Working with children, young people and families
We develop a range of evidence-informed learning resources designed for professionals working with children and families tailored to individual and organisational learning and development needs.
Our annual Delivery Programme is developed in consultation with Partners from across the national children & families Research in Practice membership network in order to ensure our work reflects the needs and priorities of the sector.
In 2021-22 we developed and delivered a range of learning resources and events on:
During the pandemic mental health and wellbeing issues were often exacerbated with the social isolation of the lockdown and the pressures of performance assessment at school.
These resources aim to support practitioners to address these concerns.
Read
- Connecting learning from the Care Experienced Conference – what’s happened since? Views
- The Care Experienced Conference 2019 - What’s happened since?: Strategic Briefing (open access)
- The Power Threat Meaning Framework: a different perspective on mental health: Views
Watch
- An introduction to the Power Threat Meaning Framework: Recorded webinar
- Do care experienced young people feel loved and nurtured? Video (open access)
- How language sets the tone for different working relationships: Video (open access)
- How Liverpool City region put the child at the heart of their work: Video (open access)
- How the Care Experience Conference Pledge has influenced care leaver support in North Yorkshire: Video (open access)
- The role of love and our use of language: Video (open access)
- What matters to children in care and care leavers’ well-being: learning from the Bright Spots programme: Videoe (open access)
Domestic Violence or Abuse (DVA) is, over many years, the most common factor identified at the end of assessments of children in need under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989.
Our Change Project focused on building conceptual and practice developments when responding to families where DVA occurs. Drawing from international research, practice initiatives and family expertise, the project and resources aim to support a re-thinking of our responses to DVA in children’s social care to develop approaches that are humane and socially transformative.
Listen
- The evidence base around domestic violence and abuse (open access)
Read
- Domestic abuse and child protection: Changing the conversation – making a difference for children and families: Views
- Working with people who perpetrate domestic violence and abuse in families: Strategic Briefing (open access)
- Working with people who perpetrate domestic violence and abuse in families: Evidence Review (open access)
‘I am pleased to have attended and grateful that Research in Practice are dedicating time to anti-racist practice. All of the presenters and panel members gave us food for thought today and offered inspiration, even if that was not their intention. We need to keep anti-racist practice on the agenda and give a boost to those trying to keep the torch alive in their individual areas, and it is events like this that contribute to this and making the change happen. Thank you!’
Partnership Conference delegate
An integral part of social care practice is protection and promotion of the rights of adults, children and families. Central to this is ensuring that people of all ages, with all of their diverse characteristics, have equality of opportunity and are not excluded or discriminated against.
At Leaders’ Forum 2021, we explored a whole system view of how welfare and care is resourced and examined what we mean by inclusive economic growth and the role of social care within this.
Our Partnership Conference 2022 brought together voices of experience, practice leadership and national policy to consider how both practice and service development can be designed and delivered more equitably. We shared learning from Research in Practice’s partner network, academic research and learning from an upcoming Evidence Review on promoting anti-racism in children’s social care.
Listen
Read
- COVID-19: Inequalities and the implications for children’s social care: Leaders' Briefing
- Emotional reparation for social work education: Views
- Intersectionality and race related inequalities: Views
- Supporting young people who identify as LGBTQ+: Frontline Briefing
- Thinking differently about resourcing social care: Views
- Why intersectionality is vital to anti-discriminatory practice: Views
Watch
- Promoting anti-racism in social work (open access)
- Supporting practice: having courageous conversations (open access)
- The lens of Intersectionality: exploring race related oppression, disadvantage and inequality: Webinar (open access)
- What does a public health response to youth violence look like in practice? (open access)
These resources share the latest research messages for practice – to support social workers and leaders to continually develop their skills. They focus on children’s participation in decision-making processes and learning from the parent advocacy movement that seeks to build the power of parents who have been impacted by the child welfare system to advocate for change; to improve children’s lives.
A huge thank you for making this learning experience so enjoyable and accessible. As a newly qualified social worker I appreciated the approach. Best event I have attended in a long time.
Research in Practice Partner
Listen
- Magic dust and more: Reflections with Love Barrow Families: Podcast (open access)
- The role of an intermediary in family and criminal proceedings: Podcast (open access)
Read
- Enabling and embedding creative participation in child and family social work: Practice Tool
- Good practice in recording and access to records: Strategic Briefing
- Learning about how practitioners are using genograms in practice: Views
- Supporting wellbeing remotely: Leaders' Briefing (open access)
Watch
- How collaboration drives improvement for care experienced people across Greater Manchester (open access)
- Parental advocacy and an introduction to the IPAN toolkit: Recorded webinar
- Recovery, work-life balance, wellbeing: how to switch off
- The Social Work Organisational Resilience Diagnostic (SWORD): Video Learning Resource
Read
- A public health approach to violence reduction: Strategic Briefing (open access)
- Learning from the Greater Manchester Scale and Spread Programme: Spreading innovation across a city-region
- Reimagining residential children's homes: A fresh look at regulation. Chapter four
- Reimagining residential children's homes: Residential care for adolescents. Right place, right time? Chapter five
- Services for parents who have experienced recurrent care proceedings: Where are we now? Findings from mapping of locally developed services in England – Research Report (open access)
Watch
- A public health approach to reducing violence (open access)
- Attachment Economics: Video
- Bridging the Gap: transitional safeguarding and the role of social work with adults – Knowledge Briefing (open access)
- Learning from the Greater Manchester Scale and Spread Programme: Spreading innovation across a city-region (open access)
- Liberty Protection Safeguards: 16-17 year olds and deprivations of liberty (open access)
- Reimagining possibilities using a neighbourhood approach
- The Cycle of Change: Video (open access)
- We need to understand the experience of care-experienced people who are over 25: Video (open access)
- Why do people use alcohol and drugs despite the harm? Video (open access)
‘Thank you so much for organising another fantastic event! I enjoyed listening to all the speakers, hearing from colleagues across the country and have learnt a lot in a short amount of time.’
Link Officers’ Annual Meeting delegate
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 views, case law, research evidence and policy.
Our national programme of learning events, conferences and webinars support professional networking and development on pertinent social care topics, to meet individual and organisational needs.
Our 2021 Link Officers’ Annual Meeting (LOAM) explored what we have learned from digital practice and how we can combine successful elements of this with face-to-face approaches. Our aim is to build a hybrid future that maintains and even enhances the vital relationship-based elements of our work.