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Purpose: Effectively engaging parents under stress is a key component of skilful child welfare practice. This paper aims to investigate how social workers practice with parents with either high or normal levels of stress. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a mixed methods design including observations and audio recordings of meetings between families and social workers, interviews with parents/carers and questionnaires with social workers. Validated instruments, including the general health questionnaire (GHQ) for stress levels and the working alliance inventory (WAI), were used to explore how levels of stress influence practice. Findings: Data from 366 families found twice as many parents had clinically elevated GHQ scores compared to the general population (40% to about 20%). Stressed parents reported significantly less good working relationships with social workers [WAI, for the less stressed parents/carers, M = 65.3 vs highly stressed M = 60.6, t(324) = 2.407, p = 0.017, d = 0.28]. When quality of practice was directly measured, workers showed higher level of relationship skills with the less stressed group [t(291) = 1.71, p = 0.44, d = 0.205]. Originality/value: This study explored the interaction between practitioner skills and family factors influencing engagement, such as stress and anxiety. Engagement with stressed families may be particularly challenging, making it all the more important to understand how social workers engage such families to provide effective help and support. A better understanding of the parent-worker relationship under stress can lead to the development of training and practice strategies aimed at overcoming barriers in family engagement. This study also highlights the need for practice to re-focus on the relational elements and the emotional well-being of families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rate of children in care in Wales is one of the highest in the world and has increased considerably in the past two decades. Whilst many factors may be driving these increases, there is considerable variation between local authorities. This article presents findings from a survey completed by children's social care workers in Wales (n  = 792). It compares the views, values and responses to case study vignettes of workers in authorities with increasing to those with decreasing care rates over five years (2016–2020). Statistically significant differences were found relating to the values and the practices of workers, with workers in local authorities with reducing rates having stronger pro-family values, less risk averse responses to case vignettes, more confidence in the decisions made in their local authority and being more positive about support for practice. The findings indicate that variations in local authority values and practices may influence the rate of children in care and that some with significant social problems seem able to avoid the large numbers of children in care found in other authorities. The challenge faced in Wales and the UK is how local authorities can learn from one another to ensure consistency and quality in services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although children's social care is an area rich in guidance, there is very little research looking at the implementation of new policies in the United Kingdom. In this article, we report on the first stage of a realist evaluation of the implementation of the new Safeguarding Children from Child Sexual Exploitation guidance in Wales. We discuss the development of an initial programme theory, for which we conducted semi‐structured interviews with practitioners and managers in three local authorities. We developed programme theories across three areas: policy nature and development, implementation plans and organizational context. Findings suggest that, for policies to produce a significant impact on practice, they need to be sufficiently different to social workers' current perceptions of practice. Second, we found that the coordination between national and local policies is critical for successful implementation as contradictions between them might lead to confusion in what local teams should prioritize. Finally, our findings highlight the importance of effective communication of policy changes, as well as a supportive organizational culture to strengthen implementation in local contexts. These findings illustrate the complexity of policy implementation and the need for policymakers to consider the meaningful involvement of local practitioners in national policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Child and family social workers in the UK work closely with other agencies including schools and the police, and typically they are based in local authority offices. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of placing social workers in schools (SWIS) on the need for social care interventions. SWIS was piloted in three local authorities in 2018–2020, and findings from a feasibility study of the pilots suggests SWIS may operate through three key pathways: (1) by enhancing schools' response to safeguarding issues, (2) through increased collaboration between social workers, school staff, and parents, and (3) by improving relationships between social workers and young people. Methods: The study is a two-arm pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial building on three feasibility studies which found SWIS to be promising. Social workers will work within secondary schools across local authorities in England. 280 mainstream secondary schools will be randomly allocated with a 1:1 ratio to SWIS or a comparison arm, which will be schools that continue as normal, without a social worker. The primary outcome will be the rate of Child Protection (Section 47) enquiries. Secondary outcomes will comprise rate of referrals to children's social care, rate of Child in Need (Section 17) assessments, days spent in care, and educational attendance and attainment. The study also includes an economic evaluation, and an implementation and process evaluation. Social care outcomes will be measured in July 2022, and educational outcomes will be measured in July 2023. Days in care will be measured at both time points. Discussion: Findings will explore the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of SWIS on the need for social care interventions. A final report will be published in January 2024. Trial registration: The study was registered retrospectively with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number registry on 13.11.2020 (ISRCTN90922032). