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In order to promote community wellbeing that is capable of addressing social problems by valuing the actions of community members, it is important for practitioners to develop interventions in a participatory way. Community Network Dialogues are a structured decision-making process that supports the equal participation of service users, family members, citizens, social workers and policy makers. The paper presents the results of action research carried out in Lombardy with the aim of experimenting and exploring Community Network Dialogues in the planning of communi- ty-based interventions. It presents the design results of 10 dialogue sessions involving 126 people, including families and individual citizens, volunteers from non-profit organisations, policy makers and professionals. The study, conducted through analysis of the drafts written at the end of each dialogue and the questionnaires completed by the participants, highlights the concerns as well as the coping strategies shared. The data also show that the level of concern about the social problem decreases significantly at the end of the dialogue session. The research highlights the potential of Community Network Dialogues as a structured method for participatory planning of community care interventions.

The chapter describes in detail and with concrete examples steps and methodological indications for the implementation of foster care placements with the participation of children, birth families and foster families. According to Relational Social Work method, the author illustrates the stages necessary to plan family foster care: the construction of the project with the birth family, mutual knowledge between the foster family and the birth family, the involvement of the fostered children , the monitoring and support of the ongoing foster care placement, up to the desired family reunification.

This paper refers to a practice learning method in social work education, called Unconventional Practice Placement (UPP), offered in the bachelor’s and master’s degree courses in Social Work at the Catholic University in Italy. During the UPPs, students work with a network of people (professionals from public or private organisations, service users, caregivers and members of the public) to create or implement innovative social interventions collaboratively. The health emergency and social distancing forced a significant redefinition of how UPPs are conducted. The article presents the findings from an online survey aimed at knowing how UPPs are defined and their specific characteristics, particularly, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The participants are 511 social work students. This paper focuses on a comparison between the UPPs conducted before and during the pandemic. Most of the students performed social interventions in Northern Italy, the area most affected by the first wave of the pandemic. Nevertheless, the number of people involved in social planning increased considerably compared to the previous academic years. Despite social distancing, digital tools made it possible to carry out community social work and group work. However, these tools also showed some limits, particularly about the involvement of people in vulnerable conditions. Furthermore, this paper highlights the role of social workers and local community resources in the Covid-19 pandemic, thus proving that UPPs could be a valuable model for training future social workers to cope with crises.

Practice learning is a significant opportunity for future social workers. In consideration of the central role it plays, the Catholic University of Milan offers the chance to carry out both traditional and unconventional practice placement. Unconventional Practice Placements (UPP) is closer to Service Learning, but it is also based on the theoretical framework known as the Relational Social Work method. The aim of UPPs is creating or implementing social intervention starting from collaboration with a network of people (professionals of public or private organizations, service users, caregivers and citizens). The process begins with the identification of a real need of the local community. The purpose of this paper is to analyse UPPs presenting the results of quantitative research. An online survey collects the students’ learning experience, who attended the academic years from 2015 to 2019. The research shows that UPPs important learning is achieved in the field, especially in relation to group and community work. Not only that, but the local communities benefit from the social interventions planned in a participatory manner emerging from the UPPs.

L’articolo presenta i risultati di una survey online riguardante i servizi di tutela minorile lombardi durante la prima fase della pandemia da Covid-19. L’emergenza sanitaria ha avuto un forte impatto sulle organizzazioni di welfare, sui professionisti che vi operano, sugli utenti dei servizi e sulle loro famiglie. In particolare, i servizi di tutela minorile, a fronte delle restrizioni presenti durante la prima fase della pandemia, si sono dovuti riorganizzare attraverso nuove modalità di lavoro. Questa nuova riorganizzazione non ha fermato l’azione dei servizi a sostegno di minori e famiglie. La ricerca presentata mette in luce le sfide che i servizi di tutela minorile hanno dovuto affrontare, i nuovi bisogni e gli apprendimenti acquisiti nel fronteggiare nuove e vecchie difficoltà delle famiglie causate dalla pandemia., This paper presents the findings of an online survey on child protection services in Lombardy (Italy) during the Covid-19 pandemic. The current health emergency strongly affected welfare organizations, their professionals, service users and their families. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions in the first pandemic phase, social services, especially those of child protection, have had to reorganize themselves through new ways of working. The new organization, hectic work schedule and fear of infection did not stop child protection services. The research highlights the challenges faced up, the needs and learning of child protection services that arising from the pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic forced social workers to rethink how they perform their functions. This process was particularly challenging for child protection social workers, who had to understand how to continue to support families and children despite social distancing rules and the suspension of some activities. Three online focus groups were conducted with 18 child protection social workers to explore the Italian child protection social workers’ functions during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study presents the reflections shared by these social workers on their experiences and the new awareness they acquired while performing their work in support of families during the pandemic.

