Working with people and organisations 2 - Essay Example

?Working with people and organisations 2  In this essay I will reflect on my role as a Social Worker with a Private Fostering Agency. I will define expectations of good social work and how I have been able to look after children, foster carers, birth families and professionals. I will highlight the importance of learning whilst on the Working with People and Organisations Module and how these strategies have assisted me whilst on placement. ?Also, good social work practice, ethics, morals, values, differing professional relationships, theories, legislations, evaluations, preventions, benefits and challenges were all encountered and experienced on placement. A number of preventative strategies and dilemmas were also encountered. When considering student social work, one of the overarching aspects is the consideration of the welfare of the individuals involved. Indeed, Olsen (2008) has indicated the tenuous nature of such circumstances on the children involved, “Unaccompanied minors often face severe trauma during their preflight lives as well as during the course of their migration. These traumatic experiences can have negative psychosocial impacts on the minors.” Such minors still rely heavily on supervision for the best outcome. When working closely with cases one must maintain an appropriate professional boundary and yet also still respect each person according to the fundamental Kantian principles of humanity and consistency. (Banks, 2006, p. 30 I have found that foster children and their birth families often in conversation slip something to you, hoping that it will not be reported. I am constantly aware of the principle of safeguarding and always advise them it must be noted. That information could be crucial at some later date and could put someone’s life at risk or cause personal danger. As a Student Social Worker I have been assigned nine foster children to support. Some foster carers currently have no placements, but still require regular support, advice and training. My foster carer could be a 60 miles round trip away from our offices. As a lot of our placements are from different local authorities, our foster carer’s home addresses can span all boroughs. I was trained to use social e-care and also carried out general office based duties usually carried out by a duty worker in the day to day processes of dealing with referrals from local authorities in placing looked after children (LAC) with well-matched foster carers. I was professional at all times, particularly when taking referrals and sharing information. ?I have had the opportunity to deal with all aspects of the process of recruiting foster carers and having them approved by a panel. A fostering panel consists of people who are experienced in the needs of young people and children in care; they have a broad knowledge and can be teachers, nurses, social workers etc. The fostering panel are responsible for making recommendations of a person’s suitability to foster. As part of my role I have carried out risk assessments on placing young people with prospective foster carers. This involved looking at referrals from local authorities and highlighting possible issues that might arise once the child was placed with a foster carer. I have had the opportunity on placement to be involved in carrying out a form F assessment. ?This type of assessment provides a lot of information about a the prospective foster carers upbringing, family life, profile of their lives, composition of their family, education attainment, views, morals and ethics. It highlights the strengths and weaknesses of their upbringing and looks at how this would play a significant part in his or her fostering views and decisions. ?All members of the staff were involved in the duty process, and the management style of the organisation was quite firm in enforcing compliance with these rules. It could be described as “authoritative”, but not “coercive” (Hatch, 1997, pp. 284-286) since staff willingly submitted to the requirements made, and agreed with the general objectives of the organisation. We received referrals from local authorities and identified suitable carers dependent on matching considerations such as ethnicity and religious background to promote feelings of positive identity. Developing a positive identity is important in achieving the best possible outcome in terms of personal development and future relationships for all children, but it is especially important for LAC who have to deal with many other complex issues in their lives. Achieving the best possible empathy with others in their home environment and the formation of healthy attachments is dependent on ensuring the best possible match between the LAC and the foster carers. ??  During my time on placement I was allocated my own caseload of foster carers. I was able to meet them and introduce myself at a training course beforehand and this assisted a good bond with all current foster carers in one go. This helped promote good social work practice as I was able to show my enthusiasm, good timekeeping and approachability; this also assisted in starting, continuing and maintaining good relationships with my carers. I was able to show them time and interest in their roles as foster carers. I am so passionate about fostering. I am currently a foster carer for the local authority and always advise them with a heartfelt attitude and empathy. I was in a position to support and advise them in their role as a foster carer providing a suitable home for children. I worked in a transparent way and in partnership with agencies and other social workers to support the LAC in placement. I travelled throughout different areas visiting foster carers and children to deal with different issues and concerns that arose. In my role I have also done monthly home supervisory visits. All foster carers have to produce logs on the LAC and keep up to date and accurate records. These include medical, dental, school and optician appointments. On occasions, the LAC can come from a background with no boundaries, little structure and consistency and it is therefore important to work closely with the carer and child in providing a stable environment for the young person. Situations in a foster home can change very quickly simply because the LAC initially wants to be with their birth mother not in foster care. LAC can have many internal conflicts to deal with, for example they feel a sense of loss and separation. If a LAC feels settled or likes the foster home in which they are placed a LAC can feel guilty and disloyal to their birth mother. I have observed cases whereby LAC are also often in conflict in maintaining existing relationships with peers and in building relationships within the foster home. ?? LAC often have attachment issues due to poor parenting and for this reason relationships with peers can become very important. I have observed conflict with a LAC who was torn between maintaining