Outreach social work: from managing access to practices of accessibility

A recurring feature of outreach work is that outreach tries to reach people who are left without care and not effectively reached by existing services. In this article, we discuss the importance of outreach practices in the context of changes in society. We suggest that the pressure on the managing of access to social services is increasing along with the demand to avoid an unnecessary inflow, and make a distinction between a residual and structural approach to social work and social service delivery. In a residual approach, outreach social work can be seen as a strategy to manage access or as a strategy to link clients with appropriate services. In this sense, they ensure that people meet predefined criteria of social services. From a structural approach, however, the focus lies on how practices possibly contribute to the realization of human dignity in social interactions and might lead to a socio-political analysis of those situations in which social work intervenes. On a conceptual level, outreach practices thus appear as practices of accessibility. From this perspective, existing problem constructions and dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in social services but also more broadly in society might be questioned and ultimately changed.     

Pop Goes the Woozle: Being Misled by Research on Child Custody and Parenting Plans

Mental health professionals, lawyers, and judges whose work involves child custody decisions are often presented with social science research on issues related to which parenting plan is in the children’s best interests. Unfortunately, this research can be misrepresented in ways that mislead these professionals and the children’s parents, leading to child custody decisions that are not the most beneficial for the children. The process of misrepresenting the research in ways that create myths and misconceptions has been referred to as woozling. This article describes how social science data can be woozled, illustrating this with examples related to parenting plans for children under the age of 5 whose parents have separated.     

“When the money's low”: Economic participation among disadvantaged young Australians

As a generational group, children and young people are rarely independent financial actors but are nonetheless active consumers of goods and services related to their social identities and enduring orientations to learning, work and community. Many young Australians, however, do not have adequate access to the financial resources that permit their engagement with youth cultures constructed around commodity consumption nor with services and activities that support their future workforce and civic participation. Furthermore, they negotiate this lack of provision in an overarching political climate that individualises responsibility for disadvantage and its outcomes. This paper draws on stories from over 70 young Australians (11-17) to illustrate how they experience and manage the economic demands of family, schooling and peer cultures. Their accounts add to the growing literature that demonstrates how young people mobilise material and discursive resources but also points to the need for social policy that addresses the multiple material, social, discursive and institutional barriers to their full social inclusion.     

From Invisibility to Protection — Children in Prison with their Parent in Finland

This article explores the process through which children in prison with their imprisoned parent have become a target of social concern in Finland. It is asked how the new social problem of ‘children in prison’ has been constructed. The data consist of relevant parts of the legislation and official documents. Three phases of social problem construction are named: (i) Children in prison as a practical and private matter; (ii) intense debate, problem formulation and developing practices and (iii) a public institutionalised practice. The position of children changed from one of invisibility to the target of protection. On the basis of children's rights, children in prison became understood as a group of children who are in need of child protection services. This example demonstrates how the images of problems construct solutions for practices.     

Subjectivation,agency and the schooling of raced and dis/abled asylum-seeking children in the Italian context

Abstract

This paper intends to address the challenges that the Italian education system is facing in terms of policies and practices relating to dis/abled asylum-seeking and refugee children, in order to make sense of the politics of daily life inside schools and the network of social services for forced migrants, and to pay renewed attention to the notion of ‘social and educational integration’. The starting point of this paper is the idea that the current model of schooling for asylum-seeking and refugee children is implicated in the making of particular sorts of ‘subjects’, as well as the creation of educational and social exclusions and inequalities. Schools, refugee organisations as well as the work of educators and social workers can be important sites of ‘counter-politics’. Borrowing from the theoretical tools offered by Dis/Ability Critical Race Studies (Dis/Crit) framework and engaging with Judith Butler’s understanding of processes of subjectivation, the paper explores how asylum-seeking and refugee students can be rendered subjects outside the educational endeavour, or indeed outside studenthood. Data from an ongoing constructivist grounded theory doctoral research project, interviews with asylum-seeking children and with professionals working in different refugee services in Rome, are offered to substantiate the argument presented in this paper.     

A study of disabled children and child protection in Scotland — A hidden group?

This paper is based on analysis of data collected for a study, commissioned by the Scottish Government, which examined child protection work with disabled children. At a conceptual level, the paper draws on Goffman's frame analysis and on different models of disability. Focus groups were conducted with five Child Protection Committees (40 individuals) and semi-structured interviews with a further 21 practitioners from social work, education, health services, third sector organisations and the police. The findings show that, for various reasons, abuse of disabled children may go undetected. Where it is suspected, effective action does not always follow, for example, where practitioners over-empathise with parents. When child protection work is undertaken, disabled children may remain relatively invisible in terms of participation and professional focus. It is suggested that the ways in which practitioners and managers “frame” disabled children has implications for how abuse is responded to and how well these children are protected. Participants also “framed” disability in different ways, and it is suggested that a social relational model seems particularly applicable. In conclusion, in many respects disabled children experiencing abuse may remain absent from or to some extent hidden within child protection services in Scotland. While some creative work is taking place, considerable changes are required to make child protection services accessible to all disabled children, sensitive to their needs and respectful of their rights.     