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher levels of 'service user' satisfaction are associated with more positive outcomes in many service settings. They are also an important measure of service quality in their own right. In this article, we report the results from a survey of 500 parents in relation to statutory child and family social work services in the UK. Our primary outcome measure was the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire, a valid instrument that has been used in a range of settings and types of service. Parents overall had relatively low levels of satisfaction, compared with research in other settings. Levels of dissatisfaction were higher for parents from lower socio-economic groups and parents of adolescents. The small number of parents in our survey who received short-breaks or residential care for their children gave higher satisfaction ratings. An important limitation of these results is that the sample is not representative. Parents from higher socio-economic groups were over-represented compared with the general population and were therefore very overrepresented compared with the population of families who receive a statutory social work service. These findings nevertheless suggest that parents are likely to be dissatisfied with the services they received and suggest a pressing need for more representative data to understand the experiences of parents across the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social workers are constantly predicting the future. In England and Wales there is a legal duty on them to do so, as the 1989 Children Act requires workers to assess not only whether children have suffered significant harm, but also whether they are likely to do so. Similarly, in Northern Ireland social workers are required by The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 to do the same. On a more mundane level, social workers are constantly making predictions about whether a parent might use and benefit from a particular service, whether there will be a further incident of domestic violence or even whether a family will be in (or not) for a home visit. Yet predicting the future is hard and doing so with complete accuracy is impossible. Social work is not the only area where prediction is necessary. In the Good Judgment Project, forecasts made by experts were found, over relatively long timeframes, to be no better than chance. On the other hand, some forecasters were able to outperform not only chance but also highly trained intelligence analysts with access to classified data. Clearly, human judgment is often highly fallible but, in the right conditions, can be incredibly helpful. Might it be possible to improve social work forecasts about the future? This paper considers key issues in theorising prediction in social work, including conceptions of risk, free will and self-determination. It then turns to practical issues, such as the relationship between forecasting and decision-making, and considers some possible research methods and issues associated with them. To illustrate the potential of this approach we describe how we have started to explore the face-validity value of this approach with social workers and how we have measured the accuracy of forecasting in social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is relatively little research on the communication skills that social workers use in direct practice with families. This study explores patterns of practice skill found in child and family social work home visits. The study analysed 127 practice interactions in family homes, coding for seven dimensions of worker skill using a coding framework drawn from motivational interviewing. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to establish patterns of skill within the data and to group key dimensions of skill. The findings make two contributions. First, three fundamental dimensions of good practice emerged, which we characterize as care and engagement, good authority, and support for behaviour change. Second, in exploring the relationship between "care" and "control" elements of social work, skilled social workers were able to combine good authority and empathic engagement, whereas those who were less skilled in use of authority were also less good at engagement. This contributes to debates about care and control in social work. The usefulness of these dimensions for conceptualizing practice in child and family social work is discussed and directions for further research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication skills are fundamental to social work, yet few studies have directly evaluated their impact. In this study, we explore the relationship between skills and outcomes in 127 families. An observation of practice was undertaken on the second or third meeting with a family. Practice quality was evaluated in relation to seven skills, which were grouped into three dimensions: relationship building, good authority and evocation of intrinsic motivation. Outcomes at approximately six months were parent-reported engagement (Working Alliance Inventory), Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), an eleven-point family life satisfaction rating, the Family Environment Scale and General Health Questionnaire and service outcomes from agency records including children entering care. Relationship-building skills predicted parent-reported engagement, although good authority and evocation had stronger relationships with outcome measures. Where workers visited families more often, relationships between skills and outcomes were stronger, in part because workers had more involvement and in part because these families were more likely to have significant problems. The relationship between skills and outcomes was complicated, although the findings provide encouraging evidence that key social work skills