The removal of a child from his or her birth family is a painful and extreme solution that has a profound and irreversible impact on the biographies of the people involved. The task of the child protection professional is to conceive and manage the removal of the child as a stage in a broader project of transformation and renewal of relationships in support of the child and his/her family. According to the Relational Social Work method, the removal of a child can allow for an increase in care resources by including in the coping network all those who are willing to contribute to the child's well-being. The book traces, from a theoretical and operational point of view, the steps in planning and implementing the removal intervention, from the complex decision-making process to the transfer of the child to the new living environment.

Il libro presenta un progetto di Lavoro sociale di comunità, svoltosi nel quartiere Satellite del Comune di Pioltello nella periferia est di Milano, che ha previsto la sperimentazione e lo studio dei Dialoghi Comunitari di Rete (DCR), un metodo per la progettazione di interventi a valenza collettiva, ispirato alla tecnica di origine finlandese dei Dialoghi sul Futuro. Dopo una presentazione teorico-metodologica dei DCR, vengono descritti con accuratezza il contesto territoriale in cui è stato realizzato il progetto e le istanze da cui la comunità è partita per definire interventi e strategie d’azione. La seconda parte del testo presenta i risultati della ricerca che ha accompagnato la sperimentazione con l’obiettivo di studiare il processo di implementazione e gli esiti di questa metodologia di lavoro dal punto di vista dei partecipanti, membri della comunità e operatori dei servizi, e dei facilitatori, figure professionali responsabili della realizzazione degli incontri dialogici.

L’articolo presenta la sperimentazione di una nuova pratica professionale: la scrittura collaborativa delle relazioni sociali sui casi. L’idea progettuale consiste nel coinvolgere gli utenti nella stesura delle relazioni scritte di cui sono protagonisti. La prospettiva su cui si fonda la sperimentazione vede la relazione scritta come una narrazione che, pur ancorandosi saldamente a dati di realtà, li restituisce connettendoli tra loro in una storia, che veicola una certa immagine dei protagonisti, delle vicende in cui sono coinvolti e del loro significato. Chi scrive sceglie quale storia raccontare e, coerentemente al proprio mandato professionale di operatore sociale, può scegliere di proporre quella più funzionale al processo di aiuto., The article presents a first empirical evaluation of a pilot project, aimed at developing collaborative writing of social work reports. The basic idea consists in involving users, their caregivers and/or their families in the drafting of the reports they are the protagonists of. The perspective on which this collaborative writing is founded considers social work reports as narratives which, while anchoring themselves firmly to real data that they must never ignore, connect them to each other in a story, which conveys a certain image of the protagonists and of the meaning related to the events in which they are involved. The report writer chooses - a little or a lot - which narrative to tell and, in line with his professional mandate as a social worker, can choose to propose the one that is most useful to the helping process.

L’articolo presenta un progetto di ricerca-azione realizzato in provincia di Bergamo, volto a sperimentare e studiare il lavoro sociale di comunità promosso e realizzato secondo le indicazioni e gli accorgimenti del metodo Relational Social Work (RSW). Dopo una premessa teorica sul lavoro sociale di comunità in ottica relazionale e una presentazione delle indicazioni metodologiche fornite dal metodo RSW, il presente contributo descrive il progetto e le fasi della ricerca-azione. Gli esiti mettono in luce le funzioni di facilitazione svolte dagli operatori sociali orientate a sostenere una progettazione aperta e partecipata. La motivazione e il coinvolgimento di cittadini, amministratori pubblici, professionisti e persone esperte per esperienza hanno dato vita a progetti sostenibili nel tempo che hanno saputo mettere al centro la relazione e il «fare assieme».

