极速赛车168最新开奖号码 Sharmeen Ziauddin, Author at Community Care http://www.communitycare.co.uk/author/sharmeenziauddin/ Social Work News & Social Care Jobs Thu, 27 Mar 2025 13:40:27 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 极速赛车168最新开奖号码 Podcast: practising social work in Israel https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/03/27/podcast-social-work-around-the-world-featuring-israel/ https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/03/27/podcast-social-work-around-the-world-featuring-israel/#comments Thu, 27 Mar 2025 13:40:27 +0000 https://www.communitycare.co.uk/?p=216505
In the second episode of our new ‘Social work around the world‘ miniseries, we continue the conversation with Yohai Hakak, senior social work lecturer at Brunel University, London, who shares some fascinating insights about his time as a mental health…
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In the second episode of our new ‘Social work around the world‘ miniseries, we continue the conversation with Yohai Hakak, senior social work lecturer at Brunel University, London, who shares some fascinating insights about his time as a mental health social worker in Israel.

In case you missed it, you can listen to episode one – about Hakak’s research into migration by social workers – here.

In episode two, Hakak, who was born and raised in Israel, discusses the differences between social work in Israel and in England. He talks about his work at a psychiatric hospital in Jerusalem, as well as discussing his PhD, which was focused on Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men.

He describes how certain communities, such as Mizrahi Jews, Palestinians and Ultra-Orthodox Jews, are often marginalised in Israel and how those groups made up most of his patients.

As well as this, Hakak discusses a journal article he wrote about social services’ involvement in interfaith relationships in Israel.

A must listen!

About The Social Work Community Podcast

The Social Work Community Podcast explores the issues that matter to social work practitioners in their working lives. Careers editor Sharmeen Ziauddin and fellow host Kirsty Ayakwah, our senior careers editor, interview experienced and inspiring guests, including frontline social workers who speak from the heart about their jobs, the sector and society.

It was nominated in the podcast category at the 2024 BASW Social Work Journalism Awards, following its first season, which ran from October 2023 to April 2024.

It can be found on all major podcasting platforms including:

Click ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe’ on your podcast app so you know when a new episode is published.

You can also listen to the episode here:

Listen to “Social work around the world: Israel” on Spreaker.

Read the transcript.

To whet your appetite for season three, check out our podcast page to listen to previous episodes from season one and two.

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极速赛车168最新开奖号码 ‘Social work around the world’ podcast miniseries launches https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/03/18/social-work-around-the-world-podcast-miniseries-launches/ https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/03/18/social-work-around-the-world-podcast-miniseries-launches/#respond Tue, 18 Mar 2025 08:13:34 +0000 https://www.communitycare.co.uk/?p=216343
A new podcast miniseries focusing on social workers from around the world launches this week. The number of overseas social workers in the UK has grown significantly in recent years. According to Social Work England data, the number of international…
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A new podcast miniseries focusing on social workers from around the world launches this week.

The number of overseas social workers in the UK has grown significantly in recent years. According to Social Work England data, the number of international practitioners applying to register to practise in England went up by 175% from 2019-20 to 2021-22.

This new podcast miniseries, part of season three of The Social Work Community Podcast, focuses on the differences in social work between the UK and other countries, as well as the challenges social workers have faced emigrating.

It kicks off with Community Care’s careers editor, Sharmeen Ziauddin, speaking to senior social work lecturer at Brunel University Yohai Hakak, who is conducting a research project looking at the migration of social workers to and from the UK*.

Hakak is also part of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) Diaspora Social Workers special interest group.

Watch the teaser on Instagram. 

He explains why he is carrying out this research and gives an insight into a few of the many differences in social work between England and other parts of the world.

Are migrating social workers being perceived as experts who can enrich local practice with new approaches and perspectives? Or are they seen as a necessary compromise, and are mainly judged by the length of time they require to adjust to local practice contexts? (Hakak et al, 2023).

These are some of the questions that the podcast aims to answer.

What else is coming up?

The second episode continues with Hakak talking about his experience of practising as a mental health social worker in Israel.

Hakak describes how the marginalisation of particular communities, such as Mizrahi Jews, Ultra-Orthodox Jews and Palestinians, can influence their mental health.

