Overcoming hopelessness and social isolation: the ENGAGE model for working with neglecting families toward permanence

The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) mandates policies designed to increase the frequency and speed with which permanency is achieved for children in the child welfare system. ASFA's focus is on child safety, permanency, and well-being. The expectation that parents correct neglectful conditions within specified time frames places an increased ethical responsibility on child welfare staff. Carrying out this responsibility requires vigorous and innovative approaches to engaging and working with neglectful families. Drawing on a well-established conceptual framework for understanding the determinants of effective parenting, the authors derive the ENGAGE (Engagement, Needs assessment, Goal setting, Assessment of progress, Goal achievement, Ending work) model for achieving permanency within the policy structure. The model incorporates creative client engagement, assessment of family needs, mutual goal setting, the goal achievement process, termination, and aftercare.     

Child protection under Swedish law—legal duality and uncertainty

Society's responsibility to protect children from harm as prescribed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child raises complex questions about the fundamental rights of both children and parents, as well as when and how authorities are to intervene in order to protect children from maltreatment. Many child protection systems around the world attract considerable criticism, due in part to how the law responds to child protection matters. This article examines the Swedish child protection system from a critical legal perspective with the ideas conveyed within Therapeutic Jurisprudence as a theoretical starting point. The aim is to describe and analyze the legal challenges and dilemmas that meet this system. A legal ambiguity about when and how responsible authorities are to intervene, leading to significant uncertainty for both children and parents, is identified. Furthermore, the strong focus by Swedish authorities on voluntary measures to resolve child protection matters can lead to vulnerable children not receiving the protection to which they are entitled. Certain of the challenges and dilemmas described here are specific to the Swedish system due to its legal context and family support approach. However, other aspects resonate across legal systems and, therefore, may be of a more general interest.     

‘Cultivating our humanity’ in child and family social work in England

The goal of the social work reform process was to provide a generic framework and single professional body within a broad conception of generic social work. However, debates about the role and nature of social work continue to exist. This paper explores whether contemporary child and family social work is inclined at times to make use of a less humane social work practice with families and children. The policy context and the culture of child and family social work are considered. Implications for social work education are identified. The key message of this paper is twofold. There is a tendency in contemporary child and family social work to become synonymous with a particular version of child protection. The type of child protection adopted tends to be authoritarian with at times a limited consideration of the humanity of parents and adult carers in particular.     

Promoting effective working with parents with learning disabilities

The children of parents with learning disabilities are increasingly coming to the attention of child protection and children in need services. The current framework within which services are delivered identi?es the need to work cooperatively both across agencies and with parents themselves. The decisions taken by practitioners in the course of their assessment and support work should be in?uenced by a recognition of where the risks to this group of children lie and which factors are most likely to be associated with positive outcomes. This paper outlines risks to children associated with the parents' dif?culty in accessing appropriate antenatal care and the risk of developmental delay arising from both genetic and environmental in?uences. This group of children are also more likely to experience behaviour problems and language delay. Research has indicated a risk of neglect, but abuse, where it does occur, is more likely to be associated with partners or relatives. It is also clear that some children are more at risk than others, and intellectually able children, as well as those with high levels of dependency, may be the most vulnerable. Risks can be reduced when parents have access to good family and social support networks and professional support which is acceptable to them. Maintaining a small family size can also be helpful. If parents have had positive childhood emotional experiences, their chances of successful parenting are increased. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Participatory discourse: Engagement in the context of child protection assessment practices from the perspectives of child protection workers,parents and children

ObjectiveThis article describes empirical results of the views of child protection workers, parents and children along different dimensions including interpretation of engagement, approaches with families in the engagement process, collaboration and relationship, barriers and factors promoting engagement.MethodA qualitative study was undertaken of a sample of eleven child protection workers, eleven parents and eleven children in one county in South-Estonia. The study explored the participants' experiences and perspectives of the engagement, within the context of assessment in child protection practice, through in-depth semi-structured interviews.ResultsResults indicate that child protection workers demonstrate an over-reliance on expert- and deficit-based approaches, indicating a requirement for a focus on traditional social work assessment, concentrating on problems, and more investigative, coercive, and judgement-focused approaches. Both workers and parents valued the quality of relationships, emphasising trust, dialogue and support as important elements of engagement. According to children, they were not always considered as a subject in the assessment process, including their needs as the primary focus; children expressed the wish to be more heard and understood, with their opinions being taken into account.ConclusionsFindings propose that child protection workers are ‘stuck in the past’, in traditional deficit-based discourse, however families prefer ‘modern’, strengths-based perspectives.     

Integrative Family Therapy for Child Behavioural Problems in a Parenting Support Agency

This paper describes family therapy for behavioural problems in a parenting support agency. It discusses the literature on the effectiveness of family therapy with child behaviour problems within a community support environment. The paper presents a detailed family case study, which is discussed from an integrative family therapy framework. Narrative therapy is used as an overarching framework for integrating systemic therapy and parenting skills to help a family with a mixed cultural Aboriginal and Australian background. This allows sessions that are meaningful for the family and encourages a connection to their own resources and to their community, besides creating a safe space for a dialogue that hears and values all voices.     