have an influence on outcomes for families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely accepted that empathy is important for social work practice, yet there are multiple dimensions of empathy and comparatively few studies of empathy as a component of social work skill. To date, published studies have been quantitative, and as a result, we know little about how social workers demonstrate empathy in practice or what skilled empathic practice in child and family social work might sound like. This study contributes to the development of understanding of empathy as a social work skill through a mixed‐methods analysis of 110 audio recordings of meetings in a child protection service between workers and parents, applying a coding framework for analysis. Findings indicate that workers who demonstrate higher levels of empathy skill use more open questions and reflections in their communication with parents. Further, they demonstrate curiosity about and make efforts to understand parents' often difficult experiences, including a focus on emotions. That the majority of workers were found not to demonstrate a high level of empathy skill presents concerns to be considered by the social work profession. A deeper understanding of empathy presents an opportunity for an increased focus in organizations to enable workers to demonstrate empathy towards families they work with. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Working Alliance Inventory remains a widely studied measure of quality of therapeutic relationships between the practitioner and client. No prior study has examined the psychometrics and validity of the Working Alliance Inventory–Short (WAI-S) in a sample of families, social workers, and trained observers within child protection services. Surveys were completed by 130 families, social workers concerning 274 cases, and observers following 165 home visits during the first wave of data collected from a randomized controlled trial of child protection services. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on three versions of the WAI-S and demonstrated moderate to good model fit. Convergent construct validity was found with other standardized measures. Results support the use of the WAI-S during in child protection services practice and research. Future research into family engagement in child protection social work services should focus on the working relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supervision is fundamental to the social work profession. However, increasing concern has been expressed over the managerial capture of local authority social work and the use of supervision as a way of enabling management oversight (or surveillance) of practice. Despite the importance of supervision, we have little evidence about what happens when managers and child and family social workers meet to discuss casework and less about how supervision influences practice. In this study, 34 supervision case discussions were recorded. Detailed descriptions are given of what happens in supervision. Overall, case discussions operated primarily as a mechanism for management oversight and provided limited opportunity for reflection, emotional support or critical thinking. With reference to organizational context, it is suggested that these deficits result from a system that focuses too much on 'what and when' things happen and not enough on 'how and why'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Parental resistance is a ubiquitous feature of child and family social work, yet there has been limited research or theoretical work directed at the issue. This paper identifies social and individual reasons why parents may be resistant. Five principle causes of parental resistance are discussed, namely social structure and disadvantage, the context of child protection work, parental resistance to change, denial or minimization of abuse or neglect and the behaviour of the social worker. It is argued that motivational interviewing (MI) provides particularly useful skills and concepts for firstly reducing the social worker contribution to resistance and secondly minimizing the resistance related to other reasons for resistance. Key adaptations required in the strategic aims of MI if it is to be used in child protection work are identified and discussed, the most important of which is maintaining a focus on the child's welfare and safety. It is concluded that MI offers an opportunity to improve practice by increasing parental engagement and to make a contribution to social work theory by combining an attention to both broader social structure and the micro-skills required in social work interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the most rigorous test of effectiveness for any intervention. This article considers RCTs as policy projects, and outlines the key elements of effective delivery of interventions within an RCT. It is argued that conceptualizing RCTs as practice delivery projects provides insights of relevance for effective leadership in social work or other helping professions. Three elements of effective RCT delivery are suggested to be crucial: (a) a theory about the nature of the issues being worked with and how people can be helped by professionals; (b) a detailed description of practice that ßows from this and (c) skills development and monitoring methods for ensuring practitioners are delivering practice in this way. These are argued to be key components required for effective leadership in social work. Finally, it is suggested that vvhile there is increasing focus on the common elements within specific interventions there has been a neglect of the common features associated with their delivery. Attention to these might help explain the 'Dodo bird effect', in which different interventions often prove to be equally effective, and thereby enrich our appreciation of what works, for whom and why. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editors discusses various research studies within the issue on topics including women outpatient in New York undergoing treatment for problems on drug or alcohol substances, the experiences of parents who used crack cocaine and its impact on their parenting, and interventions on individuals using substances.