Both episodes are out this week.

Future episodes will feature social workers from Australia, America, India and many more countries.

*The Brunel University study on social work migration is ongoing; if you want to take part, visit this page.

About The Social Work Community Podcast

The Social Work Community Podcast explores the issues that matter to social work practitioners in their working lives. Sharmeen Ziauddin and fellow host Kirsty Ayakwah, our senior careers editor, interview experienced and inspiring guests, including frontline social workers who speak from the heart about their jobs, the sector and society.

It was nominated in the podcast category at the 2024 BASW Social Work Journalism Awards, following its first season, which ran from October 2023 to April 2024.

It can be found on all major podcasting platforms including:

Click ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe’ on your podcast app so you know when a new episode is published.

You can also listen to the episode here:
Listen to “Social work around the world: Exploring migration to the UK” on Spreaker.

Read the transcript here.

To whet your appetite for season three, check out our podcast page to listen to previous episodes from season one and two.

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极速赛车168最新开奖号码 Webinar: building a practice framework with the influence of practitioner voice https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/02/12/webinar-building-a-practice-framework-with-the-influence-of-practitioner-voice/ Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:33:57 +0000 https://www.communitycare.co.uk/?p=215434
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council’s children’s services received a good rating from Ofsted in January 2025. The journey from inadequate to good was underpinned by the development of a bespoke and hybrid practice framework. Focusing on restorative and trauma-informed…
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Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council’s children’s services received a good rating from Ofsted in January 2025.

The journey from inadequate to good was underpinned by the development of a bespoke and hybrid practice framework. Focusing on restorative and trauma-informed practice, practitioners and managers have worked together to implement this model.

Principal social worker Leanne Morgan and team leader Stephanie Hutson share how they helped shape the practice model that is framing how social workers support children and families.

Leanne said: “I’d come to BCP Children’s [services] knowing that the pace of improvement was significant, the direction and trajectory of improvement was positive. So I was determined that I wanted to get in and understand where practitioners were at, and I used my new role as PSW to do that.”

Watch the webinar below:

Read the transcript here.

BCP Council’s children’s services are holding an online recruitment event on 13 February 2025 at 12pm. Click here to join the Microsoft Teams meeting.

Find out more about BCP Council’s children’s services.

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极速赛车168最新开奖号码 The importance of multi-agency collaboration in protecting children from exploitation https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/02/07/the-importance-of-multi-agency-collaboration-in-protecting-children-from-exploitation/ Fri, 07 Feb 2025 09:00:49 +0000 https://www.communitycare.co.uk/?p=215283
Child criminal exploitation (CCE) and child sexual exploitation (CSE) are growing concerns nationally and have been described as a “hidden crisis” (Barnardo’s, 2023). They include involvement in county lines drug dealing, gang violence, forced criminal activity, grooming and child sex…
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Child criminal exploitation (CCE) and child sexual exploitation (CSE) are growing concerns nationally and have been described as a “hidden crisis” (Barnardo’s, 2023).

They include involvement in county lines drug dealing, gang violence, forced criminal activity, grooming and child sex trafficking.

Victims of exploitation have been neglected by different agencies for various reasons, but often due to the lack of sharing of knowledge and data.

With the addition of media interest in CSE country-wide, not only are victims forced to re-visit their trauma, but practitioners are also put under further pressure to ensure risk outside the home is minimised for the children in their area.

Most parts of England and Wales are affected by child exploitation and Northamptonshire is no exception.

The need for a change in the approach to exploitation in the county was identified by the Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children’s Partnership.

In 2024, Northamptonshire Children’s Trust (NCT), together with Northamptonshire Police, developed a collaborative initiative to safeguard children and young people from exploitation – a new multi-agency hub.

The hub, based in the Criminal Justice Centre in Northampton, focuses on child exploitation across North and West Northamptonshire.

This initiative ensures a multi-agency approach is taken, as the police, health and other services across the safeguarding partnership are often involved in interventions to support children and young people at risk.

Laura Isherwood, team manager of the multi-agency exploitation hub

Laura Isherwood, who has many years of experience working in child exploitation, heads up a social work team that currently consists of six advanced practitioners.

