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3.15.Mentor Assessment Paperwork L3 RC - RCC 3.15

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Prog of Study Month 1 Apprenticeship Standard

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3.4.Mentor Assessment Paperwork L3 RC - RCC 3.4

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3.9 Mentor Assessment Paperwork L3 RC - RCC 3.9

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RCC 3.17 Understand the care system and its impact on children and young people 

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RCC 3.17 Understand the care system and its impact on children and young people 

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RCC 3.18 Understand the youth justice system as it relates to residential childcare

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RCC 3.18 Understand the youth justice system as it relates to residential childcare

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RCC 3.19 Support young people leaving care

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RCC 3.19 Support young people leaving care

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RCC 3.20 Understand residential childcare for children and young people with complex disabilities or conditions

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RCC 3.20 Understand residential childcare for children and young people with complex disabilities or conditions

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RCC 3.21 Understand support for young people with complex disabilities or conditions making the transition into adulthood

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RCC 3.21 Understand support for young people with complex disabilities or conditions making the transition into adulthood

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RCC 3.22 Work with the families of children and young people in residential childcare

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RCC 3.22 Work with the families of children and young people in residential childcare

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HSC 3047 Support use of medication in social care settings

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HSC 3047 Support use of medication in social care settings

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Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021 

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Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021 

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Session 2 21 22 Child Development School readiness

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https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/children-and-families-at-risk/looked-after-children

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Introduction

A child who has been in the care of their local authority for more than 24 hours is known as a looked after child.

Looked after children are also often referred to as children in care, a term which many children and young people prefer.
> Find out more about language and children in care in our Why language matters blog
There are many thousands of children in care in the UK and the overall numbers have been increasing over the past decade.
> Read our Children in care: statistics briefing to find out more about the range of data available
Many children in care have experienced abuse, neglect or other forms of trauma.

It's important that children in care are provided with the care and support they need to be healthy and safe, have the same opportunities as their peers and move successfully into adulthood.

Types of care

Each UK nation has a slightly different definition of a looked after child and follows its own legislation, policy and guidance. But in general, looked after children are:

living with foster parents/carers

living with friends or relatives, through kinship foster care

living in a residential children's home

living in residential settings like schools, secure units or semi-independent living accommodation.

Scotland's definition also includes children under a supervision requirement order. This means that many of the looked after children in Scotland are still living at home, but with regular contact from social services.

A child stops being 'looked after' when they are adopted, return home or turn 18. However local authorities in all the nations of the UK are required to support children leaving care at 18 until they are at least 21. This may involve them continuing to live with their foster family.

Not all children in the care of someone other than their parents have 'looked after' status. For example, they may be in private kinship care or cared for under a special guardianship order.

Private kinship care is an arrangement made directly between the parent(s) and the relative, friend or connected person, without the involvement of the local authority.

Special guardianship is when a local authority places a child or young person to live with someone other than their parent(s) on a long-term basis. It aims to provide more security than long-term fostering for children where adoption is not the best option. Special guardianship orders are not available in Scotland.

Reasons children are in care

There are a variety of reasons why children and young people enter care.

Children's services may have intervened because they felt the child was at significant risk of harm. If this is the case the child is usually the subject of a court-made legal order.

The child's parents might have agreed to this - for example, if they are too unwell to look after their child or if their child has a disability and needs respite care.

The child could have been lost, abandoned or there may be no one with parental responsibility available to care for them; as is the case for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

The child may have been charged with a criminal offence and temporarily placed on remand in the care of the local authority.

Impact of being a child in care

Children in care come from a range of different backgrounds and have varied experiences of care. Each child has their own different and specific sets of needs. However, research can give us an insight into how their experiences before and during care makes them a particularly vulnerable group of young people.
> Find out what data is available about looked after children in our statistics briefing
Previous experiences of abuse and other forms of trauma

Many children who enter care have been abused, neglected or experienced other forms of trauma. For example, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have often experienced trauma in their home country or during their journey to the UK.

These experiences can leave children with complex emotional and mental health needs, which can increase their vulnerability to abuse.,

Separation and estrangement from family and friends

Relationships between family members including siblings are among many children's most enduring and significant relationships. However, contact with the care system can lead to separation and estrangement from siblings for many children., ,

Events such as moving to a new home, new area or new school can also significantly disrupt friendships and other support networks.

"I moved schools when I went into foster care, and I don't fit in at all. I've got no friends, no one will sit with me in lessons. I just spend lunchtime in the toilets crying. I don't feel like I can tell my foster carers how depressed I'm feeling, I don't want to mess this up."
Childline counselling session with a girl aged 16
Placement unsuitability and instability

There is a lack of suitable homes available for children in care. This means children sometimes end up staying in placements which are unable to meet all their needs.

Many children move repeatedly in and out of care, or between placements. Placement breakdowns can have a detrimental impact on a child's emotional wellbeing and mental health. It can also prevent them forming stable relationships with the adults who could help protect them.

Peer violence and abuse

Many children in care have previous experiences of violence, abuse or neglect. This can lead to them displaying challenging behaviour and having problems forming secure relationships. Some find it hard to develop positive peer relationships. The care system can struggle to provide effective management and interventions to address these problems.

Going missing

Children may run away from care for all sorts of reasons. These include:

wanting to return home to their family

being unhappy or bored in their care placement

feeling like they didn't have enough control over their own lives.

"I'm struggling to deal with my mum not turning up to meet-ups. Each time it happens I feel convinced I'll never see my family again. I end up having panic attacks and running away from placement to cope. Then I get punished for running. My social worker is understanding but I need better ways to cope."

Childline counselling session with a boy aged 13
Children who go missing from care are at greater risk of physical abuse, grooming and sexual exploitation.
> Find out more about protecting children from trafficking and modern slavery
Children can also go missing from care as a consequence of exploitation. Evidence suggests young people living in children's homes are sometimes specifically targeted for exploitation; and children who have been trafficked into the UK often go missing within days or weeks of being taken into care due to the ongoing power their traffickers hold over them.

Comparisons with other groups of children

Research suggests that when children in care are compared with children who have not been in care, they tend to have poorer outcomes in a number of areas such as educational attainment and mental and physical health.
> Read our briefing on what data and statistics are available about children in care
However, this is not necessarily the case when they are compared with other groups of children who are likely to have had similar experiences, such as children in need. One study, which analysed Government data, found that looked after children who were continuously in care in England had better educational attainment than children in need.

References

Demazure, G., Baeyens, C. and Pinsault, N. (2021) Bazalgette, L., Rahilly, T. and Trevelyan, G. (2015) Luke, N. et al. (2014) Independent Care Review (2020) Jones, C. and Henderson, G. (2017) Jones, C., Henderson, G. and Woods, R. (2019) Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) (2022) Rahilly, T. and Hendry, E. (eds) (2014) Bazalgette, L., Rahilly, T. and Trevelyan, G. (2015) All Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children and Adults and All Party Parliamentary Group for Looked after Children and Care Leavers (2012) Rahilly, T. and Hendry, E. (eds) (2014) Sebba, J. et al (2015) Review: unaccompanied refugee minors' perception of mental health services and professionals: a systematic review of qualitative studies. London: Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
Achieving emotional wellbeing for looked after children: a whole system approach. [London]: NSPCC.
What works in preventing and treating poor mental health in looked after children? London: NSPCC.
The Promise. [Accessed 17/10/2023].
Supporting sibling relationships of children in permanent fostering and adoptive families. Glasgow: University of Strathclyde.
Relative strangers: sibling estrangements experiences by children in out-of-home care and moving towards permanence. Children and Youth Services Review, 103 pp. 226-235
Children's social care market study final report. London: CMA
Promoting the wellbeing of children in care: messages from research. London: NSPCC.
Achieving emotional wellbeing for looked after children: a whole system approach. [London]: NSPCC.
Report from the joint inquiry into children who go missing from care. [Accessed 06/02/2024].
Promoting the wellbeing of children in care: messages from research. London: NSPCC.
The educational progress of looked after children in England: linking care and educational data (PDF). Oxford: Rees Centre.

Intersectionality

Taking an intersectional approach

Children in care, like all children, have diverse identities. As well as experiencing prejudice or bias related to being in care, they might experience challenges relating to other parts of their identity, such as:

ethnicity

sexuality

gender

disability

mental health

where they live, how much money they have and how much access they have to education.

The way these challenges interact is known as intersectionality.

For example, research found that while on average care-experienced children had much more youth justice involvement than non-care-experienced children, care-experienced Black and Mixed ethnicity children had even higher levels of involvement.

It can be difficult for children to cope with this, and it can have a negative impact on their welfare.

"I'm really missing my mum at the moment. I want to see her, but she doesn't want to see me just yet. She couldn't cope with my disabilities and got angry with my autism. My foster family are supportive and always try to make sure I'm ok, but I get anxious when I try to say how I'm feeling."
Childline counselling session with a girl aged 12 > Listen to our podcast episode on intersectionality in social work practice
Learning for practitioners: understanding the child

When you're working with a child, consider all the factors that might influence their safety and wellbeing. Take the time to get to know them, understand their lived experience and how they might face risks due to how others might perceive their identity.

You could consider creating safe spaces for children who have similar identities or come from the same community. This might help them talk about their experiences and get peer support.

Find out more about:

Supporting children in care

Providing children in and on the edge of care with the support they need, when they need it, can help them to achieve their potential.

Deciding whether a child should enter care

Delays in decision-making can prolong children's experiences of abuse and neglect. This means that when they do enter care they can experience greater degrees of difficulty, and the specialist services they require are less likely to have an impact.

Our Infant and Family Teams (IFT) service helps social workers and judges decide whether a child on a care plan should stay with their birth family or enter care permanently.

The IFT bring together specialists in infant mental health and social care and works with a family over a 9- to 15-month period to help reunite the child with their family where possible or place them permanently into care if not.
> Find out more about the work of the Infant and Family Teams
Children on the edge of care

Our publication Promoting the wellbeing of children in care identifies ways to better safeguard children on the edge of care:

improving understanding of how to identify damaging situations

improving decision making about when it is in a child's best interests to enter care ensuring that decisions are well planned and taken in a timely fashion.

Achieving these aims requires:

greater use of multi-agency approaches to assessment and support for children and families on the edge of care

revised training for social workers and other practitioners to ensure an improved understanding of:

child development

the identification of risk and protective factors

parental capacity to change

improvements in undergraduate and post-qualification training to ensure that social workers and other professionals are also able to develop a better understanding of the impact of care and effective interventions

greater effort to ensure stability for children and young people on the edge of care and following their entry to care.

> Read the Promoting the wellbeing of children in care report via our library catalogue
Deciding on the right placement for the child

Every child in care has their own individual strengths and needs. To identify the right placement requires effective assessment, planning and a willingness to listen to the voice of the child and their family.

Deciding on the best available placement is key to achieving stability and permanence and can have an important impact on the outcomes for the child.

Supporting children in care

Providing a secure, caring environment can help looked after children overcome their early life experiences.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to support the children in their care and every local area should have a range of support available to meet their children's needs.

NSPCC research has identified five priorities for change to improve the emotional and mental health of looked after children.

Embed an emphasis on emotional wellbeing throughout the system. Professionals working in the care system need the skills and knowledge to understand how they can support the emotional wellbeing of looked after children and young people.

Take a proactive and preventative approach. Support for looked after children should begin with a thorough assessment of their emotional and mental health needs.

Give children and young people voice and influence. Looked after children and young people need more opportunities to identify what is important to them and influence their own care.

Support and sustain children's relationships. Children's carers require training and support to be sensitive, understanding and resilient.

Support care leavers' emotional needs. Help young people identify and strengthen their support networks.

If a child or young person needs confidential help and advice direct them to Childline. Calls to 0800 1111 are free and children can also contact Childline online or read about living in care on the Childline website. You can also download Childline posters.

Feelings of isolation and loneliness can affect any child or young person, but those in care can be particularly at susceptible. The NSPCC's Building Connections programme is an online service for young people up to the age of 19, empowering them to find a way through loneliness.
> Find out more about how Building Connections can help
Supporting the birth family

It's important for professionals to support the child's birth family, to address the problems which resulted in the child entering care. In time, many children can return home to their family but even if this is not possible their birth family are still likely to be a central part of their lives.

The quality of contact a child has with their birth family can have an impact on their wellbeing, so it's important to support children to have safe, positive contact with their birth families if it is in the child's best interests.

References

Davies, C. and Ward, H. (2012) Rahilly, T. and Hendry, E. (eds) (2014) Research in Practice (RiP) (2014) Bazalgette, L., Rahilly, T. and Trevelyan, G. (2015) Bazalgette, L., Rahilly, T. and Trevelyan, G. (2015) Safeguarding children across services: messages from research. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Promoting the wellbeing of children in care: messages from research. London: NSPCC.
Fostering and adoption: placement stability and permanence. [Accessed 20/11/2023].
Achieving emotional wellbeing for looked after children: a whole system approach. [London]: NSPCC.
Achieving emotional wellbeing for looked after children: a whole system approach. [London]: NSPCC.

Children and young people leaving care

Children and young people leaving care

Returning a child home from care

For many children, returning home from care is the best possible outcome. But research shows that for others this can result in further abuse or neglect.

Many children end up back in care, and a significant number move back and forth between care and their family. Other children remain at home despite continuing abuse or neglect.

There are a number of ways to improve a child's experience of returning home from care:

Assessing the needs of the family so support can be tailored and in place before and after a child returns home.

Assessing the risks the family could pose to their child, how much they are able to change and their ability to protect their child from harm. The assessment should consider the family's history as well as the current situation.

Working with the child and their family to help strengthen their relationship.

Agreeing with the parents, in writing, what needs to happen before and after their child returns home.

Providing tailored support and services for the child and their family before and after the return home for a minimum period of 6 months (as recommended in the NSPCC Reunification Framework). This should include support from foster/residential carers, the child's school, and friends.

Returning the child home gradually, and putting in place plans for what will happen if the return is not going well.

Monitoring how the child and their family are doing.

Reunification practice framework

Our Reunification practice framework, created in partnership with University of Bristol, supports practitioners and managers to apply structured professional judgement to decisions about whether and how a child should return home from care.

The framework also helps families and workers to understand what needs to change, to set goals, access support and services and review progress.
> Find out more about the Reunification practice framework
Supporting care leavers

For some looked after children, leaving the care system can be a challenging time.

In all nations of the UK, children leaving care at 18 are entitled to support from their local authority until they are at least 21. England and Wales are governed by the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and there is separate legislation for Scotland (Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014) and Northern Ireland (The Children (Leaving Care) Act (Northern Ireland) 2002).

For some children this will mean staying on with their foster carers. For others alternative accommodation options will be required.

Local authorities across the UK have a duty to assess and meet care leavers' individual needs and to develop a pathway plan, setting out the support that will be provided to the care leaver once they have left care. This should include making sure the care leaver has somewhere suitable to live.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, care leavers are also legally entitled to a personal adviser to help with the transition.

Legislation, policy and guidance

Legislation, policy and guidance

There is legislation and guidance in each nation of the UK that sets out how the child protection system works and what agencies' responsibilities are to children and families who need support.

Find out more about the child protection system in:

There is specific legislation, policy and guidance relating to children in care and care leavers.

Key legislation

England and Wales

The Children Act 1989 underpins the way the care system works in England and Wales.

The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 introduced new duties in England and Wales around putting in place plans to promote the wellbeing of looked after children after they cease to be in care.

The Children and Young Persons Act 2008 introduced reforms to the care system in England and Wales. These included:

making it explicit that placement with a parent is the preferred option, followed by kinship care

extending local authority duties to children leaving care, including those over 21 who return to education or training

requiring children's services to arrange for looked after children to have an independent visitor where it is considered in the child's best interests.

England

The Children and Families Act 2014 introduced a number of changes to the care system in England including:

introducing 'fostering for adoption' to allow approved adopters to foster children while they wait for court approval to adopt

setting a 26-week limit for care proceedings

establishing 'staying put' arrangements to enable young people to continue living with their foster carers if they wish until the age of 21

replacing residence and contact orders with child arrangement orders, which specify where a child is to live and who they are to spend time with.

The Children and Social Work Act 2017 introduced further reforms relating to looked after children, including:

setting out seven corporate parenting principles around local authorities' responsibilities towards looked after children

requiring local authorities to publish a 'local offer' for care leavers, and provide care leavers with a personal advisor up to the age of 25

requiring courts to consider the impact of harm on children and their current and future needs when making decisions about long term placements.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 sets out the duties, powers and responsibilities of local authorities regarding looked after children.

The Children (Private Arrangements for Fostering) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 set out how arrangements should be made for fostering a child privately.

The Children (Leaving Care) Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 sets out Health and Social Care Trusts' responsibilities for young people leaving care, including:

the duty to assess and meet young people's individual needs

providing personal advisers and develop pathway planning for young people up to the age of 21 (or beyond if continuing in education)

The Children (Leaving Care) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 provides more detail on assessing and meeting the needs of young people preparing to leave care and care leavers.

Scotland

The Foster Children (Scotland) Act 1984 sets out provisions for foster care in Scotland.

In Scotland, the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 sets out the duties, powers and responsibilities local authorities hold in respect of looked after children and care leavers.

The Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 introduces:

provisions about care planning, fostering, kinship care and emergency measures

clarity on when a child can be classed as 'looked after' but still live with their parents.

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 introduces reforms, including:

setting out the law on corporate parenting

the provision of aftercare to young people leaving care on or after their 16th birthday

making it clear that a young person who is looked after in foster, kinship or residential care is eligible to continuing care in their current placement until they turn 21.

Wales

The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 covers local authorities' duties to children in their care, and family and friends' care. It includes a requirement to support for children and young people leaving care which is equivalent to the support a non-care-experienced child might reasonably expect from their parents.

The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (Wales) Regulations 2015 set out the responsibilities of local authorities to plan looked after children's care.

The Care Leavers (Wales) Regulations 2015 make provision about the support to be provided to young people who are no longer looked after by a local authority.

Strategy and policy

England

1. ensure strong, loving relationships for care-experienced children

2. increase the number of local, high-quality, stable and loving homes

3. strengthen and extend corporate parenting responsibilities across the public sector

4. improve education, employment and training outcomes for children in care

5. increase suitable accommodation for care leavers and reduce homelessness

6. reduce disparities in mental and physical health outcomes and improve wellbeing.

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales

The Programme for government 2021 to 2026 sets out the Welsh Government's current priorities, including a commitment to, "explore radical reform of current services for children looked after and care leavers". This commitment was built on in the Declaration of radical reform for children and young people's care, developed by Welsh Minsters with Young Ambassadors representing the care experienced community, which sets out the steps needed to promote the rights and wellbeing of children in care.

Key guidance

England

Statutory guidance and regulations have been issued under the Children Act 1989 including:

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Part 10 (aftercare) and Part 11 (continuing care) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 both have published guidance to explain the provisions.

Guidance on the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 clarifies local authorities' duties.

Wales

Children missing from care guidance

Looked after children are more likely to go missing than other children and are at greater risk of harm if they do.

The guidance each of the four nations has published includes:

Care leavers guidance

With outcomes for care leavers consistently poorer than for non-care-experienced young people, all four nations in the UK provide support for care leavers.

In addition to the above key legislation and guidance, the following documents are also useful for practitioners:

Introduction

A child who has been in the care of their local authority for more than 24 hours is known as a looked after child.

Looked after children are also often referred to as children in care, a term which many children and young people prefer.
> Find out more about language and children in care in our Why language matters blog
There are many thousands of children in care in the UK and the overall numbers have been increasing over the past decade.
> Read our Children in care: statistics briefing to find out more about the range of data available
Many children in care have experienced abuse, neglect or other forms of trauma.

It's important that children in care are provided with the care and support they need to be healthy and safe, have the same opportunities as their peers and move successfully into adulthood.

Types of care

Each UK nation has a slightly different definition of a looked after child and follows its own legislation, policy and guidance. But in general, looked after children are:

living with foster parents/carers

living with friends or relatives, through kinship foster care

living in a residential children's home

living in residential settings like schools, secure units or semi-independent living accommodation.

Scotland's definition also includes children under a supervision requirement order. This means that many of the looked after children in Scotland are still living at home, but with regular contact from social services.

A child stops being 'looked after' when they are adopted, return home or turn 18. However local authorities in all the nations of the UK are required to support children leaving care at 18 until they are at least 21. This may involve them continuing to live with their foster family.

Not all children in the care of someone other than their parents have 'looked after' status. For example, they may be in private kinship care or cared for under a special guardianship order.

Private kinship care is an arrangement made directly between the parent(s) and the relative, friend or connected person, without the involvement of the local authority.

Special guardianship is when a local authority places a child or young person to live with someone other than their parent(s) on a long-term basis. It aims to provide more security than long-term fostering for children where adoption is not the best option. Special guardianship orders are not available in Scotland.

Reasons children are in care

There are a variety of reasons why children and young people enter care.

Children's services may have intervened because they felt the child was at significant risk of harm. If this is the case the child is usually the subject of a court-made legal order.

The child's parents might have agreed to this - for example, if they are too unwell to look after their child or if their child has a disability and needs respite care.

The child could have been lost, abandoned or there may be no one with parental responsibility available to care for them; as is the case for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

The child may have been charged with a criminal offence and temporarily placed on remand in the care of the local authority.

Impact of being a child in care

Children in care come from a range of different backgrounds and have varied experiences of care. Each child has their own different and specific sets of needs. However, research can give us an insight into how their experiences before and during care makes them a particularly vulnerable group of young people.
> Find out what data is available about looked after children in our statistics briefing
Previous experiences of abuse and other forms of trauma

Many children who enter care have been abused, neglected or experienced other forms of trauma. For example, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have often experienced trauma in their home country or during their journey to the UK.

These experiences can leave children with complex emotional and mental health needs, which can increase their vulnerability to abuse.,

Separation and estrangement from family and friends

Relationships between family members including siblings are among many children's most enduring and significant relationships. However, contact with the care system can lead to separation and estrangement from siblings for many children., ,

Events such as moving to a new home, new area or new school can also significantly disrupt friendships and other support networks.

"I moved schools when I went into foster care, and I don't fit in at all. I've got no friends, no one will sit with me in lessons. I just spend lunchtime in the toilets crying. I don't feel like I can tell my foster carers how depressed I'm feeling, I don't want to mess this up."
Childline counselling session with a girl aged 16
Placement unsuitability and instability

There is a lack of suitable homes available for children in care. This means children sometimes end up staying in placements which are unable to meet all their needs.

Many children move repeatedly in and out of care, or between placements. Placement breakdowns can have a detrimental impact on a child's emotional wellbeing and mental health. It can also prevent them forming stable relationships with the adults who could help protect them.

Peer violence and abuse

Many children in care have previous experiences of violence, abuse or neglect. This can lead to them displaying challenging behaviour and having problems forming secure relationships. Some find it hard to develop positive peer relationships. The care system can struggle to provide effective management and interventions to address these problems.

Going missing

Children may run away from care for all sorts of reasons. These include:

wanting to return home to their family

being unhappy or bored in their care placement

feeling like they didn't have enough control over their own lives.

