This book presents a model of supervision that is based on both contemporary theory and research, which is strongly contextualized to child and family social work. It draws directly from analysis of in-depth interviews with experienced and post graduate qualified supervisors and supervisees about ‘what works’ in supervision. These findings bring ‘news of difference’ in relation to social work supervision offering hope, inspiration and a contemporary model of supervisory practice.
This second edition of Best Practice in Professional Supervision is a fully updated and revised guide to being an excellent supervisor in the social care, nursing, counselling and allied health professions. This field has developed rapidly in the past 10 years, and this new edition contains essential updates reflecting the very latest research and practice. The book covers basic skills, the practicalities of forming and maintaining the supervision relationship, and the organisational context and culture of supervision. Viewing supervision as a place for learning, the book also considers how supervision can help practitioners to develop professional resilience and promote their own wellbeing despite the stresses of complex work environments. It also includes specific chapters on supervision of clinical student placements, and in child protection settings. Full of clinical case vignettes illustrating good practice, this is an essential guide for all those undertaking supervision, or supervision training.
Provides the foundation for supervisory practice in Child Protective Services (CPS). It describes the roles & responsibilities of the CPS supervisor, & provides practice-oriented advice on how to carry out supervisory responsibilities. Designed for CPS supervisors & administrators, but it also may be helpful to child welfare agency staff who provide training for supervisory personnel & to schools of social work as they prepare new social workers for the child welfare field. Also includes a glossary of terms & a bibliography.
It is vital that social work managers and leaders are able to deliver and manage effective supervision to their teams. Recent social work reports such as the Munro Review into Child Protection (2011) identified poor supervision as a barrier to good and effective social work practice and highlighted the need for quality supervision to become embedded within departments. This book demonstrates how both managers and their staff can engage with supervision with a view to successful outcomes. There are detailed sections on audit tasks and reflection questions to enable readers to increase awareness of their role as well as develop action plans for improvement in their practice.
Supervision is currently a "hot topic" in social work. The editors of this volume, both social work educators and researchers, believe that good supervision is fundamental to the development and maintenance of effective practice in social work. Supervision is seen as a key vehicle for continuing development of professional skills, the safeguarding of competent and ethical practice and oversight of the wellbeing of the practitioner. As a consequence the demand for trained and competent supervisors has increased and a perceived gap in availability can create a call for innovation and development in supervision. This book offers a collection of chapters which contribute new insights to the field. Authors from Australia and New Zealand, where supervision inquiry is strong, offer research-informed ideas and critical commentary with a dual focus on supervision of practitioners and students. Topics include external and interprofessional supervision, retention of practitioners, practitioner resilience and innovation in student supervision. This book will be of interest to supervisors of both practitioners and students and highly relevant to social work academics. This book was originally published as a special issue of Australian Social Work.
"The timing of the publication with the revised Working Together guidelines could not be more advantageous. This book is a unique and important contribution to child care literature. No agency should be without." - Child Abuse Review Professionals concerned with the protection of children face many challenges. This work demands knowledge from several disciplines, a wide variety of skills, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The editors, Howard Dubowitz, a pediatrician, and Diane DePanfilis, a social worker, together with over 70 experts in this field offer what is known about how best to work with maltreated children and their families, in a very practical, concise, and user-friendly way. Structured to follow the life of a case from the time a report of child maltreatment is made through the various pathways in the child protection system, this edited volume synthesizes the best practice principles for responding to reports of child abuse and neglect; engaging children and other family members in intervention; developing cross-cultural practice competencies; assessing risk, evaluating safety, and conducting family assessments; defining outcomes and planning intervention; evaluating risk reduction; and making permanency decisions; and discusses the unique legal, medical, ethical, and other practice issues that work in the child protection field involves. Professionals facing tough dilemmas in practice should find valuable guidance in these pages.
"When it comes to child protection, who is showing social workers exactly what they should be doing? In this book, Harry Ferguson guides you through the day-to-day realities of child protection practice, outlining its deep complexities along with the knowledge, skills, values and organizational supports necessary to do this difficult job"--
Supervision is a valuable protected space for personal and professional development that has the potential to contribute greatly to positive transformative change. This book explores what is meant by transformative supervision and how it can be undertaken. It examines the key factors that contribute to the transformative function, such as the role of observation and questioning, the importance of working with emotions, and exploring intuition. The book takes an in-depth look at the supervisory relationship and offers real examples from practice to illustrate the ideas in action. Offering a range of practical strategies, techniques, and approaches to enhance current supervision practice, this book brings a new voice to the topic of supervision by emphasising how it can contribute to continuous learning and self-development. Suitable for all those in the helping professions including social workers, counsellors, psychotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses and probation officers, this practical book is an invaluable guide to enhancing supervision and promoting both individual and social change.
Social work supervision has been identified as one of the most important factors in determining the job satisfaction levels of social workers and the quality of service to clients. As an indirect but vital factor in the social work process, it is surprising that supervision has not received as much attention as other components of social work practice, such as social work research or administration. A book on social work supervision is desperately needed to bridge the gap between the demands of the field and the absence of literature. Social Work Supervision: Contexts and Concepts aims to provide readers with basic knowledge of theories, research, and practice of supervision. The book will address the needs of social work supervisors, frontline practitioners, students, and educators. The book is ideally suited as a text for graduate courses on social work supervision, as it contains a comprehensive literature review of the historical development, theories and models, and empirical research studies of the subject. Equally important, this is a book from practice experience in supervision that enhances the competence of supervisory practice. It will help social workers, supervisors, and administrators to realize and revitalize their "mission" in social work, that is, to benefit clients. Key Features: * Presents social work supervision as a rational, effective, and interactive process focusing on the whole person of the social worker * Discusses the history, the nature and definitions, and the theoretical models of social work supervision * Explores the major functions of social work supervision—administrative, educational, and supportive * Addresses the specific format and structure of supervision sessions
Following the death of 17-month-old "Baby P" in Haringey, north London, Lord Laming was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families to report urgently on the progress being made across the country to implement effective arrangements for safeguarding children. Much progress has been made since the green paper "Every child matters: change for children" (Cm. 5860, 2003, ISBN 9780101586023), the Children Act 2004 (ISBN 9780105431046) and "Working together to safeguard children" (2006, ISBN 9780112711872), but in March 2008 37,000 children were the subjects of care orders and 29,000 children were the subject of child protection plans. 55 children were killed by their parents or by someone known to them in 2007-08. Lord Laming proposes immediate action on six tasks: (1) the setting of explicit strategic priorities for the protection of children and young persons for each of the key frontline services; (2) establishing a powerful National Safeguarding Delivery Unit to bring coherence and drive to implement change in departments and agencies whose work is to protect children; (3) addressing the inadequacy of the training and supply of frontline social workers: without the necessary specialist knowledge and skills, social workers must not be allowed to practise in child protection; (4) health service workers must engage more, and more confidently, with child protection work; (5) resources devoted to police child protection teams and their training must be increased; (6) shortening of the time taken in court processes relating to the care of children. A total of 58 recommendations are made in the areas of: leadership and accountability; support for children; interagency working; children's workforce; improvement and challenge; organisation and finance; legal matters.