Independence and effectiveness: Messages from the role of Independent Reviewing Officers in England

This paper draws on research into the role of Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) in England, exploring the dimensions and challenges of their ‘independence’. IROs are specialist social workers whose function is to review the cases of children in public care and ensure that they have appropriate plans and that these plans are being implemented in a timely manner. IROs are ‘independent’ in the sense that they are not the social worker to whom a child's case is allocated, and do not have line management responsibility for the case, however they are employed by the same local authority. There are detailed regulations and government guidelines on their role, and high expectations, but what does independence mean in this context? The paper draws on a mixed methods study conducted by the authors in 2012–14, which included a survey of 122 files of children in care from four local authorities; interviews with 54 social workers, 54 IROs, 15 parents, and 15 young people; six focus groups; and nationally-distributed questionnaires for IROs (65), social work managers (46) and children's guardians (39). The study found five dimensions of independence: professional, operational, perceived, institutional and effective. The IROs and social workers generally took more nuanced and pragmatic approaches to their inter-professional working than prescribed in the policy guidance or the pronouncements of politicians and judges, seeing this as more likely to be effective. IROs are not, and cannot be, the solution to all the problems that exist in services for children in care, and the other professionals involved should not be seen as necessarily any less capable or committed to the best interests of the children. Rather, the IRO is part of an interactive system of checks and balances which, together, may increase the likelihood that professional judgement will be exercised effectively on the child's behalf.     

Driving to Work: The Front Seat Work of Paramedics to and from the Scene

The work paramedics do in the front of the ambulance on their way to and from the scene is central to the safety and well‐being of both paramedics and patients. However, most research on paramedics and emergency medical services assumes rather than empirically explores the actual happenings of what paramedics do in the front of their ambulance. In this article, I move beyond this taken‐for‐granted understanding of front‐seat work by taking readers in the front of the ambulance and exploring the hidden work paramedics do on their way to and from the scene. I draw on data from an institutional ethnography into the socially organized work and work settings of paramedics, which included over 200 hours of observations and over 100 interviews with paramedics. This article adds to research on the sociology of work and health and illness by focusing explicitly on how paramedics give meaning to their work setting, the social conditions and relations central to their work practices, and how their work knowledge is actually put into practice. In doing so, I shed light on an ever‐important occupational group in health care that has garnered little sociological attention to date.     

Challenging implicit bias: preparing students to practice with African American families

ABSTRACT

The disparity of African American families in the foster care system is a concern in the field of child welfare services and the social work profession. African American families experience unique challenges related to discriminatory practices and implicit biases in the child welfare system and by mandated reporters. To address these inequalities, state and local agencies have implemented prevention and intervention services to support minority families. Additionally, child welfare agencies have invested in professional development training for their workers to alleviate possible intolerant practices. This article describes implicit biases and considers how they could contribute to the disparity of African American families involved in the child welfare system. Furthermore, the article presents approaches to help social work students to identify and challenge their implicit biases to support culturally sensitive practices while working with African American families. It concludes with implications for social work education.     

Mental Illness,Social Construction,and Managed Care

Abstract

Managed care is creating a social reality that affects the lives of millions. Mental health coverage under health care plans is a function of how mental illness and its proper treatment are defined. These definitions are shaped by social actors competitively seeking to satisfy their particular interests. This paper examines the influence of privatized managed behavioral health care on these evolving social definitions, as evidenced in published works, written reports, and legal actions. It is written from the perspective of social workers as providers of services and advocates for social justice. Options for social work responses to managed behavioral health care are explored.     

Prevention in integrated children's services: the impact of sure start on referrals to social services and child protection registrations

Every Child Matters, the English government's plans for integrated children's services, proposed that preventative approaches such as those developed through Sure Start should be able to reduce the numbers of children requiring more intensive support from children's social services and, by implication, the numbers of children on the child protection register. This study examined the impact of Sure Start local programmes (SSLPs) on four local authorities with social services responsibilities in the northeast of England. The researchers analysed routinely collected statistical data concerning over 10,000 referrals of children under four years and over 1,600 child protection registrations (CPRs) in an eight‐year period before and after the introduction of 19 SSLPs. They also analysed interviews with 36 key informants in eight case study SSLP areas. Contrary to expectations, the quantitative data revealed no discernable short‐term effect on the numbers of referrals, or on CPRs. Interview data showed broad agreement on the potential impact of preventative work undertaken by SSLPs and many respondents believed that it was too early to draw conclusions. Alternatively, the universal approach to prevention within the Sure Start areas and the attempts to provide non‐stigmatising and non‐intrusive community‐based services may be ineffective in reducing the need for intensive support for ‘at risk’ families. The findings are discussed in relation to ‘targeted’ prevention programmes and government policy intentions. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social Work and Family Dispute Resolution

Abstract

Social workers have a significant role to play in the development and provision of family dispute-resolution services. Recent legislative changes and new directions in mediator accreditation in Australia are influencing education and practices in family dispute resolution. Alongside lawyers and psychologists, social workers constitute one of the main professional groups working in this area. A major contribution of social work is the emphasis on reflexive practices that consider political, social, and economic contextual factors. This is underpinned by a commitment to social justice and practices that focus on issues of access and equity and antidiscriminatory practice.     