"I'm struggling to deal with my mum not turning up to meet-ups. Each time it happens I feel convinced I'll never see my family again. I end up having panic attacks and running away from placement to cope. Then I get punished for running. My social worker is understanding but I need better ways to cope."

Childline counselling session with a boy aged 13
Children who go missing from care are at greater risk of physical abuse, grooming and sexual exploitation.
> Find out more about protecting children from trafficking and modern slavery
Children can also go missing from care as a consequence of exploitation. Evidence suggests young people living in children's homes are sometimes specifically targeted for exploitation; and children who have been trafficked into the UK often go missing within days or weeks of being taken into care due to the ongoing power their traffickers hold over them.

Comparisons with other groups of children

Research suggests that when children in care are compared with children who have not been in care, they tend to have poorer outcomes in a number of areas such as educational attainment and mental and physical health.
> Read our briefing on what data and statistics are available about children in care
However, this is not necessarily the case when they are compared with other groups of children who are likely to have had similar experiences, such as children in need. One study, which analysed Government data, found that looked after children who were continuously in care in England had better educational attainment than children in need.

References

Demazure, G., Baeyens, C. and Pinsault, N. (2021) Bazalgette, L., Rahilly, T. and Trevelyan, G. (2015) Luke, N. et al. (2014) Independent Care Review (2020) Jones, C. and Henderson, G. (2017) Jones, C., Henderson, G. and Woods, R. (2019) Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) (2022) Rahilly, T. and Hendry, E. (eds) (2014) Bazalgette, L., Rahilly, T. and Trevelyan, G. (2015) All Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children and Adults and All Party Parliamentary Group for Looked after Children and Care Leavers (2012) Rahilly, T. and Hendry, E. (eds) (2014) Sebba, J. et al (2015) Review: unaccompanied refugee minors' perception of mental health services and professionals: a systematic review of qualitative studies. London: Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
Achieving emotional wellbeing for looked after children: a whole system approach. [London]: NSPCC.
What works in preventing and treating poor mental health in looked after children? London: NSPCC.
The Promise. [Accessed 17/10/2023].
Supporting sibling relationships of children in permanent fostering and adoptive families. Glasgow: University of Strathclyde.
Relative strangers: sibling estrangements experiences by children in out-of-home care and moving towards permanence. Children and Youth Services Review, 103 pp. 226-235
Children's social care market study final report. London: CMA
Promoting the wellbeing of children in care: messages from research. London: NSPCC.
Achieving emotional wellbeing for looked after children: a whole system approach. [London]: NSPCC.
Report from the joint inquiry into children who go missing from care. [Accessed 06/02/2024].
Promoting the wellbeing of children in care: messages from research. London: NSPCC.
The educational progress of looked after children in England: linking care and educational data (PDF). Oxford: Rees Centre.

Intersectionality

Taking an intersectional approach

Children in care, like all children, have diverse identities. As well as experiencing prejudice or bias related to being in care, they might experience challenges relating to other parts of their identity, such as:

ethnicity

sexuality

gender

disability

mental health

where they live, how much money they have and how much access they have to education.

The way these challenges interact is known as intersectionality.

For example, research found that while on average care-experienced children had much more youth justice involvement than non-care-experienced children, care-experienced Black and Mixed ethnicity children had even higher levels of involvement.

It can be difficult for children to cope with this, and it can have a negative impact on their welfare.

"I'm really missing my mum at the moment. I want to see her, but she doesn't want to see me just yet. She couldn't cope with my disabilities and got angry with my autism. My foster family are supportive and always try to make sure I'm ok, but I get anxious when I try to say how I'm feeling."
Childline counselling session with a girl aged 12 > Listen to our podcast episode on intersectionality in social work practice
Learning for practitioners: understanding the child

When you're working with a child, consider all the factors that might influence their safety and wellbeing. Take the time to get to know them, understand their lived experience and how they might face risks due to how others might perceive their identity.

You could consider creating safe spaces for children who have similar identities or come from the same community. This might help them talk about their experiences and get peer support.

Find out more about:

Supporting children in care

Providing children in and on the edge of care with the support they need, when they need it, can help them to achieve their potential.

Deciding whether a child should enter care

Delays in decision-making can prolong children's experiences of abuse and neglect. This means that when they do enter care they can experience greater degrees of difficulty, and the specialist services they require are less likely to have an impact.

Our Infant and Family Teams (IFT) service helps social workers and judges decide whether a child on a care plan should stay with their birth family or enter care permanently.

The IFT bring together specialists in infant mental health and social care and works with a family over a 9- to 15-month period to help reunite the child with their family where possible or place them permanently into care if not.
> Find out more about the work of the Infant and Family Teams
Children on the edge of care

Our publication Promoting the wellbeing of children in care identifies ways to better safeguard children on the edge of care:

improving understanding of how to identify damaging situations

improving decision making about when it is in a child's best interests to enter care ensuring that decisions are well planned and taken in a timely fashion.

Achieving these aims requires:

greater use of multi-agency approaches to assessment and support for children and families on the edge of care

revised training for social workers and other practitioners to ensure an improved understanding of:

child development

the identification of risk and protective factors

parental capacity to change

improvements in undergraduate and post-qualification training to ensure that social workers and other professionals are also able to develop a better understanding of the impact of care and effective interventions

greater effort to ensure stability for children and young people on the edge of care and following their entry to care.

> Read the Promoting the wellbeing of children in care report via our library catalogue
Deciding on the right placement for the child

Every child in care has their own individual strengths and needs. To identify the right placement requires effective assessment, planning and a willingness to listen to the voice of the child and their family.

Deciding on the best available placement is key to achieving stability and permanence and can have an important impact on the outcomes for the child.

Supporting children in care

Providing a secure, caring environment can help looked after children overcome their early life experiences.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to support the children in their care and every local area should have a range of support available to meet their children's needs.

NSPCC research has identified five priorities for change to improve the emotional and mental health of looked after children.

Embed an emphasis on emotional wellbeing throughout the system. Professionals working in the care system need the skills and knowledge to understand how they can support the emotional wellbeing of looked after children and young people.

Take a proactive and preventative approach. Support for looked after children should begin with a thorough assessment of their emotional and mental health needs.

Give children and young people voice and influence. Looked after children and young people need more opportunities to identify what is important to them and influence their own care.

Support and sustain children's relationships. Children's carers require training and support to be sensitive, understanding and resilient.

Support care leavers' emotional needs. Help young people identify and strengthen their support networks.

If a child or young person needs confidential help and advice direct them to Childline. Calls to 0800 1111 are free and children can also contact Childline online or read about living in care on the Childline website. You can also download Childline posters.

Feelings of isolation and loneliness can affect any child or young person, but those in care can be particularly at susceptible. The NSPCC's Building Connections programme is an online service for young people up to the age of 19, empowering them to find a way through loneliness.
> Find out more about how Building Connections can help
Supporting the birth family

It's important for professionals to support the child's birth family, to address the problems which resulted in the child entering care. In time, many children can return home to their family but even if this is not possible their birth family are still likely to be a central part of their lives.

The quality of contact a child has with their birth family can have an impact on their wellbeing, so it's important to support children to have safe, positive contact with their birth families if it is in the child's best interests.

References

Davies, C. and Ward, H. (2012) Rahilly, T. and Hendry, E. (eds) (2014) Research in Practice (RiP) (2014) Bazalgette, L., Rahilly, T. and Trevelyan, G. (2015) Bazalgette, L., Rahilly, T. and Trevelyan, G. (2015) Safeguarding children across services: messages from research. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Promoting the wellbeing of children in care: messages from research. London: NSPCC.
Fostering and adoption: placement stability and permanence. [Accessed 20/11/2023].
Achieving emotional wellbeing for looked after children: a whole system approach. [London]: NSPCC.
Achieving emotional wellbeing for looked after children: a whole system approach. [London]: NSPCC.

Children and young people leaving care

Children and young people leaving care

Returning a child home from care

For many children, returning home from care is the best possible outcome. But research shows that for others this can result in further abuse or neglect.

Many children end up back in care, and a significant number move back and forth between care and their family. Other children remain at home despite continuing abuse or neglect.

There are a number of ways to improve a child's experience of returning home from care:

Assessing the needs of the family so support can be tailored and in place before and after a child returns home.

Assessing the risks the family could pose to their child, how much they are able to change and their ability to protect their child from harm. The assessment should consider the family's history as well as the current situation.

Working with the child and their family to help strengthen their relationship.

Agreeing with the parents, in writing, what needs to happen before and after their child returns home.

Providing tailored support and services for the child and their family before and after the return home for a minimum period of 6 months (as recommended in the NSPCC Reunification Framework). This should include support from foster/residential carers, the child's school, and friends.

Returning the child home gradually, and putting in place plans for what will happen if the return is not going well.

Monitoring how the child and their family are doing.

Reunification practice framework

Our Reunification practice framework, created in partnership with University of Bristol, supports practitioners and managers to apply structured professional judgement to decisions about whether and how a child should return home from care.

The framework also helps families and workers to understand what needs to change, to set goals, access support and services and review progress.
> Find out more about the Reunification practice framework
Supporting care leavers

For some looked after children, leaving the care system can be a challenging time.

In all nations of the UK, children leaving care at 18 are entitled to support from their local authority until they are at least 21. England and Wales are governed by the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and there is separate legislation for Scotland (Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014) and Northern Ireland (The Children (Leaving Care) Act (Northern Ireland) 2002).

For some children this will mean staying on with their foster carers. For others alternative accommodation options will be required.

Local authorities across the UK have a duty to assess and meet care leavers' individual needs and to develop a pathway plan, setting out the support that will be provided to the care leaver once they have left care. This should include making sure the care leaver has somewhere suitable to live.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, care leavers are also legally entitled to a personal adviser to help with the transition.

Legislation, policy and guidance

Legislation, policy and guidance

There is legislation and guidance in each nation of the UK that sets out how the child protection system works and what agencies' responsibilities are to children and families who need support.

Find out more about the child protection system in:

There is specific legislation, policy and guidance relating to children in care and care leavers.

Key legislation

England and Wales

The Children Act 1989 underpins the way the care system works in England and Wales.

The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 introduced new duties in England and Wales around putting in place plans to promote the wellbeing of looked after children after they cease to be in care.

The Children and Young Persons Act 2008 introduced reforms to the care system in England and Wales. These included:

making it explicit that placement with a parent is the preferred option, followed by kinship care

extending local authority duties to children leaving care, including those over 21 who return to education or training

requiring children's services to arrange for looked after children to have an independent visitor where it is considered in the child's best interests.

England

The Children and Families Act 2014 introduced a number of changes to the care system in England including:

introducing 'fostering for adoption' to allow approved adopters to foster children while they wait for court approval to adopt

setting a 26-week limit for care proceedings

establishing 'staying put' arrangements to enable young people to continue living with their foster carers if they wish until the age of 21

replacing residence and contact orders with child arrangement orders, which specify where a child is to live and who they are to spend time with.

The Children and Social Work Act 2017 introduced further reforms relating to looked after children, including:

setting out seven corporate parenting principles around local authorities' responsibilities towards looked after children

requiring local authorities to publish a 'local offer' for care leavers, and provide care leavers with a personal advisor up to the age of 25

requiring courts to consider the impact of harm on children and their current and future needs when making decisions about long term placements.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 sets out the duties, powers and responsibilities of local authorities regarding looked after children.

The Children (Private Arrangements for Fostering) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 set out how arrangements should be made for fostering a child privately.

The Children (Leaving Care) Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 sets out Health and Social Care Trusts' responsibilities for young people leaving care, including:

the duty to assess and meet young people's individual needs

providing personal advisers and develop pathway planning for young people up to the age of 21 (or beyond if continuing in education)

The Children (Leaving Care) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 provides more detail on assessing and meeting the needs of young people preparing to leave care and care leavers.

Scotland

The Foster Children (Scotland) Act 1984 sets out provisions for foster care in Scotland.

In Scotland, the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 sets out the duties, powers and responsibilities local authorities hold in respect of looked after children and care leavers.

The Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 introduces:

provisions about care planning, fostering, kinship care and emergency measures

clarity on when a child can be classed as 'looked after' but still live with their parents.

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 introduces reforms, including:

setting out the law on corporate parenting

the provision of aftercare to young people leaving care on or after their 16th birthday

making it clear that a young person who is looked after in foster, kinship or residential care is eligible to continuing care in their current placement until they turn 21.

Wales

The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 covers local authorities' duties to children in their care, and family and friends' care. It includes a requirement to support for children and young people leaving care which is equivalent to the support a non-care-experienced child might reasonably expect from their parents.

The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (Wales) Regulations 2015 set out the responsibilities of local authorities to plan looked after children's care.

The Care Leavers (Wales) Regulations 2015 make provision about the support to be provided to young people who are no longer looked after by a local authority.

Strategy and policy

England

1. ensure strong, loving relationships for care-experienced children

2. increase the number of local, high-quality, stable and loving homes

3. strengthen and extend corporate parenting responsibilities across the public sector

4. improve education, employment and training outcomes for children in care

5. increase suitable accommodation for care leavers and reduce homelessness

6. reduce disparities in mental and physical health outcomes and improve wellbeing.

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales

The Programme for government 2021 to 2026 sets out the Welsh Government's current priorities, including a commitment to, "explore radical reform of current services for children looked after and care leavers". This commitment was built on in the Declaration of radical reform for children and young people's care, developed by Welsh Minsters with Young Ambassadors representing the care experienced community, which sets out the steps needed to promote the rights and wellbeing of children in care.

Key guidance

England

Statutory guidance and regulations have been issued under the Children Act 1989 including:

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Part 10 (aftercare) and Part 11 (continuing care) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 both have published guidance to explain the provisions.

Guidance on the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 clarifies local authorities' duties.

Wales

Children missing from care guidance

Looked after children are more likely to go missing than other children and are at greater risk of harm if they do.

The guidance each of the four nations has published includes:

Care leavers guidance

With outcomes for care leavers consistently poorer than for non-care-experienced young people, all four nations in the UK provide support for care leavers.

In addition to the above key legislation and guidance, the following documents are also useful for practitioners:

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Sets out who looked after children are, why they may need additional help, and ways to provide them with the support they need.

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The place of residential care in the English child welfare system

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The place of residential care in the English child welfare system

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https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/435694/Residential_care_in_the_English_child_welfare_system.pdf

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https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/534560/Residential-Care-in-England-Sir-Martin-Narey-July-2016.pdf

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https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/caring-for-children-and-young-people/children-and-young-peoples-services/

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If you're worried about your child's development or wellbeing and you think they need extra support, speak to their GP, health visitor, teacher or nursery worker first.
Ask for advice about what to do next to help your child. If you or your child needs more significant support, contact the children's services team at your local council for a needs assessment.
Find your local council on GOV.UK
Needs assessments

A needs assessment is carried out by the children's services team at your local council and determines if your child needs more specialised support.

Children's services must work with you when making decisions about your child, so discuss with them the type of help that would best meet the needs of your family.

Family support

Family support can include help looking after your child, such as:

day care for children under 5

help with parenting - such as parenting classes

courses or family support workers

practical home help

access to a Children's Centre

Support services may also be provided by education or health authorities, or by voluntary organisations.

Many of these services are available to all families. Check your local council's website to see what's available in your area.

You may also find support from these charities:

Children with special educational needs and disabilities

Additional help is available for parents and children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Looked-after children

Local authority children's services have responsibilities for the children they look after who live with foster carers or in residential care on either a short- or long-term basis.

These organisations also offer information and advice:

The Family Rights Group offers independent specialist information and advice for families about children who are looked after in care.

For more information, read the Family Rights Group's advice sheets about looked-after children.

Child protection

Child protection is available to children and young people who are at risk of significant harm and need protecting. This includes harm from physical, emotional or sexual abuse, and neglect.

If children's services suspect that a child may be at risk of harm, they must look into the child's situation and take any action necessary to keep them safe and promote their welfare.

If child protection enquiries have been made about your child, it does not necessarily mean your child will be taken away from you. But your child will be interviewed or medically examined without you being present.

The Family Rights Group offers independent specialist information and advice for families about child protection procedures.

For more information, read the Family Rights Group's advice sheets about child protection.

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Children and young people's care and support services - Social care and support guide

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Read about care and support options for children and young people.

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3.11Mentor Assessment Paperwork L3 RC - RCC 3.11

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3.10.Mentor Assessment Paperwork L3 RC - RCC 3.10

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3.12 Mentor Assessment Paperwork L3 RC - RCC 3.12

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3.13.Mentor Assessment Paperwork L3 RC - RCC 3.13

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3.14.Mentor Assessment Paperwork L3 RC - RCC 3.14

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3.6.Mentor Assessment Paperwork L3 RC - RCC 3.6

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3.7Mentor Assessment Paperwork L3 RC - RCC 3.7

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Teens - Advice, Strategies, and More (verywellfamily.com)

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Everyday is different when raising teens. Navigate the ride by learning how to promote healthy decision-making, talk sex, foster responsibility, and more.

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Child Development Theories - Learning Theories (learning-theories.com)

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Child Development Theories - Learning Theories

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Guidance for those providing residential children's homes for vulnerable children.

Applies to England

Documents

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Children's homes regulations, including quality standards: guide

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Guidance for those providing residential children's homes for vulnerable children.

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Children and Young People in Custody (Part 1): Entry into the youth justice system - Justice Committee - House of Commons

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Children and Young People in Custody (Part 1): Entry into the youth justice system

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Children and Young People in Custody (part 2): The Youth Secure Estate and Resettlement - Justice Committee - House of Commons

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Children and Young People in Custody (part 2): The Youth Secure Estate and Resettlement

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Psycom.net - Mental Health Treatment Resource Since 1986

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Grief Model Background

Throughout life, we experience many instances of grief. Grief can be caused by situations, relationships, or even substance abuse. Children may grieve a divorce, a wife may grieve the death of her husband, a teenager might grieve the ending of a relationship, or you might have received terminal medical news and are grieving your pending death. In 1969, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross described five popular stages of grief, popularly referred to as DABDA. They include:

A Swiss psychiatrist, Kübler-Ross first introduced her five stage grief model in her book On Death and Dying. Kübler-Ross' model was based off her work with terminally ill patients and has received much criticism in the years since. Mainly, because people studying her model mistakenly believed this is the specific order in which people grieve and that all people go through all stages. Kübler-Ross now notes that these stages are not linear and some people may not experience any of them. Yet and still, others might only undergo two stages rather than all five, one stage, three stages, etc. It is now more readily known that these five stages of grief are the most commonly observed experienced by the grieving population.

Article continues below

Denial

Denial is the stage that can initially help you survive the loss. You might think life makes no sense, has no meaning, and is too overwhelming. You start to deny the news and, in effect, go numb. It's common in this stage to wonder how life will go on in this different state - you are in a state of shock because life as you once knew it, has changed in an instant. If you were diagnosed with a deadly disease, you might believe the news is incorrect - a mistake must have occurred somewhere in the lab-they mixed up your blood work with someone else. If you receive news on the death of a loved one, perhaps you cling to a false hope that they identified the wrong person. In the denial stage, you are not living in 'actual reality,' rather, you are living in a 'preferable' reality. Interestingly, it is denial and shock that help you cope and survive the grief event. Denial aids in pacing your feelings of grief. Instead of becoming completely overwhelmed with grief, we deny it, do not accept it, and stagger its full impact on us at one time. Think of it as your body's natural defense mechanism saying "hey, there's only so much I can handle at once." Once the denial and shock starts to fade, the start of the healing process begins. At this point, those feelings that you were once suppressing are coming to the surface.

Anger

Once you start to live in 'actual' reality again and not in 'preferable' reality, anger might start to set in. This is a common stage to think "why me?" and "life's not fair!" You might look to blame others for the cause of your grief and also may redirect your anger to close friends and family. You find it incomprehensible of how something like this could happen to you. If you are strong in faith, you might start to question your belief in God. "Where is God? Why didn't he protect me?" Researchers and mental health professionals agree that this anger is a necessary stage of grief. And encourage the anger. It's important to truly feel the anger. It's thought that even though you might seem like you are in an endless cycle of anger, it will dissipate - and the more you truly feel the anger, the more quickly it will dissipate, and the more quickly you will heal. It is not healthy to suppress your feelings of anger - it is a natural response - and perhaps, arguably, a necessary one. In every day life, we are normally told to control our anger toward situations and toward others. When you experience a grief event, you might feel disconnected from reality - that you have no grounding anymore. Your life has shattered and there's nothing solid to hold onto. Think of anger as a strength to bind you to reality. You might feel deserted or abandoned during a grief event. That no one is there. You are alone in this world. The direction of anger toward something or somebody is what might bridge you back to reality and connect you to people again. It is a "thing." It's something to grasp onto - a natural step in healing.

Bargaining

When something bad happens, have you ever caught yourself making a deal with God? "Please God, if you heal my husband, I will strive to be the best wife I can ever be - and never complain again." This is bargaining. In a way, this stage is false hope. You might falsely make yourself believe that you can avoid the grief through a type of negotiation. If you change this, I'll change that. You are so desperate to get your life back to how it was before the grief event, you are willing to make a major life change in an attempt toward normality. Guilt is a common wing man of bargaining. This is when you endure the endless "what if" statements. What if I had left the house 5 minutes sooner - the accident would have never happened. What if I encouraged him to go to the doctor six months ago like I first thought - the cancer could have been found sooner and he could have been saved.

Depression

Depression is a commonly accepted form of grief. In fact, most people associate depression immediately with grief - as it is a "present" emotion. It represents the emptiness we feel when we are living in reality and realize the person or situation is gone or over. In this stage, you might withdraw from life, feel numb, live in a fog, and not want to get out of bed. The world might seem too much and too overwhelming for you to face. You don't want to be around others, don't feel like talking, and experience feelings of hopelessness. You might even experience suicidal thoughts - thinking "what's the point of going on?"

Acceptance

The last stage of grief identified by Kübler-Ross is acceptance. Not in the sense that "it's okay my husband died" rather, "my husband died, but I'm going to be okay." In this stage, your emotions may begin to stabilize. You re-enter reality. You come to terms with the fact that the "new" reality is that your partner is never coming back - or that you are going to succumb to your illness and die soon - and you're okay with that. It's not a "good" thing - but it's something you can live with. It is definitely a time of adjustment and readjustment. There are good days, there are bad days, and then there are good days again. In this stage, it does not mean you'll never have another bad day - where you are uncontrollably sad. But, the good days tend to outnumber the bad days. In this stage, you may lift from your fog, you start to engage with friends again, and might even make new relationships as time goes on. You understand your loved one can never be replaced, but you move, grow, and evolve into your new reality.