The team shares the space at the hub with police officers and support workers from police teams involved in diverting young people at risk away from criminality and investigating missing episodes, with these staff having all had training in child exploitation and trauma-informed practice.

Different approaches

Laura and her team have a slightly different approach to traditional social work.

“A real focus of our work is developing resilience, supporting young people to develop strategies, critical thinking skills and harm minimisation,” says Laura.

“This is so we can support positive risk-taking at a stage in their life where independence is increasing and they’re spending less time with their families and more outside of the home.”

The practitioners in the exploitation team take a mindful approach, striving to make sure children are not criminalised. “We see the exploitation and vulnerability as opposed to just seeing children committing crimes in the community,” says Laura.

Working alongside police teams enables the social workers to collaborate and step in when needed.

Morgan, an advanced practitioner at the hub

Morgan and Rhian, both advanced practitioners, have been at the hub since its inception. They usually support other practitioners from NCT who have identified children at medium or high risk of child exploitation.

“The purpose of [the hub] is to be multi-agency and work alongside everyone to best support and safeguard the children and look at what’s happening in the community rather than just focusing on the child and trying to keep that child safe,” says Rhian.

“We can try and keep the child safe, but then other children can be impacted by the exploiters, and it’s just not going to end that harm really.”

Morgan’s previous training in systemic practice helps her to build trust with the children and families she works with. Often, parents can be overwhelmed and confused, so the team support them even if the child is out of a high-risk situation.

“Another positive of the hub is that we can be quite dynamic with how we offer support,” says Morgan. “Maybe it’s to the young person, but also it could be to parents, maybe it’s to grandparents, aunties, uncles or family friends who are an area of stability and a positive influence on them.”

Assessing risk

A multi-agency daily exploitation (MADE) meeting is held, and the advanced practitioner on duty that day will attend. Representatives from all the different teams participate and highlight any new incidents or concerns, as well as giving updates on existing children supported by the hub.

One of the main advantages of physically co-working in this way is that the exploitation team is alerted to children at risk before they are officially referred to them. This helps them to organise the appropriate type of intervention much faster.

The child exploitation and risk assessment framework (CERAF) was adopted by NCT and its partners before the hub went live.

The CERAF form is completed when there is an exploitation concern and ensures there is consistency across the different agencies. When the score is ‘medium’ or ‘high’, the child exploitation team at the hub will receive the referral.

Sometimes, practitioners in other social work teams might not always recognise when a child is being criminally or sexually exploited. The team can advise their multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) colleagues, who are also based at the hub, on recognising potential risks.

The child exploitation team also created a safety plan template to help practitioners. This was praised by children’s charity Barnardo’s, which requested that it be shared with local authorities.

The creation of the hub

Debbie Lloyd, the assistant director of children and family support services and youth justice service at NCT, says agencies have taken their time in creating the hub to ensure best practice and that all relevant partners are involved.

The social work resource in the hub was commissioned by both North and West Northamptonshire councils as NCT serves both, highlighting support and buy-in from all.

This is not a child exploitation single service. This is a collection of officers, within the trust and outside of the trust, and practitioners that come together to support this initiative. It’s all built on trust and working relationships”, says Debbie.

Positive impact

Although the hub is in its infancy, the child exploitation team has had many successes already.

One example is Chloe* who was already in care and was referred to the team after having repeated missing episodes. While the team were working with Chloe, who was a victim of exploitation, she expressed an interest in a career in security.

The exploitation team facilitated work experience and CCTV training for her. This ‘disruption and diversion’ technique gave Chloe aspiration to look to the future more positively, and through this support she has had a reduction in missing episodes.

Another example of the positive impact the hub has had is Miles*.

Miles was also having missing episodes, including kidnapping, and had an allocated social worker from the safeguarding team. He was referred to the exploitation team, and when his advanced practitioner met him, he was very open about being exploited to sell drugs.

After conversations about safety, risk and consequences, it was clear that Miles wanted to break free and move away. Police teams were also involved in investigating the perpetrators.

The team helped to move Miles out of his home town, which kept him physically away from the exploiters, in line with what he wanted. A safety plan was put in place and currently his social worker visits him weekly to support him. Miles is settled and focused on joining the army, and will return to his family when he is ready, and it is safe to do so.

