Reference no: EM133019088

SOAD9110 Complexities in work with Children and Families

This topic critically examines the role of social work in diverse practice settings that promote the safety, wellbeing, and protection of all children in the context of their families and communities. Policy, legislative and service contexts that promote and protect the safety of children and their families are explored. Children's rights, the National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children (Australian Government, 2010) and relevant legislation provides contextual, legal and social foundation for understanding our work with children and families who experience complexities nationally and internationally.

Working with children and families, in whatever context, requires social workers to be child-centred and family focused in their approach. Students are expected to engage with current research and theorising to explore the tensions inherent in the way we define childhood, the family and the role of society in the care and protection of children.

To be child-centred, social workers need to understand the social work mandate (AASW, 2020) and how this relates to working with children and families. Professional social work with children and their families requires understanding of core values, knowledge and skills and you must demonstrate your understanding of these concepts. From a values perspective we believe that children are unique and important members of our human community. As social workers we are committed to social justice, rights, empowerment, and participation. We will discuss and reflect on how these values are applicable in our work with children and families. Our work with children and families also requires a foundation of knowledge including but not restricted to understanding the ecological perspective, child development, attachment theory and the fundamental importance of relationships, parenting and parenting capacity, risk and resilience and strengths-based work. To work with children and families who experience complexity we must also develop an understanding of child abuse and neglect, concepts of risk, resilience and protective factors, trauma systems theory, power and violence, poverty, and what it means to live in a context of disadvantage. Skills are also important, and these will be developed throughout the seminar culminated in your written assessments. Required skills include demonstrating your understanding of assessments of children and their families, reflective practice, importance of teamwork, and relationship-based practice.

This topic will challenge you to think deeply, become reflective and theorise practice so that you develop proficiencies in working with children and families who experience complexities. Achieving the topic objectives requires you to play an active role in your learning by reading the required literature and attending to the weekly tasks set out for you in preparation for either face to face tutorial or online activities. The tutorials and/or online activities require you to work with each other to discuss and reflect with each other about social work with children and families. Reflective practice enables you to think critically and identify the opportunities and challenges associated with being child-centred and family focused. We wish you all the best for your studies in this topic and hope that is rewarding in your journey as an emerging social worker.

Learning Outcome 1: Demonstrate ability to conduct assessments and formulate interventions with children, families, and communities
Learning Outcome 2: Critically analyse a range of issues and interventions focusing on children and young people but also relating to birth families, carers and others in inter-professional settings.
Learning Outcome 3: Explain and evaluate the parameters of relevant state and federal legislation pertaining to the treatment of children, young people, their birth families and carers in a variety of contexts
Learning Outcome 4: Apply current research, theories and practice frameworks to interventions with children and their families

Assessment 1:

Purpose
Social work is a highly integrated, networked profession where individuals are at their most effective when they have a strong network of like-minded skilled professionals who they can call upon for advice and support. To this end students of social work are in an ideal position to begin developing these professional networks and skills during their course of study. The purpose of online forums and tutorial attendance is to help you to engage with each other, deliberate and start developing your professional network. It is also a valuable opportunity to engage in reflective practice which is an important part of professional development. Completion of online discussion forums and in the tutorials is scaffolded that will contribute towards the final assessment.

Task overview
• You will be assigned to a online team or a tutorial group.
• Each week you will be assigned readings and questions that will be focus your online discussions/allocated tasks.
• Each task is focused on the development of skills in theorizing practice through discussion of case study that you have chosen
• Each week you are required to engage with your peers and contribute to your team discussion.
• Beginning with the assigned task or topic of conversation but then branching out to discuss broader issues of social work professional practice with children and families.
• In your discussions (whether online or in tutorials) many of the activities will centre on reflective practice and theorizing practice where you use theory to make sense of the case study information.

Assessment 2:

1. Task
The focus of this assessment is for you to focus on the following statement and discuss:

"CHILD CENTRED SOCIAL WORK IS INFORMED BY KNOWLEDGE (THEORIES, LITERATURE, VALUES) AND IS PRACTICED WITHIN A SOCIAL, LEGAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXT. DISCUSS"

2. Purpose:

The foundation of ethical social work practice is understanding the knowledge and context necessary to work with children and families. The aim of this assessment is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your understanding of child centred social work.

3. Task Summary

The objective of this assessment is for you to consolidate and appraise the knowledge and theories that we have discussed in the first half of the semester to discuss the following statement.

CHILD CENTRED SOCIAL WORK IS INFORMED BY KNOWLEDGE (THEORIES, LITERATURE, VALUES) AND IS PRACTICED WITHIN A SOCIAL, LEGAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXT

• What is your understanding of child-centred social work practice? (Make sure you include definition of social work and link the values and ethos of social work to working in a child centred)
• What theories, literature, knowledge informs child-centred social work?
• Discuss the legal and political context within which child centred social work is practiced. What are the challenges?

