Family support in practice: voices from the field

ABSTRACT

This paper revisits core family support messages for social work practice in working with children and families, linking to findings from high-profile child protection cases in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Drawing on a comparative study where these identified practice messages were explored through the lens of testimony of family support workers in the UK and Ireland, these core messages are examined. Operating with hard-to-engage children and parents, we hear how families and family support worker colleagues now view the core functions of child and family work across both jurisdictions (Ireland and England). The authors argue that by naming a more detailed set of practices that are deemed as most useful by families, based on the benefits and challenges of intensive family support work, key messages arise that have major resonance for social work and multiagency practice into the future. A basic message from this study is that valuable lessons on engagement and intervention with families can be drawn for professionals by examining the practice elements of this group of paraprofessionals in the child and family arena. This paper adds to debates on the role of support and intervention in social work and family support work.

KEYWORDS:

• Family support
• child welfare
• comparative social work

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Professor Patrick Dolan is joint founder and Director of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre and an Academic Director of the MA in Family Support Studies at NUI Galway: he holds the prestigious UNESCO Chair in Children, Youth and Civic Engagement. He has worked with and for families as a practitioner, service manager and academic, and has completed an extensive body of research on family issues. He has also an extensive policy experience and was recently a member of a Government Task Force advising on the necessary transition programme for the new Child and Family Support Agency.

Mary Shannon is currently a Senior Lecturer in Children, Young People and Families at Leeds Trinity University in the UK. She has a background in Social Work practice and experience in the Children and Families area.

Berni Smyth is currently a Training and Development Officer with the Irish government agency TUSLA. She has practice experience in the Youth and Education fields and also has been an Associate Lecturer at NUI, Galway for a number of years.

ORCID

Patrick Dolan http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6949-5772

Mary Shannon http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1010-3372

Berni Smyth http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4457-6119

Notes

1 Full ethical approval was obtained from the HEI where the researcher was based, along with organizational consent from the agency prior to the commencement of the study.