Colin Foster, chief executive of NCT, says: “The hub is a really positive step forward in improving how agencies across Northamptonshire work together to safeguard and support children and young people who might be coerced or exploited.

“We are already seeing the huge benefits of having partners co-located together, making it more effective to create a team of support around that child or young person, and the impact that this is having. I feel privileged to work with such an incredible group of professionals who are driving this forward.”

*name changed for anonymity

Are you interested in a career at NCT? Check out the latest vacancies.

Find out more about NCT by looking at its Employer Profile

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极速赛车168最新开奖号码 Podcast: how to co-create inclusive environments in adult social care https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/02/04/podcast-how-to-co-create-inclusive-environments-in-adult-social-care/ Tue, 04 Feb 2025 16:24:07 +0000 https://www.communitycare.co.uk/?p=215202
We are back with another live episode of the Social Work Community Podcast – this time from Wiltshire adult social care. The session took place at Community Care Live 2024. In this episode you will hear from Abbie-Jo Lawrence, who…
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We are back with another live episode of the Social Work Community Podcast – this time from Wiltshire adult social care. The session took place at Community Care Live 2024.

In this episode you will hear from Abbie-Jo Lawrence, who not only works for local disabled people’s organisation Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living (Wiltshire CIL) but also uses Wiltshire adult social care’s services.

This session is about how people with care and support needs and practitioners can work together, through co-production, to enable disabled people in Wiltshire to be able to live the life they want.

In this session, Abbie-Jo and colleagues from Wiltshire Council and Wiltshire CIL talk about practical ways to enable this to happen, such as by changing assessment forms and language. They explain how working together has improved the lives of adults with disabilities.

You will also hear the Q&A segment at the end.

Listening to this episode will benefit anyone who works in adult social care. And don’t forget, this podcast episode also counts as CPD.

The workshop was hosted by Kaylie Chapman, principal social worker at Wiltshire Council adult social care.

Taking part were:

  • Dan Wilkins – head of transformation and quality assurance
  • Leila Dickson – assistant team manager in the advice and contact team
  • Abbie-Jo Lawrence – pioneer from Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living
  • Rachael Hanwell – SEND resource facilitator at Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living

Listen to “From Community Care Live: How to co-create inclusive environments in adult social care” on Spreaker.

Read the transcription here.

The Social Work Community Podcast explores the issues that matter to social work practitioners in their working lives. You will hear directly from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges.

So sign up to the Social Work Community to be among the first to catch each episode and to connect with fellow practitioners in a safe space.

Otherwise, check out the Social Work Community Podcast on the following:

Click ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe’ on your podcast app so you know when a new episode is published.

And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram.

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极速赛车168最新开奖号码 How collaboration with occupational therapists can improve social work practice https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/01/28/how-collaboration-with-occupational-therapists-can-improve-social-work-practice/ Tue, 28 Jan 2025 08:30:39 +0000 https://www.communitycare.co.uk/?p=213646
“I didn’t really know what an occupational therapist was,” says Hannah, an experienced social worker in the south adult community team at Wiltshire Council, recalling her early days of being a newly qualified social worker. There are over 44,000 occupational…
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“I didn’t really know what an occupational therapist was,” says Hannah, an experienced social worker in the south adult community team at Wiltshire Council, recalling her early days of being a newly qualified social worker.

There are over 44,000 occupational therapists (OTs) in the UK, but in England only 3,800 work in adult social care. Some local authorities outsource part or all of their occupational therapy provision to external agencies.

However, Wiltshire Council has a large occupational therapy workforce in-house, much like its social work workforce, with collaborative working between the two professions being at the heart of practice.

Occupational therapists hold a variety of senior leadership roles in Wiltshire Council.

For example, Emma Legg, who is the corporate director for care and wellbeing and in the designated statutory post of director of adult social services, is a registered OT.

Having Emma moving up the service, and now taking the reins of adult social care as director, has helped develop understanding of the value of occupational therapy in working alongside social work to promote strengths-based outcomes.

