Working with children, young people and families

Our work

We develop a range of evidence-informed multimedia learning resources designed for professionals working with children, young people and families; tailored to individual and organisational learning and development needs.

Our annual Delivery Programme is developed in consultation with the national children & families Partnership network in order to ensure our work reflects the needs and priorities of the sector. In 2019-20 our work included new publications, events and online resources covering key topics including:

• abuse and violence in the family context
• gangs and criminal exploitation
• pre-birth assessment and patterns of attachment
• residential care and decision-making with brothers and sisters in care proceedings
• self-harm, mental health and wellbeing in children and young people.

In addition, we released three open access publications that explore the concept of commissioning and the use of evidence to form effective relationships with providers, local authorities and the voluntary sector:

• Evidence in the commissioning process and strategic partnerships with the voluntary sector: Executive Summary
• Evidence in the commissioning process: Insights from focus groups with local authority commissioners
• Strategic partnerships with the voluntary sector: Messages from research and practice

Learning resources 

As part of membership to Research in Practice, Partners have access to a range of learning opportunities and receive regular updates on the latest news and information, including case law, research evidence and policy.

Each year our national programme of learning events support professional networking and development, alongside the sharing of new innovations, to meet organisational needs. Our webinars feature expert speakers presenting evidence on pertinent social care topics, and networking events enable the sharing of ideas across geographical boundaries. In 2019 we made our policy update a singular publication to reflect the growing trend towards joined-up working across Children’s and Adults Services.

Click and drag left or right below to view Partner resources.

Learning from serious case reviews

We worked with the University of East Anglia, Centre for Research on Children and Families and the University of Warwick to develop a set of open access resources from the analysis of serious case reviews (2014-2017) to support the application of learning into practice.

Complexity and challenge: A triennial analysis of serious case reviews 2014-2017 analyses 368 serious case reviews relating to incidents between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2017. Marion Brandon and Peter Sidebotham introduced the key messages and resources in our Recorded Webinar.

View the resources.

Topics to support practice

A key feature of our new site is the ability to view connected learning resources and events by topic. This means learning can now be structured around key areas of work, such as resilience, supervision, contact and more.

Each topic area includes learning resources, publications, workshops and more to support practice. Browse all topics.

Every year we consult with our Partner network to decide on key topics. This shapes our work to ensure we meet the priorities of our network. In 2019-20 we focused on several key topics.

Click and drag left or right on each topic area to view the resources. 

Abuse and violence in the family context

Abuse encompasses a range of controlling and coercive behaviours, used by one person to maintain control over another with whom they have, or have had, an intimate or family relationship. It can refer to physical, sexual, emotional psychological or financial abuse. For example, harassment, stalking, rape, sexual assault, female genital mutilation, forced marriage and honour-based violence

Gangs and criminal exploitation

Exploitation refers to where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a person in exchange for something. Crime and serious violence amongst children, young people and young adults is an ever-changing web of criminal exploitation that also includes county lines.

Pre-birth assessment and patterns of attachment

Assessment is the process that identifies what children and families want and need to achieve in order to maintain or improve their wellbeing. This may have different focuses, dependent on the type of situation or need being experienced. Attachment theory supports our understanding of how attachment patterns evolve through past relationships and their impact on behaviour.

Residential care and decision-making with brothers and sisters in care proceedings

When we refer to the term ‘child in care’ we mean children and young people who have been in the care of a local authority for more than 24 hours. They may be cared for within a residential setting or by foster carers. Key to this topic is the quality and stability of the placement, robust planning for the time of leaving care and supporting educational attainment.

Self-harm, mental health and wellbeing in children and young people

Self-harm occurs when someone causes immediate damage to their own body. It can take many forms but the most common are self-cutting and self-poisoning (overdose). This is commonly a means of dealing with intense or overpowering feelings and emotions.

Supporting adults and the social care sector

Alongside our work to support children, young people and families we have developed a range of evidence-informed learning resources designed for people working with adults and carers.   

We've also worked collaboratively with individual organisations as well as local national partnerships to support the wider social care sector.