There is limited research in the United Kingdom on how well prepared social workers are for working with substance use issues. This study set out to explore the views of newly qualified social workers on the extent to which their qualifying programme prepared them for practice with people using alcohol or drugs. It also sought to identify their future training needs and identify examples of good practice among qualifying programmes. A self-completion questionnaire was developed and disseminated via email to 2,914 newly qualified social workers in England; 284 questionnaires were returned. Findings suggested that most respondents considered themselves inadequately prepared for working with substance use and misuse issues. They reported having very little input during qualifying education and identified a range of future training needs. Few examples of good practice were identified. In light of these findings, social work academics and employers need to recognise this serious gap in knowledge and act quickly to ensure social workers are able to meet their service users' needs confidently and competently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an evaluation of a training workshop on developing social work in Jordan. Literature on transnational collaboration provided a context for the initiative. The evaluation outcomes highlight the transition from informal support to the need for a more structured professional response to social problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In England and Wales, local authorities have a duty under the 1989 Children Act to protect children from significant harm. This study builds on a previous paper that considered patterns of re-referral in cases that were not allocated; it considers re-referrals involving serious concerns about a child. File studies were carried out on 400 consecutive referrals to three local authorities in London that were closed rather than being allocated for long-term work in early 2000. Information on the presence and nature of re-referrals involving concerns about actual or potential ‘significant harm’ in the 27 months after closure (i.e. up to 2002) was noted. Such re-referrals were rare (2.75%). The factors that were statistically associated with them were: previous involvement with Social Services, physical abuse and parental alcohol misuse in the closed referral. These factors were also identified in a descriptive analysis of the re-referrals, though in addition issues not present in the original referral were identified as important, namely parental mental illness and sexual abuse. The findings were encouraging about the effectiveness of initial child protection assessment processes at the time of referral closure. The potential for the factors identified in the analyses to be used in initial risk assessment and their applicability to current policy and practice is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication skills are fundamental to social work practice, yet there is little research on the skills that workers have or how they use them. This study analyses 24 taped interviews between social workers and an actor playing a parent (a ‘simulated client’). Two child protection scenarios with different levels of seriousness were used. On average, social workers asked many closed questions and often raised concerns. They used few reflections and rarely identified positives. In all but one interview, social workers were rated as achieving clarity over issues of concern; however, they tended to demonstrate low levels of empathy. The responses of the simulated client were rated for resistance and information disclosure. The factor that most strongly influenced simulated client responses was empathy. Empathic social workers created less resistance and increased the amount of information disclosed by clients. This was not associated with failure to identify and discuss concerns. Empathy, therefore, appears to be central to good social work communication in child protection situations. Given the comparatively low level of empathy expressed by most participants, development of skills in maintaining empathic communication while raising child protection concerns appears a priority. Practical, theoretical and training implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's social services in England and Wales deal with a wide range of referrals of children who are or may be 'in need'. Finding ways of describing the issues that present in such referrals is important if we wish to understand the nature of the work of children's services and explore different interventions and outcomes. Yet there have been few attempts to describe the full range of needs presenting to social services, and no studies of the reliability or validity of attempts to define the types of need. In this article the legal definitions of need, a typology developed by Sinclair et al, a related one used by the Department of Health and one developed within the current study were compared for reliability and construct validity. There were two main findings. First, it was found that while the presence of needs could generally be agreed on in all the schemes, ascriptions of a 'main' need were not made reliably. This is important because a 'main' need has been used in both research and statistical returns to government. Second, while existing schemes appeared well suited to describing allocated cases, they were less able to describe the range of needs presenting in all referrals to social services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a survey which summarizes the social work literature reported in "British Journal of Social Work" over the past five years from 2000-2004. A total of 262 publications over the 5 years were included. A data collection form was made from the randomly identified papers published in the journal over the period 1995-2004. The data reported referred to clients, practitioners, and other categories. Also included in the data were the relevant client group or area of social work, and client outcomes. Four category schemes considered include qualitative data, quantitative data, combined qualitative/ quantitative data, and discursive papers. The results on the low number and poor quality of studies that combined quantitative and qualitative approaches were found disappointing.

The last 10 years have seen considerable government focus on effective initial assessment processes in the UK. This has been given added impetus by research that found that more than 97% of referrals are closed without allocation for long-term work. Yet there is little research on referrals that are closed and no British study of patterns of re-referral for such children. The current study looks at 400 consecutive referrals to three local authority Social Services Departments in London that were closed rather than being allocated for long-term work. It investigates how many children were re-referred in the 27 months after closure and identifies factors statistically associated with re-referrals. The study found that a third of closed cases were re-referred (36.5%), with most re-referrals happening relatively rapidly. A small proportion of families accounted for most re-referrals: 8.5% of families had 52% of subsequent referrals. There was very wide variation between local authorities in the number of referrals and re-referrals received. Other factors associated with increased likelihood of a re-referral were: previous referrals, neglect, parental capacity issues (particularly drug misuse) and parent/child