Role of Family Worker - Literature review Example

Development of Sure Start The Department for Children, Schools and Families, is responsible for delivering the Sure Start Programme that aims to provide the best start to every child. This aim is to be achieved through bringing together all the necessary facets of early education such as childcare, health and family support. It is a programme that is both universal and also local which is directed towards disadvantaged groups in England. The Government published a Green Paper called Every Child Matters (EMC) in the year 2003. It was published along with the formal report on the Victoria Climbié murder case. The young girl was murdered by her grand aunt and the man with whom they lived. The Green Paper built on the preventive services by focusing on four themes. The government increased its focus on providing family and career support which was the key factor that influenced the lives of children. Another key area of focus was to ensure that necessary intervention took place much before the child reached crisis point. The Green Paper addressed the problem of weak accountability and poor integration. Finally it was suggested that people working with children needed to be trained, valued and awarded. This Paper prompted widespread debate. Following consultations with relevant people the Government published Every Child Matters: the Next Steps, and passed the Children Act 2004. This act provided the legislative backup for the development of effective and accessible services that were necessary for addressing the needs of the child, young people and families. Where Sure Start Local Programs (SSLP’s) are concerned the differences in programs are area based, where children and their families live within a prescribed area and services are tailor- made to the local needs of these people. Some of the core domains include good out-reach programs and strong family support, and good child care facilities. Some of the intervention programs that were highly effective include the Abecedarian project, Ramey et al., 2000; Early Head Start, Love et al., 2002; Positive Parenting Program, Sanders 2003; Incredible Years, Webster-Stratton, 1993; Nurse Family Partnership, Olds et al., 1999). Role of Family Worker A Family worker in a Sure Start Programme is given the task of targeting and supporting families in the locality, specifically those who have children below the age of four. It is the duty of the Family Worker to help by lending to the child’s education and overall growth and development, as well as to support the parents in their duties as caregivers. Their duty includes emotional support in the form of advising families how to cope with their long and short term problems, with the aim of helping the little children who may otherwise be taken away from their parents and put under state care. The duty of a Family Worker depends on the kind of support a family needs, which differ vastly. This could mean supporting a child whose parent is in hospital or prison, has a disability or may be addicted to drugs or alcohol. Many children may be the victims of domestic violence or would have been forcefully separated from the parent or parents. At times, the family could be in trouble because of financial or marital problems. A Family Worker’s job entails working with children as well as their parents and care givers in such a way that all parties concerned gain confidence and learn skills which are mandatory for leading fulfilling lives. A Family Worker is brought into the family’s inner circle at the reference of a social worker, and it is his or her duty to create a framework in accordance to the needs of the family. A family in need of parenting and home management needs to be told how to budget family expenses, learn the art of educating through play. Such a family has to learn how to deal with behavioral problems by showing natural emotional and physical responses, all of which can be learnt at a local workshop. The Family Worker’s duty to the family extends up to the time that the parent is able to perform the task satisfactorily without the help of a social worker. Family Worker – Policy and Legislation Academically, a high school graduate qualifies for the job but for a person to qualify as a Family Worker, he needs to have experience and potential for this unorthodox job, and this is gained best through volunteering or paid services in nurseries, family community centres, and mental health services, children’s homes and youth work projects. Diplomas and certificates in child care, together with learning and development is an added asset. Confidence to deal with unmotivated youngsters, good interpersonal skills and the skill to engage young minds are good attributes. Apart from these skills, the agency employing the Family Worker further furnishes details of the legalities of the job. At the governmental level, the Green Paper on Every Child Matters has also made many changes. A new portfolio, termed Minister for Children, Young People and Families within the Department for Education and Skills has been created to coordinate policy within various Government departments and it is responsible for family law, children's social services, teenage pregnancy, family policy, and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. In a show of solidarity the National Literacy Trust supported this move, while at the same time calling for a greater stress on acquisition of literacy and language skills. Evaluation of Sure Start The Sure Start children’s centers