Symptoms of Grief

Your grief symptoms may present themselves physically, socially, or spiritually. Some of the most common symptoms of grief are presented below:

Crying

Headaches

Difficulty Sleeping

Questioning the Purpose of Life

Questioning Your Spiritual Beliefs (e.g., your belief in God)

Feelings of Detachment

Isolation from Friends and Family

Abnormal Behavior

Worry

Anxiety

Frustration

Guilt

Fatigue

Anger

Loss of Appetite

Aches and Pains

Stress

Treatment of Grief

The prescription of medication and engagement in counseling have been the most common methods of treating grief. Initially, your doctor may prescribe you medications to help you function more fully. These might include sedatives, antidepressants, or anti-anxiety medications to help you get through the day. In addition, your doctor might prescribe you medication to help you sleep. This treatment area often causes some differences in opinion in the medical field. Some doctors choose not to prescribe medications because they believe they are doing you a disservice in the grieving process. That is, if a doctor prescribes you anti-anxiety pills or sedation pills - you are not truly experiencing the grief in full effect - you are being subdued from it - potentially interfering with the five stages of grief and eventual acceptance of reality.

Counseling is a more solid approach toward grief. Support groups, bereavement groups, or individual counseling can help you work through unresolved grief. This is a beneficial treatment alternative when you find the grief event is creating obstacles in your every day life. That is, you are having trouble functioning and need some support to get back on track. This in no way means it "cures" you of your loss, rather, it provides you with coping strategies to help you deal with your grief in an effective way. The Kubler-Ross Model is a tried and true guideline but there is no right or wrong way to work through your grief and it is normal that your personal experience may vary as you work through the grieving process.

If you or a loved one is having a hard time coping with a grief event, seek treatment from a health professional or mental health provider. Call a doctor right away if you experience thoughts of suicide, feelings of detachment for more than two weeks, you experience a sudden change in behavior, or believe you are suffering from depression.

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Five Stages Of Grief - Understanding the Kubler-Ross Model

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Throughout life, we experience many instances of grief. Grief can be caused by situations, relationships, or even substance abuse. Children may grieve a divorce, a wife may grieve the death of her husband, a teenager might grieve the ending of a relationship, or you might have received terminal medical news and are grieving your pending death.

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As you may or may not be aware, we've been covering some grief theory stuff around here for the past couple months. As a griever I realize it can be infuriating trying to imagine a bunch of stuffy academics sitting around generalizing and theorizing about the anguish of grief. They come up with stages and phases and tasks and labels that you may find totally foreign to your own experience. Someone tells you that you are in the "anger" stage and it makes you want to punch them in the face for thinking they know something about your grief. We get it. Theories have a place, and yet grief is as unique as the griever. The theories aren't going to work for everyone at ever time (I mean, these academics don't even agree with each other! We wouldn't expect you to agree with all of them). So why bother talking about them?

Some of us are rational grievers and it is helpful to know what those academics think about grief. Sometimes just one little part of their theory resonates with us, or one phase they describe is something we are personally struggling with. So this series is our little corner of the internet where, between crazy posts on photography, journaling, baking, and other coping, you can learn a little bit about grief theory and decide whether any of it is helpful to you. It may not be, and that is okay.

Disclaimer: this series is NOT chronological! We started out with some of the grief theory household-names, like Kubler-Ross and , and now we are going back to fill in some gaps. Because although Kubler-Ross gets all the glory for opening the death, dying, and grief dialogue, there were people before her talking about grief, even if it was on a much smaller scale. And they deserve a mention too.

John Bowlby (1907-1990) was a British psychologist and psychiatrist who was a pioneer of attachment theory in children. Bowlby had a strong interest in troubled youth and in determining what family circumstances contributed to healthy versus unhealthy development of children. Working closely with student Mary Ainsworth, Bowlby speculated and tested theories that attachment was a survival mechanism in human evolution, and that children mourned separations from their primary caregivers. His theory of how children form concrete attachments based on actual relationships, rather than fantasies, was a break from the thinking of psychoanalysis of the time.

This was a crucial shift away from Freudian ideas, as well as a break from the idea that attachments developed only through rewards. Bowlby looked at evolutionary biology and other developing scientific study to explore his theory of attachment. He set out to establish a data-driven theory and in 1969 began release of his famous trilogy, Attachment and Loss. After observing the attachment and separation of children and parents, Bowlby asserted a new way of understanding these bonds and the implications of breaking these attachments based on a social system that develop simply by a parent and child being together.

Alright, I know I am losing some of you here in abstract, academia land. I can practically hear people screaming "get to the point!" and "what does this have to do with grief?!?". We are going to keep it really simple here: Bowlby ultimately took all his observations and theories about attachment and separation and applied them to grief and bereavement. He said there is a relational system in these attachment relationships. These attachments form a system in which the individuals are constantly impacting each other, trying to maintain their relationship in different ways. When a loss occurs Bowlby suggested that grief was a normal adaptive response. He felt the response was based on the environment and psychological make-up of the griever, and that there were normal reactions one might expect. The 'affectional bond' had been broken, which result in grief. He later, with his colleague Colin Murray Parkes, broke down this natural adaptive grief response into four phases or stages of grief (really Bowlby started with three and Parkes added a fourth, but whose counting):
Shock and numbness.
This is the phase where there is a sense the loss is not real and seems impossible to accept. There is physical distress during this phase, which can result in somatic symptoms. If we do not progress through this phase we will struggle to accept and understand our emotions and communicate them. We will emotionally shut-down and not progress through the phases of grief.
Yearning and searching.
In this phase we are acutely aware of the void left in our life from the loss. The future we imagined is no longer a possibility. We search for the comfort we used to have from the person we have lost and we try to fill the void of their absence. We may appear preoccupied with the person. We continue identifying with the person who has died, looking for constant reminders of them and ways to be close to them. If we cannot progress through this phase Bowlby and Parkes feel we will spend our life trying to fill the void of the loss and remain preoccupied with the person we have lost.
Despair and disorganization.
In this stage we have accepted that everything has changed and will not go back to the way it was or the way we imaged. There is a hopelessness and despair that comes with this, as well as anger and questioning. Life feels as though it will never improve or make sense again without the presence of the person who died. We may withdraw from others. Bowlby and Parkes suggest that if we do not progress through this phase we will continue to be consumed by anger, depression, and that our attitude toward life will remain negative and hopeless.
Re-organization and recovery.
In this phase your faith in life starts to be restored. You establish new goals and patterns of day-to-day life. Slowly you start to rebuild and you come to realize that your life can still be positive, even after the loss. Your trust is slowly restored. In this phase your grief does not go away nor is it fully resolved, but for Bowlby the loss recedes and shifts to a hidden section of the brain, where it continues to influence us but is not at the forefront of the mind.

I spend a lot of time thinking about these theories, phases, stages, tasks, whatever and I don't think any of them are perfect. I tend to pick and choose what works for me, descriptive and prescriptively, and leave the rest. On thing I love about this mode? Stage two - the pain of yearning and searching. If there is anything I relate to it is yearning - the overwhelming want to see someone you have lost again and the experience of trying to make sense of this tremendous void. says we will have to work through the pain; says we will have to react to the separation. But neither of these capture my experience as well as Parkes and Bowlby's. I remember well seeking ways to be close to someone, seeking objects and reminders, and not being able to imagine a time I would not feel that need. Is the rest of this theory my favorite? Eh, not really. It was a great foundation, but there are a lot of other theories that built on this in ways I appreciate more. But that is okay! Because there is at least one thing in this that really resonates with me, and I certainly appreciate Bowlby and Parkes for their unique attachment perspective that paved the way for so many theories that followed.

One thing I know about grief theories is that they are never all right for all people. For some this theory may ring completely true, for others you may be thinking "thank goodness other theorists came along with their own theories". But as a griever these theories all normalize in some small way our vast and unique grief experiences.

Missed our other posts in this series? No worries - you can find them all right here.

Wondering where this info came from and how you can do more research on your own?

Bowlby, J. (1961). Processes of mourning. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 42, 317-339.
Love the Bowlby four stages of grief? Hate the Bowlby four stages of grief? Let us know! Have a grief theory your annoyed we haven't covered yet? Don't worry, there are more to come, so subscribe and leave us a comment to let us know what theory you want us to cover.

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Before the Five Stages: Bowlby's FOUR Stages of Grief

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As you may or may not be aware, we've been covering some grief theory stuff around here for the past couple months. As a griever I realize it can be infuriating trying to imagine a bunch of stuffy academics sitting around generalizing and theorizing about the anguish of [...]

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While many people have heard of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and her "DABDA concept" of the five stages of grief experienced by the dying, other grief-related theories involving stages, phases, or tasks exist. Explore summaries of two grief-related concepts involving the four phases of grief and the four tasks of mourning.

Your reaction to the death of a loved one is deeply personal and everyone will experience their grief response differently. You might move through the phases quickly, for example, or relatively slowly; you might move through them in a different order, or you might skip a phase or task altogether, or experience one more than once. However, you move through the grieving process, just trust that it will be the right way for you as you adjust to the reality of the loss.

The Four Phases of Grief

In the 1970s, British psychiatrist Colin Murray Parkes and psychologist John Bowlby proposed a concept involving four stages or phases of grief:﻿﻿

1. Shock and Numbness: This phase immediately follows a loss to death. The grieving person feels numb, which is a self-defense mechanism that allows him or her to survive emotionally in the immediate aftermath of loss.

2. Yearning and Searching: Also referred to as pining, this stage is characterized by the grieving person longing or yearning for the deceased to return to fill the void created by his or her death. Many emotions are experienced and expressed during this time, such as weeping, anger, anxiety, preoccupation, and confusion.

3. Disorganization and Despair: The grieving person often desires to withdraw and disengage from others and the activities he or she regularly enjoyed during this phase. Having accepted the reality of the loss, the bereaved's feelings of searching and yearning become less intense while feelings of apathy, anger, despair, hopelessness, and questioning increase.

4. Reorganization and Recovery: In the final phase, the grieving person begins to return to a new state of "normal." Weight loss experienced during intense grieving might reverse, energy levels increase, and interest in enjoyable activities returns. Grief never ends, but thoughts of sadness and despair diminish while positive memories of the deceased take over.

Because everyone grieves in his or her own way and own pace, there is no specific or "usual" amount of time in which people experience/complete these phases. In some cases, receiving bereavement counseling and/or joining a bereavement support group can help a grieving individual move through the phases more fluidly.

The Four Tasks of Mourning

In 1982, American psychologist William J. Worden published his book "Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy," which offered his concept of the four tasks of mourning:﻿﻿

1. Accept the Reality of the Loss: Coming full face with the reality that the person is dead and will not return is the first task a grieving individual needs to complete. Without accomplishing this, you will not be able to continue through the mourning process.

2. Work Through the Pain of Grief: Your reaction to the death of a loved one is often painful, and you will experience a wide range of emotions, such as anger, guilt, fear, depression, sadness, despair, etc. This task takes time. It requires the bereaved to acknowledge these different emotions and the pain, rather than suppressing or avoiding these feelings, in order to work through them.

3. Adjust to an Environment in Which the Deceased is Missing: In addition to emotional and/or psychological adjustments, this task might require adopting a role or function that the deceased once performed, and will vary based on the nature of the relationship. For example, if your spouse or partner dies, this task might involve you handling household finances, raising a child alone, finding a job or returning to a career, etc.

4. Find an Enduring Connection With the Deceased While Embarking on a New Life: While nothing can compel you to completely forget about your relationship with the deceased, the goal is to find an appropriate place in your emotional life moving forward and to begin living again. This might require letting go of attachments so that new, meaningful relationships can begin to form.

Working through these four tasks of mourning can help the bereaved come to terms with their loss and return to a new state of normalcy.﻿﻿ Again, involvement in bereavement support groups or seeking grief counseling can help individuals move through these tasks.

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While many people have heard of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and her "DABDA concept" of the five stages of grief experienced by the dying, other grief-related theories involving stages, phases, or tasks exist. Explore summaries of two grief-related concepts involving the four phases of grief and the four tasks of mourning.

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Rando’s Six R Processes of Mourning - Whats your Grief

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If you follow along here regularly you know we have been featuring different grief theories every few weeks. Wait, don’t shut your browser! I know, grief theory doesn’t sound like the most exciting topic. But it really is pretty darn interesting and relevant. When we are grieving we […]

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If you have been following along with our series on different grief theories you may be wondering what the rhyme or reason is to when we are tackling each grief theory. Surprise - there is no rhyme or reason! We are just tackling each one as we feel inspired. What have we covered so far?
Kubler-Ross's Five Stages of Grief Rando's Six R Process of Mourning Bowlby's Four Stages of Grief Worden's Four Tasks of Grief Continuing Bonds Theory of Grief
and, of course, our very own Harry Potter Grief Theory . Because, let's be honest, what can't be learned from Harry Potter?

Today we are feeling inspired to talk about 'grief work'. Chances are, even if you know nothing about grief theory, that somewhere along the way you may have heard someone talk about 'grief work', 'the work of grief' or something similar. What you may not have realized is that this term was coined by Erich Lindemann, dating way back in the 1940s. Lindemann was a psychiatrist who studied grief, doing research working with grieving survivors of the Coconut Grove tragedy. Many cite his work in trauma as some of the earliest significant research revealing the long term impact of grief and trauma, and he certainly influenced later grief theorists, like Bowlby and Kubler-Ross.

Lindemann was interested in understanding the symptomology of grief. Through his research he established some common symptoms of grief which included 1) somatic distress 2) preoccupation with images of the deceased 3) guilt 4) hostile reactions and 5) loss of pattern of conduct. He also noted a sixth, less common reaction, in which traits of the deceased person would appear in the bereaved person.

Most of these are pretty straightforward to understand, but just to make sure we're clear - somatic distress included things like difficulty breathing, losing your appetite, exhaustion and lack of motivation, etc. Preoccupation with images of the deceased for Lindemann involved fixating on specific images of the person who died. These were sometimes difficult images or memories and other times positive memories. This could also include continuing to see or talk to the deceased person. Lindemann reports that the patients in his studies often reported guilt, fixating on any instance in which they perceive that they could or should have done something to prevent the death. Hostile reactions to others were the next symptom he discussed. Even when people are trying to be thoughtful and supportive, Lindemann observes that grievers often feel irritable and hostile towards others. 'Loss of pattern of conduct' sounds strange, but it is actually something most grievers easily relate to. This, Lindemann explains, is the experience that even the most basic activities and tasks become a chore. He explains that grievers are often restless, and yet activities don't seem meaningful and even everyday activities take effort to complete. Finally, the sixth reaction Lindemann discusses is the bereaved person taking on traits of the person who died. He gives examples ranging from walking like the person, adopting their interests or hobbies, or seeing resemblances to the deceased in their own appearance.

What is significant in Lindemann's work was his evidence that grief has not just psychological impact, but also physical impact. He suggested that these symptoms can set in immediately, be delayed, be exaggerated, or may be absent. Important also to Lindemann's theory is the idea that grief can take either a normal or 'morbid' trajectory and, finally, that a mental-health professional can help get an individual back on the trajectory of a normal grief reaction.

Lindemann's understanding of how people progress through grief and ultimately reduce the symptoms of grief is by doing 'grief work'. Lindemann explains that grief work will take different times for different people, but ultimately will require the same three tasks. For Lindemann, grief work involves 1) emancipation from bondage to the deceased 2) readjustment to a new environment in which the deceased is missing and 3) the formation of new relationships. Sounds simple enough, right? Eh, er, maybe?

Let's start with 'emancipation from bondage to the deceased'. For the record, had I been Lindemann's editor I would have started by telling him he needed a new name for this task, pronto. But I wasn't, so we are stuck with this terrible verbiage. The gist is this - we have strong attachments to the person we lost and those connections are linked to our incredible pain and negative reactions. Lindemann explains that we need to move on ("emancipate from bondage") in order to proceed with 'normal' grief and go on to form new relationships. Now, to be fair, Lindemann does clarify that this is different than forgetting about the person we lost. But I have to say I am not the biggest fan of this task. I am sure I am not the only one who feels that I don't need to be released or freed from the bond with my loved one. If you are feeling just a wee bit annoyed by this concept, jump over to our continuing bonds theory post to be reassured that later grief theory has embraced the idea of cherishing bonds with our loved ones.

Next comes 'readjusting to a new environment in which the deceased is missing'. This one is quite a bit more straightforward, and one that you see in other grief theories. After you lose someone the world is completely different, yet utterly the same. We have to find a way to make sense of a world that our loved one is no longer physically a part of. Last but not least, according to Lindemann we need to form new relationships. For Lindemann, letting go of the attachments in the first task is an important part of opening up to new relationships.

It is hard not to agree with Lindemann that after a loss you have to eventually be open to new relationships. Where things become a little foggier to me is the need to relinquish our attachments to those we have lost in order to open ourselves to new relationship. I am sure many grievers would agree that, as continuing bonds theory suggests, we can create a new type of relationship with the person who died, while forming new and meaningful relationships. But hey, I have the benefit of an additional 70 years of grief theory and a good dose of personal experience to guide my opinions about grief. What is meaningful about these theories is that there are always things you can take from every theory to find some understanding and comfort, and there are always some things you can leave behind.

To wrap up this quick look at Lindemann, it is interesting to consider the term 'grief work'. Despite the fact that many people have heard the phrase, society generally does not want to give us the time and space we need to engage in 'grief work'. Though Lindemann's three tasks my not be my cuppa tea, what I can absolutely get behind is the idea that grieving is 'work' and we need to give it time and attention in order to cope.
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Grief Work: the grief theory of Erich Lindemann - Whats your Grief

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If you have been following along with our series on different grief theories you may be wondering what the rhyme or reason is to when we are tackling each grief theory. Surprise - there is no rhyme or reason! We are just tackling each one as we feel [...]

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Video 2  of 5: Abuse Part 1. Understanding safeguarding

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Video 4 of 5:  Signs and Indicators. Understanding safeguarding

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Responding to a Child's Disclosure of Abuse | NSPCC Learning

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1.2 RCC roles and responsibilities of others

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1.2 RCC roles and responsibilities of others

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Everyone working with children and young people has a duty to keep them safe. The agencies which have a legal right to intervene if child abuse is suspected are Social Services, the Police and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). When different agencies and professionals share information and work together effectively they can protect children and young people from harm as well as safeguard their welfare. Once a child's name is placed on the child protection register it is essential that agencies and professionals remember that they are all responsible for implementing a plan to protect the child.

Mae gan bawb sy'n gweithio gyda phlant a phobl ifanc ddyletswydd i'w diogelu. Yr asiantaethau sydd â'r hawl cyfreithiol i ymyrryd os amheuir bod plentyn yn cael ei gam-drin yw'r Gwasanaethau Cymdeithasol, yr Heddlu a'r Gymdeithas Genedlaethol er Atal Creulondeb i Blant ( National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children - NSPCC). Wrth i wahanol asiantaethau a gweithwyr proffesiynol rannu gwybodaeth a chydweithio'n effeithiol gallant amddiffyn plant a phobl ifanc rhag niwed yn ogystal â diogelu eu lles. Unwaith bydd enw plentyn wedi cael ei roi ar gofrestr amddiffyn plant mae'n hollbwysig bod yr asiantaethau a'r gweithwyr proffesiynol yn cofio eu bod i gyd yn gyfrifol am weithredu cynllun i amddiffyn y plentyn.

Gweithiwr Cymdeithasol

Gwaith gweithiwr cymdeithasol yw diogelu a hybu lles plant. Maent yn gweithio gyda theuluoedd/gofalwyr a phobl broffesiynol eraill er mwyn cadw plant yn ddiogel ac yn iach. Mae'n bosibl y byddant yn ymwneud â theuluoedd/gofalwyr oherwydd tlodi, cam-drin plant, problemau iechyd meddwl, anableddau neu gyflyrau megis i ADHD (Anhwylder Diffyg Canolbwyntio a Gorfywiogrwydd). Mae eu gwaith yn cynnwys gwneud y gorau i'r teulu/gofalwyr a'u cadw gyda'i gilydd os yw hynny'n bosib.

Heddlu

Mae'r heddlu yn gweithio ochr yn ochr ag asiantaethau eraill er mwyn rhannu gwybodaeth sydd ganddynt. Os oes cofnodion wedi'u cadw am oedolion sy'n ymwneud â'r plentyn dan sylw, bydd angen i'r heddlu wirio'r cofnodion hynny gan nodi'n benodol os oes hanes o ymdrin yn anghyfreithiol a chyffuriau neu alcohol. Hefyd bydd angen iddynt ystyried unrhyw hanes o drais gan gynnwys cam-drin domestig, troseddau rhywiol ac unrhyw fater arall sy'n berthnasol i les y plentyn. Bydd yr heddlu yn rhannu gwybodaeth gydag asiantaethau eraill mewn cynadleddau amddiffyn plant.

Cymdeithas Genedlaethol er Atal Creulondeb i Blant (NSPCC)

Mudiad gwirfoddol yw hwn sydd â hawl statudol i wneud cais am orchymyn llys er mwyn diogelu plant. Mae ganddynt dîm o weithwyr cymdeithasol sy'n cydweithio gyda gweithwyr cymdeithasol lleol. Eu nod yw atal camdriniaeth gan weithio gyda'r plant hynny sydd fwyaf agored i niwed. Mae staff a gwirfoddolwyr yr NSPCC yn mynychu ysgolion yn gyson gan roi gwybodaeth i blant ynglŷn â chadw'n ddiogel rhag niwed a'r pwysigrwydd o siarad â rhywun os oes rhywbeth yn eu poeni.

Byrddau Lleol Diogelu Plant

Yn unol â Deddf Plant 2004 mae'n ofynnol bod pob awdurdod lleol yn sefydlu Bwrdd Lleol Diogelu Plant. Yn sgil hyn byddant yn medru cadw trefn a monitro gwaith asiantaethau eraill yn ogystal â sicrhau bod pawb yn cydweithio'n effeithiol er mwyn diogelu a hybu lles plant a'u teuluoedd/gofalwyr. Bydd hyn oll yn cydymffurfio â pholisïau a gweithdrefnau lleol.

Ymwelwyr Iechyd

Mae gan Ymwelwyr Iechyd sawl swyddogaeth gan gynnwys cynorthwyo a chynghori teuluoedd/gofalwyr. Er enghraifft os oes mam yn dioddef o iselder ar ôl geni maen nhw'n ei chynorthwyo gan sicrhau ei bod yn cael y gofal cywir gan fanteisio ar y gwasanaethau sydd yno i'w cefnogi. Wrth ofalu am deulu gallant ddod o hyd i broblemau gan gynnwys cam-drin plant. Maent mewn sefyllfa dda i adnabod pa blant sy'n cael neu sy'n debygol o gael eu hesgeuluso neu eu niweidio gan eu bod yn monitro twf a datblygiad plant. Byddant yn gweithio gyda theuluoedd/gofalwyr sydd â phlant ar y gofrestr amddiffyn plant yn ogystal â chynnig cymorth i'r rheini sy'n dioddef trais domestig. Yn aml yr ymwelwyr iechyd sydd â'r cyswllt agosaf â'r teulu/gofalwyr yn y cartref ac maent yn medru creu cyswllt da rhwng asiantaethau eraill sydd yn fuddiol i'r plant.

