Developing Responsive Preventative Practices: Key Messages from Children's and Families’ Experiences of the Children's Fund

As part of the prevention and social inclusion agenda, the Children's Fund, set up in 2000, has developed preventative services for children at risk of social exclusion. Drawing on a large qualitative dataset of interviews conducted in 2004/05 with children, young people and their parents/carers who accessed Children Fund services, this article analyses key practices and approaches valued by children and parents. These included: specialist support tailored to individual support needs, family‐oriented approaches, trusting relationships with service providers, multi‐agency approaches and sustainability of services. Finally, the article draws out key lessons for the future development of preventative services.     

No time to think: protecting the reflective space in children's services

Over the past few years, first line managers in child care have faced mounting pressure on their time from both the national performance management agenda and the professional demands associated with the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families and Working Together to Safeguard Children: A Guide to Inter‐Agency Working to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children. This paper briefly discusses the policy context surrounding this period of unprecedented change and focuses on the potential erosion of the reflective space in supervision as first line managers struggle to cope with the ever‐increasing expectations. An argument is made for the creative use of multi‐agency action learning/ research projects within the workplace to supplement individual supervision and promote reflective multi‐agency child care practice; some examples of successful projects are given. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inter‐professional Learning to Prepare Medical and Social Work Students for Practice with Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Social workers and medical practitioners, particularly those in general practice, provide services for individuals who experience social exclusion. Access to medical, health and social care services has been identified as problematic for refugees and asylum seekers, reflecting their marginalised status within society. It is widely accepted that multi‐agency responses and working together are key requirements in improving access to services and promoting social inclusion; however, achieving this across professional and agency boundaries often remains challenging. Joint planning and training have been suggested as being important in improving communication, leading to more flexible and creative services.

This paper describes the genesis and implementation of a series of innovative inter‐professional workshops for medical and social work students, focussing specifically on marginalised groups. Learning and teaching input was developed by, and came from, service users and qualified medical, health and social work practitioners. The paper focuses particularly on the sessions relating to refugees and asylum seekers. The content and structure of the sessions are discussed and students' responses are reported. The implications for future inter‐professional learning and practice in relation to socially excluded groups are highlighted.     

Breaking barriers—provision and participation in an out‐of‐school centre

This paper uses a research and development project – the A Space project in Hackney – as an exemplar for discussion of policy and practice issues arising from the recent expansion of out‐of‐school child care and study support services. In particular, the authors explore children's participation rights and multi‐agency working, two key principles upon which A Space is based. The paper suggests that current government out‐of‐school policy raises key questions about the siting, staffing, coordination and costs of future services; and that underlying these are more fundamental questions about: how children should be spending their time; and whose perspectives on this should be taken into account. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

e-Inclusion and e-Social work: new technologies at the service of social intervention

ABSTRACT

This paper defines the concept of e-inclusion in reference to programmes and projects that promote social inclusion through the use of new technologies. This concept is related to e-social work, defined as the use of ICTs in the field of social work and social services. To illustrate the implications of e-inclusion and e-social work, a case study is presented on a community involvement project using new technologies as a means and as an end. The SAREGUNE project for community use of new technologies was set up in Vitoria (Spain) in 2004. Ten years later, it gained recognition as a European e-inclusion scheme within the ‘Leonardo Da Vinci Multilateral Projects, Transfer of Innovation’ lifelong learning programme. This article explores the origins of the idea and its significance in the fight against the digital divide and in the processes of intercultural and social inclusion within the city's historic central district. A process of deconstruction, construction and reconstruction of the scheme is used to identify and describe the movements of rotation and revolution within the process of social inclusion, the levels of integration of e-social work at individual, group and community level, and the impact of the project in terms of e-inclusion.     

Schizophrenia,Community Integration,and Recovery

Abstract

Rooted in deinstitutionalization policy, the community inclusion required by the Olmstead case, and the grass roots recovery movement, community integration for those who have diagnoses of serious mental illnesses has become an increasingly important policy goal. The purpose of this project was to examine empirical evidence describing experiences with social or community integration for people with psychiatric disabilities, with a particular interest in the schizophrenias. Studies chosen for review all involved direct survey or interview data from people with psychiatric disabilities and examined subjective experiences with social relationships or linked social participation with clinical, functional, or quality of life outcomes. Experiences involving the dynamics of social stigma, the achievement of personal agency, and innovative pathways to satisfying social inclusion are core themes found that are highly relevant for practitioners. Social work, with its ecological perspective, is well suited to address the complexities of conflicting interests and objectives that have arisen in mental health care in the pursuit of community integration. Suggestions for fruitful responses are presented.     

