Multi‐agency information practices in children's services: the metaphorical ‘jigsaw’ and professionals quest for a ‘full’ picture

As there are a number of high‐profile public inquiries into child death tragedies, ‘information sharing’ has now become a moral and political imperative across England and Wales for improving the welfare and protection of children. This paper discusses multi‐agency information practices, at the stage of referral, which were observed and documented in the day‐to‐day practice of child protection work. Drawing on transcribed, professional narrative accounts, a ‘jigsaw’ metaphor is used to describe the process of piecing information together to ascertain a ‘full’ picture of children and families lives. However, these accounts highlight that there is something of a mismatch between the jigsaw, as articulated in the conceptual abstract accounts, and jigsaw practices operating on the ground. It is argued that abstracting professional information practices from situated contexts creates impoverished understandings of these practices. Thus, reported findings in this paper highlight the inherent complexities of jigsaw practices in the ‘everyday’ of child protection work, which challenges objectivist assumptions about a stability of meaning, and further highlight that the ‘endpoint’ of reaching a ‘full’ picture of a child's life is not fixed, nor does it have the same meaning for all professionals, but rather it is a complex process involving sense‐making, translation in context and organizational relevance.     

Crack ‘Hos and Skeezers: Traumatic experiences of women crack users

The involvement of women in crack cocaine abuse has had a severe impact on their health, the health of their children and the stability of their communities. Of particular concern has been the development of a system of barter in which crack‐for‐sex exchanges are the means through which women obtain the drug. Earlier studies have suggested that drug abuse may be related to and exacerbated by trauma. In the project described herein, we interviewed women crack users in Harlem to study the relationship between trauma, crack use, and crack‐related sexual behavior. Results suggested the existence of three types of trauma: (1) traumas that predate the respondent's onset of crack use; (2) traumas that were the direct sequelae of crack use; and (3) stigma trauma, that is, trauma that results from membership in a despised or oppressed group. We observed a complex inter‐relationship involving crack use, crack‐for‐sex transactions, and these three types of trauma. Treatment of the eventual co‐morbidity of trauma and addiction is an urgent challenge.     

Professional Development in the Contemporary Educational Context: Encouraging Practice Wisdom

Preparing social work students to be effective practitioners is a complex and challenging task undertaken in a dynamic environment both in terms of the field of social work and the higher education sector. There have been recommendations that self knowledge, empirical knowledge, theoretical knowledge and procedural knowledge are the keys to high standards of social work practice. This paper suggests that the concept of practice wisdom is a useful focus for integrating these different aspects of informed practice and for focusing educational programmes for social work. As practice wisdom is more about process than possessed characteristics then there are important motivational and value-based considerations in developing wise practitioners. This discussion considers motivational and personal narrative aspects of practice wisdom so that it can be integrated into social work teaching.     

Transitions of Youth in Mental Health Residential Care to Less Restrictive Settings: The Role of Strengths and Gender

ABSTRACT

Changes in youth's behavioral/psychosocial functioning has been found to play an important role in the transitions from mental health residential care to less restrictive settings, and this functioning differs significantly by gender. However, there has been little attention paid to the roles played by psychosocial strength and gender in transitions out of residential care. The current study examined gender differences in the role of strengths in transitions to less restrictive settings using data on 675 youth's admission and discharge records collected from Illinois Residential Treatment Outcome System during 2005–2007 (Mean age = 15 years, SD = 2.0; 57.5% = boys). The results of multivariate logistic regression model indicated that positive recreational activities and lack of chronic illness were related to a higher likelihood of transitions to less restrictive settings among girls, while appropriate sexual development, psychological strengths, and strong spiritual/religious strengths were related to the transitions among boys. This study demonstrates the potential importance of youth strengths in the provision of mental health services and suggests a need to develop models of outcomes that take gender into account. Additional research based on multiple informants including youth self-report is needed to understand the role of gender in transitions out of residential care.     

Implementing a Gero-Infused Curriculum in Advanced-Level MSW Courses in Health,Mental Health and Substance Abuse: An Evaluation

This article presents evaluation results from a curricular innovation aimed at increasing the capacity of social work graduates to serve older adults in health, mental health, and substance abuse settings. Working as a team, faculty developed, incorporated, and evaluated gerontology-infused syllabi and teaching modules in multiple sections of the 3 courses, with 2 sections serving as a comparison group. Results indicated that students exposed to the gero-infused curriculum increased their age-related knowledge and self-competence from pre- to posttest, and achieved a greater increase in knowledge than did the comparison group. Implications of the findings to social work education are discussed.     

