Safeguarding Children, Young People and Families

Vida Douglas is the Professional Lead for social work programmes at the University of Hertfordshire. With over 20 years' experience in social work, she has held several roles ranging from a social worker in children and families teams, an Independent Review Officer(IRO), a team manager for a safeguarding team, management of a children with disabilities service and policy officer for several local authorities. Vida has an interest in safeguarding and researching the experiences of children and parents in the safeguarding process.Julie Fourie has over a decade of experience in working for Local Authorities to safeguard children and young people. This has included working in a pre-birth assessment team as a social worker and within a Children with Disabilities Team as a Team Manager. Julie is currently a Family Court Advisor and Child's Guardian. She is passionate about safeguarding. She is mindful of the power and influence social worker interventions have on children and their lives, and wants to ensure we get every intervention right.

Keeping children and young people safe is everybody s responsibility. This requires health, social care and education professionals to make sense of complex family situations that are placing a child or young person at risk of harm. This is no easy feat. The actions we take matter and we need to get this right if we are to truly make things better and improve outcomes for children and young people.  Using case studies, reflective questions and checklists for practice, this hands-on guide will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to effectively and confidently make a difference to the lives of children and young people. 

This series of books from Learning Matters is aimed at busy social work and health care practitioners, particularly in the context of integrated health and social care, who are looking to enhance their skills and extend their knowledge. Written from a practical point of view, they have clear links to both qualifying training as well as CPD. They are up-to-date, accessible and totally skills focused.

Using case studies, reflective questions and checklists for practice, this hands-on guide will provide busy social workers with the knowledge and skills they need to effectively and confidently make a difference to the lives of children and young people.

Chapter 1: Safeguarding: Setting the Scene
Chapter 2: The Voice of the Child and Young Person
Chapter 3: Communicating with Adults and Professionals
Chapter 4: Assessment: Managing Risk and Decision Making
Chapter 5: Interventions: Achieving Good Outcomes
Chapter 7: The Resilient Social Work Practitioner
Chapter 8: Checklists for Effective Practice
Chapter 6: Court Work