SWTP218 - Social Work with Children, Youth and Families

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

All social workers can expect to work with children, young people and families, whether they practice directly with clients, or are in advocacy, policy, community development, or research roles.

This unit will explore knowledge and skills necessary for working with children, young people and families from diverse backgrounds and in a range of practice contexts, including child protection. The unit covers theories of child and youth development and teaches skills for working with children, young people, and families. Ethical issues that impact on working with children, young people and families will be explored, developing in students social work practice responses that are courageous and creative, which reflect commitment to social justice, and childrens' rights.

This unit will provide students with an essential area of competency, as outlined by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), in working with children, young people and families. The aim of this unit is to provide students an evidence informed theoretical base and an opportunity to develop beginning practice skills for future professional practice in the area of child and adolescent wellbeing and protection, and for working collaboratively with families.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Demonstrate knowledge on a range of issues experienced by children, youth and families from diverse backgrounds in a range of contexts (GA4, GA5) 

LO2 - Demonstrate beginning knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and family life and how it informs social work practice with children and youth (GA1, GA2, GA4, GA5, GA9) 

LO3 - Demonstrate knowledge of social work ethics in practice with children, youth and families from diverse backgrounds (GA3, GA9) 

LO4 - Demonstrate beginning social work practice skills in conducting child, youth and family assessments (GA5, GA8) 

LO5 - Demonstrate beginning skills of reflective practice in work with children, youth and families from diverse backgrounds (GA4, GA5)  

LO6 - Construct a Child, Youth and Family Social Work practice model which reflects a commitment to social justice and human rights, with understanding of policies and strategies for building safe and supportive environments for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults (GA1, GA4, GA5, GA8) 

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

AASW Practice Standards

This Unit has been mapped to the ACU Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes. The following table sets out the broad relationship between the Learning Outcomes, Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes provided in the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards: https://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/13565  

ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes

This Unit has been mapped to the ACU Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes. The following table sets out the broad relationship between the Learning Outcomes, Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes provided in the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards: https://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/13565  

Content

Topics will include: 

Contemporary contexts of social work practice 

• Children in refugee context 
• Children with disabilities 
• Young people in the youth justice system 
• Children in out of home care 
• Statutory family practice 
• Child protection practice 
• Children and young people as carers 

Social work knowledge 

• Child development 
• Family life cycle 
• Trauma 
• Parent-child attachment 
• Practice theories and models 
• Social policies and programs 

Strategies, techniques and interventions 

• Case management (e.g., case planning, family group conferences) 
• Solution focused approaches 
• Child centred practice  
• Family centred practice 
• Collaborative inter-disciplinary practice 

Knowledge and skills for work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and their communities in the context of child, youth and family social work 

• Community and family life, including country, language and kinship  
• Critical analysis of attachment theory as it relates to Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander families 
• Alternate practice frameworks which are informed by cultural knowledge and perspectives 

Ethics 

• Social work ethics, social justice and human rights framework in work with families children and young people 

Skill development 

• Effective communication skills in conducting assessment and intervention 
• Critically reflective use of self 
• Building skills in developing safe and supportive environments for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults. 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit involves 150 hours of learning with a combination of face-to-face lectures and interactive skill-building tutorials. Attendance at 100% of lectures and tutorials is expected and an attendance record of all tutorial classes will be recorded. A minimum of 80% of tutorial classes is mandatory.  The rationale for compulsory attendance is to ensure students are interacting with other students and developing skills, which they will use in their professional/clinical experience. Students who do not attend are at risk of not developing these essential skills.  

Lectures provide detailed content on knowledge which informs practice with children, young people and families. Guest lectures from practitioners will also be incorporated when available, to provide students real-world examples of practice with children, young people or families. Interactive tutorials incorporate small group reflective and skills exercises to allow students to link social work theory and knowledge with their emerging practice. Case-based learning is utilised allowing students to acquire knowledge and beginning skills in assessment frameworks and intervention strategies. The assessments in this unit are an important part of learning. They provide students with the opportunity to critically reflect on self, demonstrate their knowledge on social work theory and apply their knowledge to the task of a case analysis. A focus on critical reflection and ethical use of self in tutorials and assessments ensures pedagogical alignment between teaching, learning and assessment.  

Assessment strategy and rationale

This unit takes an authentic assessment approach allowing students to demonstrate their learning and competency to currently relevant practice scenarios. The assessments are designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of social work theories that inform this area of practice as well as demonstrate their developing skills in critical reflection of self, and holistic assessment an intervention planning for families.  

In assessment 1 students are required to demonstrate knowledge of a relevant theory or models of family assessment and interventions and apply this to a case scenario (LO1, 2, 3). Following formative feedback on assessment 1, students must then apply this knowledge by engaging in a simulation with the same case study family in assessment 2, (LO1, 2, 3, 4). Students are required to reflect on ethical issues, as well as professional and personal values when responding to the case study, ensuring a thoughtful approach to practice that can manage bias, consider alternative perspectives, and assess and respond to risk. The third assessment gives students the opportunity to apply their learning from the unit, including feedback from the previous two assessments, by reflecting on their approach to working with children, young people and families including their use of self and influence of personal and professional values on their practice (LO3, 4, 5, 6). Passing each assessment ensures students have beginning skills in ethical engagement, assessment and planning work with a family.  

In addition to the assessable items, students are also required to complete a hurdle task. The hurdle task has two components, requiring students to submit: a) a one-page summary of the readings, to bring and submit in-class in one week of their choice; and b) three key questions related to the week’s content, to bring and submit in-class on a separate week of their choice. The hurdle task is designed to facilitate student self-directed learning as well as in-depth engagement and class discussion based on unit content (LO1, 3, 5). 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Australian Association of Social Workers (2010). Code of ethics. Canberra: AASW. 

 Arney, F. (2013). Working with vulnerable families: a partnership approach (2nd ed.) Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. 

 Briskman, L. (2014). Social Work with Indigenous Communities (2nd ed), Sydney: Federation Press. 

 Featherstone, B., White, S. & Morris,K. (2014), Re-imagining Child Protection: Towards humane social work with families. Bristol: Policy Press. 

 Harms, L. (2010). Understanding human development: a multidimensional approach (2nd ed). Melbourne: Oxford University Press.  

 Geldard, K., & Geldard, D (2016). Counselling adolescents: The proactive approach for young people. London: Sage 

 Geldard, K., Geldard, D., & Foo, R. Y. (2013). Counselling children: A practical introduction. London: Sage. [note new edition available November 2016] 

 Mainstone, F. (2014). Mastering whole family assessment in social work: Balancing the needs of children, adults and their families. London. Jessica Kingsley.Ruch, G.,Turney, D., & Ward, A. (2010). Relationship-based social work: Getting to the heart of practice. London: Jessica Kingsley. 

 Trotter,C. (2013). Collaborative work with families: a practical guide to working with families in the human services.  Sydney: Allen & Unwin.