“It’s great for our professional identity, it’s great for morale and helping us feel supported and connected, and really a key part of social care,” says Mary Harvey, the principal OT in adult social care at Wiltshire Council.

Principal occupational therapist

Although councils are expected to have a principal social worker (PSW) for adults’ services by the statutory guidance under the Care Act, there is no such expectation to have a principal OT in place.

This means not all councils have recognised the potential for principal OTs to transform services and significantly contribute to meeting Care Act duties by investing in the role.

Former chief social worker for adults, Lyn Romeo, emphasised the importance of having a principal OT in the foreword to a 2021 report on the role by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, where she said:

“Occupational therapy and social work are the key professions that provide support to service users across both health and social care, working with and across all care groups, age ranges and conditions.

“Collaborative and shared leadership from principal occupational therapists and principal social workers in adult social care contributes to people, families and communities experiencing support that improves their life opportunities and wellbeing.”

In 2023, Mary won the newcomer award for innovation at the council’s Winners of Wiltshire awards. It was in recognition of the impact the principal OT role has had on service improvement and also demonstrated how much the role is valued.

The benefits of collaboration

The PSW and principal OT in Wiltshire work closely and alongside each other. As both OT and social work roles are valued equally, there are similar numbers of each profession in the social care teams.

“The benefit [of collaboration] is having a joined-up approach, having that joint support of the two professions which, although they are different, complement one another and come together nicely to support individuals in a person-centred and strengths-based way,” says Kaylie Chapman, PSW for adult social care.

Collaboration between social workers and OTs means that vulnerable adults are often able to access what they need, quicker.

“I feel we’ve got a very free-flowing and open relationship here between social workers and occupational therapists. We support and recognise the value that each provides to achieving strengths-based outcomes for the individuals we work with in a timely manner,” Kaylie says.

Reflecting on her social work career across multidisciplinary teams, Kaylie recognises that referrals to other professionals and conflicting agendas can at times cause delays for individuals or frustration between professionals.

However, she says this is not the case at Wiltshire because of the culture of collaborative working. Where there are concerns about a person’s mobility or the level of assistance they need, being able to speak to an OT colleague in your team for peer reflection and guidance as to whether a referral is needed, makes practice more efficient, she adds.

Collective leadership

Mary and Kaylie

“Collective leadership is about shared and distributed leadership,” says Kaylie. “We all have responsibility to take ownership and leadership for situations and see the possibility to get involved and be part of the solution.”

Citing research from Bosch, B and Mansell, H (2015), Mary says trust and confidence are very important when it comes to real collaboration.

“Practitioners need to have confidence in their own abilities in order for other people to know that they can trust them and in order for other people to know that they’ve got confidence in their work,” she adds.

The research states one of the essential things for team success is the importance of role clarity, meaning each member of a team is trusted to execute their unique role. It also emphasises collective leadership.

“We’re in a really fortunate position that we have assistant team managers and experienced practitioners across our co-located teams who are OTs,” says Kaylie.

“This supports us to have their professional specialism influencing, advising and supporting from the different management levels across adult social care.”

Practical solutions

Social worker Hannah finds the multidisciplinary approach has helped her practice.

Hannah, senior social worker

“Our OT colleagues are really helpful in terms of exploring all options and helping people to maintain their independence,” she says.

Hannah shares one story about an older adult she was supporting named Gail*. Gail suddenly became ill, and her care and support needs changed almost overnight, which resulted in an emergency increase in her care package.

The care agency could not sustain the level of support as double-handed care (two carers) was now needed four times a day.

The optimising care team, which is made up of OTs, helped by implementing special slide sheets that did not require two carers.

With training and support from the OT, the need for double-handed visits reduced to once a day, with a single carer carrying out the other three visits. Gail was able to stay in her home and the care agency was able to sustain the lower level of care.

“The OT had the expertise around the equipment and what was available to use, which we don’t have as social workers,” says Hannah. “She also had the manual handling training, so she was able to train others in that manual handling which again, we don’t have. So that was really helpful.”

Hannah started her career in Wiltshire Council on a student placement. She did her assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE) there and since then has stayed, despite not living locally.

“I was really grateful for the stability of Wiltshire [..] I work in a fantastic team.

