How Nurture Protects Children

Only Connect

2012-02-03T01:37:00.002Z

In recent days there have been a number of important stories in the press on serious matters affecting the youth justice system in the UK. So, what connects the reports on the increasing use of restraintin secure accommodation, the enquiries into the four recent deaths in custodyand reduced use by the YJB of local authority secure children’s homes? Let’shope the proposed review of the youth justice system by the parliamentary select committee gets MPs making the connections in their deliberations!

Surely the connection is that they all represent different aspects of theconsequences of not having a coherent model of thinking about children andyoung people’s behaviour in terms of their emotional and social development andfinding ways of translating these ideas into interventions?

Until there is ashift of focus away from notions about ‘punishing offences’ towards approachesthat seek to engage young people in positive relationships in which their behaviouris challenged but their personal worth is acknowledged and opportunities areprovided for their potential to be developed to the full, we shall continue tosee the youth justice agenda dominated by the sort of issues set out above.

Call For Further and Deeper Reforms to the Youth Justice System

2012-01-22T19:34:00.000Z

From Children and Young People Now (16January 20122)

“The Centrefor Social Justice, set up by Work and Pensions Secretary Ian Duncan-Smith,warns that the youth justice system is operating as a backstop, "sweepingup the problem cases that other services have failed, or been unable, toaddress".

Maggie Atkinson, children’s commissioner for England, said evidenceshows that the majority of children in the criminal justice system are fromdeprived and disadvantaged backgrounds, with many experiencing neglect, abusedomestic violence, poor parenting and poor educational opportunities.

"We needto repair the damage that has been done to these children, and support themthrough intervention and other measures, such as family therapy, to help themturn around their lives."

Many of the reforms proposed by the CSJ arewholly sensible as is their call for a deep reform of the youth justice system.The comments from the children’s commissioner are also timely and point us to afundamental issue: how do we think about ‘young offenders’? As young criminalsin need of punishment or as children and young people with a wide range ofsocial, educational and emotional problems whose behaviour is a communicationabout their internal world and whose family backgrounds are likely to featureany number of disadvantages? Many of these children and young people will alsohave experienced poor early nurturing and attachment difficulties which is whyideas from nurture and attachment theory provide more hopeful models forintervention and more effective outcomes in challenging delinquent behaviour.

A Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year

2011-12-22T08:51:00.001Z

It's been an interesting year on a personal level: a fascinating visit to secure units in Spain, courtesy of Diagrama; involvement in the 'My Story' publication by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies; continuing involvement with the Fostering Foundation; and exciting work with three other organisations, the Caspari Foundation, The School and Family Works and the Pupil Parent Partnership.

With all the economic uncertainty 2012 will bring its own challenges, but as ever we must remain 'optimistic but realistic' - Here's to a restful Christmas and a peaceful new year.

CARE AND CUSTODY

2011-12-08T09:03:00.001Z

Drawing on interviews with looked-after children, a study by the National Children’s Bureau and the Prison Reform Trust reported that children say very simple things make a difference.
Care – A Stepping Stone to Custody? The Views of Children in Care on the Links Between Care, Offending and Custody found that children feeling that at least one adult cares what happens to them, having a stable home placement and having a say in the decisions that affect their lives are all important.

The disproportionate numbers of children in care who end up in custody has long been a shameful statistic (how can it be, in a civilsed society, that a young person in care is more likely to go to custody than university?!) Of course the state can't be a parent; being a parent implies a nurturing, human relationship that extends over a life time and requires people who are prepared to give of themselves in ways beyond the means of a corporate entity. What the state can provide are the structures and resources that acknowledge the human scale of the task and create the sytems that support and sustain (not constrain and restrict) those who are engaging in the task of looking after our most vulnerable children and young people.

I have just just sat on two Fostering Foundation fostering panels in London and Devon, where we heard of some fantastic work done by foster carers in providing stable and loving homes for some very troubled children. The care and commitment of the foster carers were evident in the way the children were responding in their placements and the progress they were making in all areas of their lives. It was a marvellous way of reinforcing the messgaes of the NCB report.