Il presente contributo ha lo scopo di offrire una panoramica sulla sperimentazione di pratiche emancipative proposte dall’Università Cattolica all’interno del percorso del Laboratorio di Guida allo Stage, rivolto agli studenti dei corsi di Laurea Triennale e Magistrale afferenti al Servizio Sociale. Il Laboratorio si configura come strumento dialogico per l’apprendimento cooperativo e reciproco, che promuove il ruolo attivo degli studenti nel percorso formativo personale e altrui; inoltre influenza anche l’attività del tutor di Laboratorio. La co-responsabilità generata dall’accompagnamento universitario, infatti, permette di acquisire competenze professionali e di avviare, infine, percorsi emancipativi nei contesti in cui viene svolto lo stage.

Within the field of child protection, studies and research highlight the importance of listening to children and taking into account their perspectives in decision-making processes that affect them directly. The article focuses on children’s participation in their own foster care planning and implementation and presents the results of a quantitative research carried out on Italian foster care placements. Starting with a documentary analysis of the case files of fostered children, reflections regarding child protection professionals’ practices are noted and some suggestions are made to promote children participation.

Il contributo propone una riflessione sulla capacità di attivazione delle comunità milanesi durante la pandemia Covid-19 nel mettere in campo forme di aiuto sociale per i cittadini più fragili. Vengono presentate alcune esperienze di lavoro sociale di comunità sviluppatesi tra marzo 2020 e febbraio 2021, grazie a un gruppo di studenti e studentesse universitarie di Servizio Sociale che hanno saputo mettersi in una condizione di osservazione e ascolto delle comunità per sostenere e accompagnare il rinnovarsi dei loro legami e delle forme di solidarietà in un momento storico così complesso. Grazie alla funzione di facilitazione e di guida metodologica svolta dagli studenti, alcune iniziative hanno potuto concretizzarsi ed evolvere fino a diventare veri e propri progetti innovativi che si sono poi connessi con enti di terzo settore, scuole, associazioni e servizi pubblici già attivi sul territorio di Milano, andando a creare reti sociali che sono espressione di una comunità capace e motivata a prendersi cura di sé

Il presente contributo intende focalizzarsi sul ruolo dei manager dei servizi di child protection della regione Lombardia (Italia) durante la prima fase della pandemia da Covid-19. Nei servizi di tutela minorile è spesso presente un manager che supporta gli operatori sociali e collabora con dirigenti e amministratori pubblici. L’emergenza sanitaria causata dal Covid-19 ha fortemente colpito le organizzazioni di welfare, i professionisti, gli utenti e le famiglie. Data l’eccezionalità della situazione, è stata condotta una survey online sul funzionamento dei servizi di child protection e sulle funzioni svolte dai manager durante la prima fase della pandemia (marzo-maggio 2020). L’articolo presenta parte dei risultati dell’indagine condotta, che ha coinvolto 85 coordinatori dei servizi di tutela minorile. Dalla ricerca emerge che le sfide derivanti dalla nuova organizzazione dei servizi di child protection, il crescente carico di lavoro e il timore di essere contagiati non hanno ostacolato l’azione dei professionisti dell’aiuto. I manager hanno svolto un ruolo cruciale nello sviluppare e nell’accrescere nuove competenze e strumenti per affrontare i problemi e le difficoltà causati dall’emergenza sanitaria. Anche se la ricerca coinvolge solo i manager di una regione italiana, i risultati potrebbero essere rilevanti per altri servizi europei di child protection., This paper focuses on the role of the managers of child protection services in a region of Northern Italy during the Covid-19 pandemic. In most child protection services, there is a manager who is responsible for supporting social workers and collaborating with directors and policymakers. The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly impacted welfare organisations, professionals, service users, and families. Given the exceptional situation, an online survey was conducted on child protection services and the functions performed by managers during the first phase of the pandemic (March-May 2020). This paper presents the findings of a research survey involving 85 child protection managers. The challenges of the new organisation of child protection services required by the health emergency, the hectic work schedule and the fear of infection did not hinder the action of social services. Managers played a crucial role in developing and enhancing the new skills and tools necessary to cope with problems and difficulties created by the health emergency. Although the scope of the study is limited as it involves only the managers of one Italian region, its findings could be relevant to other European child protection services.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, social workers played an essential role in helping people understand what was happening and cope with new unforeseen difficulties, even carrying out new tasks and activities. Social workers were asked to redefine their work methods to maintain aid relationships with families. This reorganization was complex and challenging for child protection services. The paper will discuss the results of a qualitative research project aimed to describe the Italian child protection social workers' functions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Three online focus groups were conducted with child protection social workers. These focus groups helped researchers explore the new organization of social workers' work in child protection services, which was aimed at maintaining their role and performing the new tasks they need to carry out to support families and children. Three main areas of discus- sion emerged from the qualitative analysis: (1) postponed and maintained activities; (2) remote work advantages and challenges; and (3) new professional learning.

