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Beyond the risk paradigm in child protection: current debates and new directions
- Editor:
- CONNOLLY Marie
- Publisher:
- Palgrave
- Publication year:
- 2017
- Pagination:
- 232
- Place of publication:
- Basingstoke
For decades, child protection systems have striven to provide responsive services to vulnerable children and families in the face of the constant change and instability caused by the bureaucratisation of child protection. This book lends a strident voice to the argument for a shift beyond the current risk paradigm, towards genuine cultural change. Topics covered include: risk as a major driver of professional practice; the risk paradigm and the media in child protection; predictive risk modelling as a signal of adversity; new knowledge in child protection – neuroscience and its impacts; disproportionality and risk decision-making in child protection; service users as receivers of risk-dominated practice; engaging families and managing risk in practice; assessment and decision making to improve outcomes in child protection; signs of safety as promising comprehensive approach for reorienting CPS organisations' work with children, families and their community supports; working differently with domestic violence; family risk and responsive regulation; responding differently to neglect – an ecological approach to prevention, assessment and treatment; positive leadership in child protection; and informal and formal support for vulnerable children and families. (Edited publisher abstract)
Family decision making in child welfare: challenges in developing a knowledge base for practice
- Authors:
- MORRIS Kate, CONNOLLY Marie
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse Review, 21(1), January 2012, pp.41-52.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This article discusses the growing body of evidence concerned with family group decision making (FGDM). It draws upon the messages of a broader international review of research published in 2009 which looked at family engagement strategies. Family group conferences (FGC) were introduced in the UK from New Zealand in the early 1990s. The FGC model provides a clear process that brings together professionals and the family, including extended family, in a meeting to resolve issues of child care and protection. This paper examines the recent research relating to family engagement strategies in child welfare. The findings are discussed under 3 themes: what happens when families become involved in decision making; what happens to children when families are included; and what happens to professional systems when family inclusion strategies are adopted. It concludes by exploring the ways in which family involvement in decision-making can be incorporated into emerging protective practices. The argument is made that, while FGDM developments offer a positive way forward for those seeking fresh approaches to the care and protection of children, careful consideration needs to be given to the influence of the changing contexts for practice.
Reforming child welfare: an integrated approach
- Authors:
- CONNOLLY Marie, SMITH Ray
- Journal article citation:
- Child Welfare Journal, 89(3), 2010, pp.9-31.
- Publisher:
- Child Welfare League of America
Throughout the 1990s, child welfare systems were exposed to intense pressure due to negative media exposure and growing expectations, and, as a result, most have undertaken processes of reform and change. The response of the New Zealand child welfare system has been to develop and implement an integrated reform process to strengthen services for children and families. The article discusses this reform process, critical to which has been a partnership between managerial discipline and professional leadership. A key function of good child welfare management is to create a strong vision, develop a culture of high performance, and strengthen organisational stability and confidence. These elements of strategic management provide what is considered a necessary platform on which professional reforms can be established. The article discusses the elements of this strategic approach, together with an exploration of the professional reform package. This is built around 4 elements: the knowledge framework; the service model; the practice package; and staff support. Each of these elements is considered together with an exploration of their interrelatedness.
Understanding child and family welfare: statutory responses to children at risk
- Author:
- CONNOLLY Marie
- Publisher:
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Publication year:
- 2012
- Pagination:
- 183p.
- Place of publication:
- Basingstoke
In this book, the authors explore the frameworks and ideas which have shaped contemporary child and family welfare practice. From definitions of abuse to assessment models, they examine the knowledge base which lies at the heart of safe and effective statutory practice with children and families. Drawing on examples from a range of English-speaking jurisdictions, the book explores: how to engage families, including participatory approaches and the role of the Family Group Conference; how to create positive out-of-home environments for children, discussing foster, kinship and residential care and adoption settings; and how to improve professional decision-making through supervision and other organisational frameworks. At a time when child welfare systems across the globe are undergoing review, this book provides a timely exploration of the reform agendas which will shape future practice. With sharp analytic insights into the difficulties and dilemmas which characterise this field, it is fundamental reading for all students studying child and family support or child protection, as well as for practitioners working within children and family settings.