The Youth Justice Board Annual Convention

2011-11-08T11:23:00.000Z

Having been at the YJB Convention last week, why don't I feel inspired? Perhaps it was the talk about cuts and the constant bemoaning of the current changes taking place in the organisation of youth justice services? Perhaps it was the rather flat atmosphere pervading the event, despite the announcement that this wasn't going to be the last such convention!! (presumably this should make me happy?) NO, I think it was more the lack of real substance to the presentations and workshops (with one or two exceptions; Nick Hardwick, Roger Graef, the plenary session on gangs and the workshop on resettlement amongst these). In particular the disconnection of much of the content of the convention to the real lives and experiences of the young people at the heart of the system was strikingly apparent - although to be fair this was partially addressed in the innovative and powerful 'open space' forum, through the contributions of young people themselves.

The questions remain, however; why does the language of youth justice seem so remote from other discourse about children and young people? Why is there so little reflection in this area about the importance of children's development and how the nature of their early attachment relationships impacts upon later behaviour in adolescence?

The mantra may be 'young people first, young offenders second', but this has to be reality in the context of policy and practice and in reflecting what work in the youth justice system is about! Thinking around attachment and nurture cannot be dismissed as irrelevant to issues surrounding youth offending; they are critical to a more developed understanding of the nature of the problems and of the most effective solutions.

Thematic Report on Secure Accommodation

2011-10-27T10:54:00.000+01:00

In Children and Young People Now:
The number of children and young people being held in custody in young offender institutions (YOIs) continued to fall during 2010-11 from 1,977 to 1,822. This has led to 710 places being decommissioned and five YOIs closing, including a unit for young women.

However, a thematic report, Children and Young People in Custody 2010-11: An Analysis of the Experiences of 15- to 18-year-olds in Prison, found that while conditions for some had improved, for the majority the experience had deteriorated.

It is regrettable, although not entirely unexpected, that a reduction in the numbers of young people in custody results in a reduction of the resources available to help and support their rehabilitation. The lower numbers also brings into sharper focus the vulnerability of this group of children and young people and the response from the Youth Justice Board are proposals that will inevitably lead to more closure of local authority secure children's homes, the specialist resources that are best able to provide the necessary care these youngsters need!

Maintaining a geographical spread of custodial options is clearly essential, but so too is the advancement of regimes and programmes that address the real needs of these children and young people in terms of their social, educational and emotional development.

The conclusion in the report that relationships between young people and adults in YOIs are deteriorating is perhaps the worst news of all; it is the quality of these relationships in the context of the daily routines of residential life that is the most powerful determinant of the outcomes of the custodial experience.

This thematic report \(not by any means the first to make these kinds of points!) must serve as a wake-up call to all those involved in the planning and delivery of the secure estate, and who are therefore responsible for looking after some of the most vulnerable children and young people in our society.

Secure Units in Spain!!

2011-09-05T13:39:00.001+01:00

I have just returned from a fascinating three day trip to southern Spain, looking at two 'YOIs' managed by the charity, Diagrama. Although the two establishments were equivalent to YOIs in England, the ethos and programme delivery could not have been more contrasting. The regime is based on a relational approach and this was clearly evident in the quality of the staff at all levels and the ways in which they related to the young people; no miserable faces, don't want to be here attitudes or negative behaviours towards the young people - positive interactions, appropriate use of physical touch and lots of laughter! The programme is based on a sequential treatment model, which means most young people, relatively early on in their sentence, go out of the establishment to school, college or employment in the community; and work done inside the institution is linked to the experiences outside.

Another feature was the attitude to risk, starkly different to our risk aversive approaches to work with children and young people. It was in this context that the young people went out of the Centres and which allowed for greater freedom and a more relaxed environment internally.

Of course the cultural and legal frameworks are different and things are not automatically transferable, but in terms of approach to working with delinquent and challenging young people, much to learn.

Responses to Professor Munro

2011-07-26T09:57:00.000+01:00

As reported in Children and Young People Now:
"Moving away from a culture of compliance by reducing central prescription and placing a greater emphasis on the appropriate exercise of professional judgment represents a fundamental system-wide change," the government's response to Munro's review states.