Staff Meddygol

Bydd gweithwyr meddygol yn casglu holl wybodaeth feddygol sy'n berthnasol ac yn paratoi adroddiadau ysgrifenedig am blant, pobl ifanc ac oedolion os bydd angen. Wrth i blant ymweld â'r feddygfa yn rheolaidd gall y staff weld pan fydd pwysau ar deulu/gofalwyr a darganfod os oes unrhyw arwyddion o gamdriniaeth neu esgeulustod. Mae ganddynt gyfrifoldeb i drosglwyddo'r wybodaeth hon i'r gwasanaeth cymdeithasol gan gymryd y camau priodol i ddiogelu lles y plentyn.

Staff Gofal ac Addysg

Bydd staff o fewn lleoliadau blynyddoedd cynnar a gofal plant yn arsylwi plant yn rheolaidd. Byddant yn meddu ar ddealltwriaeth glir o gamau datblygiad plant ac yn medru adnabod arwyddion camdriniaeth neu esgeulustod. Byddant yn casglu a gwirio'r holl gofnodion perthnasol, gan gynnwys presenoldeb y plentyn yn yr ysgol ac unrhyw fater y byddant yn teimlo ei fod yn bwysig cofnodi er lles a diogelwch y plentyn. Byddant yn llunio adroddiadau ysgrifenedig.

Seicolegydd Plant

Mae seicolegwyr yn ymdrin â phroblemau sy'n ymwneud â datblygiad emosiynol, cymdeithasol a deallusol. Maent yn asesu plant ac yn eu cynorthwyo i ymdrin â straen yn eu bywydau megis teulu/gofalwyr yn gwahanu, marwolaeth yn y teulu/gofalwyr a chamdriniaeth. Maent yn asesu plant gan gymryd i ystyriaeth eu hamgylchiadau. Byddant yn trafod eu darganfyddiadau gyda'u teuluoedd/gofalwyr a gweithwyr proffesiynol eraill. Maent wedi'u hyfforddi i fedru rhoi diagnosis i blant sydd ag anhwylderau meddyliol ac yn eu trin trwy sesiynau cwnsela neu therapi ymddygiad.

Gwasanaeth Cyfiawnder Ieuenctid

Yn unol â Deddf Trosedd ac Anrhefn 1998 mae gan bob awdurdod lleol gyfrifoldeb i sefydlu a chynnal Gwasanaeth Cyfiawnder Ieuenctid. Mae'r Gwasanaeth Cyfiawnder yn bartneriaeth aml-asiantaethol sy'n cydweithio gyda'r heddlu a'r gwasanaeth prawf cenedlaethol er mwyn darparu ymyrraeth a chefnogaeth i bobl ifanc rhwng 10 ac 18 mlwydd oed a'u teuluoedd/gofalwyr. Un nod yw ceisio atal ymddygiad gwrthgymdeithasol lle mae pobl ifanc yn troseddu'n gyson. Maent yn ceisio cwrdd ag anghenion y bobl ifanc a'u hatal rhag ail droseddu. Gellir gwneud hyn drwy gynnig rhaglenni ymyrraeth sydd yn deillio o orchymyn llys ac wrth weithredu'r camau yma'n gynt mae mwy o obaith atal troseddu cyson.

Gwasanaeth Prawf

Mae swyddogion prawf yn gyfrifol am oruchwylio troseddwyr. Os byddant yn pryderu am ddiogelwch plentyn sydd yn byw yn yr un tŷ â'r troseddwr byddant yn cysylltu â'r gwasanaethau cymdeithasol yn syth. Maent hefyd yn gweithio mewn carchardai, llysoedd, hostelau a chanolfannau dydd ar draws y wlad. Eu nod yw newid y ffordd mae'r troseddwyr yn byw gan herio eu hymddygiad a fydd efallai yn eu hatal rhag aildroseddu. Gallant hefyd drefnu sesiynau cwnsela i droseddwyr sydd yn gaeth i gyffuriau neu alcohol.

Social Worker

The job of the social worker is to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. They work with families/carers and with other professionals to keep children safe and healthy. They may become involved with families/carers due to poverty, child abuse, mental health problems, disabilities or conditions such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hypersensitivity Disorder). Their job includes doing their best for the family and keeping it together if possible.

Police

The police works alongside other agencies to share the information it has. If records have been kept for adults involved with the child in question the police will need to check those records and specifically identify whether there is a history of unlawful treatment and drugs or alcohol. They will also need to consider any history of violence including domestic abuse, sexual offences and any other matter relevant to the welfare of the child. The police will share information with other agencies in child protection conferences.

National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)

This is a voluntary organisation with a statutory right to apply for a court order to safeguard children. It has a team of social workers who work together with local social workers. Its goal is to prevent abuse and it works with those children who are most vulnerable. NSPCC staff and volunteers go into schools regularly to give information to children about keeping safe from harm and the importance of speaking to someone if someone is hurting them.

Local Safeguarding Children Boards

In accordance with the Children Act 2004 all local authorities in Wales are required to establish a Local Safeguarding Children Board. As a result, they will be able to keep order and monitor the work of other agencies as well as ensuring that everyone works together effectively to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and their families/carers. This will all comply with local policies and procedures.

Health Visitors

Health Visitors carry out several functions including supporting and advising families/carers. For example, if a mother is suffering from postnatal depression they can help her and ensure that she is getting the right care and accessing the services which are available to support her. In caring for a family they can come across problems including child abuse. They are in a good position to identify which children are suffering or are likely to suffer neglect or harm as they monitor the growth and development of children. They work with families/carers with children on the child protection register as well as providing support to victims of domestic violence. Health visitors often have the closest contact with the family/carers in the home and they can build good contacts with other agencies which are beneficial to children.

Medical Staff

Medical workers will collect all the relevant medical information and prepare written reports on children, young people and adults if necessary. When children visit the surgery regularly staff can see when a family/carers is under pressure and discover whether there are any signs of abuse or neglect. They have a responsibility to pass on this information to social services and take appropriate action to safeguard the welfare of the child.

Care and Educational Staff

Staff in early years and childcare settings observe children regularly. They have a clear understanding of the stages of child development and can recognise the signs of abuse or neglect. They collect and check all relevant records, including the child's school attendance and any matter they feel is important to record for the welfare and protection of the child. They prepare written reports.

Child Psychologist

Psychologists deal with problems relating to emotional, social and intellectual development. They assess children and help them to deal with stress in their lives such as family break ups, a death in the family and abuse. They assess children and take into consideration their circumstances. They discuss their findings with the family/carers and other professionals. They are trained to be able to give a diagnosis for children with mental disorders and treat them through counselling sessions or behavioural therapy.

Youth Justice Service

In accordance with the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 all local authorities have a responsibility to establish and maintain a Youth Justice Service. The Justice Service is a multi-agency partnership which works together with the police and the national probation service to provide intervention and support for young people 10-18 years old and their families/carers. One of its aims is to prevent antisocial behaviour where young people regularly break the law. They try to meet the needs of the young people and prevent them from re-offending. This can be done by providing intervention programmes resulting from a court order and by implementing these actions sooner there is more hope of preventing regular offending.

Probation Service

Probation officers are responsible for supervising offenders. If they are concerned for the safety of a child living in the same house as the offender they can contact social services immediately. They also work in prisons, courts, hostels and day centres across the country. Their goal is to change the way the offender lives and challenge their behaviour, which may prevent them from re-offending. They also arrange counselling sessions for offenders suffering drug or alcohol addiction.

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Safeguarding Children Diogelu Plant The roles of different agencies and people involved in safeguarding the welfare of children and young people in the context of the setting Rolau gwahanol asiantaethau a phobl sy'n ymwneud â diogelu lles plant a phobl ifanc yng nghyd-destun y lleoliad

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Everyone working with children and young people has a duty to keep them safe. The agencies which have a legal right to intervene if child abuse is suspected are Social Services, the Police and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).

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roles and responsibilities  of practitioners

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Contents

CAPTION: contents list

|
1. | Introduction
2. | How to Make a Referral
3. | Agency Internal Procedures
4. | The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
5. | Contact the MASH
6. | When to Make a Referral
7. | Who Should Make a Referral
8. | Questioning Behaviours
9. | Asking for Help when Concerned about a Child
10. | Accessing Early Help for Families
11. | Anonymity and Confidentiality
12. | Information Sharing
13. | Talking and Listening to Children
14 | Talking to Parents/Caregivers
15 | Information Required when Making a Referral
| 15.1 | Essential information
| 15.2 | Additional useful information that might be included in the referral
| 15.3 | The Voice of the Child
16. | Non-Recent / Historical Abuse
17. | Recording
18. | Safeguarding Adults at Risk
19. | What to Expect After a Referral has been Made to Children's Social Care

1. Introduction

No matter where someone works, they are likely to meet children during their normal working activities. They are in a unique position to observe signs of abuse or neglect, or changes in behaviour which may indicate a child may be being abused or neglected.

All practitioners should make sure they are alert to the signs of abuse and neglect, that they question the behaviour of children and parents/carers and don’t necessarily take what they are told at face value. They should make sure they know where to turn to if they need to ask for help and ensure that they refer to Children’s Social Care or to the Police if they suspect that a child is at risk of harm or is immediate danger.

All practitioners should make sure they understand and work within the multi-agency safeguarding arrangements in place in Rotherham. In doing so, they should be guided by the following key principles:

Children have a right to be safe and should be protected from all forms of abuse and neglect;

The welfare of the child is paramount and delay is likely to prejudice the welfare of the child (CA89, s1);

Safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility;

It is better to help children as early as possible, before issues escalate and become more damaging;

Children and families are best supported and protected when there is a coordinated response from all relevant agencies.

Practitioners should not let other considerations, like the fear of damaging relationships with adults, get in the way of protecting children from abuse and neglect. If they think that referral to Children’s Social Care is necessary, they should view it as the beginning of a process of inquiry, not as an accusation.

2. How to Make a Referral

Anyone who has concerns about a child’s wellbeing should contact Rotherham Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) as the principal point of contact for concerns relating to children. See Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). The MASH records all information as a ‘contact’ – the information doesn’t become a ‘referral’ unless it is progressed for a social care led response (s17 or s47). However, for ease of understanding ‘referral’ is used in this document to describe all information shared with and submitted to MASH.

To assist in understanding the potential risk of harm, or need for help for a child, practitioners should consult the Multi-Agency Threshold Descriptors.

Harm

If you are worried that a child is at risk of or experiencing significant harm you should ring MASH on 01709 336080 and speak to a social worker who will listen and have a conversation with you. They will be able to advise on what needs to happen next.

There may be other occasions where you are concerned a child is experiencing harm, and they require support. After seeking consent from those with [Parental Responsibility], you can call MASH to discuss this further.

It is anticipated that the quality of the conversation will assist in making timely, proportionate decisions for children.

Help

If you are working with the child and family and are concerned about emerging additional needs, you should start by completing an Early Help Assessment (EHA) with the family to understand the issues and develop a plan with actions to stop things from getting worse. Families need to consent to this work. For more information, see Early Help Guidance: Integrated Working With Children, Young People and Families With Vulnerable or Complex Needs.

The EHA can be led by a single agency or can involve partners if issues become more complex. The EHA and Team Around the Family (TAF) is important to ensure appropriate support is in place and that all important information is shared across agencies. The completed EHA should always be submitted to the Local Authority via ehassess@rotherham.gov.uk so that there is shared visibility of concerns. For support with this, the existing processes will continue, and you can speak to an Integrated Working Lead, or a Locality Manager for advice, guidance and support with next steps.

If whilst supporting a family using the Early Help Assessment you think that more targeted support is required, you can ring MASH and speak to a Rotherham Information Officer who will offer advice, guidance and support with next steps. This could include allocating a targeted family support worker, or advice about which agencies are best placed to join the TAF.

If at any time during the EHA support a child become subject to or at risk of significant harm you should ring the MASH. See Section 5, Contact the MASH.

Universal

Children’s Centres are a valuable resource where families with children can go to enjoy facilities and receive support and advice. The facilities and activities that are offered are designed especially for parents who may be expecting a new baby, or for those with a child under the age of five. See Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Register with a Family and Children's Centre.

Work has begun to consolidate a digital single point of access for existing universal support, that children and families can be signposted to; this includes sleep hygiene programmes, online or in person evidence based parenting programmes, mental health support through Kooth (Child Mental health) without having to contact MASH.

Key messages

Ring MASH on 01709 336080 if you have concerns about a child. We want to have conversations with you to determine next steps for children and their families. We will also be able to offer advice.

Existing systems for South Yorkshire Police, CAFCASS, Yorkshire Ambulance Service etc will continue.

For those working outside of office hours with immediate concerns about a child, ring 999. For those professionals where work patterns do not allow telephone contact with MASH the next working day, such as night and weekend shifts, and the matter does not require an immediate response, an online form (Request for Help and Support form) will be available to complete.

When there are concerns about Significant Harm to a child, the referral must be made immediately by telephone to the MASH – see Section 5, Contact the MASH. The greater the level of perceived risk, the more urgent the action should be. The suspicion or allegation may be based on information which comes from different sources. It may arise in the context of an Early Help assessment or intervention. It may come from a member of the public, the child concerned, another child, a family member or practitioner from any agency. It may relate to a single incident or an accumulation of concerns.

The information may also relate to harm caused by another child, in which case both children, i.e. the suspected perpetrator and victim (generally called “peer on peer abuse”), must be referred - see also  Abuse by Children and Young People Procedure.

The suspicion or allegation may relate to someone who works with the child in paid employment or as a volunteer or caring for the child - see also Allegations Against Staff, Carers and Volunteers Procedure.

A referral must be made even if it is known that Children’s Social Care is already involved with the child/family. If it is known, the details of the social worker should be included when speaking with the MASH.

If it appears that the concern is not one of child protection, but may require the provision of other Children’s Social Care services, the referring agency must seek the consent of the parents for assessment by Children's Social Care to proceed. See also Early Help Guidance: Integrated Working With Children, Young People and Families With Vulnerable or Complex Needs and Children's Assessment Protocol.

3. Agency Internal Procedures

Each organisation and agency must have its own written procedure for responding to reported concerns about children. This should include the process to quickly identify:

What the concern is - what indicates that the child/family needs of support or protection;

Evidence of the concern and its possible impact on the child;

What the agency has done about the concern;

The impact of actions taken already;

Other relevant knowledge of the child and family;

Concerns about a child or young person's welfare must always be recorded regardless of whether further action is taken.

The internal procedures should identify a Designated Senior Person or Named Professional - managers or staff, who are able to offer advice on child protection matters and decide upon the necessity for a referral – for more information, see Section 9, Asking for Help when Concerned about a Child. Consultation can be directly with the MASH Team or the allocated social worker in Children’s Social Care.

4. The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

MASH is the starting point to provide help, support and protection for children and families in Rotherham.

The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) has been developed by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, South Yorkshire Police, the National Crime Agency, Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust (TRFT) and Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDASH) to improve multi-agency information-sharing, decision-making and response in relation to child safeguarding concerns. The MASH also has virtual links with probation, housing, Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs - for domestic abuse victims) and the voluntary sector.

The MASH will receive all child safeguarding concerns, check Social Care systems, and decide on the next course of action. The MASH is a screening, information-sharing and decision-making process - it is not a case holding team, so when the decision has been made by the MASH Manager on the most appropriate outcome, the case will be passed on to the relevant team to progress.

When a practitioner, after consultation with the Designated Senior Person or Named Professional, is worried that a child is at risk of, or experiencing significant harm, and decides to make a referral to MASH, they will call the MASH, (see Section 5, Contact the MASH) and speak initially to a Rotherham Information Officer who will record their concerns and ask more questions to help understand the issues. A MASH social worker will then ring the practitioner back and have a conversation with them. They will be able to advise on what needs to happen next. The Worried About a Child form will not be required anymore.

The MASH social workers will provide the ability for the practitioner to have a restorative conversation and give advice at the earliest opportunity to ensure the right pathway for children. It is anticipated that the quality of the conversation will assist in making timely, proportionate decisions for children. Where consultation with other partners is sought and MASH then conclude that the information meets the threshold for referral then the referrer must be advised accordingly.

When a practitioner refers a child, they should include any information they have about the child's developmental needs and the capacity of the child's parents or carers to meet those needs within the context of their wider family and environment. For more information, see Section 15, Information Required when Making a Referral.

The information may be included in any assessment, including the early help assessment, which may have been carried out prior to a referral into MASH. Where an early help assessment (see Early Help Guidance: Integrated Working With Children, Young People and Families With Vulnerable or Complex Needs) has already been undertaken it should be used to support a referral to MASH, however this is not a prerequisite for making a referral. For more information about accessing help for children and families, see Section 10, Accessing Early Help for Families.

There is a clear expectation that referral agencies will obtain consent prior to making contact about individual children and families, unless it is not appropriate to do so – if it would place a child at increased risk of harm, prejudice the prevention, detection or prosecution of a serious crime or lead to an unjustified delay in making enquiries about allegations of harm. There is an obligation to consider, on all occasions and on a case-by-case basis, whether information will be shared with or without consent. This determination must always be based on what is reasonable, necessary, and proportionate.

WHEN IN DOUBT, CHECK IT OUT – CALL THE MASH. See Section 5, Contact the MASH.

Referrers will have the opportunity to discuss their concerns with a qualified social worker; advice and consultation may be sought about the appropriateness of the referral from the MASH or, if the case is open, from the allocated social worker.

At the end of the conversation between the MASH worker and the practitioner an agreement must be reached about whether this enquiry will proceed to a referral. Within one working day of a referral being received, a MASH manager should decide about the type of response that is required and acknowledge receipt to the referrer where this a professional. See Action Following Referral of Safeguarding Children Concerns Procedure. If a practitioner disagrees with any practice or decisions made by the MASH, they should discuss their concern with their Line Manager or Safeguarding Lead. Incoming calls are recorded and saved for 12 weeks therefore MASH can listen back to calls to assist in resolving any disputes. If a practitioner or agency disagree with the summary confirmation provided by MASH, they you can go them back to discuss and resolve.

If the concern remains, the practitioner and manager can escalate their concerns using the Practice Resolution Protocol: Resolving Professional Differences of Opinion in Multi-Agency Working with Children and their Families.

5. Contact the MASH

Referrals to Children’s Social Care should be made to the MASH:

The MASH is located at Riverside House within the First Response Service. Any child, parent, family member, professional partner or member of the public can contact the Single Point of Contact between 8.30 am – 5.00pm, Monday – Thursday & 8.30 - 4.30pm Friday on 01709 336080.

Outside of these hours, if the matter is urgent and cannot wait until the next working day, referrals can be made by phoning the Out of Hours Social Work Team on 01709 336080. The MASH function will not be available to out of hours.

If the concern about the child relates to possible criminal activity:

Call South Yorkshire Police on 999 if it is an ongoing crime or emergency;
or 101 in all other cases.

If the contact or referral is about a child who already has social worker involvement, then please contact the social worker directly for advice. If you don’t know who the social worker is, contact the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).

6. When to Make a Referral

For information about thresholds, see Rotherham Multi-Agency Threshold Descriptors.

A referral should be made to MASH when:

A child or young person makes a clear allegation of abuse;

A child has been abandoned;

Further concerns have arisen in relation to an open case to Children's Social Care;

Concerns of significant harm have risen for a child receiving a service as a Child in Need;

Further concerns have arisen of increased or additional risk to a child currently subject to a Child Protection Plan;

A child sustains an injury and there is professional concern about how it was caused;

There are any circumstances which suggest that a child is suffering or is likely to suffer Significant Harm;

An unborn child may be at risk of significant harm – for more information, see Safeguarding Unborn and Newborn Babies Procedure and Concealment and Denial of Pregnancy Procedure;

A non-independently mobile baby or child sustains any injury - the presence of any bruising, of any size, in any site should initiate a detailed medical examination. For non-health practitioners, bruises or other injuries on a non-independently mobile child should lead to immediate referral to MASH and for medical assessment. For health practitioners, after medical assessment, any bruises or other injuries without an adequate explanation on a non-independently mobile child should lead to immediate referral to MASH for joint decision making about next steps. For more information, see Bruising or injury in Non-Independently Mobile Babies and Children Procedure;

A baby or child or young person is not meeting appropriate developmental milestones or they appear to have faltering growth – for more information, see Safeguarding Children at Risk Due to Faltering Growth Procedure;

A member of the public alleges that someone has abused a child;

Professional concern exists about abuse or neglect of a child, despite no allegation being made;

Despite professional intervention, either on a single agency basis or as part of early help intervention, because of suspected neglect or abuse there is concern that a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm or requires additional support – see Practice Guidance: Significant Harm - The Impact of Abuse and Neglect for more information;

There are concerns that a child or young person is being sexually exploited - for more information, see Child Sexual Exploitation Procedure;

There are concerns that a child or young person is being criminally exploited - for more information, see Child Criminal Exploitation Procedure;

A child is reported missing from home or care and there are additional concerns about their vulnerability – for more information, see South Yorkshire Children Missing from Home and Care Protocol 2021;

There are concerns a child may be harmed because of use of technology or social media - for more information, see Online Safety;

Concern exists about a child having contact with a person who may pose a risk, or potential risk, to children (see Persons who Pose a Risk to Children Procedure);

A child is being denied access to urgent or important Medical Assessment or services;

There are suspicions that a child might be harmed because of fabricated or induced illness (see Management and Safeguarding Children Where there are Perplexing Presentations (including Fabricated and Induced Illness/ FII) Procedure);

A child is at risk of being subjected to illegal procedures, for example:

Safeguarding Girls and Young Women at Risk of Abuse through Female Genital Mutilation or Breast Ironing Procedure;

Safeguarding Children and Young People from Forced Marriage Procedure;

Safeguarding Children and Young People from Honour Based Abuse Procedure;

Child Abuse Linked to Faith or Belief Procedure;

There are grounds for concern that a person may be a victim of human trafficking (see Children from Abroad, including Victims of Modern Slavery, Trafficking and Exploitation Procedure and National Referral Mechanism: guidance for child first responders (Home Office, August 2013)).

A child is at risk or vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism - for more information, see Radicalisation and Violent Extremism Procedure;

A child is at risk of being harmed through experiencing or seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another, e.g. through Domestic Abuse (see Safeguarding Children at Risk because of Domestic Abuse Procedure);

A child is at risk of being harmed because of concerns about their parents’ mental health see - Safeguarding Children at Risk where a Parent has Mental Health Problem Procedure;

Either an adult or a child makes allegations of non-recent abuse, for more information, see - Safeguarding Children and Young People Involved in Organised or Multiple Abuse, and other Complex Investigations Procedure;

A child has harmed another child (which may be a single event or a range of ill treatment), which is generally referred to as ‘peer on peer abuse’ see Abuse by Children and Young People Procedure.

Please note this list is not exhaustive.

7. Who Should Make a Referral

As well as the responsibility of all practitioners to consider the welfare of children, several local agencies have specific duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. If they work in an organisation with such responsibilities, they should ensure that they take account of them in their day-to-day work.

If they work in an organisation without such responsibilities, they should be aware of and understand the local multi-agency safeguarding arrangements in place in Rotherham. Even if their primary responsibility does not relate to children, many practitioners will have the opportunity to observe and / or identify behaviour which could indicate a child is being abused or neglected.