Practice frameworks: conceptual maps to guide interventions in child welfare
- Author:
- CONNOLLY Marie
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 37(5), July 2007, pp.825-837.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This paper discusses the development of a practice framework for child welfare in New Zealand. A practice framework is defined as a conceptual map that brings together, in an accessible design, an agency’s approach to social work practice with children and families. Designed as a tool for practitioners, the New Zealand practice framework integrates three perspectives: child-centred; family-led and culturally responsive; and strengths and evidence-based. The practice framework establishes a vision for New Zealand child welfare work that is grounded in the realities of practice, supported by research and embedded in a set of principles and values that are essential to the work. As a concept, it provides a clear understanding of what underpins the work, and how this informs interventions with children and families. As a tool for practitioners, it provides a theoretically informed intervention logic and a set of triggers to support best practice.
Fifteen years of family group conferencing: coordinators talk about their experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Author:
- CONNOLLY Marie
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 36(4), June 2006, pp.523-540.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Family Group Conferencing (FGC) as a solution-focused strategy in child welfare has now been a mandated practice in Aotearoa New Zealand since 1989. This qualitative study examines the experiences of Care and Protection Coordinators who have been convening FGC since the early years of the legislation. The study explores early perceptions of the legislation, what first attracted them to the role and what keeps them in the job. In particular, the study explores the practice tensions that rest within family-centred child protection models, and the ways in which FGC practice has developed in response to modern imperatives.
The New Zealand practice framework: using knowledge to inform practice in care and protection
- Author:
- CONNOLLY Marie
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work Now: the Practice Journal of Child, Youth and Family, 32, December 2005, pp.4-9.
- Publisher:
- Child, Youth and Family (Department of Child, Youth and Family Services, Te Tari Awhina I te Tamaiti, te Rangatahi, tae atu ki te Whanau)
There is now a growing expectation that practice will be supported by a strong evidence base, and that we more fully understand the impact of practice on the lives of children. The author discusses the way in which New Zealand child welfare has responded to one of the challenges of the 2004 Baseline Review of Child, Youth and Family by developing a care and protection practice framework.
Working with vulnerable infants
- Authors:
- CONNOLLY Marie, WELLS Philippa, FIELD Jo
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work Now: the Practice Journal of Child, Youth and Family, 38, December 2007, pp.5-10.
- Publisher:
- Child, Youth and Family (Department of Child, Youth and Family Services, Te Tari Awhina I te Tamaiti, te Rangatahi, tae atu ki te Whanau)
This study examined the case files of 171 infants who were notified to Child, Youth and Family (CHF) services in New Zealand in the year 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006. The purpose was to better understand the needs of vulnerable babies and their families.
Up front and personal: confronting dynamics in the Family Group Conference
- Author:
- CONNOLLY Marie
- Journal article citation:
- Family Process, 45(3), September 2006, pp.345-357.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This article briefly describes the development and practice of family group conferencing as a family-centred legal process in Aotearoa New Zealand. It then examines the findings of a study exploring the dynamics emerging from family group conference practice from the perspective of the coordinators who convene them. Family group conferencing as a family strengthening practice is discussed.
Culture and child protection: reflexive responses
- Authors:
- CONNOLLY Marie, CRICHTON-HILL Yvonne, WARD Tony
- Publisher:
- Jessica Kingsley
- Publication year:
- 2006
- Pagination:
- 144p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
Providing services that are culturally relevant is an ongoing challenge for practitioners, managers, and policy-makers within the social services. The book is an exploration of the close links between social service practices and cultural values which offers a culturally sensitive model of child protection practice. The authors demonstrate the ways in which a combination of personal, professional and societal attitudes often influence practice decisions. In a context where children from ethnic minorities dominate the welfare statistics of the Western economies, the authors argue against a reliance on rigid approaches to working with particular ethnic groups. They propose effective alternative strategies that will assist social workers in responding appropriately to diverse cultural needs and circumstances. Implications of cultural difference are also considered with respect to class, socio-economic group, gender and age, reinforcing the need to recognise broader interpretations of difference within practice. This book is full of integrated examples and case studies and also discusses wider practice issues, such as working with offenders, the impact of funding restraints and the dynamic of reflexivity in practice and supervision.