Il Kit "A tutt'orecchi" è un insieme di strumenti professionali finalizzati a sostenere gli adulti nel complesso compito di ascoltare i bambini e i ragazzi, garantendo loro uno spazio di partecipazione autentica, secondo i principi del metodo Relational Social Work. In particolare, il Kit contiene strumenti e attività per favorire la partecipazione dei bambini e ragazzi nelle diverse fasi dei percorsi di aiuto e sostegno pensati per loro, dalle prime fasi di conoscenza e assessment ai processi decisionali che li riguardano. ll Kit è stato ideato e realizzato per assistenti sociali, educatori, pedagogisti, portavoce, insegnanti, referenti BES e tutti gli altri operatori psico-sociali impegnati a vario titolo nel lavoro di accompagnamento e cura di bambini e ragazzi.

This paper highlights how Relational Social Work principles are applied in social work education. Particular attention is given to group work among the students in Unconventional Practice Placements (UPPs) at Catholic University in Italy. Indeed, the skills necessary to become a relational social worker are learned through group work. This paper is focused on the reflection of authors which derive from their accompanying work of the students and the reports written by the students at the conclusion of their UPP experiences. This article starts from a short overview of group learning in social work education and a brief summary of the UPP model, and then highlights how group learning strengthens students’ practical learning progress while paying particular attention to the application of the principles of Relational Social Work to the process. In the end, paper shows the usefulness of group-learning methods for students of social work degree courses. Moreover, it appears to confirm that the Relational Social Work theory offers useful implications for promoting effective group learning.

This article presents an innovative activity based on the involvement of Experts by Experience in social work education. The activity was conducted in Italy during weeks of lockdown. In the spring of 2020, due to containment measures adopted by the Italian government to face with COVID-19, day-long meetings of students of social work with Experts by Experience were suspended. This impediment encouraged educators to develop a new initiative named ‘Social work student telephones Expert by Experience’ in which 119 students of social work and 69 Experts by Experience participated. The activity entailed a telephone call exchanged between a student and an Expert by Experience. After their respective calls, each student was invited to fill out an online form describing the lived experience through a short story addressed to an imaginary friend. Three main themes emerged from the content analysis of the students’ stories: students’ learnings acquired through the activity; students’ feelings during the activity; students’ overall opinions on the educational activity. In the international field of service users’ involvement in social work education, the activity represents an innovation that could inspire other universities to adopt similar practices.

Gli stage rappresentano un’esperienza innovativa di practice learning per gli studenti di Lavoro sociale. A partire dai dati raccolti mediante survey online e dall’esperienza in qualità di tutor delle autrici, l’intento è di offrire uno sguardo generale sui progetti di stage ideati e realizzati dagli studenti, illustrando le principali caratteristiche di questa importante esperienza di apprendimento sul campo. Una particolare attenzione è dedicata agli stage sperimentali condotti durante le prime fasi dell’emergenza sanitaria. Infine, viene evidenziato come il processo di progettazione aperta e partecipata abbia generato sia degli apprendimenti formativi sia degli esiti positivi nelle comunità coinvolte.

Il contributo presenta un’esperienza di ricerca-azione partecipata che ha attivato innovativi processi emancipatori ed effetti di empowerment dei giovani coinvolti. Dopo un breve inquadramento teorico dei concetti di community social work (CSW) e modelli di ricerca partecipativa, temi chiave connessi all’esperienza descritta, si presenteranno finalità, metodologia e risultati della ricerca condotta all’interno del progetto #YOUthLAB (#YL), offrendo infine alcune riflessioni inerenti ai processi di emancipazione prodotti mediante la ricerca e alle nuove forme di partecipazione allo spazio pubblico da parte dei giovani coinvolti.