If they work with children on a regular basis, for example, as a practitioner working in a school or early years setting, they are well positioned to be able to identify abuse or neglect, including peer on peer abuse.

If they are in a profession where they may not encounter the same children as frequently, for example, as a doctor or a Police officer, they will nevertheless be able to observe signs of abuse and neglect. A Police officer attending a domestic abuse incident, for example, should be aware of the effect of such behaviour on any children in the household.

If they only encounter children infrequently in their job, for example, if they are a probation officer or a housing officer, they may observe possible abuse and neglect (e.g., when dealing with reports of anti-social behaviour by young people) or hear them reported by adults they are working with.

There are four key steps to follow to help practitioners to identify and respond appropriately to possible abuse and/or neglect:

Be Alert;

Question Behaviours;

Ask For Help;

Refer.

It may not always be appropriate to go through all four stages sequentially. If a child is in immediate danger or is at risk of serious significant harm, the practitioner should contact the Police (999) and refer to MASH as soon as possible. For more information, see Action Following Referral of Safeguarding Concerns Procedure, Immediate Protection.

Before making the referral if there is time, the practitioner should try to establish the basic facts. However, it will be the role of social workers and the Police to investigate cases and make a judgement on whether there should be a statutory intervention and/or a criminal investigation. The practitioner should record, in writing in their agency records, all concerns and discussions about a child’s welfare, the decisions made and the reasons for those decisions.

The first step is to be alert to the signs of abuse and neglect and be familiar with these procedures. For more information, see Practice Guidance: Significant Harm - The Impact of Abuse and Neglect.

All practitioners should also consider what training would support them in their role and what is available in Rotherham: for more information, see Training & Development - Rotherham Safeguarding Children Partnership website.

8. Questioning Behaviours

The signs of child abuse might not always be obvious, and a child might not tell anyone what is happening to them. Practitioners should therefore question behaviours if something seems unusual and should try to speak to the child, alone, if appropriate, to seek further information.

If a child reports, following a conversation they have initiated or otherwise, that they are being abused and / or neglected, the practitioner should listen to them, take their allegation seriously, and reassure them that they will take action to keep them safe. They will need to decide the most appropriate action to take, depending on the circumstances of the case, the seriousness of the child’s allegation and the information contained in these procedures.

They might refer directly to MASH and/or the Police or discuss their concerns with others and ask for help. At all times, they should explain to the child the action that they are taking. It is important to maintain confidentiality, but they should not promise that they won’t tell anyone, as they may need to do so to protect the child.

9. Asking for Help when Concerned about a Child

Concerns about a child’s wellbeing can vary greatly in terms of their nature and seriousness, how they have been identified and over what duration they have arisen. If a practitioner has concerns about a child, they should ask for help.

Each agency will decide who is going to make the referral to MASH and / or the Police and who makes this decision should be documented in their agency’s safeguarding procedures.

The person should be a Designated Professional (or, for health provider organisations, Named Professionals) for safeguarding. Their role is to support practitioners in their agencies to recognise the needs of children, including rescue from possible abuse or neglect. They should be the person to whom all allegations or concerns of abuse by staff are reported and whose responsibilities include ensuring that the correct procedure is followed when such allegations or concerns are raised.

This can differ from agency to agency, but the important thing is that everyone with a child protection concern has a responsibility to ensure the referral is made. It is good practice for the person with first-hand information to make the referral or at least be available to pass on their information. Referrals must be made as soon as possible - immediately if urgent action (threat to life or serious significant harm) is required; for all others within 24 hours.

For school staff (both teaching and non-teaching), concerns should be reported via the schools’ or colleges’ Designated Safeguarding Lead. The safeguarding lead will usually decide whether to make a referral to MASH.

For early year’s practitioners, the Early Years Foundation Stage requires that providers should ensure they have a practitioner who is designated to take lead responsibility for safeguarding children and who should liaise with children’s services agencies.

Childminders should take that responsibility and notify MASH (and, in emergencies, the Police) if they have concerns about the safety or welfare of a child.

For health practitioners, all providers of NHS funded health services have identified a Named Doctor, a Named Nurse and a Named Professional (and a Named Midwife if the organisation provides maternity services) for safeguarding. GP practices should have a lead and deputy lead for safeguarding, who should work closely with Named GPs. Named practitioners should promote good practice within their organisation, provide advice and expertise for fellow practitioners, and ensure safeguarding training is in place.

For the Police, the Vulnerable Person’s take responsibility for investigating child abuse cases. If they are a Police officer with concerns about a child or young person, they can speak to their colleagues in this team for advice.

All Practitioners can also seek advice at any time from the NSPCC helpline – help@nspcc.org.uk or 0808 800 5000.

Next steps might involve making a referral directly to MASH /the Police – see Section 2, How to Make a Referral.

If they have concerns about the safety or welfare of a child and feel they are not being acted upon by their manager or named/designated safeguarding lead, it is their responsibility to act.

10. Accessing Early Help for Families

For more information, see Early Help Guidance: Integrated Working With Children, Young People and Families With Vulnerable or Complex Needs.

If a practitioner is working with a child and / or family and are concerned about emerging additional needs, they should start by completing the Early Help Assessment (EHA) with the family to understand the issues and develop a plan with actions to stop things from getting worse. The family (and if appropriate, the child if they are of an age and development to do so) need to consent to this work.

The EHA can be led by a single agency or can involve partners if issues become more complex. The EHA and Team Around the Family (TAF) is important to ensure appropriate support is in place and important information is shared across agencies. The completed EHA should always be submitted to the Local Authority via ehassess@rotherham.gov.uk so that there is shared visibility of concerns. For support with this, the practitioner can speak to an Integrated Working Lead, or a Locality Manager for advice, guidance and support with next steps. For more information, see Early Help Pathways.

If whilst supporting a family using the Early Help Assessment the practitioner thinks that more targeted support is required, they can ring MASH and speak to a Rotherham Information Officer who will offer advice, guidance and support with next steps. This could include allocating a targeted family support worker, or advice about which agencies are best placed to join the TAF. If the child or family needs access to early help services not provided by their agency (e.g. housing officer or Police etc), they can contact the MASH to discuss a referral to Early Help Services.

For more information, see Section 5, Contact the MASH.

If at any time during the EHA support, a child becomes subject to or at risk of significant harm the practitioner should ring the MASH. See Section 5, Contact the MASH.

11. Anonymity and Confidentiality

Any professional making a referral should not expect anonymity. However, in exceptional circumstances where disclosure to third parties could endanger the referrer, managers should assess risk and if necessary agree anonymity at this stage.

Where a member of the public expresses concerns to a practitioner about significant harm to a child, the practitioner should assume responsibility for making the referral to MASH if appropriate. The practitioner should assure the member of the public that confidentiality will be respected wherever possible.

A member of the public can make a referral, either anonymously or giving their details. Personal information about the member of the public, including anything that could identify them, should only be disclosed to third parties with their consent. The member of the public should be assured that their concerns relating to the child will be acted upon. They should also be advised who to contact should they have either further concerns or additional information.

A member of the public giving information to a practitioner that leads to a referral being made should only be told that appropriate action has been taken but may not be given further details. This is because of the need for confidentiality.

12. Information Sharing

A member of the public giving information to a practitioner that leads to a referral being made should only be told that appropriate action has been taken but may not be given further details. This is because of the need for confidentiality.

Sharing information is an intrinsic part of any practitioner’s role. The decisions about how much information to share, with whom and when can have a profound impact on people’s lives. The practitioner should weigh up what might happen if the information is shared against the consequences of not sharing the information. Early sharing of information is key to providing effective early help where there are emerging problems.

Whilst it is good practice to be transparent and to inform parents that you are sharing information because there are safeguarding concerns about their child, (e.g., making a referral) it is not necessary to seek consent in these circumstances. Parents or carers should not be told when a referral is being made ONLY if this will put the child at risk or further risk of harm.

For more information on sharing information see Information Sharing Procedure and Information Sharing: Advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services to children, young people, parents and carers.

13. Talking and Listening to Children

It is good professional practice to ask a child why s/he is upset or how an injury was caused, and to respond to a child who wants to talk to them. However, it is important to remember that it is not the role of practitioners, other than the enquiring/investigating social worker and/or Police officer, to conduct the child protection investigation/enquiry.

It is important that the child understands the following:

That information cannot be kept confidential;

With whom the information will be shared;

When the information will be shared;

His/her wishes and feelings will be listened to.

A child volunteering information about abuse or concern should be allowed to:

Talk without interruption and be listened to;

Expect a calm, kind, non-judgemental response;

Expect a non-directive approach, which avoids asking leading questions.

A non-directive approach should be adopted with nothing required other than the child's verbal account. It is essential for practitioners to make notes of their conversation with the child as soon as possible after it has taken place.

The words used by the child and practitioner should be recorded exactly as they were said. Ensure time, date, and location of conversation are recorded and the initial record is preserved. Use full names and job titles of any other practitioners referred to, sign the record, and print their name clearly.

For more information, see Section 15.3, The Voice of the Child, and Supporting the Voice of the Child Procedure.

14. Talking to Parents/Caregivers

In most cases, it is good practice to be open and honest at the outset with parents/carers about the concerns, the possible need for a referral, and information sharing between agencies. Where appropriate, all reasonable efforts should be made to inform parents/carers before making a referral. However, an inability to inform them should not prevent a referral being made.

There are cases where it will not be appropriate to discuss concerns with parents/carers before referral. In such situations, the timing of contact with parents/carers will be agreed with MASH and/or the Police once the referral has been made.

Situations where it would not be appropriate to inform family members prior to referral include where:

Discussion would put a child at additional risk of Significant Harm;

There is evidence to suggest that involving the parents/carers would impede the Police investigation and/or Section 47 Enquiry;

Sexual abuse is suspected, see Practice Guidance: Significant Harm - The Impact of Abuse and Neglect, Sexual Abuse;

It is suspected that a parent is involved in the sexual and / or criminal exploitation of a child – for more information, see Child Sexual Exploitation Procedure and Child Criminal Exploitation Procedure;

Organised or multiple abuse is suspected – for more information, see Safeguarding Children and Young People Involved in Organised or Multiple Abuse, and other Complex Investigations Procedure;

Fabricated or induced illness is suspected – for more information, see Management and Safeguarding Children Where there are Perplexing Presentations (including Fabricated and Induced Illness/ FII) Procedure;

To contact parents/carers would place them or others at risk;

Discussion would place one parent at risk of harm e.g. in cases of domestic abuse, see Safeguarding Children at Risk because of Domestic Abuse Procedure;

It is not possible to contact parents/carers without causing undue delay in making the referral;

Where there are concerns about possible illegal procedures or events such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) - see Safeguarding Girls and Women from Female Genital Mutilation Procedure, or forced marriage or honour-based violence – see Safeguarding Children or Young People from Forced Marriage Procedure or Safeguarding Children and Young People from Honour Based Abuse Procedure. See also: Child Abuse Linked to Faith or Belief Procedure.

Please note this list is not exhaustive.

Reasons for not informing the family of the referral must be documented, as must the conversation and outcome of any advice that has been sought. If in doubt, discuss this with MASH who will be able to advise.

If it appears that the concern is not one of child protection, but may require the provision of other Children’s Social Care services, the referring agency must seek the consent of the parents for assessment by Children's Social Care to proceed. See also Early Help Guidance: Integrated Working With Children, Young People and Families With Vulnerable or Complex Needs and Children's Assessment Protocol and the Assessment Procedure.

15. Information Required When Making a Referral

When a referral is made, MASH will speak to the referrer to clarify their concerns or gather more information.

The referrer should have as much of the following information as possible prior to making a referral. However, gaps in essential information should not result in a delay in making a referral. The referrer should use the Signs of Safety approach to consider the information:

What are you worried about?

What is working well?

What needs to happen?

15.1 Essential information

Information about the child and family and person suspected of causing harm to the child:

Full name/s, sex and dates of birth (expected date of birth if unborn), ethnicity (if possible), details of disabilities of the child/ren, parents/carers and any other family members;

Who has Parental Responsibility for the child/ren;

Address and daytime contact telephone number for parents/carers;

The child's full address and telephone number;

Child and family's first language and communication issues if there are any;

Full name, date of birth and address of any person suspected of causing harm to the child (if possible);

Current location of child/ren and person suspected of causing harm to the child;

Details of other adults who reside within the household;

Any immediate or impending danger to the child;

Special needs of the child and parents/carers, including the need for an interpreter, signer or communication therapist – see Working with Interpreters and others with Special Communication Skills Procedure;

If there are any known issues that may present risk to professionals visiting the household.

Information about agency involvement, if known:

Summary of previous concerns and any relevant background information, including a summary of why the child or family are known to their agency;

If they are aware of any previous social care, including adult social care, involvement and the details;

If they are aware of any workers / practitioners that they know are currently involved with the family, (including adult services such as drugs & alcohol, probation, domestic abuse etc.).

If an Early help assessment has been completed, the name of the early help professional.

What they are concerned about and why are they making this referral now - this needs to be answered as fully as possible in the context of the relationship they have with the child or family. This means that if they work only with parent/s, the answers should be given in that context with any impact on the child considered where relevant:

What are they are worried about and why - reason for referral, including description of any injuries observed, (photographs of the injuries should only be taken by Police or medical staff as part of a Section 47 investigation), details of any allegations made, discussions with the child or relevant others, details of any witnesses. Include dates/times/locations of alleged incidents and action taken and people contacted since the concern arose, historical / complicating factors – patterns / conditions / behaviours that contribute to greater difficulty for the family;

Working well - strengths and positives identified in child and family’s life; safety /protective factors - strengths demonstrated as protection over time, things that mitigate or address risks;

What needs to happen to keep this child safe.

15.2 Additional useful information you might be asked about:

If there are no safeguarding concerns, information about the consent of child (if of sufficient age and understanding) and parents or others with Parental Responsibility;

Addresses of family members or other significant people not living in the household;

Previous addresses of the family;

Information regarding contact between any person suspected of causing harm to the child and other children, i.e. in a work, community, extended family or other settings;

Schools, nurseries, etc. attended by the child and other children in the household;

Name / address / telephone number of GP;

Name / address / telephone number of health visitor/school nurse;

Hospital ward, consultant, named nurse or Named Professional, and date admitted/discharged;

Name / address / telephone number of other practitioners involved with the family;

Child's legal status (e.g. Child Arrangements Order, Care Order) and details of anyone not already mentioned who has Parental Responsibility;

Ethnic origin, religion, cultural background of the child and caregivers;

Whether People who pose a Risk to children are present in the household – for more information, see Persons who Pose a Risk to Children Procedure;

Previous concerns and any relevant background information, including a summary of why the child or family are known to their agency. This should be structured using the domains of the 'Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families', i.e.:

The child's developmental needs;

The parents or caregivers capacity to respond to those needs;

The wider family and environmental factors; and

Any opinion they have formed about how the child and family are likely to react to the referral and any potential Section 47 Enquiries, including in particular any factors which are likely to place the child or others at risk (e.g. where there is Domestic Abuse, a history of violent behaviour, parental substance misuse or mental ill health problems or learning difficulties).

For more information, see Children's Assessment Protocol.

15.3 The Voice of the Child

The referrer should consider the voice of the child when making a referral. This means:

Think about what each day living in this family might mean for the child – e.g., witnessing or experiencing domestic abuse, parental drug or alcohol abuse or mental ill-health;

If age or developmentally appropriate, and it is appropriate to the role of the referrer, speak to the child about their opinion of the concerns. There are several tools available to assist this process, for example, Signs of Safety Three Houses, Wishes and Feelings etc.

For more information, see Supporting the Voice of the Child Procedure.

16. Non-recent (Historical) Abuse

Non-recent abuse is sometimes called historical abuse. The terms mean the same thing.

Allegations of child abuse are sometimes made by adults and children many years after the abuse has occurred. There are many reasons for an allegation not being made at the time including fear of reprisals, the degree of control exercised by the abuser, shame or fear that the allegation may not be believed. The person becoming aware that the abuser is being investigated for a similar matter or their suspicions that the abuse is continuing against other children may trigger the allegation.

Reports of historical allegations may be complex as the alleged victims may no longer be living in the situations where the incidents occurred or where the alleged perpetrators are also no longer linked to the setting or employment role. Such cases should be responded to in the same way as any other concerns and the a Referral to MASH should be made - see Section 5, Contact the MASH. It is important to ascertain as a matter of urgency if the alleged perpetrator is still working with, or caring for, children. If so, the referral to MASH should include this information and contact should be made with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) if there needs to be further discussion – for more information, see Allegations Against Staff, Carers and Volunteers Procedure.

Organisational responses to allegations by an adult of abuse experienced as a child must be of as high a standard as a response to current abuse because:

There is a significant likelihood that a person who abused a child/ren in the past will have continued and may still be doing so;

Criminal prosecutions can still take place even though the allegations are historical in nature and may have taken place many years ago.

If it comes to light that the historical abuse is part of a wider setting of institutional or organised abuse, the case will be dealt with according to the Safeguarding Children and Young People Involved in Organised or Multiple Abuse, and other Complex Investigations Procedure.

Consideration must be given to the therapeutic needs of the adult and reassurance given that, even without her/his direct involvement all reasonable efforts will be made to investigate what s/he has reported.

Agencies investigating the allegation(s) should consider the need for a referral to adult social care, in respect of the alleged perpetrator, if there are fears that the allegation(s) may trigger mental health needs, leading to the possibility of suicide or self-harm.

17. Recording

If a practitioner is concerned about a child they should record the details in their agency record of the issues outlined in Section 15, Information Required when Making a Referral. In addition they should record any action taken and people contacted (including when the referral was made, to whom, their response and any agreed action).

A practitioner making a referral to MASH should be informed of the outcome and the reasons for any decisions made within one working day either by telephone or email. Both the MASH worker and the referrer should record the outcome of any discussion and agreement about any ongoing action required by the referrer.

The practitioner will need to keep a record of the conversation in line with their own agency procedures however the MASH worker will also email them following the discussion with confirmation of the outcome. This will not replace the need for the practitioner to make their own notes. On receipt of this, if there is any disagreement, the referrer should contact MASH to ensure further discussion.

The record should indicate the original source of all information given and be clearly signed and dated by the author. This record may be needed for:

Any subsequent Child Protection Conference;

Any court action by Police or Children's Social Care; and

Any work with the family.

If the practitioner has not received an acknowledgment of a written referral within 3 working days, they should contact a manager within MASH. Incoming calls are recorded and saved for 12 weeks therefore we can listen back to calls to assist in resolving any disputes. If the practitioner disagrees with the summary confirmation they can call MASH back or follow the escalation procedure as outlined in Practice Resolution Protocol: Resolving Professional Differences of Opinion in Multi-Agency Working with Children and their Families.

If they decide not to make the referral after consultation with their Designated Professional or Senior Manager, they should still record their initial concerns and the details of any discussions they have had about them for future reference.

18. Safeguarding Adults at Risk

If the practitioner has not received an acknowledgment of a written referral within 3 working days, they should contact a manager within MASH. Incoming calls are recorded and saved for 12 weeks therefore we can listen back to calls to assist in resolving any disputes. If the practitioner disagrees with the summary confirmation they can call MASH back or follow the escalation procedure as outlined in Practice Resolution Protocol: Resolving Professional Differences of Opinion in Multi-Agency Working with Children and their Families.

To make a referral about an adult at risk, contact the Rotherham Adult Social Care Safeguarding Team.

19. What to Expect After a Referral has been Made to Children's Social Care

For more information about what happens about a referral is made, see Action Following Referral of Safeguarding Children Concerns Procedure.

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1.2.2 Referring Safeguarding Concerns about Children

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No matter where someone works, they are likely to meet children during their normal working activities. They are in a unique position to observe signs of abuse or neglect, or changes in behaviour which may indicate a child may be being abused or neglected.

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You must have a good understanding of the importance of relationships to support young people. These relationships could be with young people's families, peers or practitioners.

Children and young people who live in children's homes are among the most vulnerable in society, often with complex and diverse needs. This makes having a support network around them particularly important.

Be aware that the care system itself can make it difficult for young people to form relationships due to frequent changes of social worker, home, school, and often geographical location. The children you're supporting may also be limited in who they can see, or how often they can see them.

However, despite negative experiences in the past, with your help and support young people can learn to develop healthy relationships.

Positive and meaningful relationships are important because they can:

contribute to children's resilience

promote physical, mental and emotional well-being

support positive outcomes

may help to minimise the risk of forming inappropriate and risky relationships that could lead to exploitation or abuse

help with therapeutic work.

Positive and meaningful relationships can also support young people's transition through the care system and when leaving care by:

enhancing the stability of placements

influencing permanency planning.

Not forming positive relationships with the children you care for can lead to:

challenging behaviour

placement instability

a continuing cycle of rejection and instability for that child.

Good relationships for young people in care isn't something for an ideal world; children and young people have a right to family life, and to have friends (freedom of association). You should be aware of these rights and give young people the opportunities and support they need to maintain important relationships in their lives, as long as it's safe for them.

When children are looked after away from home, their social worker will assess which relationships are safe for them and how children can maintain their links with family and friends, and this should be in their care plan.

Young people have strong views about who they wish to have a relationship with.

Don't make assumptions about which relationships are important to them based on your own expectations or experiences.

You'll find a young person's important relationships recorded in their care plan, which should be updated as relationships evolve and change. If you're helping a young person think about their relationships and they want to change their care plan, then you should discuss this with their social worker before changing anything.

Although family relationships are important, for some children these relationships may have been abusive and chaotic. As such, relationships with friends, carers, professionals or other adults may be extremely important. For some young people a former pet may hold special significance to them.

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The importance of relationships to children living in residential child care

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You must have a good understanding of the importance of relationships to support young people. These relationships could be with young people's families, peers or practitioners. Children and young people who live in children's homes are among the most vulnerable in society, often with complex and diverse needs.

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ANIMATION SHARES HOPE ON WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY

This World Suicide Prevention Day, PAPYRUS has launched Sinking Feeling - our brand new animation created in collaboration with the BAFTA Award-winning animation studio, Blue Zoo.

Sinking Feeling tackles the heart-breaking reality that many children and young people are suffering in silence without the vital help and support they need, according to PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide.

We hope this animation will encourage more people to spot the signs and reach-in to guide young people away from thoughts of suicide.

The animation signposts to PAPYRUS and its HOPELINEUK service which offers confidential help and support to young people and anyone who is concerned for a young person who may be thinking of taking their own life.

Ged Flynn, Chief Executive of PAPYRUS, said: "This remarkable animation captures the overwhelming struggle of a young person who is literally sinking below the surface, weighed down, unable to function normally, incapable of keeping up and close to giving up on life.

"Sadly, in real life that's exactly what many young people are experiencing right now. They feel sad, isolated, worthless, bewildered, in emotional turmoil with seemingly no way out.

"The film challenges me to reach-in when a young person might be distressed, ask how they are, to really hear them, to offer help and to assist life itself."

The collaboration between PAPYRUS and Blue Zoo Animation Studio is timely as this year's theme for World Suicide Prevention Day is 'Creating Hope Through Action.'