existing negative and destructive friendship groups and enjoying the structure and safety of living with a foster family who provided boundaries that made her feel part of a family and cared for. These ‘house rules’ included having to be home by a certain time and sitting down with the family for dinner which were things she may have wanted but had not experienced in her relationship with her birth mother. ? Foster placements can include children with severe behavioural problems, a variety of parental problems, such as abandonment, illness (physical or emotional), imprisonment, AIDS, alcohol/substance abuse, and death. The majority of children who are in foster care are eventually reunited with their birth parents but some, including children from particular ethnic groups, can remain in care longer than average. A considerable number of LAC can spend long periods of time in care awaiting adoption or other permanent arrangement including kinship care. Qualified Social Workers are in the position to make recommendations for foster children in long term care. Often several meetings are held with the foster carers and birth family members with a view to adoption. This is known as “Permanency Planning.” ?An important part of my training was learning to use the neutral terminology and conventions of the workplace which help to foster a professional environment for staff and clients alike. I also learned to check with participants and colleagues to ensure that error, bias or discriminatory thinking are not present in notes and documents. ( Coulshed and Orme, 2006, p. 48) Most local authorities and agencies encourage and provide the birth parents with support. Specialist services required by birth mothers often included different services (e.g. mental health or drug/alcohol treatment, parent skills, training and assistance with child care and/or adequate housing). These can assist and enable the birth mother to regain custody of their children. Whilst on placement and during LAC review meetings, I found that many foster children had forgotten or disagreed with the reasons why they were in foster care, but just wanted to return to their relatives (kinship foster care or relative placement) in the hope that this might lead to adoption by a relative. ?Being a foster carer myself I have always empathized with foster children and their families. When a child is removed from his or her home and placed in foster care, it is a difficult and stressful experience. Many of these children have suffered some form of serious abuse or neglect, and some have severe emotional, behavioural, or developmental problems. Physical health problems are also common. Most children, however, show remarkable resiliency and determination to go on with their lives. I have worked with children in foster care who often struggle with thoughts of blaming themselves and feeling guilty about being removed from their birth families. I have spoken to foster children whilst on placement and they portray feelings of abandonment and loss. They also say that they often feel disloyal to their birth families, if they make good attachments with their foster family. ?As a foster parent myself it was a positive experience to advise other foster carers. I was able to be honest and open about what they can and cannot do, and I often showed genuine concern, actively listened, offered them choices and options and was always as honest as possible. I would always inform them about the next steps and stages that could be taken in their care plans. In reflecting on the organisation I was working in, it became clear to me that it fitted the definition of a “role organisation” rather than one based on power or personality, (Handy, 1993, p. 186) and I therefore spent a lot of time understanding the different contributions that everyone was required to make within the organisation, including myself. I am in awe of foster carers who open their homes, families and hearts to children in need of temporary care, a task that is rewarding, difficult and very time consuming. Unfortunately, there has been a decrease in the number of foster parents (non-relative) available to care for children over the past 10 years. This results in larger numbers of children remaining in institutional settings. Nationwide campaigns for foster carers have been advertised recently encouraging interest for new foster carers. Whilst on placement we had meetings to discuss ways of encouraging new foster carers, through churches, religious groups, local community, local fairs, library events or financial incentives from current foster carers’ recommendations. ?As a Student Social Worker I was able to protect the rights and promote the interest of foster children and their carers. I was also able to demonstrate values, discuss skills to foster, involve foster carers and LAC in decision making, and further offer them choices and options. ? The Children’s Workforce Development Council states that all Foster Carers must receive relevant induction, training and support, together with continuing professional development, and are implementing foster care standards. (CWDC, 2011) The main aims of these standards are to provide Foster Carers with the understanding and skills needed to provide high quality care for the children and young people they look after, ensuring that all Foster Carers are given the compulsory help to build up knowledge and skills to carry out their job as Foster Carers and advise them appropriately of opportunities for their profession development. All foster carers both new and existing must complete support and training courses including NVQ level 3 and fully complete within 12 months of approval. ?Whilst on placement I had to ensure that all my foster carers attended and realised the necessity of attending these courses as a fundamental part of their foster carer approval. ?I was able to encourage foster carers to attend support and training courses, and achieve the required 7 standards in fostering. I was able when attending support groups to have very in-depth conversations with current foster carers. I was always able to uphold trust and confidence with foster children and their carers. ?Concerns raised by some foster parents included recognizing the limits of their emotional attachment to a foster child, understanding mixed feelings toward the child's birth parents, recognizing their difficulties that could arise when foster children return to birth parents, dealing with the complex needs (emotional, physical, etc.) of a foster child/children in their care, working alongside other professionals and agencies and dealing with the foster child/children’s emotions and behaviour following visits or non-contact visits with birth parents. Children in foster care who have emotional or behavioural problems may be referred for a psychiatric evaluation. Some child and adolescent psychiatrists provide consultation to Juvenile/Family Courts and child welfare agencies. Child and adolescent psychiatrists