Foster care is a complex intervention in child protection, and for social workers and Juvenile Courts it is difficult to foresee its outcomes. Despite its thirty-year history, in the Italian social context, foster care is challenging, not only for social workers and the Court that makes the decision, but for the children and their birth and foster families too. This paper is a presentation of a quantitative research on fostering placements decided by the Juvenile Court of Milan, Italy. The aim of this research is to describe foster care placements determined by the Juvenile Court of Milan from 2010 to 2014. Documentary analysis is the chosen study approach. The research focused on the analysis of Juvenile Court’s case files. The researcher was interested in social workers’ reports, Juvenile Court’s documents and hearing minutes. Information about fostering placements was collected by means of a questionnaire. The sample consists of 308 children, placed in foster care by the Juvenile Court. The data collected were analysed considering the factors for a good foster care placement identified through the literature review. This study offers an overview of social work practices in the Italian foster care system. The results of the study encourage reflections on aspects of child protection deemed important by social workers and other people involved in this crucial care experience.

Background and purpose Foster care is a complex intervention in child protection and for social workers and Juvenile Courts it’s difficult to identify exactly the outcomes of this care experience. Although his thirty-year history, in the Italian context, foster care represents a challenge, not only for social workers, but also for the Court that decide it, for children and their families and for foster families. This contribute presents a PhD research on foster care projects decided by the Juvenile Court of Milan, in Italy. The research is firstly based on an international literature review of researches on foster care with the aim to identify factors for a good foster care project and to create a scheme of success indicators. Starting from the indications emerged from the literature review, the aim of the research was to realize a description of foster care projects decided by the Juvenile Court of Milan from 2010 to 2014. The data collected are analyzed considering the factors for a good foster care placement identified through the literature review. Methods Following a quantitative method, the main part of the research focused on Juvenile Court’s case files analysis. Reports written by social workers, Juvenile Court’s documents, Court hearings reports (reports of the meetings between the judge and people involved) are of researcher’s interest. The information about foster care project contained in the documents are collected by a questionnaire, that consists of more 90 items. The sample consisted of 308 children for whom the Juvenile Court decided foster care placement. The documentary analysis aimed to recognize and to describe the foster care projects, considering key aspects arisen from the literature review, such as the matching and planning the foster placement, the work with birth families, foster families and foster children, the contacts between the child and his family, the relationship between the two families, the support to foster placement, the proje

L’articolo presenta un progetto di mediazione sociale in un condominio di edilizia residenziale pubblica. L’esperienza è stata promossa e realizzata dalla Cooperativa sociale «La Casa davanti al sole» di Venegono Inferiore (VA) e ha previsto la sperimentazione di un metodo dialogico di origine finlandese denominato «Dialoghi sul futuro». La finalità del progetto era la mediazione del conflitto manifesto tra le famiglie residenti presso l’alloggio di edilizia pubblica e la prevenzione di altre situazioni di tensione, promuovendo relazioni positive e di buon vicinato. Tale tecnica si è rivelata efficace nell’offrire un’occasione di dialogo e di partecipazione attiva dei diretti interessati nel fronteggiamento della preoccupante situazione di conflitto tra gli abitanti. Il contributo presenta a livello teorico la tecnica dei Dialoghi sul futuro, ripercorre e analizza gli step metodologici del progetto di mediazione sociale, sottolineando l’utilità e l’efficacia del metodo utilizzato, mette in luce i punti di contatto tra tale tecnica e il metodo relazionale., This paper aims to present an innovative intervention of Community mediation in a context of council housing. The experience was realized by an Italian voluntary organization and it included the use of a dialogical approach, namely Future Dialogue. This method shown to be useful to cope with worrying and high conflict situations within families living together in a council housing building. Dialogicity, respect for the Other and participation of service users in the construction and development of their help path, encouraged by Future Dialogue method, allowed a positive mediation of the conflicts within the inhabitants. Furthermore, through this dialogical method, it was possible to support the development of preventive actions, the promotion of mutuality and good neighbourliness. In this paper, the efficacy of Future Dialogue with refer to the methodological steps is explained. Finally, the author highlights several points of contact between the Future Dialogue method and the Relational Social Work.

This paper aims to present an innovative intervention of community mediation in the context of council housing. The described experience, as organized by an Italian voluntary organization, included the use of a dialogical approach known as Future Dialogue. This method has been shown to be useful when coping with high conflict situations within families that live together in a council housing building. Dialogicity, respect for others, and the participation of service users in the construction and development of their assistance path, facilitated by the Future Dialogue method, allowed for the positive mediation of the conflicts between the inhabitants. Furthermore, through this dialogical method, it was possible to support the development of preventive action and foster a sense of cooperation and good neighbourliness. In this paper, the efficacy of Future Dialogue, as described by the methodological steps, is explained. Finally, the author highlights several points of contact between the Future Dialogue method and Relational Social Work.