With the challenges that 2020 brought, now more than ever Blue Zoo have worked to use their talent and platform to help others so they reached out to PAPYRUS to lend their support.

More than 60 artists volunteered to help on the animation project which took four months to complete. The Blue Zoo choir remotely recorded an emotive rendition of 'True Colours' to accompany the film.

Director, Mark Spokes, said, "Working with PAPYRUS and Blue Zoo on Sinking Feeling was an uplifting and enriching experience, especially in the midst of lockdown. The film's message is one that is close to my heart and I'm proud to be part of something that could save lives."

Tom Box, Co-founder of Blue Zoo said, "As a studio it is our ambition to use animation to make a positive impact on the world. We couldn't be prouder of how the team came together to produce a film that does that so beautifully."

For practical, confidential suicide prevention help and advice please contact PAPYRUS HOPELINEUK on 0800 068 4141, text 07860 039967 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org

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Sinking Feeling Animation Launch - Papyrus UK | Suicide Prevention Charity

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ANIMATION SHARES HOPE ON WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY This World Suicide Prevention Day, PAPYRUS has launched Sinking Feeling - our brand new animation created in collaboration with the BAFTA Award-winning animation studio, Blue Zoo. Sinking Feeling tackles the heart-breaking reality that many children and young people are suffering in silence without the vital help and support they need, according to PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide.

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3.3/3.4 why they need support and strategies for supporting children after abuse

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3.3/3.4 why they need support and strategies for supporting children after abuse

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Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)

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By Corinne May-Chahal and Hannah Roscoe

A new quick guide for practitioners and managers who work with children, young people and families

It is hard to imagine a more traumatic experience than being abused or neglected, possibly by someone you know and trust. But this is the experience of 58,000 children substantiated as victims by UK authorities each year, with potentially many more who are not known to the authorities.

Once a child or young person is out of immediate danger of harm, for example on a child protection plan or care order, there is a tendency to think that they are 'safe now'. But that is not the end of the story. In order to prevent further harm, such as mental distress, children must get help and support to recover from their experience. The emphasis in our child protections system is too often on 'rescue' and much less on the medium and longer-term interventions that children need.

'Therapeutic interventions after abuse and neglect', the new quick guide from NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) and SCIE, is based on the recommendations of the NICE guideline on child abuse and neglect. The guide reflects the long-lasting impact that maltreatment can have on the health and wellbeing of children. The guide, which is for practitioners and managers working with children, young people and families, looks at what works when supporting abused and neglected children and young people.

This is important. One young person from our guideline reference group told us: 'Things were hard at home for a long time. I remember being scared all the time, and then I just kind of started to feel numb to everything. I skipped school, hung around with mates who were a bit older than me, anything to avoid being at home'.

Others talked about how abuse and neglect had affected them - 'being afraid', 'hurting yourself', 'feeling very angry' or 'crying a lot'. For some, abuse and neglect can lead to further abuse, for example, through exploitation; difficulties at school, or even involvement in the criminal justice system.

A key message is the importance of choice and involving children and families in discussions about what interventions you think will help, and why. Young people told us that not all types of help worked for them - so it is important to have different options and choices if possible.

The guide sets out the interventions which our review of the evidence found to be effective. For young children, interventions that help to rebuild attachments with caregivers have been shown to be helpful. For older children effective interventions involved addressing trauma, managing behaviour and crisis support. The guide also recommends specific interventions for addressing difficulties following sexual abuse.

A separate quick guide for children and young people highlights some key principles, such as keeping children involved in decision making and being clear about information sharing, as well as giving young people advice about where to find help and support.

As one young person said: 'Abuse can make you feel helpless and as though you are totally under the control of another person. It's really important that any help or support doesn't take even more control away from you, but empowers you and helps you to make choices as well as helping other people to understand what you have been through'.

We hope that managers and practitioners will use these guides to continue to support and empower children and young people affected by abuse and neglect.

Corinne May-Chahal is Professor of Applied Social Science at Lancaster University and chaired NICE's guideline committee on Child abuse and neglect. Hannah Roscoe is Senior Research Analyst at SCIE.

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Supporting children and young people after abuse and neglect

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By Corinne May-Chahal and Hannah Roscoe It is hard to imagine a more traumatic experience than being abused or neglected, possibly by someone you know and trust. But this is the experience of 58,000 children substantiated as victims by UK authorities each year, with potentially many more who are not known to the authorities.

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What is child abuse and neglect?

Child abuse

Anything that someone does to cause harm to a child or young person.

It can include:

Physical abuse

Sexual abuse

forcing you to have sex

touching you or making you touch them.

This type of abuse can also happen online and includes making you watch pornography or forcing you to send intimate pictures.

Emotional abuse

making you feel scared, worthless or unloved

ignoring you

controlling who you spend time with or where you go

constantly checking where you are or who you are with.

Neglect

The ongoing failure to care properly for a child, for example not providing enough food, clothes or a safe place to live, or not getting medical care for you when you need it.

It is also about a lack of love, care or attention.

What does the guideline say?

The guideline helps people who work with young people understand how best to support you if you have been abused or neglected. This could be talking about what has happened or taking action to help you feel safe.

People working with children and young people should:

Involve you in decisions about your life - your opinion should be
taken into account.

Tell you how to contact them, including out of hours, and check how you want them to contact you.

Find the right way to communicate - it's ok to ask if you don't understand something.

Work with other organisations to make sure you don't need to keep re-telling your story to different professionals.

Explain about confidentiality - when they may have to share information, what they will share and who with.

Write down, in your words, what you have talked about and get you to sign it - if you disagree with what they say, this should be written down too.

Ask permission if they need to touch you (for example, to examine you) and explain what they are going to do.

Help your parents and carers.

Give you a choice of different therapies and support.

Share any reports and plans with you.

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Anything that someone does to cause harm to a child or young person. It can include: Physical abuse Sexual abuse forcing you to have sex touching you or making you touch them. This type of abuse can also happen online and includes making you watch pornography or forcing you to send intimate pictures.

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Skip to main content

An introduction to safeguarding children living in residential care

Find out more about safeguarding the children you're caring for

Safeguarding children is about recognising the possible dangers they may face and protecting them from abuse and neglect. It's also about helping them to recognise the dangers around them.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility at any time. However, as a professional in social care you have a duty to do everything you can to ensure children are protected from abuse and are safe. You also have a duty to report any safeguarding issues (about children or adults).

Your organisation is required to have a safeguarding policy to address any concerns you have about a child's welfare. It's important that you understand the safeguarding policy and this should be an important part of your induction and ongoing training to ensure you understand the process of safeguarding and to how to report any concerns you have.

For example, a young person may say they will tell you something if you promise not to tell. You can never agree to this, and the children that you look after need to know and understand this.

If you don't report a concern you have about a child, this can lead to:

a child being caused harm or in being danger of abuse that you could possibly have prevented

disciplinary action from your employer

a fitness to practice investigation by Social Care Wales for breaking the Code of Professional Practice.

All the people (children and adults) you work with should understand this limit to confidentiality. You should discuss this with your senior on duty, the child's social worker or the police depending on the nature of your concern. You should never ignore it.

Before the children you look after came into care, they will have usually experienced some form of trauma or abuse.

When working with children, abuse is commonly broken up into four types (under definitions of The Children Act 1989)

Physical abuse is deliberately hurting a child causing injuries such as bruises, broken bones, burns or cuts. It isn't accidental - children who are physically abused are subjected to violence such as being hit, kicked, poisoned, burned, slapped or having objects thrown at them.

Sometimes parents or carers will deliberately cause illness in a child or lie about its symptoms. This is called fabricated or induced illness by proxy (previously known as 'Munchausen's by proxy'). You should be aware of this as something to consider if a young person is ill after coming home from a family visit.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a type of physical abuse where girls have their genitals cut. This abuse can lead to girls and women having gynecological problems as they develop. You may see the following signs of FGM in children and young people that you care for:

difficulties urinating or incontinence

frequent or chronic vaginal, pelvic or urinary infections

menstrual problems

kidney damage and possible failure

cysts and abscesses

pain when having sex

infertility

complications during pregnancy and childbirth

emotional and mental health problems.

Female genital mutilation: signs, indicators and effects The All Wales Protocol on Female Genital Mutilation

Emotional abuse is the ongoing emotional maltreatment of a child. It's sometimes called psychological abuse and can seriously damage a child's emotional health and development. Children who are emotionally abused are often suffering another type of abuse.

Emotional abuse includes deliberate behaviour to a child, such as:

scaring them

humiliating them

isolating them

ignoring them

witnessing domestic abuse.

Sexual abuse is when a child is forced or persuaded to take part in sexual activities. This doesn't have to be physical contact and it can happen online. Sometimes the child won't understand that what's happening to them is abuse or even understand that it's wrong. They may be afraid to speak out. The NSPCC estimates that 1 in 20 children in the UK have been a victim of sexual abuse.

Contact abuse involves touching, where an abuser makes physical contact with a child, including penetration. This includes:

sexual touching of any part of the body, whether the child is wearing clothes or not

rape or penetration by putting an object or body part inside a child's mouth, vagina or anus

forcing or encouraging a child to take part in sexual activity

making a child take their clothes off, touch someone else's genitals or masturbate.

Non-contact abuse involves non-touching, such as grooming, exploitation, persuading children to perform sexual acts over the internet and flashing. It includes:

encouraging a child to watch or hear sexual acts

not taking proper measures to prevent a child being exposed to sexual activities by others

meeting a child following sexual grooming with the intent of abusing them

online abuse including making, viewing or distributing child abuse images

allowing someone else to make, view or distribute child abuse images

showing pornography to a child

sexually exploiting a child for money, power or status (child sexual exploitation).

Neglect: when a caregiver does not meet the child's basic needs. Neglect can mean:

physical neglect: Failing to provide for a child's basic needs such as food, clothing or shelter. Failing to adequately supervise a child or provide for their safety

educational neglect: Failing to ensure a child receives an education

emotional neglect: Failing to meet a child's needs for nurture and stimulation, perhaps by ignoring, humiliating, intimidating or isolating them. This is often the most difficult form of neglect to prove

medical neglect: Failing to provide appropriate health care, including dental care and refusal of care or ignoring medical recommendations.

If the children you're working with have experienced abuse, and their abuser has been found guilty of a crime, they may be entitled to Criminal Injuries Compensation. If you think that one of the children you look after may be eligible, speak to your manager or the child's social worker.

In addition to the abuse discussed above, children can sometimes experience other types of abuse you should be aware of, including:

Teenagers can be at risk of domestic abuse, particularly where they have witnessed it as children and do not recognise healthy relationships.
Violence in young people's relationships - Reflections on two serious case reviews
People of any gender and sexuality can be victims of domestic abuse. The young people you work with may not realise that they're being abused and may confuse some of the signs of abuse with love. For example, a young person may experience:

control

coercion

be isolated from their friends and family

not able to wear make-up

be forced to wear certain clothes.

But they may think these behaviours mean their boyfriend or girlfriend is showing them love.

This may also be the case if they're being stalked or being stopped from going out alone: the intensity of the relationship may feel nice for a while.

If they're experiencing physical abuse, they may have bruises that they can't explain, They may not realise that violence in relationships is wrong, for example saying, "it was just a slap." Teenagers in abusive relationships face the same risks as adults, so you need to manage these risks carefully.

SafeLives has produced a useful resource Working with young people who experiencing relationship abuse

STIRitAPP is a web-based tool about abusive relationships which has been developed by young people themselves.

You may also encounter honour-based violence: a form of domestic abuse where people are at risk of harm, as they are seen to have damaged their family's 'honour' by behaving in ways that don't fit with the family's culture or beliefs. It may be that a young person has been in a relationship with someone their family doesn't approve of, or they've behaved in a way the family considers inappropriate. To keep the family's 'honour', that person may then be subject to abuse or harm.

The Welsh Government's website Live Fear Free has advice about honour based violence and forced marriage

Children can be trafficked in many different ways. Some children may have been brought into the UK specifically to be exploited. However, children can be trafficked from one town or street to the next, or across county borders as well, and this type of trafficking is often linked to other types of abuse, usually CSE or criminal exploitation.

Signs to look out for in children include:

going missing for days, and not saying where they are going or have been

not answering their phone when they are missing

asking to be picked up from places where they have no connection (for example, if their family and friends are in one place in the county or town but they are asking to be picked up from the other side of the county or town)

wearing inappropriate clothing or no shoes when they're collected. This may mean they've escaped from somewhere

unusual behaviour or substance misuse

becoming withdrawn

losing weight

neglecting their personal hygiene or appearance.

There is a difference in the way that children who run away are reported to the Police:

'Missing' - means that nobody knows where they child or young person is and they are thought to be at risk. This can involve children being gone overnight.

'Absent without authority' - means that you know where they are and they won't come home. This can involve children staying out past curfew.

When you report their absence to the police it is helpful to be clear about the difference, and follow the child's care plan and what that says about how to deal with this.

Some children are abused online. This may take the form of non-contact sexual abuse as discussed above but may also be online bullying or grooming with the aim of involving children in some of the other types of abuse discussed here ( CSE, radicalisation and others).

Signs to look out for include children:

becoming withdrawn

being reluctant to go to school

not wanting to go out

avoiding familiar places and people

self-harm or suicide attempts

meeting people they are not normally with

unusual use of substances

having more than one or different phones

being secretive about their online activities.

The NSPCC has a useful resource called Online abuse - what is online abuse

Some children are targeted by groups that hold extreme views. In the same way that the children you look after are vulnerable to being groomed for CSE or criminal exploitation, they may also seek a feeling of 'belonging' and these groups will take advantage of this.

Radicalisation may be extreme religious views, far right views (for instance, racism) or far left (for instance, promoting violent social unrest) and is not restricted to particular religions or ethnicities. If you suspect anyone is being radicalised for the purpose of terrorism you have to report it.

Signs to look out for are similar to the online/cyber abuse above but also include:

spending increasing time online and not telling you what they are doing

change in behaviour and/or appearance

expressing racist or extreme views.

Financial abuse can take many forms, and again may cross over into the types of abuse described above. This can include the child's benefits or allowances that the home is being paid not being used properly, or wages or pocket money being taken from them. Children can also be used to falsely claim benefits or be forced to beg or commit crime for money. As example of this is where children are being forced to steal to order from shops to make money.

Signs to look out for include:

a child not having basic essentials such as sanitary products and appropriate clothing, or being asked to pay for them out of their own money

children not having the right amount of money that you know they should have (for instance pocket money)

children stealing items that don't seem to be for them.

Read more about financial abuse

If you have any concerns about the children you look after experiencing abuse, you must speak to someone. If somebody tells you about abuse, you cannot keep it a secret. Remember that a child may experience a range of abuse and will not always fit into the neat categories above.

Keep your eyes and ears open for any signs or changes in their behaviour and always discuss any worries you have with your manager, the child's social worker or police, according to your organisation's safeguarding policy. Some incidents are 'notifiable incidents' and you must report them to Care Inspectorate Wales. There is more information about this duty in Part 15 of the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017.

Sadly, there are occasions where the children who are looked after, are not kept safe in their children's homes. This is where children are not cared for properly and poor or unsafe practice is systematic in the home and/or organisation.

This may happen because staff don't understand the responsibilities of how to provide care or it may be that workers set out deliberately to cause harm to children. It may be one worker, or a group of workers, and a culture of poor care and/or abuse can develop in homes. For example, you may see 'restraint' being used incorrectly or too often to exercise power over children.

There are many known occasions where children have been systematically abused by a number of individuals in children's homes. This is always about the misuse of power and it can be very hard to speak out if you see or hear anything worrying, particularly if you feel you're the only person with concerns. If you can, speak to your manager or a senior colleague or someone you're not worried about. No matter how hard it is to speak up, you must not do nothing. Your organisation has a 'whistle blowing' policy and as you're registered with Social Care Wales, you have a responsibility to report any concerns you have.

Help us to improve the Residential child care worker resource by telling us what you think about it in our short four question survey.

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An introduction to safeguarding children living in residential care

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Skip to main content An introduction to safeguarding children living in residential care Find out more about safeguarding the children you're caring for Safeguarding children is about recognising the possible dangers they may face and protecting them from abuse and neglect. It's also about helping them to recognise the dangers around them.

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Skip to main content

An introduction to safeguarding children living in residential care

Find out more about safeguarding the children you're caring for

Safeguarding children is about recognising the possible dangers they may face and protecting them from abuse and neglect. It's also about helping them to recognise the dangers around them.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility at any time. However, as a professional in social care you have a duty to do everything you can to ensure children are protected from abuse and are safe. You also have a duty to report any safeguarding issues (about children or adults).

Your organisation is required to have a safeguarding policy to address any concerns you have about a child's welfare. It's important that you understand the safeguarding policy and this should be an important part of your induction and ongoing training to ensure you understand the process of safeguarding and to how to report any concerns you have.

For example, a young person may say they will tell you something if you promise not to tell. You can never agree to this, and the children that you look after need to know and understand this.

If you don't report a concern you have about a child, this can lead to:

a child being caused harm or in being danger of abuse that you could possibly have prevented

disciplinary action from your employer

a fitness to practice investigation by Social Care Wales for breaking the Code of Professional Practice.

All the people (children and adults) you work with should understand this limit to confidentiality. You should discuss this with your senior on duty, the child's social worker or the police depending on the nature of your concern. You should never ignore it.

Before the children you look after came into care, they will have usually experienced some form of trauma or abuse.

When working with children, abuse is commonly broken up into four types (under definitions of The Children Act 1989)

Physical abuse is deliberately hurting a child causing injuries such as bruises, broken bones, burns or cuts. It isn't accidental - children who are physically abused are subjected to violence such as being hit, kicked, poisoned, burned, slapped or having objects thrown at them.

Sometimes parents or carers will deliberately cause illness in a child or lie about its symptoms. This is called fabricated or induced illness by proxy (previously known as 'Munchausen's by proxy'). You should be aware of this as something to consider if a young person is ill after coming home from a family visit.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a type of physical abuse where girls have their genitals cut. This abuse can lead to girls and women having gynecological problems as they develop. You may see the following signs of FGM in children and young people that you care for:

difficulties urinating or incontinence

frequent or chronic vaginal, pelvic or urinary infections

menstrual problems

kidney damage and possible failure

cysts and abscesses

pain when having sex

infertility

complications during pregnancy and childbirth

emotional and mental health problems.

Female genital mutilation: signs, indicators and effects The All Wales Protocol on Female Genital Mutilation

Emotional abuse is the ongoing emotional maltreatment of a child. It's sometimes called psychological abuse and can seriously damage a child's emotional health and development. Children who are emotionally abused are often suffering another type of abuse.

Emotional abuse includes deliberate behaviour to a child, such as:

scaring them

humiliating them

isolating them

ignoring them

witnessing domestic abuse.

Sexual abuse is when a child is forced or persuaded to take part in sexual activities. This doesn't have to be physical contact and it can happen online. Sometimes the child won't understand that what's happening to them is abuse or even understand that it's wrong. They may be afraid to speak out. The NSPCC estimates that 1 in 20 children in the UK have been a victim of sexual abuse.

Contact abuse involves touching, where an abuser makes physical contact with a child, including penetration. This includes:

sexual touching of any part of the body, whether the child is wearing clothes or not

rape or penetration by putting an object or body part inside a child's mouth, vagina or anus

forcing or encouraging a child to take part in sexual activity

making a child take their clothes off, touch someone else's genitals or masturbate.

Non-contact abuse involves non-touching, such as grooming, exploitation, persuading children to perform sexual acts over the internet and flashing. It includes:

encouraging a child to watch or hear sexual acts

not taking proper measures to prevent a child being exposed to sexual activities by others

meeting a child following sexual grooming with the intent of abusing them

online abuse including making, viewing or distributing child abuse images

allowing someone else to make, view or distribute child abuse images

showing pornography to a child

sexually exploiting a child for money, power or status (child sexual exploitation).

Neglect: when a caregiver does not meet the child's basic needs. Neglect can mean:

physical neglect: Failing to provide for a child's basic needs such as food, clothing or shelter. Failing to adequately supervise a child or provide for their safety

educational neglect: Failing to ensure a child receives an education

emotional neglect: Failing to meet a child's needs for nurture and stimulation, perhaps by ignoring, humiliating, intimidating or isolating them. This is often the most difficult form of neglect to prove

medical neglect: Failing to provide appropriate health care, including dental care and refusal of care or ignoring medical recommendations.

If the children you're working with have experienced abuse, and their abuser has been found guilty of a crime, they may be entitled to Criminal Injuries Compensation. If you think that one of the children you look after may be eligible, speak to your manager or the child's social worker.

In addition to the abuse discussed above, children can sometimes experience other types of abuse you should be aware of, including:

Teenagers can be at risk of domestic abuse, particularly where they have witnessed it as children and do not recognise healthy relationships.
Violence in young people's relationships - Reflections on two serious case reviews
People of any gender and sexuality can be victims of domestic abuse. The young people you work with may not realise that they're being abused and may confuse some of the signs of abuse with love. For example, a young person may experience:

control

coercion

be isolated from their friends and family

not able to wear make-up

be forced to wear certain clothes.

But they may think these behaviours mean their boyfriend or girlfriend is showing them love.

This may also be the case if they're being stalked or being stopped from going out alone: the intensity of the relationship may feel nice for a while.

If they're experiencing physical abuse, they may have bruises that they can't explain, They may not realise that violence in relationships is wrong, for example saying, "it was just a slap." Teenagers in abusive relationships face the same risks as adults, so you need to manage these risks carefully.

SafeLives has produced a useful resource Working with young people who experiencing relationship abuse

STIRitAPP is a web-based tool about abusive relationships which has been developed by young people themselves.

You may also encounter honour-based violence: a form of domestic abuse where people are at risk of harm, as they are seen to have damaged their family's 'honour' by behaving in ways that don't fit with the family's culture or beliefs. It may be that a young person has been in a relationship with someone their family doesn't approve of, or they've behaved in a way the family considers inappropriate. To keep the family's 'honour', that person may then be subject to abuse or harm.

The Welsh Government's website Live Fear Free has advice about honour based violence and forced marriage

Children can be trafficked in many different ways. Some children may have been brought into the UK specifically to be exploited. However, children can be trafficked from one town or street to the next, or across county borders as well, and this type of trafficking is often linked to other types of abuse, usually CSE or criminal exploitation.

Signs to look out for in children include:

going missing for days, and not saying where they are going or have been

not answering their phone when they are missing

asking to be picked up from places where they have no connection (for example, if their family and friends are in one place in the county or town but they are asking to be picked up from the other side of the county or town)

wearing inappropriate clothing or no shoes when they're collected. This may mean they've escaped from somewhere

unusual behaviour or substance misuse

becoming withdrawn

losing weight

neglecting their personal hygiene or appearance.

There is a difference in the way that children who run away are reported to the Police:

'Missing' - means that nobody knows where they child or young person is and they are thought to be at risk. This can involve children being gone overnight.

'Absent without authority' - means that you know where they are and they won't come home. This can involve children staying out past curfew.