4. Ensure that you cite the literature and include in your reference list. Your reference list should only include references cited in the essay. Please do not use websites are these are not acceptable from an academic perspective.

Assessment 3:

Task

Conduct a case study assessment and intervention plan for "Charlie" or "Polly and Me" using relevant theories and knoweldge that have been discussed in this topic. Please use the social ecological approach as a framework to guide your assessment and intervention plan.

Purpose:

The foundation of ethical social work practice is understanding the social work context (working with children and families) and possessing the knowledge and skills to review and reflect on practice with children and families.

The aim of this assessment is an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the case study and use of theory and knowledge that you have engaged with during th semester to make sense of the case study information. This piece of work consolidates the work that you have undertaken across the semester and is reflective of child and family assessment conducted in practice. As you know assessment is critical for social work and this is demonstrating your skills as an emerging social worker.

Task Summary

1. Review the video relating to the case study you have chosen which you have been discussing in your tutorials or discussion forums throughout the semester (You can find the link on the FLO site under section "Case Studies".
2. Read guide about writing up case studies https://students.flinders.edu.au/content/dam/student/slc/case-studies.pdf
3. Review the knowledge, theories and literature that have been discussed during this semester and the notes that you have made during the tutorials. It is expected that you demonstrate understanding of core readings. In addition, it is expected that students demonstrate use of and understand relevant literature (both in core readings and other publications) that is specific to your case study. For example, if your case study is "Charlie" then important to demonstrate

understanding of domestic and family violence, impact on children, parenting and evidence based intervention. If your case study is "Polly and Me" you must demonstrate understanding of be cumulative harm and chronic neglect, its impact on children, parenting and evidence based interventions.

4. Writing a case study assessment demonstrates your professional capacity to be curious about the case study information (observations) and using relevant theory, knowledge and literature to make sense of your observations informing your professional judgement and analysis about the case study. On this basis I would expect that for a 3000 word paper there are at least 15 - 20 references excluding websites. These 15-20 references should be inclusive but not limited to some of the core readings we have covered during the semester.

5. Review the marking rubric which identifies the marking criteria on which the paper will be assessed. Criteria for assessment include: demonstrated understanding of the critical features of the case study; use of relevant theory and knowledge to make sense of the case study; critical analysis (linking practice and theory) of the case study informing an intervention plan, and demonstrated ability to organise ideas and write logically and clearly.

6. Some guidance about structure and content of the paper:

1) Your introduction should include a brief summary of the case study details only inclusive of the facts and the purpose of the paper.

2) Please demonstrate understanding of the social ecological theory as a foundation for working with children and families and why this is important from a social work perspective.

3) Use the social ecological theory as a framework to guide your assessment and key intervention points. So this means use headings which have been consistently used throughout the topic and has guided our work in tutorials and discussion forum. Headings; children, children and their relationships, children and their context, analysis of the child's situation, and intervention plan. It is preferable not to use the terms micro, meso, exo and macro - although these are consistent with the terminology of the ecological perspective - however it is not terminology used in practice settings and this is why preference is to use child inclusive language.

a) In your assessment about the child it is expected that you consolidate discussions had during the semesterin your tutorials or discussion forums. Consider the following: What do you observe about the child in relation to their development and how does developmental theory inform you understanding? What are your observations about the experiences of the child? How does use of children's rights or knowledge about child abuse and neglect inform your understanding of those experiences? What is your observations of the impact of those experiences on the cognitive, social emotional and physical development of the child? What are other impacts? What knowledge supports your understanding and making sense of the
child's experiences?

b) The next section should highlight the child and their relataionships. Who are the important people in their world? What is the quality of those relationships using attachment theory and other relevant knowledge? What factors do you identify that impact on the quality of care and quality of the relationship particularly focusing on parenting capacity? What knowledge informs your sensemaking?

c) As social workers we must always consider the broader environment and context. So what do you observe about environmental and structural factors that impact on the child and their family? What theories or knowledge informs your assessment?

d) Your assessment should have a concluding paragraph drawing together the risk and protective factors that will inform your intervention plan. You will find using the Resilience Matrix (Daniel, Gilligan, Wassel and Howe, 2010) a good framework to draw all the components about vulnerability, risk, protection and resilience together. This analysis will inform your intervention plan.

e) The final section of this paper is to construct an intervention plan which should follow on from the case study analysis. In your intervention plan please consider 3 key areas that require the most urgent attention and actions to achieve change and improve the safety and wellbeing of the child. Ensure that your intervention plan is grounded in evidence/literature about what works with children and families who experience complexity. Your intervention plan should identify three critical areas for action that are supported by contemporary literature. Note: important to ensure that children are safe and supported however they do not have the power to change their circumstances.

Attachment:- Topic Booklet.rar