Child Safety: From Conversations to Action

1. Child Safety: From Conversations to Action ACWA 2008 Presenter: Robin Palmer

2. A Framework Provides Clarity Adapted from The Family Strengths Community http://lists.iinet.net.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/famstrengths.com

3. Key elements • Change processes are inevitable and constantly occurring • Emphasis on language • Focus is on solutions, not on problems

4. Key elements(continued) • Pre-session change will occur • Exceptions to the issue exist • Goal setting • Ongoing evaluation

5. Three Simple Rules • If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it • Once you know what works, do more of it • If it doesn’t work, don’t do it again; do something different (Berg, 1999)

6. Is It Too Risky? Deficit-based model vs Asset-based model

7. Strengths-Based Risk Assessment • Not an alternative for assessing risks • Requires that adults be held accountable for their actions • Invites parents to take responsibility for their actions

8. Strengths-Based Risk Assessment(continued) • Searches for healthy signs upon which to build • Ensures safety and well-being of children • Based on an assumption that parents do not want to harm or neglect their children

9. It’s a Balancing Act • Addressing child safety concerns • Engagement • Positive relationship • Motivation for change

10. Engagement • Fluid process • Reflective of current issues • Join with service user • Be open to different views • Problem free talk • Listening

11. Engagement • Positive Relationship • Contracting • Expectations and boundaries • Contact and Availability • Goal setting

12. Engagement Strategies • Noticing and articulating strengths • Not rushing in with solutions • Listening to past experiences of support services • Joining using humour • Complimenting

13. Engagement Strategies(continued) • Do something! • Be consistent and follow through to show you can be trusted to deliver what you say • Talk about the next contact • ‘Walk the talk’

14. Positive worker service-user relationship is one of the most powerful tools a worker has (Woods and Hollis, 2000) • Link between relationship and positive outcomes (Lee and Ayón, 2004) • Collaborative relationship is integral to the process of change for individuals and families

15. CrisisDisaster or Opportunity? A crisis can mean that something new is happening or that something different needs to happen, but is not happening. Crisis signals a danger and an opportunity; that is, a crisis can be a signal that a problem could become worse if some change is not made and it can also be an opportunity to bring about the needed changes in a family unit. (Insoo Kim Berg, 1999)

16. Questioning The act of asking and answering questions is the single most important tool the worker has. The worker’s decision to ask certain questions and not others may appear haphazard and random to the initiated. But each professional transaction between the worker and the service user is a purposeful one, thus, which questions the worker decided to ask – how, when, and whom to ask or not – has significant impact on the service user-worker relationship. (Insoo Kim Berg, 1999)

17. Continuing the Journey “A positive view of the future invites hope, and hope in its turn helps to cope with current hardships, to recognise signs indicating the possibility of change, to view the past as an ordeal rather than a misery, and to provide the inspirations for generating solutions” (Furman and Ahola, 2001)