What are we offering?

About seven years ago I was sat in the office and reading the case history of a young person I was working with. It was a day where I had various competing demands and what was initially one of them became the entire day's focus. This child had my full and undivided attention. Each entry I read increased the intensity of my curiosity to understand their full experiences. Have you ever had that? Where you become so immersed in the life of one child, that they become your whole day? For that moment they were the only priority. As I read I was trying to work out how I would approach building rapport with this child, and what I might do by way of planning (the assessment social worker in me taking hold).

I thought about the approach that this young person may require from me - one that provided boundaries through structure alongside compassion and predictability. I felt that they would also require me to be able to meet them in my understanding of their circumstances, not to 'put myself in their shoes' as it were but, be able to recognise what their situation meant for them - an important distinction.

Time passed and we built a very positive relationship. I was moved by their abilities, their unique sense of humour and great creativity. I celebrated their successes alongside them and shared in their sadness and frustration when things did not go to plan. I believe the impact that this child had upon me was felt by them and that this dynamic directly afforded me the ability to impact them. We had a genuine and meaningful relationship.

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On reflection, I met an unmet need. This young person had a long history of neglect, a significant factor that rendered them at heightened vulnerability to extra familial harm. Through our work I provided a care that had not always been experienced, an unmet need. Now don't get me wrong, I believe that the relationship attained and work undertaken no doubt impacted this young person significantly and is indeed integral to effective practice. What I can identify however is that the structures around the child did not grow, and those that did were not sustainable as they were provided predominantly by the state. The danger of delivering intervention almost exclusively to the child is that safety, structure and stability afforded disappears when you do.

It led me to review, what needed to change around the child?

It reminded me of the Assessment Triangle which I have often experienced in practice as 'child's needs', 'parenting capacity' and 'the bit at the end'. It is this bit at the end that is so very important, particularly when working with adolescents. Environmental factors such as family history and functioning, living arrangements, finance and community define the context in which the child is living. Focus is therefore required on strengthening these key structures that support children in meeting their needs more safely and into the longer term.

We have created learning modules that focus upon the key factors to achieve effective intervention with children who suffer extra-familial harm. A real focus on how we assess and understand need, risk and vulnerability and what that means by way of collaborative planning and who we work with.

Have a look under 'Services' on our website to see what we will be offering and leave your email for us to let you know when we are LIVE!