It is also hoped a new inspection framework will help reduce "tick-box bureaucracy". Proposals on how new unannounced inspections will work will be included in Ofsted's forthcoming consultation, but won't come into effect until May 2012 at the earliest.

Corinne May-Chahal, interim co-chair of The College of Social Work, said: "The likely relaxation of prescriptive timescales for the assessment of children identified as at risk will liberate social workers to use their professional judgment. "Unnecessary bureaucracy, unhelpful timescales and poor ICT systems are currently an enormous hindrance."

Having written How Nurture Protects Children it is gratifying to see how Eileen Munro has endorsed so many of the points I included in the book, including all the issues raised above. However, it still remains for us to see how the recommendations are implemented and also what changes are made in the processes of training for social workers and other professionals.

Professional judgment doesn't just develop naturally; it depends on a system of education that encourages thinking and reflection as well as time for wider reading and research. It requires managers in the work place who understand the complexities of their staff's case work and are prepared to foster their ongoing professional development and training. Above all it requires practice models that allow professionals opportunities to understand the dynamics of their clients' needs and to have the time to build the relationships that will provide the focus and basis for change.

There are generations of social workers who have no knowledge or experience of the above - the kind of changes envisaged by the Munro Report will require fundamental shifts in policy, education and training and practice and can only take place over a long period of time.

OfSTED Endorsement of Nurture Groups

2011-07-13T11:22:00.001+01:00

In gathering information for report, "Supporting children with challenging behaviour through a nurture group approach" OfSTED inspectors visited 29 infant, first and primary schools with nurture groups provision, located in a variety of settings, both urban and rural.

The findings make fascinating reading about the successful impact that nurture groups make in the lives of individual children as well as on the whole school ethos. Particularly encouraging are the comments of parents about the difference the nurture group has made to their children, thus challenging the notion that nurture groups do not influence behaviour outside the immediate context of the group or school.

The report is fair in identifying some individual weaknesses in schools with nurture groups and this reinforces the importance of keeping as close to the model as possible for maximum benefits.

The need for continuing to monitor children's progress after time in the nurture group is also highlighted, again emphasising the critical significance of on-going evaluation on a national scale.

Congratulations to the schools involved and to the hundreds of other nurture groups across the UK!

Nurture Groups

2011-05-28T17:29:00.000+01:00

I have recently been involved in the design and delivery of an induction training programme for the staff group who will be looking after families with children in the new Family Suite at Tinsley House Immigration and Removal Centre, near Gatwick airport. The Family Suite has been specifically built to look after families just prior to their leaving the country having had their immigration status denied. A hard job and one which raises many questions in relation to the use of custody and the detention of children.

It was really helpful in planning and delivering this training to be able to use the model of the nurture group class room as a template for what the activity rooms in the Family Suite should provide and look like for the children and young people who will be using them, and to be able to link work on attachment and trauma to the six key principles that underpin nurture group practice.

At first sight this might seem an unlikely setting to be able to use nurture principles but of course in any context where adults are working directly with children, their practice needs to be informed by an understanding of the importance of attachment and relationships and with thinking around how the principles of nurture may be applied. This is especially true in custodial conditions where the challenge of balancing 'care and security' is a real one and needs to be thought about carefully.

As shown in How Nurture Protects Children nurture groups provide an effective model for almost all practice settigns as well as offering a model that can be used for the wider purposes of policy development and service planning.

Young People in Custody - 'De-Commissioning Beds'

2011-05-18T11:25:00.000+01:00

Whilst it is good news that the numbers of young people in custody are falling and the YJB are 'decommissioning beds,' it cannot be sensible to reduce the availability of places in the already declining sector of local authority secure children's homes. As others say, YOIs are not purpose built for looking after young people and the STCs also lack the resources to look after those who are the most vulnerable in the secure estate. This decision must be financially driven and reflects yet again the absence of coherent thinking in the YJB about the needs of those young people who are sentenced to custody and the kind of 'regimes' that are required to address not just delinquent behaviour but, in many cases, the underlying and long term problems emerging from their experiences in the family, school and wider community.

