Independent Social Work Services
Child Welfare Assessments - Private Children Act Proceedings
Divorce and/or disputes over children's arrangements which end up in contested proceedings are often and unsurprisingly experienced as traumatic life events by clients. An allocated Court Reporting Officer in many cases is sufficient to assess and assist the Court in deciding the applications before it. However, in other cases, especially where there are additional and special needs, a more urgent, detailed, specialised and independently sourced social work assessment is required.
In addition, some families require a particular professional approach and style of social work practice to secure their engagement during what can be a very emotive and difficult time, while keeping the focus on the child/ren. Therefore, both the necessary expertise and a specific professional approach is vital in order to effectively assess and report on the welfare issues before the Court.
In depth Child Welfare assessments and investigations are undertaken, with a particular approach respecting clients and their diverse characters and lifestyles. This is done based on the assumption that most parents wish the best for their children, despite their conflicts and disputes. Child Welfare reports are prepared using the legal framework of the Welfare Checklist and best practice approaches in giving children, within their unique social and cultural contexts, a voice in the fundamental life changing decisions affecting them.
Parenting or kinship Assessments - Public Children Act Proceedings
When Local Authorities apply to the Courts for Orders to safeguard children from significant harm, relationships between allocated social workers and families are often, if not always, at breaking points. Instructing an independent social worker to undertake parenting and others assessments is sometimes necessary and essential. This could help in addressing fundamental issues before the Court without being party to the proceedings, while at the same time attempting to restore essential working relationships between allocated social workers and children and their families.
Parenting assessments are undertaken based on the Parenting Assessment Framework. This framework identifies and integrates the complex inter-related dynamics required to independently and properly assess parenting within the specific context of Care Proceedings, working within the timetable of the child. The parent, the child and the context, and their complex interactions and relationships with each other underpins the assessment framework. This can be undertaken pre-proceedings or during proceedings to inform critical decisions than need to be made. Other assessments, such as viability or kinship assessments are also provided.
Direct Children and Family Interventions & Consultations
A variety of direct social work interventions with children and families are provided that include: facilitating rehabilitation of children within their families or carers following periods of separation (eg, at conclusions reached within Care or Private proceedings); supporting/facilitating or supervising contact between children and their carer/s (to safeguard or/and promote interactions and relationships) or facilitating family group conferences. Life story work with children is provided using interactive materials.
Professional Consultation/Clinical Supervision
The provision of professional consulation or clinical supervision is based on qualifications, experience and skills. Clinical supervision or case consultation is different from managerial or administrative supervision in that critical and reflective practice forms the basis of this type of consultation with the aim of improving analysis and practice. Professional consultation is provided to children social work teams, especially at times when frontline managers may be overstreached and are unable to meet the demands and needs of social workers dealing with complex cases.
Training
Training in reflective practice and critical analysis is provided which includes facilitating reflective practice groups around specific themes or cases to develop practice and improve analytical skills. Safeguarding children's training can be commissioned (by expert in child protection training) which can include the development/review of child protection procedures and policies for organisations working with children including training for trainers.
Development
I also have recently started a blog in exploring the implications of complexity theory on social work practice on the ground. Creative Outcomes is exploring the development of materials to encourage children's participation in social work assessments critical to their situations.