provide support in the crucial years of a child after ‘Change for Children’ was published in November 2004. This is done by integrating early education with family and health support services. They also provide day-care services between 8am to 6pm. The services provided by the centers contribute to the improvement of health of the child and its family. By rendering the services they also help reduce crime rates and child poverty. Every Child Matters programme enables the parents to study and work and helps single parents access to training and work opportunities. The local authorities lead in planning and implementing of the programme. This allows the services to forge partnerships among voluntary and statutory agencies. The result is improvement in planning and commissioning of services thereby making best use of all available resources. The children’s centre network is being established to service the most disadvantaged areas. These are linked to the local child minder networks and Jobcentre Plus. These centres are models of integration where local authorities, Jobcentre Plus, primary care trusts, education and childcare providers, community and voluntary agencies and social services deliver seamless holistic services. All the centres are managed through partnerships keeping in mind local needs and diversity. The revised Every Child Matters Outcomes Framework was launched at the Children's Plan Implementation Conference on 3 April 2008. Illustrating graphically it was emphasized that the various agencies were working towards a common goal of making the programme the best possible for children and youngsters in the world. In assessing and evaluating the interventions used in Sure Start Programs, two groups were selected. Sure Start participants were recruited from 150 randomly selected local programs. Belsky, J., Mehuish, E., Barnes, J., Leyland, A.H., & Romaniuk, H. (2006) The other group consisted of families from areas where Sure Start had not yet been implemented. An assessment was made of children using standardized measures involving both cognitive as well as linguistic functions. The Sure Start group reported that there was lesser negative parenting and lesser behavioral problems with more family acceptance. The other group reported that the effects of intervention were small. Evidence of the effectiveness of a particular focused approach to parenting has been provided for Sure Start programs in Wales. (Hutchings J, Gardner F, Bywater T, et al. 2007) In yet another review on Child Abuse, the authors Carpenter, J., Brown, S., Griffin, M. (2007) carried out a study comparing the number of referrals for social services both before and after introducing the Sure Start Program. The results of the study showed that certain aspects of the program led to an increase in referrals as certain needs were found and in some aspects there was a decrease in referrals because of the use of services regarding prevention. Aims and outcomes The well being of children and young people is the prime objective for the formation of the Every Child Matters programme. Irrespective of the background and circumstances of the child the Government aims to provide them good health care and security. The organization providing support to the programme helps in creating an atmosphere where the wards can achieve and enjoy and also make a positive contribution to society. All these factors help in reaching the final aim of economic well being. These outcomes are the universal ambition of all children and young people irrespective of their background and circumstances. All the development work of the children’s trusts improves the outcome for the children. These outcomes are mutually reinforcing in the sense that children thrive only when they are happy and healthy. Evidence also shows that the most effective route out of poverty is education. It also narrows the gap between the disadvantaged and their more fortunate peers. The government also recognizes the crucial role played by the parents, carers and families and this is the reason the government provides support for the family. The local community is also instrumental in the development of the child. To ensure that the services rendered by the local groups reflects the needs of the children the authorities ensure high level of participation of children and young people in the designing and implementation of the policies. There are many organizations like the hospitals, schools, police and voluntary groups who team up to protect children from harm and help them reach their goals in life. A Children's Fund was launched in November 2000. The aim of this programme was to identify such children who were at a disadvantage which hindered their prospects of achieving their potential. In addition to it, in March 2005, the first Children's Commissioner for England was appointed. This was done to give children a voice in governance and also provide inputs for issues that directly affect them. The Commissioner is required to pay great attention in gathering and forwarding the views of the most vulnerable children and youngsters who are at maximum risk of social exclusion. These children and young people will also be encouraged to actively participate in the work of those organizations whose actions directly affect them. Sure Start Children’s Centers are bringing early year services to the heart of communities and they are of a high quality. The programme is building on early initiatives which are successful, like Sure Start Local Programs, Neighborhood Nurseries and Early