Children in Detention

2011-05-07T14:50:00.000+01:00

From Children and Young People Now:
'The UK Border Agency needs to undergo a major cultural shift if the government's pledge to end child detention is to be successful, the man overseeing the policy has said.

Speaking publicly for the first time in his role as head of the newly formed Independent Family Returns Panel, Chris Spencer told CYP Now that a training programme is in place to help the agency adopt a more child-centred approach to immigration removals, and that the process of change is only beginning.

"The biggest challenge is trying to introduce a culture that is used to looking at children's safeguarding and welfare and where that is embedded in practice," he said. "Changing the culture of frontline workers and the whole training process is the issue. If we can improve the way they engage with families we will have achieved our objective and there are signs of it happening."'

Chris Spencer is absolutely right, it is only a shift in culture that can make children who are caught up in the latter stages of the 'family returns' process safer and better looked after.

I have recently been involved in the design and delivery of the induction programme for staff who will be working in the Family Suite at Tinsley House. It has been encouraging to have been able to support a programme aimed at helping to focus the professional culture of the staff team towards the values of child care professionals concerned about the well-being and safeguarding of the children for whom they will care in very difficult circumstances. The programme has encouraged the staff group to reflect on their personal and professional values and used dynamic team building exercises to generate a cohesive and trusting team ethos in which staff are able to reflect and think about the work they will be doing. Within a context of more theoretical work on such topics as attachment, trauma, child development, managing self-harming behaviours and safeguarding principles, the training has offered staff an opportunity to learn in a safe and respectful environment, whilst at the same time applying their learning to the practical task of establishing a 'safe and secure' residential experience for the families who will be coming through the Family Suite. The building blocks of the training, i.e. encouraging personal and professional development, providing opportunities for thinking and reflection and drawing upon ideas about attachment and nurture, child development, safeguarding and emotional well-being are the essential ones for all training for work with children and young people, especially those involving custody and secure accommodation.

Early Years and Targets - Bureacracy or Relationships/

2011-03-31T10:49:00.000+01:00

Having enjoyed a month in Australia it is good to be back if somewhat disappointing (unsurprising?) to see that nothing has changed: News at home is still about 'cuts' and 'financial constraints' and in the wider world natural disasters and war continue to fill us with horror and despair.

Whilst it is encouraging to see Dame Claire Tickell's recommendations to reduce the ridiculous number of targets for early years services [review of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)] and to read her call for the early years framework to remain compulsory for everyone working with children from birth to five years old, including childminders, there still seems something rather bureacratic about a prescriptive framework of curriculum shaping the nature of relationships between adults and young children in early years settings rather than the focus being on the development of nurturing relationships and the use of play.

What People are Saying

2011-02-12T09:46:00.000Z

Some quotes from a few reviews

“…packed with insight… its scope is wide enough to make it important reading for foster carers, teachers, social workers, residential childcare workers, managers and policy-makers at all levels in local and national government.”
Charles Sharpe, Childhood & Society, March 2011

“…of interest to anyone working with children in a social care, learning or therapeutic setting, either directly or as part of a relevant management structure.”
Rating: "Essential Information” 3 stars out of 3.
Antonella Parker,Foster Care Magazine

“Jim is to be applauded for the clarity of his thinking and his passionate desire to influence policy and practice by driving forward the nurturing principle.”
John Healey, Nurture Group News

Smoke and Mirrors

2011-02-06T19:37:00.000Z

It is always interesting when a Chief Executive leaves a post unexpectedly and after only a relatively short time in the job. The recent announced change at the Nurture Group Network is a case in point, see www.nurturegroups.org

I understand the difficulties likely to surround the efforts to agree the wording of such an announcement, particularly if the decision to be taken is contentious and reputations are at stake!! However, as someone who has had an interest in the NGN for a number of years (and let's be honest was the previous CEO!!) there are some questions I should like to ask and some comments I should like to make.

Did the CEO resign or was she made redundant? These are different things and have different financial and organisational consequences.

In terms of achievements, an 18 month review of an organisation that has never employed more than 8 people at any one time seems a tad extended! Where is the Business Manager, whose post was trumpeted as a reason for the restructuring and what has been the result of the grant application to Esmee Fairbairn supposed to fund such an appointment? It is always good to anticipate ‘potential’ business but much better to be able to report actual business!!

