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Current literature in relation to contact for Children in Care reveals that there have been a number of theories that have informed the current notion of contact and these are underpinned by psychological and psychosocial assumptions about identity development (Winter and Cohen, 2005). These have included the maintenance of the ‘mother-child’ bond (Clarke and Clarke, 1976); the need to maintain contact to avoid ‘genealogical bewilderment’ (Sants, 1964) and the importance of continuing socio-genealogical connectedness (Owusu-Bempah and Howitt, 1997) and most importantly Bowlby’s (1960) theory of attachment. These psychological and psychosocial assumptions have informed not only the type of research undertaken but also the methodology used (see Cleaver, 2000; Macaskill, 2002; Selwyn, 2003 and McWey and Mullis, 2004). \ud \ud A further theoretical notion that has informed the current understanding of contact is the family which Smart (2007) has described as the optimal expression of kinship and relatedness. Yet this notion in and of itself is socially constructed, and has the irony of not just being built upon by personal experience but also wider societal expectations that are communicated via the taken for granted prioritisation of family, which is illustrated in everyday language, images and ideas (Gillis, 1996 and Morgan, 1996:238). \ud \ud This paper will highlight that the empirical research methods that have been used to understand and explain the phenomenon of contact have been dominated not only by socially constructed notions in relation to the family and children, but also by a positivist approach where scientific techniques are used to explain and understand the dynamic of contact which can be described as a complex interaction where there are a range of agendas, interpretations and expectations that take place. \ud \ud An argument will be made for the use alternative methodological approaches that place the child or young person at the centre of the research project. In particular attention will be given to tools such as Hart’s ladder of participation (2008) which actively promotes empowerment and respect of children and their role in research. Additionally, the methodological approach of triadic interviews will be posited because it allows researchers the opportunity to gain a “more holistic and multi-dimensional understanding of the problem” (Brownhill and Hickey, 2012 p.370), thereby capturing the complexities of contact which can be interpreted as an interactional process built upon the foundation of existing relationships, and which is aimed at maintaining or possibly enhancing what is already present.

The need for continual organisational improvement is of critical importance for organisations like that of children’s integrated services where there is both a legal and moral authority to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children. However, the implementation of children’s integrated services since 2004 has produced a series of challenges in the forms of contextual barriers, changing political climates, organisational change and cultural issues (Robinson et al., 2008). A perennial challenge for children’s services has been the ability to meet the CPD needs of the various professions that constitute its workforce without seemingly destabilising the wider organisational norms and beliefs. \ud This paper specifically focuses on the current development of a CPD framework for an entire children’s integrated workforce, and the impact the organisational culture, as well as the professional sub-cultures are having. Reference will be made to members of the workforce being cultural carriers and the role of leaders in relation to organisational change (Schein, 1993 and Lucas and Kline, 2008). In seeking to answer the real world problem of developing a CPD framework for multiple professions within a single organisation, the paper will identify the factors that need to be taken into account.

Contemporary social work with young people and their families is facing major challenges with the advent of the Internet and social media, particularly in the sphere of fostering. The identified challenges are concerned with issues of safeguarding that are related more often than not to threats outside of the familial home (Firmin, 2013). Another significant challenge includes the relevance of child protection processes and systems that are currently geared towards children under ten years of age (Gorin and Jobe, 2013; Hanson and Holmes, 2014; The Association of Directors of Children’s Services, 2013 and the Department of Education, 2014).\ud \ud It will be argued that the challenges outlined are being managed using a psychologically informed model of social work which is reliant upon theoretical approaches such as ecological, systems and attachment theories, all of which have a predisposition to individual pathology and the ability of the service users to change if the correct social work intervention is applied (Goodyer, 2012). This model of social work as it relates to fostered young people means that behaviours such as irresponsibility, immaturity and an inability to comprehend the possible consequences feed into the taken for granted assumption that there is a link between vulnerability and risk (Goodyer, 2012; Fursland, 2011; and Stephenson, 2009).\ud \ud This discussion paper will explore how risk and vulnerability involving fostered young people and their use of the Internet and social media is managed using a psychologically informed model of social work. This exploration will not only give attention to the manifestations of this type of practice as it relates to fostered children, there will also be a focus on the shortcomings of the model. The discussion will move on to look at an alternative practice model that is informed by the sociology of childhood. An argument will be made that this model of practice can effectively be used to the meet the challenges of safeguarding fostered young people in a technological age where the importance of the mobile phone is vital as a mode of communication and connection in the often complex familial and friendship networks that characterise their lives and perception of risk (Carrick-Davies, 2012). It will also be argued that this alternative model not only provides an opportunity to develop with fostered young people a partnership that promotes a shared goal of protection but also, a way of working that allows their experiences to be heard and validated.