Case studies of the families of schizophrenics 1

This case study examines therapeutic mechanisms in the work with the parents of a latency aged child, with child separation anxiety disorder, according to the DSM-5 classification. In this single–case study design, the mechanisms identified are practitioner-researcher’s intervention narratives within a theoretically informed framework that is shaped by the psychodynamic understanding of the causes and treatment for the child separation anxiety disorder. The study evaluates the process and the effectiveness of the practitioner-researcher’s treatment throughout the analysis of 11 sessions with the parents. These intervention narratives modified the often unconscious “aggressive” parental beliefs and attitudes toward the child. They also contributed to the progressive reduction and, finally, extinction of his separation anxiety disorder. The study finally demonstrates that, apart from the intervention on the current relationship dynamics between the parents and the child, parent work involves intervention in the emotional difficulties of the parents as well as intervention focused on the couple relationship problems, especially those that reinforce the separation anxiety of the child. The parents were treated in a Child and Adolescent Community Mental Health Centre in a major urban area in southern Europe, and they consented to the publication of anonymous information of the case.     

Person centered planning in a transition program for Bronx youth with disabilities

The City University of New York conducted its Youth Transition Demonstration Project from 2003 to 2010. This federally-funded research and demonstration project was designed to help transition-age youth with disabilities receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) achieve maximum self-sufficiency. More than 400 youth living in the high-poverty county of Bronx, NY were enrolled in a treatment group and offered a series of interventions, including Person-Centered Planning (PCP). Quantitative and qualitative research methods show that this process was linked to improved educational and employment outcomes for youth. Sixty-five percent of youth enrolled in the project participated in at least one PCP session. Youth from lower-income families were less likely to participate in PCP, as were youth with mood disorders. Youth who did participate in PCP were more likely to hold at least one paid job. Youth focused on relationships, personal strengths and goals during these sessions, which proved an important part of their transition process. Recommendations for educators, service-providers and policy-makers are included for professionals seeking to implement collaborative transition services for youth and their families.     

Diversity,Disruption, Continuity: Parenting and Social and Emotional Wellbeing Amongst Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islanders

This paper reviews the diversity in parenting values and practices amongst Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders. First, issues arising from the historical traumatic disruption of families' attachments are discussed. Then the contribution Indigenous parenting makes to the development of healthy and vulnerable individuals becomes the central focus. Family therapists can draw from a broad understanding of the diversity of parenting values and practices in the context of a strength‐based approach.     

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Home Environment and Home Social Behavior Data from the Elementary School Success Profile for Families

The purpose of the current study was to test the factor structure and scale quality of data provided by caregivers about the home environment and child behavior at home using the Elementary School Success Profile (ESSP) for Families. The ESSP for Families is one component of the ESSP, an online social-environmental assessment that also collects information from students and teachers. Confirmatory factor analyses with Mplus and weighted least squares means and variances adjusted estimation took into account the hierarchical nature and ordinal level of the data. The sample comprised caregivers of 692 third- through fifth-grade students from 13 elementary schools in four districts. A primary model and an alternative model were tested. Models were tested on a random calibration sample and validated with another sample. A nine-factor first-order solution demonstrated superior fit to the data. Scores from the nine scales also demonstrated acceptable internal consistency reliability. Implications for practice and further research are presented.     

On the validity of retrospective assessments of pregnancy intention

Information on pregnancy intention is often gathered retrospectively (after the birth of a child). This article investigates whether the retrospective assessment of pregnancy intention leads to biased estimates of the extent or consequences of unintended fertility. Comparisons are made between pregnancy intentions ascertained during pregnancy and after birth using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. To address the bias caused by selective recognition or acknowledgment of pregnancy, we used the longitudinal feature of the data to determine actual pregnancy status at the time of interviews, which, in turn, was used as an instrumental variable for the retrospective (versus prospective) reporting of pregnancy intention. After correction for selective pregnancy recognition, we found no evidence that the retrospective assessment of pregnancy intention produces misleading estimates of either the number or the consequences of unintended births. This finding is supported by additional analyses of a small subsample of women for whom information on pregnancy intention was collected both during pregnancy and after birth.