I should also like to point out that filming for the Dispatches documentary was completed by December 2008 and the programme was shown in January 2009 just after the House of Lords event. The film that has become the excellent ‘Nurture Room’ was also being discussed at the same time.

For me, the saddest aspects of the last two years has been the fracturing of relationships across the Network and the failure to deliver the framework for a national evaluation of nurture groups; however, in nurture it is important to be ‘realistic but optimistic’. NGN has a fantastic membership and there is still a crucial role to play in supporting nurture groups and promoting the principles of nurture; times may be hard but there are opportunities as well as challenges – let’s hope that the vision and enthusiasm that has always been shown by nurture group staff across the country can be re-harnessed by NGN and taken into a more positive future.

2011-02-01T12:44:00.000Z

BBC News reporting on the interim report from Professor Eileen Munro:

"Child protection should be less about red tape, targets and form-filling and more about looking after the child, an official report says.
Professor Eileen Munro says bureaucracy is preventing social workers from doing the job they have trained for. And she stresses the importance of having a range of services based in the community to help keep children safe.

She was asked to review England's child protection system by the government.
In her interim report, Prof Munro says regulations, inspections and procedures have thrown the system out of balance.She says: "Too often questions are asked if rules and procedures have been met but not whether this has helped children.

"Everyone in the profession can think of meetings and forms that don't actually make a child safer.
"Whilst some regulation is needed, we need to reduce it to a small, manageable size."

This is very good news and there is more in the news article regarding the dangers of targets and serious case reviews - The questions that still await to be answered are how will all this eventually translate into practice? and how will the education and training of social workers (and others involved in children's services), adapt to take into account the shift in thinking required for the kind of insightful and thoughtful work advocated by Professor Munro? It is not just about getting rid of protocols and over-reliance on procedures, it is about having robust theoretical models for working with children and families. It is about taking attachment and nurture seriously.

Recognition for Nurture Groups

2011-01-04T12:29:00.000Z

It was really pleasing to see that Marion Bennathan was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List. Marion was instrumental in establishing the Nurture Group Network (NGN) and has worked tirelessly for its growth over many years. The work of the NGN is to promote nurture groups and the idea of nurture in schools and other settings for children and young people. Nurture Groups are a focused intervention for children and young people who have difficulty in settling into the demanding routines of school and struggle to make relationships with other children and adults. Using the ideas of attachment theory, nurture groups provide structured experiences for children and young people, encouraging learning through activities in the context of supportive and non-judgmental relationships with adults. There is an increasing body of research and evaluation studies showing the effectiveness of nurture groups not only in helping individual children and young people but in affecting whole school cultures and supporting parents to become more engaged with their children's education.

With over 1000 groups, mainly in primary schools but with a growing number in secondary schools, nurture group practice is inspired by the many teachers and learning support assistants who run their nurture groups across the whole of the UK. There are also nurture groups in New Zealand, Canada and Malta, adding an international dimension for practice evaluation and research.

As I tried to show in my book How Nurture Protects Children, the principles that underpin nurture group practice may also be applied to practice in settings other than schools and used to inform the culture of services for children, young people and families, including social care, youth justice and mental health provisions.

Congratulations to Marion Bennathan and long continued success for nurture groups!!!

A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2010-12-23T10:58:00.000Z

Who knows what 2011 will bring - more change? no doubt, more uncertainty? probably! and definitely more arguments and debates. Whatever the year brings there will always be the need for reasoned discussions and reflective thinking about the importance of nurturing and attachment in the work we do with and for children, young people and their families.

May I wish you a happy Christmas and a peaceful new year.

Valuing Foster Carers & Residential Staff

2010-11-30T16:24:00.000Z

At the recent Fostering Network national conference in Belfast the statement was made in a key note address that care leavers are statistically more likely to end up in prison than go to university. This is simply shocking!!

A recent report from the Institute of Education in London states that increases in tuition fees, coupled with local government cuts are set to reduce the already small number of care leavers who go on to university.

