Burnout in Child Protection Work

The experience of child protection has been documented in a study (not yet published) of child protection workers in Northern Ireland. The research has been conducted in the province since 2009, gathering data on five characteristics of resilience, organisational factors and demographic variables. Lowered resilience among staff often started with an excessive workload, leading to emotional exhaustion, de-personalisation and low levels of personal accomplishment. More information is available in the Guardian, 23 April, 2013.

Social Pedagogy in Fostering

The Fostering Network has launched a programme called Head,  Heart, Hands which aims to promote social pedagogy in fostering in the UK. Downloadable resources associated with the programme can be accessed via the link above. Read more about it in the Guardian.

Corporate Parenting

"Since 2010 the Scottish Government has been funding Who Cares? Scotland to develop and deliver a national corporate parenting training programme. This training course is due to complete in March 2013 and there is the potential for a second phase of the programme. The Scottish Government commissioned an independent evaluation of the National Corporate Parenting training programme, with a focus on the impact of the programme to date. Qualitative and quantitative research was conducted among participants. The research was carried out between December 2012 and February 2013. "
Research Report:
Granville, S. & Mulholland, S. (2013). National Corporate Parenting Training Programme Evaluation. Scottish Government.

Mental Health Act Annual Report

Care Quality Commission (2013). Monitoring the mental health act in 2011/12.
This report provides detailed information on the application of the Mental Health Act in England and the Commission worked with health professionals and patients detained under the Mental Health Act in gathering their evidence. The key findings include:

• the number of people detained is rising
• services are under pressure
• most of the concerns from their previous report remain valid e.g. little evidence of consent to treatment, or patients being fully informed
• cultures of control and containment continue to dominate over concerns for treatment and support for individuals

The Commission make a number of recommendations to policy makers, mental health trusts and NHS stakeholders.

Parliamentary inquiry into asylum support for children and young people

The publication of the Report of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Asylum Support for Children and Young People, on 30.1.13, provided a damning account of the treatment of asylum seeking families. 

"We believe that successive governments have failed children by delivering an 

asylum support system that keeps children in poverty, leads to dependency on 

the state and denies asylum seeking families the resources they need to meet 

their needs. Not only must the levels of support be increased to make sure no 

child is condemned to poverty, but many other aspects of the asylum support 

system which prevent children and families from having a dignified existence 

need to be addressed. We hope that the government will consider our report and 

recommendations." (Children's Society).

Nine benchmarks to test social work decision making

Andy McNicoll, writing in the Community Care magazine  Social Work Blog offers a nine point framework against which to measure decision making in social work. The nine characteristics were developed in the 1980s, but may still prove useful for reflective social work practice.

Pocket Guides from BASW

BASW have produces 5 downloadable pocket guides with basic information, hints and tips for practicing professionals and students of social work. The guides are:

• Alcohol and other drugs
• Children families and alcohol use
• Mental health and substance use
• Alcohol and older people
• Young people and alcohol

PDFs for all five can be downloaded from the link above.