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Case study: children, families and child protection

This case has been designed as a focus for learning about the legal, ethical and practice issues emerging from a child protection case scenario. As the case moves from allegations of abuse to planning for permanent care, learners can be asked to interpret and assess an unfolding scenario of complex need and to consider a variety of responses designed both to promote the welfare of the three children and ensure parents’ rights are actively considered.

Barriers to communication

Through a scenario this resource enables the user to explore the potential barriers to communication that can exist in their everyday work. This resource will allow the understanding of how the following factors that can inhibit, interrupt or confuse the communication between social workers and service users, carers and others: time available; territory (environment and context); role and task; professional identity and use of self.

Understanding Resilience

The objective of this learning object is to understand the concept of ‘resilience’ and the value of ‘protective factors’ in planning to support vulnerable children. This resource contains information on risk, research evidence, protective factors and the ecological model as well as resilient children and protective environments.

How sensitive to poverty and social exclusion are you in your daily practice?

Despite poverty and social exclusion being common characteristics of families involved in the child protection system and a key factor associated with children becoming looked after, there is evidence to suggest that professionals struggle to truly incorporate an understanding of the impact of poverty in their assessments and interventions. In practice social workers and other professionals continue to have difficulty in making sense of the complex interplay between poverty, social deprivation, parental capacity and children's development.

Gathering information

This e-learning resource uses a video scenario to help the user develop observation, listening and interviewing skills and to become more aware of its own subjectivity. Different ways of asking questions will be considered in more depth and there is an opportunity to try out some creative approaches to gathering information using diagrams or art-based tools.

Using play and the creative arts to communicate with children and young people

Children and young people communicate in ways which are different from or additional to those used by adults This resource begins by exploring some of the reasons why children and young people communicate in these additional and alternative ways. It then goes on to describe ways of using stories, art work, creative writing and music as forms of communication.