I think the team can make or break this kind of work.

“And, I think, particularly in a multidisciplinary team, having both occupational therapists and social workers in management means that we have a broad wealth of knowledge. And there’s always someone to go to for support, and we have an incredibly supportive management team.”

Comments from a feedback form by two practitioners at Wiltshire Council:

“Being part of a collaborative team means I always have support and can learn from others’ expertise.” (an OT)

“It is so helpful to have an assistant team manager who is an occupational therapist. She has a very good understanding of social work and occupational therapy. Sometimes she suggests things from a more occupational therapy angle which would not occur to me, and she enables urgent cases to be prioritised for OT involvement if required.” (a social worker)

*Name changed for anonymity

Are you interested in a career with Wiltshire Council?

Find out more here or check out the latest vacancies.

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https://markallenassets.blob.core.windows.net/communitycare/2024/11/Featured-image-600-x-375-px-2.png Community Care Practitioners from Wiltshire Council
极速赛车168最新开奖号码 How one local authority is keeping more children in family-based care https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/01/14/how-one-local-authority-is-keeping-more-children-in-family-based-care/ Tue, 14 Jan 2025 08:30:53 +0000 https://www.communitycare.co.uk/?p=213888
It is no secret that there is a shortage of foster carers and residential placements across the country, meaning children are often placed too far away from their families, networks and communities. Norfolk County Council has been working hard to…
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It is no secret that there is a shortage of foster carers and residential placements across the country, meaning children are often placed too far away from their families, networks and communities.

Norfolk County Council has been working hard to recruit, support and retain foster carers, while also revamping some of its in-house residential provision to make sure far more children remain in Norfolk, either with their families or within family-based care, wherever possible.

Using the Mockingbird fostering approach

The Mockingbird approach aims to provide foster families with support and create a community for them through different social activities.

Often children in care do not know other children with similar backgrounds and, likewise, foster carers do not always know other foster families, and this model is designed to change that.

It also aims to help overcome potential problems before they escalate or lead to placement breakdown.

It does this by developing a cluster of seven to 10 families, referred to as ‘satellite families’, where one foster carer is the ‘hub carer’.

The hub carer will offer their home or another venue for ‘get togethers’ and organise a WhatsApp group for all the foster families to communicate with each other. Social activities such as sleepovers, laser tag or picnics can be organised for the families to get to know each other.

Rachel, Mockingbird liaison practitioner

Rachel, Mockingbird liaison practitioner in Norfolk County Council, points out that children in care may not have an extended family network they can lean on, and the Mockingbird model provides a community for them.

“There are like-minded children [there],” she says. “They don’t ever have to have that conversation that their family isn’t quite built like other people’s families, like I suspect they would encounter at school. So it’s building a big family network.”

Rachel has noticed that new foster carers may often begin with a support network, but it can often fall away when a child comes into the family.

“I think, in terms of [extended] family members, not that they don’t want to support, but sometimes the family members do not have the skills to give the children the support they need,” she adds. “Knowing other foster carers enables them to get that support with people who just get it, and they can be in an environment where people understand what they’re going through.”

Families are matched carefully, making sure there is a diverse range of foster families.

“If we’ve had a carer who’s been in crisis with one of their children, they’ve just popped something on the group chat and said, ‘I’ve had a really bad day, this has happened’,” Rachel adds. “And other carers will say, ‘I feel you, I hear you’.”

Clinical support for foster families

As well as this, a specialist fostering clinician and a clinical psychologist are available for social workers to refer foster carers or children to.

Kevin, a senior social worker who has worked in Norfolk’s children services for 36 years, says having this service in-house helps speed up the support he can offer his foster families.

Kevin, social worker in Norfolk

He can just make a Microsoft Teams call and set up an appointment with the psychologist, whereas previously a referral to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) or another team would have been required.

“Having two people that we can go to for advice and support issues around trauma, and supporting foster carers to manage challenging behaviour or anything they’re struggling with, is a radical change from where we have been over the last few years.

“We’re very fortunate to have that kind of clinical and psychological support, embedded within our service.

“Sometimes what we need as social workers is the opportunity to say, ‘This is what we’re seeing, this is what we’re experiencing and I need to know how best to manage that’, or [know] what advice to give so we can support our foster carers and, ultimately, the children,” he says.