Family support in practice: voices from the field

This paper revisits core family support messages for social work practice in working with children and families, linking to findings from high-profile child protection cases in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Drawing on a comparative study where these identified practice messages were explored through the lens of testimony of family support workers in the UK and Ireland, these core messages are examined. Operating with hard-to-engage children and parents, we hear how families and family support worker colleagues now view the core functions of child and family work across both jurisdictions (Ireland and England). The authors argue that by naming a more detailed set of practices that are deemed as most useful by families, based on the benefits and challenges of intensive family support work, key messages arise that have major resonance for social work and multiagency practice into the future. A basic message from this study is that valuable lessons on engagement and intervention with families can be drawn for professionals by examining the practice elements of this group of paraprofessionals in the child and family arena. This paper adds to debates on the role of support and intervention in social work and family support work.     

Social work training in Central and Eastern Europe: Experiences in Bulgaria and Slovakia

The authors draw on their experiences as members of EU-funded projects for training social workers in post-communist countries to reflect on developments in social work education there and in the United Kingdom. They argued that the emergence of social work in Central and Eastern Europe has a double agenda—to improve professional skills and values in the public services, and to contribute to the strengthening of a democratic and participatory civil society. Hence it is concerned both with changing the organizational culture and practices of the official social services, and with promoting voluntary organizations, community associations and service-user groups. Training in partnership, negotiation, networking and empowerment is as relevant as the teaching and learning of professional competences. This double agenda leads to tensions, both within universities and in various parts of the organizational systems in which social workers are employed. But these issues are not fundamentally different from the ones still being struggled over in the UK context. Similar issues over the respective roles of official social control and the authoritative enforcement of responsibilities, and empowerment and participation among excluded and deprived communities, are central to British social work education also.     

Towards Extended Schools? How Education and Other Professionals Understand Community‐Oriented Schooling

The government in England is proposing that every school should offer extended services to children, families and communities. However, in the absence of agreed models of how such community‐oriented schooling should operate, its form will depend on how it is understood by the education professionals and their partners in other agencies who have to make it work in practice. This article draws on data from interviews with over 350 professionals to outline two such understandings. It suggests that they rest on different assumptions about fundamental social and educational issues and argues for a more open debate around these issues. Copyright © 2006 The Author(s). Journal compilation © National Children's Bureau.     

Linking child welfare and mental health using trauma-informed screening and assessment practices

An abundance of research suggests that children in the child welfare system (CWS) have experienced numerous traumatic events and are exhibiting traumatic stress symptoms. Therefore, it is critical that the CWS work closely with the mental health system to ensure that these children receive the appropriate trauma screening, trauma-focused assessment, and referral to the appropriate trauma-focused mental health services. This paper will begin by providing a concrete definition of trauma-focused screening and highlighting how that differs from a more comprehensive trauma-focused assessment process and a psychological evaluation. From there, the authors will highlight existing trauma-focused screening and assessment tools that are used widely within CWSs and the challenges related to integrating trauma-focused screening practices into CWSs. The authors will provide recommendations for ways in which child welfare jurisdictions can integrate trauma-focused screening practices into their daily practice.     

The race dimension in child protection: Some prompts for practice

Abstract

This paper attempts to collect some experience and some research concerning racial dimensions in current social work practice. It also grapples with the problem of fear. It is written from the perspective of social services workers, who distinguish themselves from other professional colleagues concerned with child abuse in two important respects. Firstly, they carry specific statutory responsiblity for the welfare of children, and therefore have extensive powers over the lives of family members. Secondly, as part of local government, Social Services Departments are at the forefront of conveying societal and political as well as professional attitudes and values into their work with some of the most disadvantaged people in the communities they serve. In urban areas these communitities contain many people with little or no clout, or people who do not realize that they could have a say in how services are delivered.     

Social media and policing: A review of recent research

Studies of social media's impact on policing have emerged in several disciplines, including criminology, sociology, and communications. Despite their insight, there is no unified body of knowledge regarding this relationship. In an attempt to synthesize extant work, bring coherence to the field, and orient future scholarship, this article summarizes research on social media's implications for practices and perceptions of order maintenance. It does so by identifying how social media's technical affordances empower and constrain police services. By offering new opportunities for surveillance, risk communication, and impression management, emergent technologies augment the police's control of their public visibility and that of the social world. However, they also provide unprecedented capacities to monitor the police and expose, circulate, and mobilize around perceived injustice, whether brutality, racial profiling, or other forms of indiscretion. Considering these issues promises to enhance knowledge on contemporary directions in social control, organizational communication, inequality, and collective action. Suggestions for future research are also explored.     

Neglect as Child Protection: the Political Context and the Practical Outcomes

SUMMARY: This paper identifies the central tensions and contradictions in relation to current policies and practices for child neglect. It demonstrates how these arise directly from the political context of the work and how this has changed over recent years. In the process children, their parents and the professionals concerned are left vulnerable and potentially exposed. It concludes by suggesting how we can reframe policy and practice in this area of work and outlines some practical steps that can be taken as a result.