Objectives\ud To consider the phenomenon that is unsupervised contact by young people in care with members of their social network using mobile technologies and social media, and how social work practitioners may best respond to the associated risks and opportunities.\ud \ud Methods\ud Doctoral research literature review that has focused on the use of mobile technologies by adolescents, and then more specifically adolescent children in care. The review of the literature has also taken into account brain development, attachment as well as the discipline of educational psycho-therapy.\ud \ud Results\ud The literature review has highlighted that unsupervised contact by adolescents when undertaken and pursued is complex and risky because of the lack of support to manage the emotional complications. Moreover, there is the added difficulty of practitioners being unable to effectively manage the nature and level of contact which may have a detrimental effect on the wellbeing of the young person, as well as leading to greater likelihood of placement disruption. These findings coupled with the adolescent brain development go some way to explain the behaviour of adolescents in care who pursue unsupervised contact because it is a type of strange and exciting experience which leads to communication with others in a fashion that is not hemmed in by spatial location, time or social conventions.\ud \ud Conclusions\ud Child and Family social work practitioners will need to acquire a greater understanding of mobile technologies and how they are used by adolescents in care. Moreover, in accordance with the current literature on adolescent brain development social work practitioners will need to give greater attention to the decision-making skills of adolescents in care to ensure that an environment of ‘cold cognition’ is created which may promote a better understanding of choices made and the subsequent consequences. Child and Family social work practitioners can also learn from the educational psychotherapeutic field, in particular Bomber (2009) who identifies that the key to effective support of young people who are experiencing attachment-related difficulties is through the process of emotional scaffolding which involves demonstrating to them that they are ‘kept in mind’, particularly during their numerous transitions.

The paper will discuss if there is any link between social work practitioner’s personal use of social media and their practice with service users. Integral to the discussion will be social work ethics and values, issues of confidentiality, professionalism and how service users are making use of social media.\ud \ud The emergence of policy guidelines in relation to social media by social work employers and national professional bodies such as the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) highlights the way in which social media is becoming an inherent feature of social work practice. Moreover, helpful guidance in the form of concepts such as e-professionalism (Megele, 2011) with its focus on how social work practitioners respond to the use of online communication by service users illustrates the way in which social media can be effectively used to maintain client relationships. Nevertheless, it could be claimed that little attention has been given thus far to the connection that exists between social work practitioners’ private use of social media and whether or not there is an influence on their practice with service users. \ud \ud This paper aims to discuss if there are any connections between personal use and practice, and if so, what are the underlying factors that have an impact. Integral to the discussion will be social work ethics and values, issues of confidentiality, professionalism and how service users are making use of social media.

Mobile phones have become an indispensable mode of communication that allows for anytime anywhere contact. Mobile phones can be said to represent a form of technology that has evolved to become not only an expression of our social networks but also the means by which we acquire news and information. Through the theoretical deconstruction of a real case this presentation explores the dual functionality of mobile phones in terms of their being tools for security thereby lessening the sense of risk for adolescents and those who have responsibility for their care, whilst at the same time being instruments that enable negotiation and avoidance of spatial control by caregivers. Attention is also given to the perception and interpretation of risk as mediated through the possession and use of mobile phones. The final section of the presentation is given over to how social work practitioners can use existing research on mobile phones and their use by adolescents to complement their daily practice when seeking to effectively manage risk.

Contemporary social work with young people and their families is facing major challenges with the advent of mobile technology, the internet and social media particularly in the spheres of adoption and fostering. The article, which uses a transcript from a social work practitioner, explores the challenges of safeguarding a vulnerable young person. Consideration is given to the way in which the social work practitioner uses the young person’s vulnerability and the duty to safeguard as ‘trump cards’ to override privacy and autonomy. The article continues by calling into the question the use of such ‘trump cards’ by highlighting current empirical research and the children’s rights agenda.