Strategic briefings

Understanding social work professional identity in the context of digital and online social engagement is a developing field that is emerging alongside technologies that are becoming increasingly embedded in our lives. This briefing offers ideas and suggestions to help:

• Social work managers think about organisational approaches to digital professionalism in their workforce.
• Practitioners when creating or maintaining social media accounts and an online identity and presence.

Aimed at: Strategic and practice leads, service managers, heads of service, team managers in children’s and youth services.

Number of pages: 28

Product code: CH SBR 014

The purpose of this briefing is to explore how leadership activity and organisational cultures and structures affect the ability of practitioners to adopt and use strengths-based approaches. It provides an introduction to the theoretical underpinning and practical application of strengths-based approaches, explores messages from research and highlights issues leaders need to consider in relation to:

• How organisational culture and climate affect practice.
• Implementing changes and the adoption of new approaches.
• Sustaining change through ongoing learning and development.

Aimed at: Strategic and practice leads, service managers, heads of service, team managers in children’s and youth services.

Number of pages: 28

Product code: CH SBR 015

This briefing, developed in partnership with NHS Clinical Commissioners, is aimed at those involved in the commissioning of mental health services and support for children and young people.

At a time of renewed government focus on children’s mental health and wellbeing, the new commissioning landscape offers opportunities to move towards sustainable change. By utilising new service models such as integrated care systems and engaging local partners in collaborative place-based commissioning, commissioners can take a strategic approach to driving change across the children and young people’s mental health system.

Aimed at: Strategic and practice leads, service managers, heads of service, team managers in children’s and youth services.

Number of pages: 24

Product code: CH SBR 016

Diverse approaches are taken in safeguarding practice across Adults’ and Children’s Services. These differences present challenges for those seeking to effectively safeguard adolescents into adulthood and young people can feel ill-equipped for the change in practice culture they experience as they become adults.

This briefing, jointly produced by Research in Practice and Research in Practice for Adults, explores how a transitional approach to safeguarding could be developed. It looks at approaches to safeguarding adolescents and young adults fluidly across developmental stages that builds on the best available evidence, learns from both children’s and adults’ safeguarding practice and which prepares young people for their adult lives.

Aimed at: Senior leaders and managers involved in safeguarding children and/or adults, in particular those with responsibility for designing and developing services and leading practice.

Number of pages: 28

Preview available

Product code: JT-SBT-002

Drawing on sector knowledge gathered through quality assurance (QA) workshops, this briefing offers a strategic overview and practical guidance on how an effective quality assurance framework can support achieving the right outcomes for children and young people, and improve the quality of practice.

It sets QA in the wider context of the drivers and enablers, including strengths and relationship-based practice with children and young people.

Aimed at: Local authority strategic leaders and decision-makers. It will also be of interest to frontline managers and their staff.

Number of pages: 20

Product code: CH SBR 013

Estimates are that between 40 to 60 percent of parents with a learning disability do not live with their children. This publication provides an overview of the available evidence in relation to ‘what works’ in working with parents who have a learning disability, including case study examples of good practice.

The briefing aims to enable strategic leaders to:

• understand the practice tensions in this area
• become familiar with the key research
• gain a greater understanding as to what will best support parents who have a learning disability.

Aimed at: Local authority strategic leaders and decision-makers. It will also be of interest to frontline managers and their staff.

Number of pages: 32

Product code: JT-SBT-001

The deprivation of liberty for children and young people is a complex and sensitive area of practice with an evolving legal framework. This Strategic Briefing considers the legal basis to support local authorities in decision-making in this field of work.

Aimed at:Senior managers, Assistant Directors, heads of service, children’s guardians, family support workers, children’s home managers.

Number of pages: 24

Product code: CH-SBR-012

This briefing sets out key messages from an evidence review commissioned and published by the Department for Education in March 2017, which aimed to provide judicial and local authority decision-makers with an independent summary of relevant research evidence that focuses on comparative outcomes of different placement options.

The review brought together an accessible summary of key research findings on two themes:

• The impacts of abuse and neglect on children.
• The strengths and weaknesses of different types of long-term placements in relation to their impact on children.

This briefing focuses on the second of these themes to help leaders and decision-makers think about how they can influence and organise local policy development and services to meet the current and future needs of children and young people.

Aimed at: Local authority strategic leaders and decision-makers, though it will also be of interest to frontline managers and their staff in local authority Children's Services.

Number of pages: 16
Preview available

This briefing presents the latest research and practice evidence on how to provide the best quality support to care leavers. It highlights innovative and cost-effective approaches to enable evidence-informed local policy making, service redesign and commissioning.

The emerging policy landscape of different transition pathways for young people not in further education, employment or training (NEET), is also explored, along with their entitlements.

Aimed at: Assistant Directors, heads of service, anyone who commissions or provides commissioned services in this area.

Number of pages: 16
Preview available.
Product code: CH-SBR-010