relationship problems. The implications of the findings for practitioners, policy-makers and researchers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between parental misuse of alcohol and/or illegal drugs and child maltreatment has received considerable attention in the USA, while comparatively few British studies have been published. In both countries, research suggests that it is a large and growing problem and that it has a significant negative impact on children. This study looks at 50 families with 95 children on the Child Protection Register (CPR) in an inner London area through an examination of files and social workers' rating of parental substance misuse as a child protection concern. Parental substance use, as defined by social workers, was considered by social workers to be a cause for concern in 52% of families. Alcohol (in 24% of families) and heroin (in 16%) were the main substances of concern. Substance misuse was strongly related to neglect and cases were twice as likely to be subject to care proceedings. Very little involvement of substance misuse professionals in child protection procedures was found. Different profiles of social work concern were found for alcohol and for illegal drugs. Reasons for this difference and areas for further research are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The importance of supervision for social work practice is one of the most widely accepted tenets of the profession. Yet, surprisingly little is known about what happens in supervision, making it difficult to unravel what it is about supervision that makes a difference to social work practice. This paper describes the development of a framework for assessing the quality of group supervision. It focuses on one sub-category of group supervision – systemic group supervision – and draws a wider evaluation of systemic social work practice in the UK. It is based on 29 observations of "live" of supervision to illustrate differences in quality of supervisory practice. The process of developing the coding framework was cyclical, and ultimately resulted in a three-point ordinal grouping for assessing systemic supervisory practice. Analysis of observational data assessed systemic group supervision as follows: 8 as non-systemic (28%); 12 (41%) as demonstrating some incorporation of systemic ideas into interactions, described as "green shoots" (or showing encouraging signs of development but not yet reached its full potential); and 9 (31%) supervision sessions demonstrating a full incorporation of systemic concepts and practice. What marked "systemic" sessions from "green shoots" supervision was the move from hypothesis generation about family relations and risk to children to purposeful, actionable conversations with families: the move from reflection to action. This paper supports a small but growing body of evidence about the fundamental characteristics of successful or effective supervision within children and families social work. Highlights • Describes a new method for assessing social work supervisory practice • Defines an emerging type of supervision – systemic group supervision – informed by systemic family therapy principles • Identifies six essential domains of systemic supervision, including the relational nature of family problems • Ranks systemic supervision as: non-systemic, "green shoots" (or showing promise) and fully "systemic" • "Systemic" sessions were marked by a move from hypotheses generation to purposeful, actionable conversations with families [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Reports perspectives of 49 frontline staff from five child protective services. • Systemic supervision used as a "rehearsal space" to plan family conversations. • Family systems understood via lens of hypothesising, circularity and curiosity. • Exploring family perspectives enhanced identification of risks to children. • Systemically-trained clinicians provided supportive practice leadership. The importance of supervision for social work practice is widely accepted. This paper focuses on one type of supervision: systemic group supervision or "systemic supervision". Systemic social work practice is generally a group-based, multi-disciplinary model of service delivery that aims to work therapeutically with the whole family. Central to this model is the use of systemically-informed group supervision. This has been shown to impact positively on the quality of direct practice with families, but what is it about this type of supervision that supports frontline practitioners to practice more skillfully? This paper is based on interviews with 49 frontline staff across five children's services departments in the UK. It identifies the key features of systemic supervision and explores why workers think that developing shared understandings of risk to children supports them to intervene more effectively with families in contact with children's services. These findings contribute to a growing body of knowledge about the practice shaping function of supervision within child and family social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supervision has been described as the "pivot" upon which the integrity and excellence of social work practice can be maintained. However, there is little research that examines its impact on how social workers work directly with children and their families. Where effectiveness studies exist, they tend to explore the impact of supervision on organisational and staff-related outcomes such as retention rates or worker well-being. The current study focuses on one specific sub-category of the wider supervision and practice literature: systemic group supervision or "systemic supervision" and is based on a wider evaluation of systemic social work practice in the UK. The paper pairs observations of systemic supervision (n = 14) and observations of direct practice (n = 18) in peoples' homes. It presents correlational data on the relationship between supervision quality and direct practice quality to assess whether there is an association between the two practice forums. The paper demonstrates that there is a statistically significant relationship between supervision quality and overall quality of direct practice. Supervision was also associated with relationship-building skills and use of "good authority" skills; that is, practice that was more purposeful, child-focused and risks to children better articulated. Interestingly, where a clinician qualified in systemic family therapy was present in supervision, this was associated with both improved supervisory and direct practice quality. This suggests that there may be an important association between the discussions held in systemic supervision, particularly where a clinician is present and the quality of conversations that practitioners have with children and families. These findings contribute to a growing body of knowledge about the relationship between effective supervision and direct practice within children and families social work. • Pairs observations of systemic supervision with observations of direct practice. • Supervision and direct practice independently assessed for quality. • Systemically-informed supervision associated with skilful practice with families. • This includes both relationship-building and use of "good authority" skills. • Systemically-trained clinicians associated with improved supervisory and practice. • High quality supervision has the potential to support and shape "practice-making." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]