Rise of The Parents’ Guardians
Social workers with a passion for family welfare have launched an organisation called Parents Advocacy and Rights (PAR), dedicated to representing parents as they go through child protection proceedings. Researching Reform was the first project to do this, with the hope that the sector would implement this working strategy into their practice so we are thrilled to see this happen.
The lead social worker for this project is Maggie Mellon, an outspoken child welfare professional and former Vice Chair for the British Association of Social Workers, who has been openly vocal about the need to treat parents with dignity and compassion during child protection work. The organisation is based in Scotland, and we hope that genuinely passionate and compassionate social workers will think about doing the same in other parts of the country. Maggie, any plans for a branch in England?
New Social Care Evidence Store Launched By Social Work England Partner
The What Works Centre has unveiled a new evidence library for children’s social work, which currently includes 11 reviews of interventions and practice areas. The Centre’s press release offers more information on the library, which aims to highlight which social work practices have a proven track record of working and which do not. What Works is collaborating with new regulatory body Social Work England (SWE) to try to improve the state of children’s social care in the UK.
The new library uses a “Plus and Minus” ratings system: one plus means the practice or policy is supported by evidence which suggests it works; two plusses mean the evidence available suggests the practice appears to be consistently effective; a zero sign means that the evidence if available shows mixed to no results and a minus sign indicates that the current evidence for the practice suggests the policy tends to make things worse. This however, does not mean the evidence being used is automatically considered to be robust or accurate. In order to address the variations in quality and availability of evidence, the Centre has added another layer to the ratings system which measures the quality of the evidence used as well. Check out the Signs of Safety ratings, which have already ruffled a few feathers.
Researching Reform 