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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]

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 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]

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]