Joining up the solutions: the rhetoric and practice of inter‐agency cooperation

A three‐year project placed home‐school support workers in secondary schools. The intention was that they should work closely at operational level with other agencies to provide a cohesive local authority response to the needs of disaffected and excluded youngsters. Crucial distinctions emerged between project constraints, possibilities and benefits for agency personnel in the school‐focused agencies and those external to the school. In relation to the external agencies, support workers fulfilled predominantly an information gathering and sharing role whereby they joined up the solutions of disparate agencies, whereas very effective forms of cooperation developed with the school‐focused agencies. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating a project on Roma education

This research note is based on the evaluation of the Comenius project Teacher‐IN‐SErvice‐Training‐for‐Roma‐inclusion (INSETRom). The project represented an international effort that was undertaken to bridge the gap between Roma and non‐Roma communities and to improve the educational attainment of Roma children in the mainstream educational system. The evaluation of the project showed that such projects can impact a teacher's confidence and attitudes, but that implementing new insights poses many challenges.     

The Implementation of Mental Health Evidence Based Practices from the Educator,Clinician and Researcher Perspective

Within the different arenas of social work practice, community based mental health is among the most advanced in terms of defining a set of evidence based practices (EBPs). Social workers play a major role in the delivery of community based mental health and are at the forefront of efforts to implement these practices through state and federal initiatives. One such initiative is The New York Office of Mental Health Evidence Based Project, which is designed to increase the knowledge and skills related to evidence-based practice among New York’s mental health human services workforce. The project had a social work component, which trained students in implementing EBP’s through specially designed curricula and field placements. The students participating in the project encountered numerous challenges in the field including lack of agency “buy-in” and infrastructure support; inadequate training and resources; poor supervision; and provider resistance. From the multilevel perspectives of educator, clinician and researcher, this paper addresses these challenges and makes recommendations to facilitate the implementation of EBPs.     

Inclusive design in the implementation of projects for schools modernization in Portugal - case studies

The Project for Schools Modernization taking place in Portugal, with an estimated total investment of 2450 million for the intervention in the first 205 schools, provide the reclassification of 332 secondary schools by 2015. One of the questions we can pose is if the authorities and the teams of architects selected to design these schools considered fundamental for the correctness of architectural barriers within the school and its accessibility the implementation of standards and principles of inclusion of children/teenagers with special needs within their school environment. As most of the projects are already being implemented, the main aim of this paper is to present the outcomes of a comparative analysis and synthesis of six schools located in the northern part of the country. This analysis occurs from the of Participatory Design perspective which appeals to the experience of the disable children to look (or evaluate) the negative and positive factors in terms of physical space, interpreted by inclusive design rules and orientations. Therefore, the evaluation of schools modernization project, and its discussion, is central for the understanding how these children are addressed in projects which are directed at them.     

Preparing Social Workers for Child Welfare Practice: An Innovative University–Agency Learning Collaborative

This paper describes the evolution of a university–community child welfare learning collaborative based on an adaptation of the teaching hospital concept. This partnership between an agency providing a range of child and family welfare services and two university units, the school of social work and outreach, was intended to accomplish multiple agency, university and community goals: implement best practices in the agency, enhance social work education, increase staff resources in child welfare, influence public policy, and improve the lives of children and families in the child welfare system. The major strategy was ‘Grand Rounds’ modeled after the system used to train medical students through multiple transactions with experts in a clinical setting. The first year was very successful, with students, agency staff and faculty giving the sessions high ratings in content, quality and utility. One key to the success of the initiative was that it was an agency‐driven process and was based on working relationships of mutual respect and trust. Building such relationships takes both time and effort. Future challenges will include garnering the resources, both human and financial, to sustain the collaboration over time.     

“Thank You for Including Us!” – Introducing a Community‐Based Collaborative Approach to Translating Clinic Materials

When working with clients in another language, having culturally relevant and properly translated clinic materials is vital to effective clinical practice. Not having them presents a barrier for bilingual therapists and their clients. This paper reviews common translation methods and introduces a multi‐level, community‐based approach for translating clinic materials for non‐English speaking clients. Informed by decolonizing practices, this five‐tier method includes members from the target community as cultural brokers to verify the accuracy and nuances of language for their cultural group, as well as a constant comparative method to ensure methodological rigor in the process of inclusion. We present community member's feedback and recommendations, as well as discuss advantages and challenges of using this collaborative culturally responsive translation method.     

Joining up children's services: safeguarding children in multi‐disciplinary teams

In this article we reflect on the complexity and the contested nature of the roles of multi‐disciplinary teams working with children. This is an increasingly important issue in the current UK child welfare policy environment. The article uses the theories of Etienne Wenger to understand data gathered from five multi‐disciplinary teams working with children. We explore key issues relating to location; information sharing; models of understanding; and professional identities. We hope to demonstrate that the teams addressed tensions creatively through their engagement with diversity while at the same time developing common team values. We argue that effective strategies for making multi‐disciplinary teams work will combine inter‐agency issues with internal team‐specific aspects. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Students and Refugees Together: Towards a Model of Practice Learning as Service Provision

Between 2001 and 2003, 14 assessed placements were provided for social work students through students creating a ‘virtual’ agency offering a service to refugees and asylum seekers. Drawing on research in progress regarding a unique project in South West England, this paper explores an inclusive model that creates a context for students to integrate theory and practice at the cutting edge of professional practice.

The START project is a service to refugees and asylum seekers, a group that experience acute social exclusion and media‐induced hostility, provided for two years entirely by students as part of their professional course requirements. Holistic, needs‐led assessment, cultural sensitivity and advocacy by students allow families and unaccompanied minors to access otherwise inaccessible resources.