Another way of supporting and training foster carers has been through the use of virtual reality headsets, to show them the abusive experiences children may have faced and demonstrate what they can do in response.

Reducing the number of children in care

Two of the residential homes in Norfolk were converted into New Roads hubs. The New Roads service aims to reduce the number of children in care by providing dedicated multi-agency support, family outreach and short residential stays to keep young people at home, reunify them with their family or step them down to foster care, where safe and sustainable to do so.

One of the features of the hubs, which are for 12 to 25-year-olds, is that people who have applied to be foster carers can volunteer to support the children there. The volunteers have an opportunity to gain experience and build relationships before fostering any children.

In addition to supporting foster care recruitment and retention, this means less reliance on private placements, fostering or residential, therefore a cost saving for the council.

Emma, who organises respite and emergency care at one of the hubs, says it is really valuable for potential foster carers to volunteer in this way.

“We have a lady who has been volunteering with us for over two years and she’s now a respite carer,” Emma says. “She fosters other young people because of the support that we’ve given her and the experience we’ve given her by being able to relate to other young people in the same situation,” she says.

How Emma became a foster carer

Emma met Lizzy* (aged 16) in June 2021 and built a good relationship with her as her key worker. Lizzy had been in foster placements since she was 10 and, because of many placement breakdowns, it was hard for her to trust anybody.

The plan was for Lizzy to move to semi-independent accommodation, but she wanted to be with a family. Emma knew Lizzy was not happy with the plan and was frustrated that Lizzy’s wishes could not be carried out.

Lizzy had no family that she was in contact with and one of the biggest fears she had about living alone was being alone on her birthday or at Christmas.

Coincidentally, Emma had a spare room (her eldest son had recently moved out) and, after a casual comment from a colleague, and many conversations with her own family, Emma decided to become Lizzy’s foster carer.

“They talked about having foster carers work alongside us within the hub so they could get to know the young people and if there was a connection, take them home,” she says. “I just never thought of it as me, because I wasn’t the foster carer coming in, I was the practitioner!

“The management within New Roads gave me the support and even the idea of [fostering] being a possibility, because I didn’t even know that that was a possibility.”

Lizzy is now 19 and still lives with Emma and the family despite having the option to move out. She has recently bought a car and is in a stable job, looking to gain further qualifications.

“We’ve taken her in as our daughter, as our sibling, like adoption, but not adoption. We’ve even got matching tattoos, mother-daughter tattoos!”

*name changed for anonymity

Are you interested in a career at Norfolk County Council? Check out the latest vacancies.

If you are considering becoming a foster carer, you can find more information on Fostering East.

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https://markallenassets.blob.core.windows.net/communitycare/2024/12/Featured-images-600x375-6.png Community Care
极速赛车168最新开奖号码 Ask the experts: ‘I’ve lost motivation for my job in child exploitation – what can I do?’ https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/01/03/ask-the-experts-ive-lost-motivation-for-my-job-in-child-exploitation-what-can-i-do/ Fri, 03 Jan 2025 15:18:47 +0000 https://www.communitycare.co.uk/?p=214347
Welcome to The Social Work Community Podcast’s mini-series, ‘Ask the experts’, where we put your careers questions to three social work experts. In this episode, Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly, Claire Barcham and Kayleigh Rose Evans respond to a social worker who…
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Welcome to The Social Work Community Podcast’s mini-series, ‘Ask the experts’, where we put your careers questions to three social work experts.

In this episode, Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly, Claire Barcham and Kayleigh Rose Evans respond to a social worker who has lost enthusiasm and motivation in the area she works in.

This episode is hosted by Ruth Hardy-Mullings, head of content at Community Care.

If you have a question you’d like our experts to answer or if you felt the advice has helped you secure your next social work role, send us an email at careersadvice@markallengroup.com.

Read past questions from social workers and our experts’ responses here.

Here is a clip from the podcast where Ruth reads out the letter from the social worker.

Listen to whole episode on The Social Work Community.