The findings of this research also indicate the importance to looked after children of having adult carers who value education and are prepared to support children and young people with their schooling. As ever, while proper financial support is important, of critical value is the quality of the relationship between young people and their carers (primarily foster carers and residential workers) experienced through day-to-day routines, including having high expectations about what individual children and young people can achieve in their education.

And this is why foster carers and residential workers must be regarded as equal and key members of the professional networks that support looked after children. Indeed, they should be listened to most carefully as they actually know the children and young people, think about them and amongst all the other involved professionals, enjoy the closest relationship with them . This is not about the 'professionalisation' of foster care but a recognition of the significance of caring, parent-like relationships as the basis for children's growth and development - socially, emotionally and educationally!

2010-11-18T09:14:00.000Z

Treatment of young people in custody has deteriorated, says chief inspector of prisons C&YP Now - 18 November 2010

A report has concluded that despite falling numbers of young people in custody conditions have deteriorated in some areas. young people still feel unsafe and the delivery of programmes in such key areas as drugs has reduced.

This is disappointing but not altogether surprising. Whatever the numbers of young people in secure accommodation (and there are still too many)unless there are consistent and well thought out models to inform the practice of the front line residential staff in particular, then young people's experience of custody will inevitably be negative and counter-productive.

Of course, in my opinion (and with research support!!) these models should be based on the ideas of attachment and the principles of nurture, which provide a coherent set of ideas to support the provision of positive regimes in our secure accommodation, where the most vulnerable children and young people may be found.

2010-11-11T09:08:00.000Z

"What we call our future is the shadow which our past throws in front of us." (Proust)

Perhaps this is a bit self indulgent, but hey, I did reach a mile-stone birthday this week! And at my age the past throws an ever increasing shadow.

The point is that the past, present and future are inextricably linked: this is relevant in thinking about the work that we do, whether in social work, teaching, youth justice or whatever. It is why investment in early intervention is so important and why we need to keep working for more emphasis to be placed on the development of effective early years services, relationally focused and based on the key ideas of attachment and the principles of nurture. It is why we must remain optimistic (although realistic)about what we do, as the shape of the shadow is determined by earlier experience.

It is also the case that the links between past, present and future mean that there is something of a cyclical nature about our work: more and more I think, 'I have read this before or is this really new news?' Never mind, we keep moving on, hopeful and looking forward, for this is what we have and what we are:

"Earth's the right place for love;
I don't know where it's likely to go better."(Robert Frost)

2010-10-27T17:41:00.000+01:00

Baby Peter review reveals failings by every agency...
C&YPNow October 27 2010

The publication of the full Serious Case Reviews on the circumstances surrounding the death of baby Peter Connolly reveals multiple failings on the part of all those agencies charged with his care and protection.

The reviews also reveal the numerous 'missed opportunities'for earlier identification of the issues and opportunities for intervention and this is of real concern. In such situations, it is not just about structures and systems (important thought these are), nor is it about 'more parenting courses' (although these may have a place) it is about building and sustaining thoughtful relationships between professionals as well as between professionals and the families they are meant to be supporting.

Models of practice, informed by an understanding of the importance of attachment and nurture along with case work systems that take the emerging narrative seriously and encourage this to be reflected upon and thought about rather than a process of data collection with tick box recording protocols, would contribute to better outcomes for vulnerable children and their families.

2010-10-18T11:18:00.000+01:00

YJB Obituary
Professor Howard Williamson in C&YPNow (14 October)

Professor Williamson's perceptive comments about the succession of YJB Chairs rather neatly encapsulates the history of the organisation reflecting the shift from a robust, innovative body, driving through necessary but often resisted changes (who can forget Lord Warner being booed at an early YJB conference and responding with "the dinosaurs are here then"??) to the performance focused, contract orientated, compliance obsessed bureacracy of more recent times. Acknowledging the successes noted by Howard Williamson, the most significant frustration has surely been the failure to create a coherent set of practice models for work with children and young people, based on ideas and knowledge about child development and attachment, and their application across all services. The absence of such models only serves to deepen the evident rift between yots and children's services at local level.

