Direct work and the voice of the child

As frontline practitioners, we have an almost unique opportunity to see the child in their home environment and to observe and understand their day-to-day life. The direct work we do in these opportunities enables us to “know what it is like in a child’s world” (Munro, 2011). Despite this, a common finding from child safeguarding practice reviews is that social workers and other professionals do not understand the “child’s world”. In almost all these cases, the child was “seen” by a professional within days (or hours) of their death – simply seeing a child in a literal sense is not protection against harm. We need to see, listen to and hear children and young people.

Aims:

• Consider why direct work with children, young people, parents and families is important
• What is direct work? Attendees will think about perceptions of direct work; what direct work might look like in different situations and with children and young people of different ages, backgrounds and abilities
• Reflect on the challenges and think together about how to overcome these
• How to record direct work to capture the interaction, observations and your analysis
• Share ideas and experiences about direct work tools, approaches and activities

TARGET AUDIENCE - Children and Young People Directorate - All Social Care Staff