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What do you think families value in professional relationships?

Make a note of 5 qualities you think families value in professionals that promote a positive relationship.

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Family members in the ATD Fourth World Project identified examples of good practice. Read the transcripts of what they said and note those examples of good practice that you consider especially important.

Clip 1:
'Don't judge a book by it's cover because, we are all the same people really. Just because we've got different qualifications, people like me on low income and they've got more money then us, it doesn't mean to say that when they were little they had the same problem as us.'

Clip 2:
'I'll just say talk to me in a way that you would talk to your manager or your boss, or, other rich people, don't look down at me and think, here is another poor one, gonna have to take her child in to care now.'

Clip 3:
'There was one person, one manager, who, he said one thing because at that time I'd lost all confidence and self esteem, I could not, I was a wreck, I did not know how to even decide what to make for the kids tea. I couldn't make one simple decision.This man who I won't forget, mind you he's not perfect but I was grateful for what happened at the time, he said, oh you can do anything if you want to, you're fine, you know, you can achieve what you wantand I started to think, it immediately effected how I felt about me, about my self and my self as a parent.'

Clip 4:
'When you go and see someone you have to have a smile, because it makes the person you are seeing a whole lot better in theirselveseven though that person may have had a hellish day, and you might have had a hellish day, but, when you go and see someone, you just, when they open the door to you, you greet them with a smile because that is the most important thing in the whole wide world.'

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You looked at some of the steps that families feel practitioners can take to make a positive difference in their work. Now think of 3 things you might do differently when you next work with a family who are living in poverty. Make a note of your answers

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