and young children, but questions the ability of the new policy developments to facilitate these. Drawing upon data from research involving interviews with social workers, the paper outlines the factors which hinder social workers’ relationships with young children and argues that while the new proposals address some of the more surface structural and organizational factors, they do not address the deeper factors regarding attitudes, values and emotional competence which are crucial if social workers are to successfully build relationships with young children in care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the components of a programme designed to prevent child maltreatment which includes the promising practices of a continuous engagement process, cognitive-behavioural parent and skill teaching, and development of formal and informal supports for families. The programme was also designed to be implemented wide scale. Methods for assessment of strengths and needs, individualization of goals and intervention strategies, and assessment of goal achievement are also described. Finally, preliminary results of a programme implementation fidelity and outcome evaluation are summarized. The authors conclude that this programme is ready for a more rigorous efficacy trial to continue to build the evidence base for this promising intervention addressing a prevalent social problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Not only has research over the past decade documented the emotional and behavioural consequences for children who witness domestic violence, but a number of studies have used children as participants thus, giving them an opportunity to describe their experiences in their own words. In policy terms, there has been a growing emphasis on children's rights and the importance and understanding of children's perspectives on their own lives. Consequently, children can no longer be perceived as forgotten victims where domestic violence is concerned. This paper explores practitioners' awareness of the needs of children and young people living with, and fleeing from, domestic violence. The research, conducted in a rural area in Wales, reveals that although the views of practitioners reflect the concerns reported by young people in other studies, there can be barriers to meeting these needs. While policy prescribes engaging with children, at the institutional level, operational priorities and increasing administrative demands can actually reduce opportunities for working directly with children. These demands may hamper the development of multi-agency practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qualifying social work education must provide students with a variety of experiential, personalized, participatory, didactic and critically reflective learning opportunities across both the taught curriculum and in practice placements if deep learning of the capabilities needed for effective communication with children and young people is to be ensured. At present, programmes in England are not consistent in the curriculum structures, content and pedagogical approaches they are employing to teach and assess this topic. This paper discusses first how current proposals for the reform of qualifying education in England do not address the ambiguities and discretion in regulatory guidance, which have meant that the place and relevance of this topic within the curriculum remain uncertain and contested. It then draws on a model of the sequencing of students' learning and development in qualifying training, developed through the author's recent empirical research, to present an integrated and coherent approach to the teaching, learning and assessment of this topic. It is proposed that this strategy will enable students to develop the generic, 'child-focused' and 'applied child-specialist' capabilities they need for the ' knowing', ' being' and ' doing' of effective communication with children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever-growing number of out-of-home children in Italy over the last decade has urged an assessment of the available care services. Although foster care is spreading rapidly, many young people are still housed in residential facilities. Reflection on residential care quality has intensified at both a national and an international level. This paper presents the results of a study on residential care facilities for children and young people in the region of Northern Italy ( Lombardy). Four dimensions of 'quality' are considered: efficiency, effectiveness, participation in planning and intervention, and empowerment of children and their family relationships. The combined effects of these dimensions are defined as 'relational quality'. The results show that residential care facilities are generally good, while Social Services resources often appear inadequate for interventions aimed at birth families (efficiency). The well-being of children in residential care facilities is high, even if they tend to move from one facility to another, rarely returning to their birth family (effectiveness). The involvement of children and their families at different stages of the care path is limited (participative approach). Finally, the most critical element is the failure to properly involve birth families (empowerment). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In order to engage mothers who are victims of domestic abuse, the child welfare worker needs to be challenged to develop an intentional practice response that includes knowledge and skill concerning the complexities of domestic violence, as well as the process of change. Developing a supportive relationship, understanding the stages of change (SOC) and engaging mothers as leaders in the change process are essential to successful child protection outcomes. Within the context of the SOC model, this practice-based paper focuses on the importance of engaging mothers who are victims of domestic violence in conversations about their own unique dilemmas, challenges and barriers regarding change. Through the inclusion of engagement strategies such as signs of safety, active listening and cost/benefit analysis, in concert with the SOC theory, the child welfare worker would be equipped with an approach to successfully assist mothers through their change journey, ultimately keeping children safe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of a study comparing the impacts on helping relationships of locating front-line child protection service providers in central locations or in accessible school and neighbourhood service delivery sites. Creating easier access to