2010-10-12T11:30:00.000+01:00

Serious safeguarding incidents of young offenders revealed

'Scores of deaths, suicides and attempted suicides among young offenders under supervision in the community have been revealed in an investigation by CYP Now, sparking major safeguarding concerns.'

This is not just about the fact that two, separate central governemnt departments are responsible for 'young offenders' (Ministry of Justice) and for children and young people (DfE). A split which is reflected at local level between YOTs and other children's services and which leads to difficulties in communication and failure to plan coherently for the needs of all children, young people and their families.

It is primarily a failure to develop a model for policy and practice for all children and young people that recognises the importance of attachment to ensure their healthy emotional and cognitive development and understands that delinquent behaviour, even of the most serious kind, is related to early experience and the subsequent faiure of services to enagage the most vulnerable children and families through working practices that build on the provision of consistent and positive relationships.

What more evidence is required before policy makers create a framework that prioritises relational approaches to all work with children and young people, including youth justice??!!

2010-10-04T10:10:00.000+01:00

Munro finds reforms have damaged frontline social work
Previous reforms to the social care system have led to social workers spending less time with vulnerable children and families, according to the first report from Professor Eileen Munro's review

So, after all, it really isn't all about protocols, systems, procedures and xcel spreadsheets!!!

Let's hope government begins to take this work seriously and policy lines start to emerge that require organisations to support front-line workers in building relationships with people, allowing time for this to happen with models of supervision and training that provide space for the reflective thinking that this work demands.

2010-09-29T09:12:00.000+01:00

‘Social workers too often fail to communicate well with children or show them respect, families have told the Office of the Children's Commissioner. ‘(C&YPN 29.09.10)
This is not about the failings of individual social workers! It is about a professional culture in which bureaucratic and organisational demands have refocused the social work task away from thinking about the relationship between worker and client. Social work (and other professional training) has become increasingly modularised and outcome driven, with no space for students to be grounded in relevant theory (attachment) and to experience the processes of reflective thinking. The demands for organisations to show their effectiveness requires targets to be achieved and boxes to be ticked. The professional task has almost become defined by the completion of forms.
Understanding attachment theory, the principles of nurture and the evidence from neuro-science about the links between emotional and cognitive development in the growth of the infant brain are crucial elements in providing more effective models for engaging vulnerable children and families. Until this is incorporated into policy, reflected in organisational structures that are geared to support front-line workers and embedded in professional education and training, social workers will continue to be criticised for lacking the essential qualities and skills looked for and wanted by the people they are supposed to be helping!

Plus ca change??

2010-09-07T10:15:00.000+01:00

Recent hot news from the Youth Justice Board informs us that the sentencing of young people to custody is a 'geographical lottery' and that there is a disproportionate number of young people from minority ethnic groups in the youth justice system - really?? These have been issues for ever (or at least for as long as I can remember which is becoming an increasingly and scarily long time). This is surely an indictment after 13 years of the YJB? Really hot news would be that policy makers are going to use the 'evidence' of attachment and nurture to shape their directives and that the education and training of the professional workforce is going to based on these ideas - if this were so, how different practice would be in social care settings, in schools, in health services and in youth justice!!

Too much bureacracy?

2010-08-27T11:38:00.000+01:00

There has been a lot of recent discussion about too much bureacracy - in social work, youth justice and in health services. Is the Youth Justice Board an expensive quango? Are Safeguarding Boards necessary? Now, whilst there may be genuine debates to be had about both these questions (I personally think the YJB has run its course and become another piece of the performance driven bureacracy, hindering rather than promoting good practice) - there is another issue - what will replace the current bureacracy? Unless we have robust and effective models of practice for all those who work with children, young people and families, based on the ideas of nurture and attachment and until the education and training of all professionals (and I include foster carers)is based on these principles, then although there might be rhetoric about doing away wth bureacracy, what actually happens will not change.

Do we need another review of social work?