also provide comprehensive evaluations including diagnosis and the development of treatment plans. They also provide direct treatment (e.g. psychotherapy, family therapy, psychiatric medication) to a child. Children in foster care have special and complex needs which are best addressed by a coordinated team which usually includes the birth parents, foster parents, mental health professionals (including child and adolescent psychiatrists) and child welfare staff. ?Whilst on placement it was sometimes part of my role to mediate between the young person or child and their foster family to help work through conflicts and difficulties discussed at monthly home visits. As a Student Social Worker on placement I would always promote the independence of foster children and their carers while protecting them as far as possible from danger or harm. I would have the vision of Every Child Matters(ECM) and the Children Act (1989) in the forefront of my mind to improve outcomes for all children and young people. ECM is a programme of change to improve outcomes for children and young people, including their health, safety and achievement. ECM also aims to reduce offending rates among young people and is part of an overall strategy to eradicate child poverty by 2020. ?? I always kept in regular phone contact with carers, the LAC, other social workers and agencies to provide practical and supportive services for the young person. I have attended meetings such as LAC reviews, PEP meetings, disruption meetings, professionals meetings and PAMs to ensure the placement continued to meet the young person’s needs. ?I worked closely with foster cares, LAC to ensure care plans were met and continued to review that these were working well in the household and continued to meet the young person’s needs.?I have worked closely with prospective foster carers and referees during the recruitment process. This involved dealing with telephone and postal enquiries from people contacting the company in response to advertisements in the local press who were interested in becoming foster carers. I made appointments for an initial home visit with prospective foster carers, which I felt was beneficial to me also. I have had so many opportunities to practice good social work and also support foster carers through different and challenging stages in maintaining good support to their foster child. This entailed interviewing referees and foster carers in their own homes, assessing their suitability. I had to ensure all applications were processed, quickly and accurately. I had to request statutory checks and medicals were adhered to during the recruitment process. I collected all information relevant, including suitability of the property, rent or mortgage details, CRB application forms, checks on prospective carers, and I checked relevant documents such as passports, ID and utility bills, medicals forms and birth certificates. In all the work I carried out safeguarding of children and young people was paramount. ?Foster carers are taken back to panel annually, to be re approved. This process is normally started a month prior. On the annual review of any of my foster carers, I would start the process of an annual foster carers review (AFCR) that would be done at a home visit. I would be responsible under supervision and with guidance from my Manager to ensure all details held on record were still up to date and still valid. I would carry out an up to date health and safety check on their home, ensure that the carers’ availability had not changed and that they have attended all training courses and support group. I collected feedback from the carer, their birth children if appropriate, the foster child and, where possible, the looked after child’s social worker. I completed all paperwork in preparation for taking them to panel supervised and endorsed by the Manager. I maintained accurate and up to date records and updated the day log. In conclusion, this fostering agency also works in accordance with the Fostering of Children Regulations (1996) and the National Care Standards (2005). These are the same standards and principles that all fostering agencies including voluntary, independent and local authority must all adhere to. These standards and principles bring all fostering agencies under one inspection umbrella and offer a national picture of the quality and availability of fostering services. There seems to be a constant rise recently in the number of independent fostering agencies throughout the UK (Sellick, 2002). Most of the referrals that we receive come to the agency when the local authority area placement teams are unable to find suitably matched carers. ?Sometimes the LAC has severe issues, several placement breakdowns, enhanced needs or disability issues, challenging behaviour or problems in finding appropriately matched carers. The main principles of the National Care Standards (2005) include; privacy, choice, safety, dignity, equality and diversity. All foster carers and looked after children are issued with appropriate handbooks, containing information on being in care, being a foster carer or looked after child, allowances, healthy eating, internet usage, safety on having pets, independent contact numbers for advice. References Banks, S. (2001) Ethics and Values in Social Work . Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Care Standards Act (2000). National Care Standards. Available online at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/14/contents Children Act (1989) [and revisions]. Available online at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/contents Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC). Training, Support and Development (TSD) Standards for Foster Care. Available online at: http://www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/foster-care/standards Codes of Practice for Social Care Workers. (2001) General Social Care Council. Available online at: http://www.gscc.org.uk/cmsFiles/Registration/Codes%20of%20Practice/CodesofPracticeforSocialCareWorkers.pdf Coulshed, V. and Orme, J. (2006) Social Work Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Department for Education. (2011) Every Child Matters (ECM). Available online at: http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/sen/earlysupport/esinpractice/a0067409/every-child-matters Handy, C. (1993) Understanding Organisations,4th Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hatch, M.J. (1997) Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic and Postmodern Perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Olsen, E. (2008) How Long Must They Be Alone?: The Experience of Unaccompanied Minors and Implications for Social Work Practice. Journal of Student Social Work 6, 43-56. Sellick, C. (2002) Independent fostering agencies uncovered: the findings of a national study. Child & Family Social Work 2, 107-120. Thompson, N. (2000) Theory and Practice in Human Services. Buckingham: Open University Press. Read More