In the current context of changing arrangements for practice assessment, emphasis on multi‐disciplinary learning and service user involvement, this offers an alternative to the ‘apprenticeship’ model for students in developing a secure professional identity. Student learning is framed as contribution rather than burden in the organisational and employment arena and service‐user outcomes have been dramatic. The focus of this paper is on the educational impact from the perspectives of students and practice teachers and an alternative model of practice learning.     

A regional restoration grants program to promote preservation and enhancement of urban natural areas

The Greenspaces Habitat Restoration Program, a partnership between Metro and US Fish and Wildlife Service in Portland, Oregon was created in 1992, as a component of The Metro Greenspaces and Open Spaces Program—A Regional System of Natural Areas, Open Space, Trails and Greenspaces for Wildlife and People. The goal of the restoration grants program is to fund restoration and enhancement of urban natural areas, with emphasis on opportunities for re-establishment of corridors and consolidation of fragments.Since 1992, more than 91 small citizen or local park agency restoration projects have been funded. Projects have ranged from small replantings to large scale stream restoration or meadow enhancements.An additional objective of the program and this paper is to document true costs, resources and volunteers required to conduct a community based urban restoration project. While the enhancements of each project alone will probably not significantly increase species numbers and diversity in the urban area, each project's value may be the introduction of people to the concepts of biodiversity, landscape ecology and each participant's role as a steward.The Sandee Palisades and Mill Creek restoration projects describe goals, successes, lessons learned and costs of citizen-based restoration projects.     

Integration,Participation, Identity: Immigrant Associations in the Province of Milan

The paper presents some results from a multi‐year research project on immigrant associations in the province of Milan, Italy. The analysis yields numerous issues for reflection and recurrent features of particular significance. The first is the fact that for all the associations surveyed, their main goal and the essential reason for their existence was the desire to integrate their community of membership into the host society. However, such integration did not consist in a desire to be assimilated into Italian society. Quite the opposite: the majority of the associations studied were wholly committed to maintaining ‐‐ and sometimes rediscovering ‐‐ the identity and culture of their reference community. The second main feature is that immigrant associations are crucial nodes in a dense network of relations involving numerous actors of very different kinds: the immigrants themselves, other immigrant associations, third‐sector organizations, and the local authorities. The third and final important issue concerns the representativeness of immigrant associations: whether, that is, they can be considered the legitimate representatives of the community of membership.     

Changing structures: Necessary but not sufficient

Moves are afoot across the UK to change the mechanisms for managing local inter‐agency child protection policy and practice. This is being achieved through the development of Safeguarding Boards in England and Wales and guidance on Child Protection Committees that took effect from August 2005 in Scotland. Following our review of one Scottish Child Protection Committee (the SCPC), we are concerned that these changes focus almost exclusively on structure and pay scant attention to process and relationships. The study we undertook was an in‐depth evaluation of the functioning of the SCPC and used a range of qualitative methods. The main findings were that the size of the committee, its coverage of three local authority areas, and its patterns of working meant that some aspects of its work were highly developed and effective, such as the guidelines and multi‐agency training, while others, such as links with practice and the management of information systems, were poor. Considering these findings in the light of systems theory suggests that improving the effectiveness of child protection committees, and similar bodies, may need to be based on greater attention being paid to issues of authority, trust and negotiation among their members. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Meeting the Challenge of Change: New Developments in Social Work Practice and Education

This paper explores the concepts of effectiveness and efficiency as the central focus of the historical evolution of services, agencies, and schools of social work. Early professionals developed these concepts and used them to establish agency programs, social justice oriented supervision, training programs, and schools of social work. These leaders perceived a dynamic tension between agencies and schools that warrants rediscovery amid the current agency/school dissension and the renewed concern with deficiencies in social work practice.     

Promoting a Development Focus in the Community Organization Curriculum

As the problem of poverty has become more acute, community organization teaching needs to focus more directly on programs that will raise standards of living at the local level. This article suggests that African community development is highly relevant to the promotion of community-based economic and social development projects. Although the idea that approaches from Third World countries can be adapted to enhance educational programs in the United States is a novel one, the African approach to community development has much to offer American schools of social work that are seeking to prepare students to work with poor communities in both inner-city and rural areas.     

Community participation and inclusion: people with disabilities defining their place

Disability‐related public policy currently emphasises reducing the number of people experiencing exclusion from the spaces of the social and economic majority as being the pre‐eminent indicator of inclusion. Twenty‐eight adult, New Zealand vocational service users collaborated in a participatory action research project to develop shared understandings of community participation. Analysis of their narratives suggests that spatial indices of inclusion are quiet in potentially oppressive ways about the ways mainstream settings can be experienced by people with disabilities and quiet too about the alternative, less well sanctioned communities to which people with disabilities have always belonged. Participants identified five key attributes of place as important qualitative antecedents to a sense of community belonging. The potential of these attributes and other self‐authored approaches to inclusion are explored as ways that people with disabilities can support the policy objective of effecting a transformation from disabling to inclusive communities.