2010-06-11T14:17:00.000+01:00

Whilst it might seem rather dispiriting that there is to be yet another review of social work, there are encouraging signs that the latest review could provide different and more fruitful possibilities. The early indications from Eileen Munro suggest a more radical and 'people' focused approach than the bureaucratic endeavours of recent years. Child protection services need to be refocused on the human aspects of social work and on the development of the skills that are really needed by workers to engage with the difficult and even dangerous circumstances scenarios they face in their day-to-day work. The value of reflective thinking, the use of professional judgment based on learning derived from experience and a recognition of the importance of establishing and maintaining long term, stable relationships between workers and clients, need to be reaffirmed as core to the social work task. They are immeasurably more effective than the bureaucratic, target driven procedures that prevail currently. If social workers and other professionals had the time and space to really listen to the unfolding narratives of peoples' lives and received the regular and proper supervision required to make sense of the stories being heard, the safety and well-being of children would be greatly enhanced.

2010-05-04T12:59:00.000+01:00

Who will win the forthcoming election and what difference will it make? There has been some debate about the bureacratic demands being made on teachers and social workers and the need for less 'red tape' but that is not the whole story!! There is too much bureacracy and the 'target culture' has seriously affected the work of teachers and social care workers, but there has to be another model of practice offered and there has been very little discussion about the effect of the current professional culure on the education and training of the workforce. We must try and move the debate on in these important areas.

2010-02-12T11:34:00.000Z

The book is now published and available at www.responsivesolutions.org.uk

2010-01-27T09:25:00.000Z

The reactions to the terrifying actions of the two young boys in Doncaster, who tortured and terrified two other similar age boys, have included horror and outrage. These feelings are overwhelming in their intensity. What has happened to those two boys that brought them to the point where they could behave so violently and sadistically? What is their experience of family, of being cared for and loved? what are the circumstances and backgrounds of the adults who are their parents? And, what was going on in the agencies charged with the responsibility of providing care and protection to these boys and to their victims? These are two sides of the same coin; We have to be able to think about these things, to try and to understand; more importantly, the agencies and workers involved also have to be able to think, reflect and take necessary action. There are so many common features in this case as in all the other serious and high profile cases involving cruelty to (and by) children. It is not as if these boys and their family were not known about, they didn't suddenly appear. How could this happen? These are crucial issues I discuss in How Nurture Protects Children, and they are crucial not just for social work and social workers, but for all of us - events such as these pose big questions - what kind of society do we want for ourselves and for our children?

Close to publication

2010-01-10T11:35:00.001Z

How Nurture Protects Children is now written and I am waiting for the indexing to be completed before going to print. Then the job will be to promote and sell it!!

Writing is a solitary occupation and it has been so important to have people to talk to about the ideas of How Nurture Protects Children and to be reassured about its purpose. It has surprised me that almost everyone I have talked to has immediately been able to see the point of the book and recognise the issues raised. These have been people not necessarily involved in education or social work but who identify with such points as the overwheming burden of procedures, tiresome bureacracy and the deadening effects of the target culture. They have also been able to identify the particular dangers posed to social work and education and how such things are antithetical to meeting the real needs of vulnerable children and families.

Finishing the writing

2009-11-28T12:00:00.000Z

As I have nearly completed the task of actually writing the book I am struck by the number of times I have heard or seen references in the media to topics that are the substance of - How Nurture Protects Children I must say this is a real motivator to finish writing and re-assuring that what I am writing is likely to be topical!! More and more the weakneses of systems that rely on 'targets and tick boxes' seem to be exposed. However, there is still very little on alternative ways of thinking or working. Nurture groups provide a viable template for practice across all areas of work with children, young people and families and I am hoping that my forthcoming book will show how and why!! Any ideas?
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What's all this about?

2009-10-08T16:31:00.000+01:00

How Nurture Protects Children is the title of a book I am writing.

It's partly a critique of a culture where control prevails over welfare, regulation over professional judgement and protocol over process. It is also, however, an attempt to describe an alternative way of thinking about the nature of work with children, young people and their families. In this model, the development of positive relationships is at the forefront of policy and practice and the education and training of professional workers is shaped by an emphasis on child development and the profound significance of attachment and nurture.

Any thoughts or ideas? Publishers have been interested, even complimentary (!) but they say no-one reads this sort of book nowadays -they just want to be told how to do it! I think ideas matter and it is important to think. So I am going to publish this book myself. This blog will tell the story of how it goes.