Social Working Independently

Kelly Hicks, Social Worker of the Year 2011, left employment with Doncaster Council and to move in to independent work in the community. Hicks then founded Personalisation Forum Group, a peer support community network for people with mental health problems, whose action has helped to support members and help avoid emergency psychiatric admissions. Group action by the PFG has subsequently forced Doncaster Council to live up to it's statutory obligations in social care assessments for people with mental health problems. You can read more about Hicks work in the Guardian, 12 June 2012.

Apps for Independent Living

The June/July issue of Learning Disability Today has a short article on how everyday technology including phone and tablet apps are helping people with daily challenges like using public transport and communication. Learning Disbability Today can be accessed via CareKnowledge.

Cushen, M. (2012). Getting technical. Learning Disability Today. June/July 2012, 14-15.

Returning Home

The NSPCC have published a report Returning home from care: what's best for children, which examines family reunification and how children returning to the family home can be best supported and protected, as  research reveals that half of all the children who come into care because of neglect or abuse who return home, will subsequently come into care again having suffered further abuse or neglect.

Therapeutic Approaches in Residential Child Care

SCIE have produced a new report 58: Therapeutic approaches to social work in residential child care settings .
Accompanying this they have also released a film on Social Care TV: Therapeutic Approaches to Residential Childcare in Northern Ireland.

Being a "Case"

This week Careknowledge issued a special report in which Pauline Ormond, who spent 11 years in care and subsequently helped found Who Cares? Scotland, details her experiences in relation to accessing her own care files and the ways in which record keeping affects service users and their subsequent understanding of their experiences in care.

Social Pedagogy vs Corporate Parenting

In a Huffington Post Article this week to mark World Social Work Day, Hayley Meachin laments the state of Corporate Parenting in the UK through which looked after children leave care disadvantaged, with higher rates of criminal offending and teenage pregnancy, and lower educational achievement. Meachin suggests we should look to other countries, particularily Germany and Denmark where the social pedagogy model predominates and the outcomes for young people in need of state care are correspondingly improved.  For further reading see Petrie, P. (2006). Working with children in care. Open University Press.

Action on neglect in schools

Interprofessional working and awareness and action by schools and health professionals is essential if children suffering neglect or abuse are to be reached as quicky and effectively as possible. A article in this weeks Guardian highlights how some schools are working to help children being neglected.