The role of professional judgement in social work assessment: a comparison between Norway and England

ABSTRACT

Good quality assessment has a significant role to play in contributing to better outcomes for children in need of protection, so it is important to understand what supports best practice. This paper focuses on the role of professional judgement in assessment, and compares two very different national approaches. In England, governmental responses to perceived failings in the child protection system have led to a highly proceduralised and bureaucratised system and a corresponding down playing of the role of professional judgement. In Norway, professional discretion and judgement have been seen as key to the assessment process, and governmental response to criticism of child protection practice has been to support their use through provision of increased resources. However, too much emphasis on professional judgement and too little procedure may be as problematic as the reverse [Report of Auditor General of Norway. (2012). Document 3:15. Norway: Fagbokforlaget]. So this paper explores the different ways in which professional judgement is understood and addressed in each system and asks what we can learn from them in terms of best assessment practice. Acknowledging child protection as a ‘wicked problem’, we propose a model of Grounded Professional Judgement based on notions of epistemic responsibility and accountability to support the exercise of professional judgement in situations of uncertainty.     

Family‐Focused Child Therapy in Marital Separation

When marriages and long‐term relationships break down, parents may refer their children and adolescents to therapy for a variety of reasons. While the systemic therapist's preference may be to work with the family system/s, high conflict separation may prohibit such an approach. This article discusses family‐focused child therapy that prioritises the needs of children while seeking to preserve a systemic approach. At a practice level this may involve: (a) individual child therapy, (b) engaging with smaller subsystems including siblings, (c) joint therapeutic work involving child/ren plus parent/s, and (d) any of these combinations; all while continuing to maintain a systemic understanding of the work. The article discusses the challenges of working with children from separated families, where there is restricted or no possibility of engaging with the broader family system.     

The context of decision-making in cases of child neglect

This paper explores professional decision-making in cases of child neglect within the context of child protection practice in Britain. The literature on the nature of neglect is reviewed. Difficulties associated with decision-making are then examined within a framework that addresses the social, political and organizational context of child protection practice. It is argued that the current system, which focuses on incidents of abuse rather than the context of children's lives, provides inadequate protection for many children experiencing chronic neglect. Conclusions are drawn with regard to the development of practice that supports vulnerable parents while still remaining the child's welfare as paramount. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new look at child abuse tragedies

Thirty-five child abuse inquiry reports, published in Britain between 1973 and 1989, were reviewed and the cases reanalysed using a systemic framework. Problematic interactions were identified within the families, among members of the professional networks and between the families and professionals. These relational aspects of each case interacted and progressively skewed the course of events. The findings have important implications for the practice of child protection, including the assessment of risk and decisions by statutory professionals to employ controlling interventions such as Emergency Protection Orders.     

Assessment in a specialist referred family centre: outcomes for children

Relatively little is known about the outcomes of assessment as an information gathering mechanism as well as a therapeutic encounter in which service users explore and share their problems. Assessment in child welfare is now a highly topical issue given the new assessment framework recently introduced to England and which is currently a matter of consultation in Wales. In contributing to a long running debate over ‘what works’ in child protection assessment and intervention, a United Kingdom national voluntary child care agency commissioned the authors to undertake a three year outcomes study of a child and family assessment service provided by their specialist referred family centre in South Wales. The paper sets out selected findings that reveal an assessment regimen which encouraged partnership, enjoyed a comparatively high level of engagement particularly from male parents/carers, and was perceived by adult users as positive. It promoted clear decision making about the placement of children. Also, children involved in these assessments appeared to be exposed to low risk of re‐abuse compared to other relevant studies. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse within the Family System: Guidelines for an Educational Social Group Work Program

Children have the right to be brought up in safe environments. However, this right is often infringed by people who are supposed to provide love, care, and protection to children. These people can include biological fathers, step-fathers, brothers, cousins, aunts, mothers, and uncles. Violation of children takes place in a variety of ways, however, for the purpose of this paper, the focus is on child sexual abuse within the family system. A literature review is adopted as the methodology for the discussions in this paper. The purpose of this paper is firstly to demonstrate that child sexual abuse happens within the family system in South Africa, and secondly, to argue that the prevention of child sexual abuse should start within the family system and this can be achieved by conducting educational social group work sessions on child sexual abuse with the family members.     

The First Interview in Child Protection: Social Work Method and Process

SUMMARY. A particularly problematic aspect of practice is the initial investigation into non-accidental injury. This article describes a social work approach which will be of interest to other disciplines in seeking to understand social work method. Within a task-centred framework, the author outlines three major tasks in initial child protection interviews: safeguarding the child, obtaining an explanation, and establishing a working alliance with the parent. An exploratory interview, following up an allegation of non-accidental injury, is then analysed to highlight the actual social work process or technical moves within it Although a single example is limited in the number of factors it can illustrate, the principle of trying to establish collaborative alliances is clear, if not always possible. The case example should prove useful in training, from whence it has been developed.     

