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child protection

children
edited by Judy Cooper judy.cooper@rbi.co.uk

InsIde thIs seCtIon 18 Why photos have no place in the adoption process 20 Supporting homeless teens 21 Boarding schools do work for some at-risk children
Vacancy rates at your council www. communitycare.co.uk/vacancyrates2011

Hostile witne
Recent serious case reviews have concluded that social workers struggle to deal with hostile and intimidating parents. Jim Wild explains why a national response is needed
raised the issue in supervision that the man in the family was threatening. He said to me: You dont take our kids off us, if you do things happento you. When my last visit ended he said he would see me out and I should take care crossing the road, because accidents happen. It left me feeling frightened and in fear of my life. I took it up with my manager who thought I needed to toughen myself up if I wanted to stay in the work. He was more concerned I got my files up to date and that

more from

COMMUNITYcare

Sexually harmful behaviour in children, 2 November, Leeds. www. communitycareconferences.co.uk/shb

CONFERENCES

To find out more about Inform, the online resource to help professionals make, and evidence, their decisions, email kim. poupart@rbi.co.uk

assessments had been completed within the timescales. That service user kept me awake at night, gave me nightmares and led me to start looking in the vacancies section. The above quote is taken from a newly qualified social worker who recently attended a two-day workshop I facilitated on working with difficult, dangerous and evasive adults in child protection. It is by no means an isolated or extreme example of what frontline social workers tell me they face in their day-to-day work. In his 2003 research professor Brian
www.communitycare.co.uk 6 October 2011

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