About our experts

  • Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly has many years’ experience as a practitioner, manager and  workforce development lead and has set up several social work academies around the country.
  • Claire Barcham is a specialist mental health social worker and former emergency duty team manager who currently delivers social work training and works in a policy role for the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services.
  • Kayleigh Rose Evans is an adult social worker, best interests assessor and practice educator who has her own YouTube channel on which she provides social work careers advice.
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极速赛车168最新开奖号码 A Christmas special podcast: a peek inside Community Care https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/12/19/podcast-christmas-special/ https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/12/19/podcast-christmas-special/#comments Thu, 19 Dec 2024 09:00:12 +0000 https://www.communitycare.co.uk/?p=214078
It’s that time of year! And to celebrate, we recorded a Christmas special for The Social Work Community Podcast. The social work sector and the face of Community Care have both changed a lot over the past 50 years. As…
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It’s that time of year! And to celebrate, we recorded a Christmas special for The Social Work Community Podcast.

The social work sector and the face of Community Care have both changed a lot over the past 50 years. As it is Community Care’s 50th birthday year, we got some of the longest-standing members of the our team together for this one-off special.

For this episode, I sat down with three colleagues, who, together, have been at Community Care for a whopping 80-plus years!

All three were fairly resistant to the idea of recording an episode, but with some sweet-talking I managed to persuade Mithran Samuel, editor of Community Care, Natalie Valios, senior content editor on Inform Adults, and Nicky Davies, head of partnerships and events, to come to our London office one morning for a chat.

About the guests

Mithran started at Community Care 20 years ago as chief reporter, and has since moved up the ranks to his current role as editor. Mithran writes the majority of news stories on the site as well as bearing overall responsibility for the Community Care websute.

Natalie started over 30 years ago, in 1993, as a sub-editor, and worked in different editorial roles. She left Community Care in 2009 for a brief hiatus and then came back –  she simply could not stay away!

Nicky joined in the late 80s in a sales job and has since progressed to her current role, overseeing a rewarding career of 36 years.

Listen now for a real “behind the scenes” episode:

Listen to “Christmas special 🎄” on Spreaker.

Read the transcript here.

Sign up to the Social Work Community to be among the first to catch each episode and to connect with fellow practitioners in a safe space.

Otherwise, check out the Social Work Community Podcast on the following:

Click ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe’ on your podcast app so you know when a new episode is published.

And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram.

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极速赛车168最新开奖号码 Podcast: the legacy and impact of life story from a parent’s perspective https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/12/06/podcast-the-legacy-and-impact-of-life-story-from-a-parents-perspective/ Fri, 06 Dec 2024 09:00:24 +0000 https://www.communitycare.co.uk/?p=213904
  In this thought-provoking and emotive episode of The Social Work Community, recorded at this year’s Community Care Live, you will hear about the importance of a parent’s journey while considering their own child’s life story. You will hear first-hand…
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In this thought-provoking and emotive episode of The Social Work Community, recorded at this year’s Community Care Live, you will hear about the importance of a parent’s journey while considering their own child’s life story.

You will hear first-hand the experiences some parents have had and how practitioners can gain a better understanding of the impact positive life stories can have on both parents and children.

Social worker Rachel Thomas and Pause practitioner Julia Williams, both from Wiltshire Council, narrate Laura’s story to a live audience. Laura, who gave up her baby up for adoption, went through a tough time and her story shows how she was supported by professionals every step of the way.

Callum, a father and someone who spent some of his childhood in care, talks about how his key worker, Ceri Evans, through the Dads Matter Too project, helped him overcome his personal challenges and become the dad he wanted to be.

Listen to “The legacy and impact of life story from a parent’s perspective” on Spreaker.

The Social Work Community Podcast explores the issues that matter to social work practitioners in their working lives. You will hear directly from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges.

So sign up to the Social Work Community to be among the first to catch each episode and to connect with fellow practitioners in a safe space.

Otherwise, check out the Social Work Community Podcast on the following:

Click ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe’ on your podcast app so you know when a new episode is published.

And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram.

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https://markallenassets.blob.core.windows.net/communitycare/2024/12/Wiltshirefeaturedimage.png Community Care Speakers from the live Wiltshire session Photo: Jamie Hodgskin