Excellence Centres. The target of 2500 centers was reached in the early March of 2008. As of October 2008 there were 2914 centers providing services to 2.3 million children and their families. All 3 and 4 year olds are guaranteed early education place, giving them free part time learning facility. The duration of the programme is12½ hours per week and this is spread over a period of 38 weeks a year. The settings delivering free Government-funded early education numbers 37000. It is imparted in the voluntary, private and independent sectors. The policies of the Sure Start programme are applicable only in England whereas in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the responsibility of early education and childcare rests with the administrations. Early Years and Every Child Matters Every Child Matters takes the child care program forward by advocating procedures to bring more improvement and accountability into the system. This study aims to create more and better opportunities for youngsters to realize their whole potential. It also provides for greater investment in the areas of mental health services for children and adolescents as well as language and speech therapy. The issue of young offenders is also considered and the program involves initiating reforms in the youth justice system and extends the scope of Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Program. The program also proposes to create a universal service which can provide parents with the required information to allow them in an active participation in their child’s development. Apart from this, parents who need extra inputs will be given supplementary support while Parenting Orders will be served on those parents who fail to take note of truant behavior on the part of their wards. The Green Paper also advocates easier and necessary co-ordination between individual professionals and the local agency, through a unique identity number and common data standards. Children who are under the care of more than one authority should have a single professional guiding them. The Family Worker is also given an impetus to work in multi-disciplinary teams which adds to the status of the professional. This inculcates in the worker a multi dimensional approach for looking at problems. Since a good number of schools are involved in programs like Sure Start and Every Child Matters, this concept is not new to most of them. The common or salient features of such programs speak of a good combination of a high level of expectations together with innovative thinking and a broad outlook in supporting children and youngsters which would help them stand on their own feet and become useful individuals in an ever changing society. These children are not only given full support by these agencies but in return they are expected to help other less fortunate children within the community, once they are able to support themselves without any help. References Belsky, J., Mehuish, E., Barnes, J., Leyland, A.H., & Romaniuk, H. (2006). Effects of Sure Start local programmes on children and families: Early findings from a quasi-experimental, cross sectional study. British Medical Journal, 332, 1476-1481. Carpenter, J., Brown, S., Griffin, M. (2007). Prevention in integrated services: The impact of Sure Start on referrals to social services and child protection registrations. Child Abuse Review, 16, 17-31. www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org/program-surestart Hutchings J, Gardner F, Bywater T, et al. Parenting intervention in Sure Start services for children at risk of developing conduct disorder: pragmatic randomized controlled trial. BMJ 2007; 334: 678–82. Love, J., Kisker, E. E., Ross, C. M. Schochet, P. Z., Brooks-Gunn, J., Paulsell, D., Boller, K., Constantine, J., Vogel, C., Fuligni, A. S., Brady- Smith, C. (2002). Making a difference in the lives of infants and toddlers and their families: The impacts of Early Head Start. Volume 1: Final Technical Report. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research Inc. Available at: http://www.mathematicampr.com/PDFs/ehsfina lvol1.pdf Ramey, C. T., Campbell, F. A., Burchinal, M., Skinner, M. L., Gardner, D. M., & Ramey, S. L. (2000). Persistent Effects of Early Childhood Education on High-risk Children and their Mothers. Applied Developmental Science, 4(1), 2-14 Sanders, M. R. (2003). Triple P – Positive Parenting Program: A population approach to promoting competent parenting. Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health, 2(3). www.auseinet.com/journal/vol2iss3/sanders.pdf . Also available at: http://www.pfsc.uq.edu.au/02_ppp/ppp.html Webster-Stratton, C. (1993). Strategies for helping families with young oppositional defiant or conduct-disordered children: The importance of home and school collaboration. School Psychology Review, 22, 437-457. Also see http://www.incredibleyears.com/ Internet Sources The Impact of Sure Start Local Programmes on Three Year olds. www.surestart.gov.uk/_doc/P0002520.pdf Family Support Worker Job Profile - Careers Advice by Careers Advice http://careersadvice.direct.gov.uk/helpwithyourcareer/jobprofiles/profiles/profile1338/ Family Support Worker - 200282409 - CommunityCare Jobs http://www.communitycare.co.uk/jobs/job/family-support-worker-south-yorkshire-200282409.htm Green Paper "Every Child Matters" http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/socialinclusion/youngpeople/greenpaper.html Job Title: Job Summary: Key Duties and Responsibilities: FAMILY ... www.heu.org/index.cfm?act=doc&doc_ID=181   Read More