When you report their absence to the police it is helpful to be clear about the difference, and follow the child's care plan and what that says about how to deal with this.

Some children are abused online. This may take the form of non-contact sexual abuse as discussed above but may also be online bullying or grooming with the aim of involving children in some of the other types of abuse discussed here ( CSE, radicalisation and others).

Signs to look out for include children:

becoming withdrawn

being reluctant to go to school

not wanting to go out

avoiding familiar places and people

self-harm or suicide attempts

meeting people they are not normally with

unusual use of substances

having more than one or different phones

being secretive about their online activities.

The NSPCC has a useful resource called Online abuse - what is online abuse

Some children are targeted by groups that hold extreme views. In the same way that the children you look after are vulnerable to being groomed for CSE or criminal exploitation, they may also seek a feeling of 'belonging' and these groups will take advantage of this.

Radicalisation may be extreme religious views, far right views (for instance, racism) or far left (for instance, promoting violent social unrest) and is not restricted to particular religions or ethnicities. If you suspect anyone is being radicalised for the purpose of terrorism you have to report it.

Signs to look out for are similar to the online/cyber abuse above but also include:

spending increasing time online and not telling you what they are doing

change in behaviour and/or appearance

expressing racist or extreme views.

Financial abuse can take many forms, and again may cross over into the types of abuse described above. This can include the child's benefits or allowances that the home is being paid not being used properly, or wages or pocket money being taken from them. Children can also be used to falsely claim benefits or be forced to beg or commit crime for money. As example of this is where children are being forced to steal to order from shops to make money.

Signs to look out for include:

a child not having basic essentials such as sanitary products and appropriate clothing, or being asked to pay for them out of their own money

children not having the right amount of money that you know they should have (for instance pocket money)

children stealing items that don't seem to be for them.

Read more about financial abuse

If you have any concerns about the children you look after experiencing abuse, you must speak to someone. If somebody tells you about abuse, you cannot keep it a secret. Remember that a child may experience a range of abuse and will not always fit into the neat categories above.

Keep your eyes and ears open for any signs or changes in their behaviour and always discuss any worries you have with your manager, the child's social worker or police, according to your organisation's safeguarding policy. Some incidents are 'notifiable incidents' and you must report them to Care Inspectorate Wales. There is more information about this duty in Part 15 of the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017.

Sadly, there are occasions where the children who are looked after, are not kept safe in their children's homes. This is where children are not cared for properly and poor or unsafe practice is systematic in the home and/or organisation.

This may happen because staff don't understand the responsibilities of how to provide care or it may be that workers set out deliberately to cause harm to children. It may be one worker, or a group of workers, and a culture of poor care and/or abuse can develop in homes. For example, you may see 'restraint' being used incorrectly or too often to exercise power over children.

There are many known occasions where children have been systematically abused by a number of individuals in children's homes. This is always about the misuse of power and it can be very hard to speak out if you see or hear anything worrying, particularly if you feel you're the only person with concerns. If you can, speak to your manager or a senior colleague or someone you're not worried about. No matter how hard it is to speak up, you must not do nothing. Your organisation has a 'whistle blowing' policy and as you're registered with Social Care Wales, you have a responsibility to report any concerns you have.

Help us to improve the Residential child care worker resource by telling us what you think about it in our short four question survey.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
An introduction to safeguarding children living in residential care

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Skip to main content An introduction to safeguarding children living in residential care Find out more about safeguarding the children you're caring for Safeguarding children is about recognising the possible dangers they may face and protecting them from abuse and neglect. It's also about helping them to recognise the dangers around them.

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LibGuides: Reflective Practice Toolkit: Models of reflection

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LibGuides: Reflective Practice Toolkit: Models of reflection

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Outcomes focused supervision and reflective practice

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Outcomes focused supervision and reflective practice

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Skip to main content

Embedding the outcomes approach

Find information and resources on how culture, systems and processes need to change to support the embedding of an outcomes approach across our organisations.

Balancing rights and responsibilities can be difficult, as professionals often see risk as something to avoid and control, instead of being part of a shared decision-making process.

In reality, taking some risks is an important part of everyday life that supports people to do what matters to them.

We commissioned some work to co-produce practice principles for balancing risks, rights and responsibilities in adult services. The principles set out how social care practitioners can take a positive and shared approach to making decisions about risk.

We'd like to know how we can help you use these principles in your practice, take a moment to answer our survey.

The work builds on a study we produced to help understand how professionals who support people can move towards shared decision making, which found that decision-making should be:

balanced - recognising the potential for benefit as well as the risk of harm, and considering the possible emotional, psychological, social and physical impact of each option

defensible - well-founded, justifiable and recorded proportionately, and not defensive or driven by the need to protect ourselves and our agencies

collaborative - with people who use services, their families and other professionals, using all available resources to achieve the outcomes that matter most to people.

You can read the full report below:

Children's services currently use several models which might be described as 'outcome focused', 'strengths based' or 'relational'. All of these models are based on similar principles:

a collaborative relationship between the practitioner and individual/family, developed through active and reflective listening, and based on empathy and a recognition of differences of power

a belief that change is possible and that ambivalence is natural

affirming strengths and building on exceptions, balanced with assessing risks

honest and open conversations with families and others about risks

working with individuals and families to identify solutions and set goals

identifying and mobilising wider networks and resources

taking a whole systems approach to families, communities and services.

Effective and regular supervision is key and should:

Other factors that were supportive of practitioners working in this way are:

developing skills and training, backed up by opportunities to shadow and co-work

maximising opportunities for earlier intervention

involving families in safety planning to build their capacity to prevent and respond effectively to crisis in the future

recognising the impact that poverty can have on families, with practitioners being sensitive to power and structural inequalities.

Watch this video to see how social worker Dawn works with a parent to develop a safety plan:

a performance system which focuses on processes, tasks and outputs, rather than on the quality of engagement and tangible outcomes for children and young people

pressure from inflexible timescales

increasing demand within a context of reduced resources

a blame culture in services, the wider system and the media which can increase defensive practice

assumption that a quantifiable threshold is possible in a complex situation

taking an over-simplistic view of risk factors

court processes increasing defensive and adversarial practice.

the legislative framework is clear that children should be involved in decision-making when they are subject to statutory processes

where children are unseen, and their voices are unheard, there is more likelihood of unsafe practices

effective involvement of children and young people allows practitioners to develop a better understanding of their needs are as early as possible

when they are involved in their plans children and young people are more likely to be empowered, they can feel they are a part of the positive changes happening in their families effectively involved children and young people report more positive experiences in child protection processes.

the opportunity to build a trusting relationship with their worker

receiving clear, accessible and timely information about processes, meetings and plans

being able to decide whether to attend meetings and supported to contribute if they do; or being involved in decision-making in other age-appropriate ways

Watch social worker Ian use the 'drama triangle' to describe how children can view formal interventions from services:

better engagement with families improves the ability of workers to get a fuller picture of the well-being of children

when parents' strengths are recognised by professionals, this can improve their morale and their motivation to change

increased likelihood of improved outcomes when parents are actively involved in developing child protection plans

a lack of effective engagement with and support for parents whose children are removed may increase the chances of them being unable to cope as a parent in the future, and having further children removed - particularly for younger parents

families' experiences and views must be seen as a resource to help improves systems and processes; we can learn from existing practice about what works well to engage parents who may have been initially hostile.

There is a relatively small body of research evidence regarding the views and experiences of parents and carers within child protection processes. When asked however, there is a consistent message of wanting to be more involved when their children are subject to statutory child protection services. Specifically, parents and carers say they value or would like:

clear, jargon-free information about the processes and time and support to digest the information at their own pace

the opportunity to build a relationship with a (ideally one) social worker, who gets to know the family, spends time with their children and acts 'like a human'

hands-on support, not just monitoring

a balanced approach with workers and their reports acknowledging parents' strengths and positive intentions, but also being frank and specific about concerns and risks

conferences which don't involve too many people or too many surprises, and which are as informal and inclusive as possible

workers who ask parents for their ideas about solutions within their own families, and also seek their feedback about how the wider system and processes might be improved

plans which set out clearly what is expected of them, focusing on outcomes and not just outputs, and are followed without 'moving the goalposts'

workers who are non-judgemental, reliable and trustworthy

workers who really listen and recognise how stressful and traumatic these processes can be for families.

Listen to a parent talk about how being worked with in an outcome focused, strength-based way supported her to make changes for herself and her children:

Listen to Keri talk about how she encouraged culture change in children's services by collaborating with families and front-line staff:

These ways of working need to be part of whole systems change if they are to be embedded. Leaders have a key role to play and should:

Listen to Maria explain how changing paperwork and processes to become outcome focused made a positive difference to families:

Practice:

what is the quality of your relationships with families?

what are the benefits and challenges of building a relationship with families?

what are the risks to you and our organisation of working more collaboratively with families?

what are you already doing that works to manage risks collaboratively with families?

do families understand our concerns, what they need to do about it and what the consequences might be? How do you know?

what role do you play in supporting collaborative work with families?

what might a successful outcome look like for families? Can you give an example and what the components were that brought this about?

what would the families you work with say has been the most useful to them to help them manage risks better?

how do you know the children you work with are safer?

Strategy:

how do you create a culture where you're able to manage risks collaboratively with families?

how does your organisation support creativity, curiosity and hold ambivalence and uncertainty in practice?

what do you notice about your organisation when things go wrong?

which of the processes are helping families most; which could be counter-productive?

do you articulate and measure 'risks' and 'outcomes' in terms of concrete differences for children and families, or in terms of 'your' processes?

how can different parts of the system, and partner agencies, best support each other to manage risks collaboratively?

what is the role of elected members in this?

what would be the trigger/motivation to change the system in your organisation?

Taking an outcomes approach requires a culture of co-production, practitioners need to build their skills, confidence and capabilities in strengths-based working. To support this cultural shift, we a whole system change to ensure all processes and policies support this was of working

This means building personal outcomes into:

support for staff

workforce planning

performance management

continuing professional development.

Supervision is a two-way process, which supports, motivates and enables professionals to develop good practice. Supervision provides regular contact between a supervisor and a worker, where space is given for reflection and learning.

Good two-way discussion is at the heart of the supervision experience, modelling the outcomes approach which is strengths based and outcomes focused. The supervisor's practice framework will influence the nature of the discussion which, in turn, shapes the process of review, reflection, evaluation and outcome setting.

In the same way that we should be building relationships with families where power 'with' rather than power 'over' is established, an environment where both supervisor and supervisee can contribute their expertise to the relationship should be developed.

This way of working supports supervisees to find solutions within themselves based on their existing strengths and prior positive experiences.

Outcomes focused supervision can be structured using the following discussion framework:

Watch these videos to see how using outcomes focused supervision supports the worker to reflect on her work.

You'll see in the first video about the 'traditional' supervision session that it's not outcome focused. It gives less space for reflection.

Now watch the video below about using an outcomes approach in a supervision session. Compare the two videos and see how the second focuses on personal outcomes, priority risks and good enough outcomes.

The following resource can be used to support supervision:

Group reflection should also be used to support an outcomes approach, this is different to supervision. Group reflection brings teams together to discuss case work, share practice and support decision making.

Group reflection can be done as part of a regular team meeting or can be structured to support regular team development and provides an excellent learning opportunity to develop confidence and capabilities in outcomes focused practice.

During reflection a member of the team will talk about one of their cases for 10-15 minutes and the rest of the team will listen without interruption. When talking through the details they will share details following details about the person and/or the family they're been working with:

The team can then ask clarification questions and constructively challenge to ensure that an individual's network, community services and lastly commissioned options have been fully explored. The discussion can support decision making and should be recorded in a way that shows the reflective and decision-making stages. When group reflection is strengths based it can increase motivation, creativity and confidence of practitioners and their managers.

This resource shows how to facilitate an outcome focused reflective group session:

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Skip to main content Embedding the outcomes approach Find information and resources on how culture, systems and processes need to change to support the embedding of an outcomes approach across our organisations. Balancing rights and responsibilities can be difficult, as professionals often see risk as something to avoid and control, instead of being part of a shared decision-making process.

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There's no denying that although teaching can be an incredibly rewarding career, there are aspects of the role that can bring emotional stress.

Working as a designated safeguarding lead (DSL) can be especially testing.

We need to protect the children in our care by being vigilant about potential signs of abuse as well as managing allegations, disclosures and concerns, and taking action to advocate for children.
Quick read: Quick listen: Want to know more? How to 'poverty proof' your school Why we need more support for mental health in primary Do no harm: ethical guidelines for teacher-researchers
The pressure of the role can be overwhelming, with concerns about time constraints, (especially in relation to keeping accurate, secure records), ensuring all staff are aware of (and understand) safeguarding policies and procedures, keeping up to date with legislation, managing reprisals when discussing concerns with families, and providing adequate support to staff involved with children for whom there are safeguarding concerns.

All of these worries occupy headspace. However much you tell yourself to keep your worries at school, sleepless nights can be a common occurrence.

Sometimes it's a gut feeling that a child may be at risk - there's no disclosure or evidence of abuse but a nagging sense of unease that you've missed something.

I find the "what-if"s come thick and fast in the small hours. What if they've gone to bed hungry? Were those tears at home time because they were scared to go home?

Was that bruise on the head really from falling out of bed, or was there was more to it? They've not been in all week - what if they're staying away because they're covered in bruises?

All these scenarios lead to overthinking and overanalysing. But I'd rather consider and reflect on concerns than be blinkered and miss something.

Breaking down

When concerns around a child's welfare are raised, this will inevitably lead to difficult conversations with parents and carers. These relationships can break down, placing more stress on the DSL.

Being shouted at, called a liar and facing threats and abuse are all unfortunate repercussions from acting on concerns about a child's welfare.

But the fear of damaging relationships with parents and carers must never impact on judgement when it comes to a child's welfare. The child must come first.

DSLs face a wide variety of scenarios every day, from referrals resulting from disclosures to liaising with other professionals in order to investigate concerns. But whatever the circumstances, it is the DSL who feels the burden of responsibility.

Open discussion

So how can we manage our own wellbeing? Who safeguards us?

With an ever-increasing focus on teacher wellbeing, it's time for open, honest discussion about the impact of the emotional stress associated with this important role.

Having procedures to offload our concerns is vitally important; without a means of talking things through, the burden stays with the DSL, impacting on their mental health.

But confidentiality means that offloading at home with family or friends is not an option. This process of reflection and supervision must take place within the school or setting. But in busy schools with tight budgets, where is the time to talk?

We need to make time. A debrief procedure for all DSLs must be available after any referrals, conferences or meetings. Whether this is a quick exchange of information or a chance to unburden will depend on the seriousness of the case.

Providing this time to talk highlights that their role is recognised as being stressful and a cause of worry and that systems are in place to protect them.

If we simply accept that stress and worry are unfortunate by-products of the job, we negate its value. Let's protect those who protect our children.

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Wellbeing: who safeguards the safeguarding leads?

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There's no denying that although teaching can be an incredibly rewarding career, there are aspects of the role that can bring emotional stress. Working as a designated safeguarding lead (DSL) can be especially testing. We need to protect the children in our care by being vigilant about potential signs of abuse as well as managing allegations, disclosures and concerns, and taking action to advocate for children.

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Safeguarding supervision training

This series of six two-hour online sessions explores models of supervision and working with staff, thinking about the dynamics in safeguarding discussions in a practical but developmental way. The course aims to equip supervisors with the skills and confidence to support and challenge staff to better understand risk and the quality of work being undertaken with children and families.

"This is the best CPD I've had in ages, I'm learning so much", DSL

Ruby Parry has nearly 40 years of experience in child protection roles to Director of Children's Services & Communities level, has been an Independent Chair of Local Safeguarding Children Boards, authored numerous serious case reviews including a joint domestic homicide review, and designed and led the delivery of safeguarding training for Ofsted from 2012 to 2014. Hugely experienced, her engaging and personable approach enables leaders to develop their supervision skills in a meaningful way.
Supervisors will:

understand the principles behind supervision models

recognise and apply reflective supervision

undertake dynamic risk assessment during supervision

Create clear, focused and reviewable plans and actions

Where necessary sessions are recorded to allow you to 'catch up'. The full programme is £249+VAT (£199+VAT for Safeguarding Network members).

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This series of six two-hour online sessions explores models of supervision and working with staff, thinking about the dynamics in safeguarding discussions in a practical but developmental way. The course aims to equip supervisors with the skills and confidence to support and challenge staff to better understand risk and the quality of work being undertaken with children and families.

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LibGuides: Reflective Practice Toolkit: Models of reflection

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LibGuides: Reflective Practice Toolkit: Models of reflection

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Lets you know what's going on - and may even help you  course

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Dartmouth Trauma Interventions Research Center

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Good introductory resource for communication use it to investigate further

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When you down load and print out make sure its in landscape mode

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RCC Programme of study 2022 - 2024
RCC Standards

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true.Residential Childcare APP Prog of Study 22-24

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ERA is a Licensed Residential Treatment Center for Troubled Teens

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All troubled youth programs know that dealing with a troubled teen can often feel like a never-ending battle. Communication can be virtually non-existent or reduced to elevated arguments. Not all troubled teens are destined for an intervention from the authorities or psychiatrists. Delinquency varies from minor rule braking, being withdrawn to violent aggressive behavior, and law breaking. Learning how and when to communicate effectively can make all the difference.

When emotions are high, rationality is limited or not present at all. When an angry parent approaches the upset teen, the teen will automatically be defensive or closed off. Neither party will accept the other's explanation of reasoning.

Instead of fighting fire with fire, allow a cool off period. Some matters do not have to be addressed immediately, and it will not deduce the importance of the matter when brought up later. At this junction, it will go against the parent's natural judgment to forestall the conversation; however, it will be extremely unproductive and can make matters worse.

Nonetheless, when the offense is committed, tell the teen that the conversation will take place, just not at that time.

Instead, address the issue when the emotional state both parties are level. This approach will ensure the parent and teen to be receptive. Teens might be prone to a certain extent of openness; however, the parent's words will sink through, even if the teen does not verbally express the understanding.

Troubled Youth Programs Recommend taking a Positive Conversational Approach

Utilizing a positive approach is a highly effective technique as well. When beginning a conversation with accusations and pointing out only the negative, the teen will tune out the parent. No one likes to be demoralized, even when he or she is wrong. Start the conversation with explaining that the parent will not get upset at what the teen has to say, they only want to hear what they were thinking at the time of transgression. This encourages the teen to believe that he or she is heard. What they have to say is the truth, as they know it. Keep in mind teens have not yet experienced many situations and have not learned many truths as adults have. To this end, it makes parents protective of their children's hearts and emotions. However, certain things teenagers will have to come to terms with, as well as realizations they must have for themselves at some point or another. When a parent feels as though they have failed at protecting, and a teen is disobedient, it automatically upsets the parent. As hard as it may be, hold back the bark, and empathize with the teen.

Share some level of understanding for their untrained mind and immature ways of thinking. Place oneself in that age as the teen. Share a story of the past and relay the lesson learned. Explain the reason of protectiveness. Explain the level of consequences, not as a mere punishment but as a learning lesson. Be sure to talk with the teen and not at the teen. The key is receptiveness; otherwise, there is no point in having the conversation.

Enter discussion forums with other parents struggling with teen communication, or take a look at some of the resources provided to teens and parents in some of the leading troubled youth programs.

Communicating with a teen has to be constructive, consistent, and careful. It is like walking on ice, once one falls through it takes a while for the ice to reform.

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How to Communicate with a Troubled Teen: Troubled Youth Programs Discussion - ERA is a Licensed Residential Treatment Center for Troubled Teens

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How to Communicate with a Troubled Teen: Troubled Youth Programs Discussion All troubled youth programs know that dealing with a troubled teen can often feel like a never-ending battle. Communication can be virtually non-existent or reduced to elevated arguments. Not all troubled teens are destined for an intervention from the authorities or psychiatrists.

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Understanding challenging behaviour in children for residential child care workers | Social Care Wales

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Information for residential child care workers about understanding and responding to challenging behaviour in children

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Essential reading regarding theories of reflective practice

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The purpose of reflective practice

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Medicines policy updated

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xxxRCC 3.4 effctive communication [Autosaved] [Autosaved]

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Assessment framework

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Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families

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Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families

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Dimensions of Child's Developmental Needs

Health

Includes growth and development as well as physical and mental wellbeing. The impact of genetic factors and of any impairment needs to be considered. Involves receiving appropriate health care when ill, an adequate and nutritious diet, exercise, immunisations (where appropriate) and developmental checks, dental and optical care and, for older children, appropriate advice and information on issues that have an impact on health, including sex education and substance misuse.

Education

Covers all areas of a child's cognitive development which begins from birth. Includes opportunities:

For play and interaction with other children;

To have access to books;

To acquire a range of skills and interests;

To experience success and achievement.

Involves an adult interested in educational activities, progress and achievements, who takes account of the child's starting point and any special educational needs.

Emotional and Behavioural Development

Concerns the appropriateness of response demonstrated in feelings and actions by a child, initially to parents and care givers and, as the child grows older, to others beyond the family. Includes nature and quality of early attachments, characteristics of temperament, adaptation to change, response to stress and degree of appropriate self-control

Identity

Concerns the child's growing sense of self as a separate and valued person. Includes the child's view of self and abilities, self-image and self-esteem, and having a positive sense of individuality. Race religion, age, gender, sexuality and disability may all contribute to this. Feelings of belonging and acceptance by family, peer group and wider society, including other cultural groups.

Family and Social Relationships

Development of empathy and the capacity to place self in someone else's shoes. Includes a stable and affectionate relationship with parents or care givers, good relationships with siblings, increasing importance of age appropriate friendships with peers and other significant persons in the child's life and response of family to these relationships.

Social Presentation

Concerns child's growing understanding of the way in which appearance, behaviour, and any impairment are perceived by the outside world and the impression being created. Includes appropriateness of dress for age, gender, culture and religion; cleanliness and personal hygiene; and availability of advice from parents or care givers about presentation in different settings.

Self Care Skills

Concerns the acquisition by a child of practical, emotional and communication competencies required for increasing independence. Includes early practical skills of dressing and feeding, opportunities to gain confidence and practical skills to undertake activities away from the family and independent living skills as older children. Includes encouragement to acquire social problem solving approaches. Special attention should be given to the impact of a child's impairment and other vulnerabilities, and on social circumstances affecting these in the development of self care skills.

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1.9 Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families

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Gertrude Wilson and social group work. Gertrude Wilson was a pivotal figure in the development of the theory and practice of group work during the 1940s and 1950s. Here we briefly assess her contribution.

Contents: Gertrude Wilson · on group work · conclusion · bibliography · how to cite this article.

Gertrude Wilson (1895-1984) was born in Dana, Illinois. In 1914 she entered Illinois (Women's) College, a small denominational institution in Jacksonville, Illinois, earning an A.B. in 1918. She then joined the University of Chicago and earned a Ph.D. in 1920. At Chicago she was influenced by philosopher John Dewey and sociologist Robert E. Park. She taught in high school for a couple of years, and then joined the YWCA in 1922. (All biographical details are taken from Greenwood 1985 et al).