Mental Health Knowledge Gaps in the Child Protection Work with Parents: A Narrative Review of the Social Work Literature

This is a narrative review of the latest peer-reviewed social work literature on the child protection work with parents. Aiming to identify knowledge gaps, the study researches the mental health aspects of the implicit or explicit theoretical perspectives underpinning the assessment and intervention with parents. An electronic database search extracted 38 peer-reviewed journal articles. It was found that the theoretical perspectives the publications adopted were the managerial, the critical, the humanistic, the psychodynamic and the behavioural. The study identified mental health knowledge gaps in the assessment and intervention work with parents across all theoretical perspectives and stressed the need for process and effectiveness studies on the work with parents, under explicit theoretical perspectives. The study finally highlights the need for the social work profession to increase its mental health literacy through mental health education for students and practitioners alike.     

Factitious Illness by Proxy: Understanding Underlying Psychological Processes and Motivations

Children are put at risk of emotional and physical harm when parents seek unnecessary medical care. Understanding why parents seek medical interventions that create risk for their children requires us to consider how past experiences, and the mental representations of these experiences influence current behaviour. Past experiences of danger affect how parents interpret ‘dangerous’ situations in the present and how they organise protection of their child. This article demonstrates how the notion of mental representations (that dispose parents to act in particular ways) can assist in engaging, assessing and treating parents who display factitious illness by proxy behaviour. When classified using the Dynamic‐Maturational Method, the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) allows both assessment of implicit and explicit representations and also understanding of the developmental process through which parents have learnt to attribute meaning to information and to organise their behaviour. In this case study, psychosocial assessment of the family included an AAI with each parent. The use of this assessment tool both aided the therapy team in the process of case formulation and intervention planning, and had therapeutic value in and of itself. We argue that treatment is more likely to be effective if the parents and professionals have a shared understanding of the parents' intentions and the developmental process that led to unsafe behaviour, which requires change.     

Aspiring to Partnership. The Signs of Safety approach to child protection

There is a worldwide trend towards increased collaboration in child protection practice which is primarily driven by researchers and policy makers. This sees child protection workers with the task of finding ways to implement the policy and build partnerships with the families they work with. The Signs of Safety approach to child protection casework, which was developed by the authors in conjunction with child protection workers in Western Australia, is designed as a practical method to foster a cooperative relationship between workers and families. This approach draws extensively on the ideas and experience of ‘brief therapy’ and is designed to be used in child protection practice from the intake and investigation stages through to case closure. This paper presents the different practice elements of the approach, the thinking that informs it as well as its application to assessment and case planning. Some case material describing the application of the approach is also presented. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Working Relationally with Youth in Child Protection Institutions: A Milieu‐Therapy Perspective

Children and youth who have shown serious difficulties or if it is surmised that parents over time will not be able to care for the child or youth, could be placed in a child protection institution. The therapeutic work in such institutions is often described as milieu therapy. There has been little focus on the milieu therapist's relational work in child protection institutions. The research question for this study was: What factors are described by milieu therapists as significant for relational work with youth placed in institutions? To answer this question, we collected data from qualitative semi‐structured interviews with four milieu therapists working in child protection institutions. Interpretative phenomenological analysis helped us identify three overarching categories: (1) structural and personal factors as a basis for relational work; (2) various forms of communication in relational work; and (3) relational work with a starting point in everyday events.     

Significant harm: making professional judgements

Judging whether a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm has become a critical task for professionals working with children and their families in England and Wales. Yet little guidance is available about what the phrase means in its entirety and how it should be applied in practice. This study set out to examine how the phrase was used in practice by a selected sample of experienced health and social work staff. The evidence collected suggests flaws in the general approach adopted by professionals to identification and assessment in child protection cases. The data indicate a heavy concentration of attention on the weaknesses of families being assessed rather than their strengths and on parents rather than children. Problems are identified in responding effectively to long-term, chronic abuse such as emotional abuse and neglect. The study recommends changes in practice based on these findings which have been implemented by a wide range of practice agencies within the study area. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Initial assessment: A key stage in social work intervention

Abstract

This paper examines the intake practices in child protection in the New South Wales Department of Community Services as a case study of initial assessment in social work intervention. Data was collected in three Department of Community Services local offices where 39 practitioners were interviewed about their child protection work practices. An observational study of the workers' intake practices was also undertaken for a period of approximately 110 days. While official Department of Community Services policy and procedures provided the basis for intake practice, this research found that other important factors relating to the informant, the characteristics of the frontline worker, the workplace environment and the context of child protection practice influenced the intake process. The implications of the research findings for other social work practice settings are considered.