front-line child protection service providers, fostering more positive community perceptions of child welfare services, improving client and service provider satisfaction with helping relationships and services, and increasing families' willingness to ask for help were core objectives at the accessible sites. Using a quasi-experimental outcome design, file reviews and qualitative interviews with service providers and parents, this study presents evidence that accessible sites had substantial success in achieving these objectives when compared with central service delivery locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the evaluation of residential care from the perspective of the adolescents in care. Twelve discussion groups were carried out in 12 different centres in Catalonia (Spain). A total of 66 adolescents aged between 16 and 18 years of age participated. The data contributed by the discussion groups were analysed and categorized using descriptive analysis matrices. Most notable from the results is that the majority of those interviewed call for increased emotional involvement from the social workers, more contact with their families and re-educational intervention within their families, which renders the return to these possible within a shorter period of time. Data provided by the adolescents lead us to reconsider the concept of optimum professional distance and to suggest replacing it with optimum professional proximity; this would be based on emotional involvement and not on emotional distance, although not on emotional dependence either. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Family preservation services (FPS) include a set of services designed to prevent out-of-home placement for children at risk of child maltreatment. Research examining FPS is inconsistent, with some studies reporting positive results, while others fail to demonstrate improved outcomes for many families. To understand the experience of receiving these services from the perspective of consumers, this paper reports the qualitative findings from a mixed methods study to examine families' experiences with FPS. To accomplish this objective, a purposive sample of 36 families was followed from referral to case closure. Specifically, 85 semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted at onset, midpoint and case closure to examine the perceptions of clients throughout service delivery. Each interview was audiotaped, transcribed and analysed using open and secondary coding strategies. Findings suggest that similar to other studies, families' perceptions of FPS were mixed. Some found the services relevant and supportive, while others were less satisfied. The four qualitative themes discussed by these participants included service content, service delivery, emotional support and tangible support. These themes help to provide in-depth descriptions of the perspectives of this sample of families. Implications for practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper reports on and discusses the results of part of the author's PhD study. It focuses on professionals' perceptions of the factors that contribute to young people in residential children's homes coming to the attention of the criminal justice system, with consideration given to how such perceptions might impact on responses to the young people. As part of a case study of a particular local authority area, the author undertook semi-structured interviews and a focus group with 31 professionals from the care and criminal justice systems. The implications of the findings for policy and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The support and resources embedded in social networks may be especially important for youth aging out of child welfare custody, such that foster youth support network characteristics influence the degree to which individual risk factors translate to poor outcomes during the transition from care. To examine the extent of this network influence on youth outcomes, social network analysis can be used to measure the interconnected relationships in the service network of caseworkers, foster parents and other providers, and in the personal network of biological family and community supports. By assessing these patterns of relationships, researchers can identify social network characteristics associated with particular subpopulations of foster youth who experience relatively successful or unsuccessful transition outcomes. This paper applies social network concepts and related methodology to frame foster youth transition support from a network perspective and to promote the generation of network-informed hypotheses that could expand the scope of research with this important population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the key role played by a specialist Parents with Learning Disabilities team in supporting parents with learning disabilities who are involved with child protection services. This team is recognized as working through three levels of relationships to enable parents to engage firstly with this service and then with services concerned with the welfare of their children. The team also promotes positive multi-agency relationships. The service is praised, by parents, for its respectful, trusting yet honest and challenging relationships and was also respected and trusted by child protection workers, who are sure of the team's commitment to the welfare of the children and who see them as central to the support that is provided to parents with learning disabilities. Parents who have previously had children removed are engaged with children's services and being supported to parent by this service which is living out the principles of positive support for this group of parents discussed in the Good Practice Guidance on Working with Parents with Learning Disabilities (Department of Health and Department for Education and Skills) and Finding the Right Support (2006). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Parental resistance is a ubiquitous feature of child and family social work, yet there has been limited research or theoretical work directed at the issue. This paper identifies social and individual reasons why parents may be resistant. Five principle causes of parental resistance are discussed, namely social structure and disadvantage, the context of child protection work, parental resistance to change, denial or minimization of abuse or neglect and the behaviour of the social worker. It is argued that motivational interviewing (MI) provides particularly useful skills and concepts for firstly reducing the social worker contribution to resistance and secondly minimizing the resistance related to other reasons for resistance. Key adaptations required in the strategic aims of MI if it is to be used in child protection work are identified and discussed, the most important of which is maintaining a focus on the child's welfare and safety. It is concluded that MI offers an opportunity to improve practice by increasing parental engagement and to make a contribution to social work theory by combining an attention to both broader social structure and the micro-skills required in social work interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper reports research undertaken in two sites in England which captured the views of parents and young people who had experienced domestic violence. Survivors, perpetrators and young people described feelings of guilt and shame that acted as barriers to the disclosure of domestic violence. They identified a range of effects on children, which continued beyond separation. All three groups of participants valued professionals who listened to them and validated their accounts. Professionals who appeared ineffective in the face of domestic violence could reinforce children's and victims' own sense of powerlessness. Mothers wanted support with managing the effects of separation and assistance with contact arrangements. The research identifies the need for practitioners to engage with the emotional content of disclosure of domestic violence and to undertake this work in separate sessions with parents and with children so that differing accounts can be heard safely. Interventions that enable parents to engage with children's experiences of domestic violence appear valuable. Rather than taking separation as the end-point of intervention, social work needs to take account of the dynamics of separation and contact in parents' relationships and consider how they interact with violence and abuse to impact on children and young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper examines the issue of parental engagement where children's services have brought court proceedings to protect children, from the perspective of specialist lawyers who represent parents. It draws on an in-depth, qualitative study of parents' representation conducted between 2008 and 2010. Parental non-co-operation with children's services is a common feature in these cases. Lawyers are partisans with duties to follow clients' instructions. They seek to build a trusting relationship and keep clients engaged in the process by giving advice, taking instructions and providing emotional support. Lawyers accept that parents have an absolute right to contest but use their power and authority to encourage their most vulnerable clients to concede. They are largely successful in keeping clients engaged in proceedings but parents rarely make the necessary changes in parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explored the subject of physical touch occurring between social workers and children in the Republic of Ireland. Here, it was maintained that touch practices occupy an ambiguous area for social work practitioners. The empirical component was based on interviews that were conducted with a small group of practitioners in one particular Irish county. The study provided insight into the social workers' personal experiences of, and opinions on, touch with children in the context of their practice. Despite a lack of prescriptive 'do's and don'ts' regarding physical touch and social work, the findings suggested that social workers do not consciously engage in physical touch with children. Rather, touch occurs as a result of practicality and safety concerns for a child. Recognized as beneficial in terms of communication, reassurance and conveying empathy, touch practices are also guided by a fear of misinterpretation, allegations and concern for causing harm to the child. The place of physical touch with children is regarded as being outside the remit of the social work role. Despite this, a majority of those interviewed spoke of a desire to have more discussion and guidance on the subject of physical touch with children within their work locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality relationships form the backbone of social work with children and their families. They are particularly relevant in the close, intimate work with looked-after children who have identified how important it is to them that their relationship with their social worker is positive, warm and meaningful. It is accepted that in order to achieve and maintain successful and meaningful relationships, practitioners need to engage at an emotional as well as a professional level. All too often this requires a trade-off between organizational efficiency and the emotional work of caring for looked-after children. Therefore, it would appear the role of corporate parent is increasingly difficult, involving complex decisions about how practitioners might best spend their time, where their loyalties lie and the quality and direction of the final output. Using data from a series of interviews with practitioners, this paper explores the difficulties of maintaining active emotional engagement with children using the sociological concept of emotional labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

April 2008 saw the introduction of a new Public Law Outline (PLO) that aims to improve judicial case management of Public Law Children Act cases. The PLO is a response to concerns about the rising number of care proceedings, associated costs, and the difficulties of achieving case resolution given this volume. Based on an ethos that care proceedings should be avoided wherever possible, the new approach to case management, which places significant emphasis on pre-proceedings work and the effective engagement of parents, can be seen to reinforce the ‘no order principle’ enshrined in the Children Act (CA) 1989. Focusing specifically on relationships between parents and professionals, this paper provides a critical discussion of the potential of the PLO to further promote consensual practices with parents. Discussion traces the introduction of the concept of partnership within the CA 1989, provides a review of the evidence to-date of effective partnership working, before considering the prospects for the PLO with respect to parental engagement. A number of key contextual obstacles are highlighted that will inevitably undermine the aspirations of the new outline, and a more general observation is drawn about the limits of procedure in effecting change in complex social issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]