Within the Young Women's Christian Association Gertrude Wilson started as a secretary (in Allentown, Pennsylvania) and later became a program director (Buffalo, New York) and then administrator of the Chicago YWCA's program for young women in industry. She studied part-time and gained an MA in 1938 from the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration. Janice Andrews (2001) has reported that Gertrude Wilson was attracted to the role of the group in promoting democratic ideals while a student at the University of Chicago. However, Sophinisba Breckenridge, one of her social work teachers there, argued that Wilson was "wasting" herself by being a person who worked with groups'. Gertrude Wilson retained her interest in the possibilities of the group as a milieu for problem solving. She became active in the American Association for the Study of Group Work.

In 1935 Gertrude Wilson became an Assistant Professor at Western Reserve University's School of Applied Social Sciences. There she joined, among others, Grace Coyle, to teach social group work. In 1938 she became a Professor and later an Associate Dean. While there she wrote two of her seminal publications: Case Work and Group Work (1942) and in 1949 Social Group Work Practice, co-authored with Gladys Ryland (Ryland was a colleague at Pittsburgh and went on to work for the YWCA).

Gertrude Wilson joined School of Social Welfare at Berkeley in 1951 as Professor and Director of Social Welfare Extension. She had the task of developing a professional education program for the professionally untrained social worker. She set up the "Certificate Program in the Social Services" which consisted of four sequential courses extending over two years and culminated in a two-week seminar in residence on the Berkeley campus. She also taught a course in social group work theory and practice. While at Berkeley she conducted several nationwide surveys of social work practice. Among the latter were the survey of recreational and group work services for the 1950 White House Conference on Children and Youth (Wilson 1951), and the mid-1950's survey of group work practice for the National Association of Social Workers (Wilson 1956). She retired in 1963 but continued to be involved in community activities. Gertrude Wilson died in 1984 after a five year battle with cancer.

On group work

Gertrude Wilson's first major publication Case Work and Group Work (1942) gained her an enthusiastic audience among certain sectors of US social work. As Greenwood et al (1985) have noted, when she began writing, social-work practice was dominated by casework (focusing on the intra-psychic problems of individuals and was rooted in psychoanalytic theory). Wilson 'was among the first to oppose this view, arguing that personal problems originate not only in internal, but also in external, sources. Hence, no single ameliorative method suffices'. Case Work and Group Work argued for an integrated approach. Case work and group work were presented as being aspects of the helping process. She demonstrated that they draw upon many of the same basic concepts from the behavioural sciences as well as from dynamic psychology; and that there were key common skills. As Reid (1963: 148) has commented, the book:

... led caseworkers to experiment with groups, and it resulted in the introduction of group services into agencies that had formerly provided help on a one-to-one basis. It also served as a reminder to group workers that a significant amount of time was spent working with individuals and that similarities far outweighed differences.

At the National Conference on Social Work in 1942 Gertrude Wilson looked to the use of group work in bring about changes in the values of individuals and society as a whole. She argued that group work was a process through which group life was influenced by a worker who directed the process toward the accomplishment of a social goal conceived in a democratic philosophy (Reid 1981: 143). She defined group work as:

[1] developmental, as it provided for normal social growth;

[2] protective or corrective, in that it could be offered to people without groups; and

[3] instrumental in achieving of socially desirable ends. By understanding the personality of each member, the worker influenced the process within the group, and participation in the process helped members use the group for their own growth and development. ( op cit)

She viewed group work as a social work method rather than a movement and argued for continued research into practice.

In 1949, after a number of years work, Gertrude Wilson and Gladys Ryland published Social Group Work Practice. This book was to have a formidable effect. Dubbed the 'Green Bible' (after the colour of its cover) it was arguably the most influential book on group work within social work. It was also one of the most substantial. Within its 700 pages there was a detailed discussion of the social group work method; analysis of different programme media (including play and leisure activities, games, dance and music, story telling and dramatics, and arts and crafts, trips and the out-of-doors); a series of detailed case studies; and an exploration of supervisory and administrative processes. As such it provided a rich resource for social work training programmes and for social workers wanting to deepen and expand their working processes. Significantly, much of the case study material was drawn from work in 'recreational and informal educational agencies' as, 'quantitatively speaking', more social group work was practiced in these areas (Wilson and Ryland 1949: ix).

Many of the notions that are familiar today as established nostrums of practice are set out in the book including a discussion of the conscious use of self and the helping process as a generic element. Social group work is portrayed as:

... a method through which the creative use of the social process is achieved. It is a process and a method through which group life is affected by a worker who consciously directs the interaction towards the accomplishment of desirable goals, which in our country are conceived in a democratic frame of reference. And the goals for which the social group work method is used are both individual and social, in that the process of social group work is directed, first, toward helping individuals participate in a qualitative group relationship which enables them to become more effective social beings, and second toward helping the group-as-a-whole to achieve ends significant to the growth and development of a more democratic society. (Wilson and Ryland 1949: 622)

This conceptualization is interesting both in the emphasis upon intervention and direction on the part of the worker, and the extent to which individual outcomes are valued. To a significant degree these emphases derive from what might be called a social work frame of reference and contrast with more facilitative, dialogical and group-oriented perspectives of informal educators such as youth workers and community development workers. Grace Coyle had similarly looked to the impact of the group on the individual, but had retained a stronger focus on the associational power of groups. However, many subsequent writers and much practice was stubbornly individualistic in nature and continue to ignore the social (as they had done for many years as C. Wright Mills memorably pointed out in his essay on 'The professional ideology of social pathologists').

Conclusion

Gertrude Wilson's contribution to the establishment of social group work within social work in the United States was pivotal. She was able to articulate the relationship between group work and case work, and she provided the practice text for workers (with Gladys Ryland). Her conceptualization of group work as a method of social work was influential in shifting the overarching frame of reference away from recreational and informal educational activity.

Bibliography

Andrews, J. (2001) 'Group work's place in social work: a historical analysis', Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m0CYZ/4_28/83530630/p1/article.jhtml.

Greenwood, E., Chernin, M. and Stewart, K. (1985) 'Gertrude Wilson, Social Welfare, Berkeley', University of California In Memoriam, Accessed January 2, 2004.

Mills, C. W. (1943) 'The professional ideology of social pathologists', American Journal of Sociology 49(2).

Reid, K. E. (1981) From Character Building to Social Treatment. The history of the use of groups in social work, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

Wilson, Gertrude (1941) Group work and case work, their relationship and practice, New York, Family Welfare Association of America.

Wilson, Gertrude (1945) A bibliography on group work, New York: Association Press.

Wilson, Gertrude and Ryland, Gladys (1949) Social group work practice; the creative use of the social process, Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co.

Wilson, G. (1951) Recreational and informal educational service. Prepared for the Midcentury White House Conference on Children and Youth, New York: American Association of Group Workers.

Wilson, Gertrude (1956) The Practice of Social Group Work. New York: National Association of Social Workers.

Acknowledgements: The picture 'Ari is facilitating' was taken by Shira Golding and is reproduced under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic licence. It can be found on Flickr.com: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boojee/2668136741/.
Links
Gertrude Wilson Group Work papers, Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

How to cite this article: Smith, M. K. (2004). 'Gertrude Wilson and social group work', The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education. [ https://infed.org/mobi/gertrude-wilson-and-social-group-work/. Retrieved: insert date].

© Mark K. Smith 2004

Last Updated on

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Contents: Gertrude Wilson · on group work · conclusion · bibliography · how to cite this article. Gertrude Wilson (1895-1984) was born in Dana, Illinois. In 1914 she entered Illinois (Women's) College, a small denominational institution in Jacksonville, Illinois, earning an A.B. in 1918. She then joined the University of Chicago and earned a Ph.D.

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One of the major challenges facing professionals involved in the education and care of children in the UK concerns how best to meet the needs of troubled, vulnerable and disadvantaged children who are struggling at school and who have, for...

One of the major challenges facing professionals involved in the education and care of children in the UK concerns how best to meet the needs of troubled, vulnerable and disadvantaged children who are struggling at school and who have, for whatever reason, become disengaged from what schools have to offer.

In recent years it is evident that the educational policy climate within which schools are judged has become overwhelmingly focused on their pupils' academic qualifications. This pupil attainment target-driven climate, together with an aggressive style of Ofsted inspection coupled with the threat of school closure based on low pupil attainment, has made it increasingly difficult for schools to devote time, effort and resources to meet the needs of troubled pupils.

It says much for the sheer professionalism of many teachers that they are doing as much as they can within such a climate to provide support, care and encouragement to troubled pupils.

It's hard to believe how much the climate has changed in recent years, when just ten years ago the Labour government was exploring ways in which all those professionals who work with children, including teachers and support staff, social workers, health care practitioners, the police and youth justice personnel, educational psychologists, and mental health workers (referred to collectively as the children's workforce) could work together across professional boundaries to look at how best to support troubled pupils. The phrase used very much at the time was that the educational, health, welfare and social care services should be "wrapped around the needs of the child".

Prompted by the introduction in schools of the Every Child Matters agenda in 2004, the Labour government explored the use of 'social pedagogy' - an approach widely practised in mainland Europe where a trusted adult seeks to help and support a troubled child. Such an approach is focused on the needs of each child in a way that looks at the bigger picture - it considers their educational, health and welfare needs as a whole; their family and care setting; their personal and social development as well as their academic progress; whether the child feels included within the mainstream of society; the child's long term prospects, including their opportunities for employment and access to post-16 education and training; how the child relates to others - their parents or carers, their teachers, and their peers; and finally, and perhaps most importantly of all, it considers whether the child has regular contact with a trusted and caring adult.

Social pedagogy has a long history of theory and practice in mainland Europe, and has its roots in social, political and philosophical writings concerning how best to create a healthy community within with all individuals feel empowered, respected, included, and can take their place in contributing to the health of the society within which they live. Typical activities with troubled children include mentoring; offering advice and direct help; liaising with others and offering advocacy on behalf of the pupil; and shared creative and social activities designed to enhance the pupil's personal development, social engagement, and wellbeing.

The practice of social pedagogy in the UK has continued to grow steadily amongst education and welfare professionals. Some excellent examples of social pedagogy in practice can be found in educational and social care settings for children, particularly in residential care for looked after children, pupil referral units, youth and community work, mentoring schemes operated by a range of charities, and in alternative educational provision.

The Labour party is currently reviewing how best to meet the needs of all pupils, and has recognised the particular challenges involved in meeting the needs of troubled pupils. Implicit in much of the policy making is the need to do more to ensure that what is offered is better tailored to meet the specific needs and circumstances of each pupil.

However, what has not been well articulated so far iss the importance played in a child's development by having a relationship with a caring and trusted adult. It would now be timely for the Labour party to include social pedagogy practice as part of its policy strategy for supporting troubled, vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils in schools.
Chris Kyriacou is professor of educational psychology at the University of York Department of Education and vice-chair of the York Fabian Society.

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Education: Helping troubled pupils through social pedagogy | Fabian Society

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One of the major challenges facing professionals involved in the education and care of children in the UK concerns how best to meet the needs of troubled, vulnerable and disadvantaged children who are struggling at school and who have, for...

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What social pedagogy means

Social Pedagogy offers a values-led approach to relationship-centred practice that aims to holistically support people's well-being, learning and social inclusion. At the heart of Social Pedagogy lies a belief that each person deserves to be treated with human dignity and possesses unique inner resources and potential, which we can help them unfold. To do so requires meaningful and authentic relationships that enable us to recognise a person's potential, their qualities, strengths and interests, and to create learning situations in which people can experience their resourcefulness and develop new abilities. This is why Social Pedagogy is often translated as education in the broadest sense of the term, with a focus on learning in the 'everyday'.

In much of continental Europe, and across Latin America, there is a strong tradition of Social Pedagogy as an academic discipline and field of practice across a variety of educational and care settings: from the early years, through to schools, residential child care, play and youth work, community and family support, social work, employment support, addiction work, prisons, support for people with disabilities, and care for the elderly. At first sight, some of these settings may not seem to have much in common. Yet, there is a shared ethical underpinning, an understanding that in any of those settings we can make a positive difference not just for the individuals, but indeed for society as a whole if we create an environment that enhances well-being, supports learning, human growth and social inclusion through empowering relationships. In this sense, Social Pedagogy seeks to find educational solutions to social issues by connecting individuals to society and promoting social justice.

The value of Social Pedagogy lies in the fact that it is more than just an approach to social care and social work practice; it offers a coherent conceptual framework and ethical orientation that strengthens existing practice and enables professionals to navigate challenging and complex situations with a clear sense of purpose and direction. Whilst it can provide professionals with a broad range of methods to use, it ensures that their focus is on the deeper purpose of supporting well-being, learning and social inclusion - and selecting or developing methods that contribute to these aims and seem meaningful within a given practice situation. This is why Social Pedagogy can enhance other current approaches frequently used in UK practice, such as systemic practice, strengths-based, person-centred and risk-sensible models. It is the guiding principle and foundation on which 'everyday' practice is built on and influences how professionals then understand and use the approaches mentioned above.

Origins

The term 'pedagogy' stems from the Greek terms país (child) and ágõ (to lead, to guide). 'Social' pedagogy has grown organically out of a longstanding tradition of educational philosophers, social thinkers and practitioners who were concerned with creating a more just society through educational means. Social pedagogy therefore aims to connect each person to society, with society supporting its most disadvantaged members and each individual taking responsibility for wider society. It aims to create the conditions in which each person can grow and become both more independence and integrated. As this is a lifelong process, social pedagogues work within a range of different settings, from early years through adolescence to working with disadvantaged adult groups as well as older people. Consequently, what exactly social pedagogy means depends very much on the context or setting. Social pedagogues who are working with marginalised adults will draw on other specialisms and theories than social pedagogues working with very young children, but they will be connected through a shared ethos and principles underpinning their social pedagogical orientation.

Social pedagogy is very closely related to society and reflects cultural attitudes and traditions in many ways. It provides clues about how a given society thinks about children's upbringing, the relationship between the individual and society, and how society supports its disadvantaged or marginalised members. This is why social pedagogy has developed in somewhat different ways across different countries over time - and why a Spanish social pedagogue might explain it in slightly different ways than a Swedish social pedagogue.

Irrespective of the cultural contexts and the different settings in which social pedagogues can work, there are shared underpinning principles: What connects all social pedagogies is the way of thinking, the philosophy and (congruence between values and actions) with which different methods are used. What characterizes social pedagogy in practice depends not so much on what is done but on how it is done and with what rationale. This means that social pedagogy is both a science and an art form - it's not just a skill to learn but needs to be brought to life through the social pedagogue's Haltung.

This perspective of social pedagogy means that it is dynamic, creative, and process-orientated rather than mechanical, procedural, and automated. It demands from social pedagogues to be a whole person, not just a pair of hands. It also offers an insight into how we can develop social pedagogy in the UK: following the same principles, we need to put people at the heart and connect to their Haltung. And we can only construct a social pedagogy for the UK together, in dialogue with each other. Only then can it offer a holistic overarching conceptual framework that can guide professional practice in a meaningful way. And only then can we capture the spirit of social pedagogy which makes it an art, not a method.

Social Pedagogy Standards

Over the last decade, much effort has gone into developing a clearer understanding of what the principles and practices of social pedagogues and social pedagogy practitioners in the UK are. In 2016, as part of a UCL Institute of Education-led project called Scaling Up Social Pedagogy, we consulted widely with professionals engaged in social pedagogy as practitioners, students, managers, academics or policy-makers to compile social pedagogy standards. These standards are held by the Social Pedagogy Professional Association.

Standards - Philosophy and Haltung

These threshold standards address the philosophy underpinning of Social Pedagogy and the Haltung we expect Social Pedagogy Practitioners and Social Pedagogues to develop and maintain in their practice. These standards should be held in a person's heart and guide their way of living and working.

As a Social Pedagogy Practitioner / Social Pedagogue, I agree to:

1. Develop and nurture an attitude of empathy and regard for people and cultures and the world of which we are a part

2. Foster relationships that respect human dignity and promote human rights, mutuality and well-being

3. Recognise the inherent resourcefulness and potential of human beings to bring about change

4. Appreciate that human relationships, in all their complexity, are intrinsically valuable and therefore central to Social Pedagogy

5. Enable people to use their voices and effect change within their own lives and wider society

6. Understand and work with the tensions inherent in valuing individual autonomy and social interdependence

7. Engage with social and political aspects of human development, childhood and community

8. Educate for community through community

9. Develop an attitude of professional curiosity and critical self-reflection

10. Be open to and informed of new theory, research and good practice relevant to social pedagogical practice

11. Use situated professional judgment and maintain appropriate confidentiality

12. Understand issues relating to the protection of vulnerable individuals, groups and communities and address social inequalities

13. Recognise the value of creativity, playfulness and adventure

14. Be accountable for my practice, engage in meaning-making and know when to seek advice

Standards - Practice

These standards represent the threshold level of practice for Social Pedagogy Practitioners and Social Pedagogues. We expect their employing organisations to provide a working culture and support that enables Social Pedagogy Practitioners and Social Pedagogues to apply these standards within their practice.

As a Social Pedagogy Practitioner / Social Pedagogue, I agree to:

1. Engage with others in ways that respect their equal value and human dignity, understanding the part played by personal communication in supporting this

2. Make decisions with a high degree of situation awareness, recognising the complex factors involved in different circumstances

3. Recognise and respect that personal histories, characteristics and social and political contexts have brought each person and group to their current understanding of the world

4. Invite, consider and integrate multiple perspectives in decision making as a means of deepening social justice, community and well-being

5. Create opportunities and contexts for people to actively participate in society, express their own views and listen to those of others

6. Hold my relationship with the people I work with and support in the foreground in all my practice

7. Value the opportunities that everyday activities provide for developing relationships

8. Facilitate learning processes that enhance well-being and enable individuals to find meaning and purpose in their everyday lives

9. Work collaboratively and be willing to both support and challenge colleagues

10. Use theory and research in my everyday practice

11. Support the individuals, groups and communities I work with to realise their hopes and aspirations by identifying, with them, the steps required to meet their goals

12. Adapt my practice to take account of the physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, social and cultural needs and strengths of individuals, groups and communities, in keeping with the principles of social pedagogy

13. Practice safely and competently within the legal and ethical boundaries of my profession

14. Take into account relevant social policy and at the same time bring critical awareness to any tensions existing between our values and such policies.

15. Support community development by encouraging networking and connections through participatory processes that draw on the community's resourcefulness.

16. Promote inter-professional dialogue and co-operation across settings and agencies.

You can find these as a downloadable document here.

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Social Pedagogy - ThemPra Social Pedagogy

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Social pedagogy is based on principles around holistic learning and well-being. Here we provide more details.

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I was delighted to be invited to a Parliamentary reception at the House of Commons recently on social pedagogy. If you're wondering what that is - read on! There were quite a few social workers there and I was inspired by how well the methodology chimes with strengths based social work practice and the exemplification of practice leadership when working directly with people we are privileged to serve. I am delighted that Ali Gardner, a senior lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, has agreed to post the first of a series of occasional blogs exploring social pedagogy and social work practice leadership.
Ali: The title of this blog post is also the most common reaction I receive when I tell people I work in the field of social pedagogy, so here's a helpful definition right at the start:

"Social pedagogy describes a holistic and relationship-centred way of working in care and educational settings with people across the course of their lives...it has a long-standing tradition as a field of practice and academic discipline concerned with addressing social inequality and facilitating social change by nurturing learning, well-being and connection both at an individual and community level."

Social pedagogy is based on humanistic values. It is primarily concerned with well-being, learning and growth and seeks to recognise and promote individual potential. It is underpinned by the concept of 'Haltung', a German phrase roughly translating as 'mindset' or 'attitude'.

At a time when social work is struggling to assert its unique contribution in the face of increasing pressures and austerity, it has never been more important to strengthen the meaning and purpose of working alongside individuals, families and their communities.

In my work with students and practitioners, I am frequently told they share the principles of social pedagogy and try to embed them in their practice. This is a good starting point and it is encouraging that many practitioners still hold fire in their bellies to promote, protect and deliver social justice.
It's all about relationships
Social workers often describe the importance of relationships and supporting individuals to effect change in their own lives. However, they also reference the lack of agency in making professional judgements about the focus and nature of their work.

This leads to a form of practice where power remains firmly in the hands of the professional determining the format and sequence of each intervention. This reinforces notions of fixing problems and working from a deficit model in which the professional 'knows best'.

Social pedagogy, on the other hand, promotes educational solutions to social problems. Education in this sense does not refer to the professional, teaching an individual how to change, but instead focuses on supporting them in finding ways to enhance their wellbeing.
The wellbeing narrative
Wellbeing as a concept has taken central stage in adult social care narratives. The Care Act (2014) and subsequent policies have cemented this notion, promoting a strength based approach to social care. Within this approach, there is an expectation that individuals are supported to identify and design support that enhances their wellbeing.

Practitioners recognise that nothing is fixed when we enter the lives of others but we draw upon what we feel is required to engage with others in a given context. In social pedagogy there is a commonly used phrase 'It depends'. Instead of viewing this phrase as flaky and lacking conviction, it calls for practitioners to show courage, integrity, confidence and leadership in aligning their practice to values rather than instrumental processes. The graphic below captures this notion.
Wellbeing teams and social pedagogy
Having a shared professional timeline in learning disability, person centred practice, self-directed support and personalisation with wellbeing teams founder Helen Sanderson, we have discussed our philosophies, theories, approaches, frustrations and hopes in relation to adult social care.

It was during one such discussion that the synergy between social pedagogy and the development of Wellbeing Teams became apparent. For both of us, social pedagogy provided a language to understand, articulate and apply many of the values and beliefs that have shaped our professional careers

Wellbeing Teams were established in 2016 by Helen and are currently operating in several areas across the country. The model aims to provide person centred care and support to people and to connect them with their communities. The teams are small and neighbourhood based and provide a flexible and responsive approach to meeting individual needs.

Social pedagogy has provided an important language in which words such as happiness, friendship, belonging and love can be used when describing a professional approach to one's work.

I hope I never get bored of being asked the 'social what?' question and I dream of a day when social pedagogy slips off the tip of the tongue for all of us working in health and social care.

More about Ali
Ali Gardner is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire. She teaches on the Social Work programme and the newly developed Social Pedagogy programme.

Ali has worked as a social worker, policy development officer and lecturer throughout her career as well as a Director of an Advocacy Project and a Social Work Advisor to Well Being Teams.

Ali has written academic texts relating to Personalisation and is awaiting the release of her new Sage publication Social Pedagogy and Social Work with her colleague Lowis Charfe. Together, Ali and Lowis have also been part of the development of a MOOC supporting the international development of Social Pedagogy.
For more information about any of the new social pedagogy programmes click the links below: MA social pedagogy leadership BA Hons social pedagogy advocacy participation

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I was delighted to be invited to a Parliamentary reception at the House of Commons recently on social pedagogy. If you're wondering what that is - read on! There were quite a few social workers there and I was inspired by how well the methodology chimes with strengths based social work practice and the exemplification of practice leadership when working directly with people we are privileged to serve.