Family Matters: Special Guardianship and Connected Persons Assessments

Family Matters: Special Guardianship and Connected Person Assessments

When Special Guardianship Orders were introduced in 2005 it was to ensure children could be offered stability and security by living with existing foster carers or family members.  There has been a huge increase in the use of SGOs, including for young children, and significant concern that assessment and support is not as robust as it could be to ensure children have the best outcome.

This course will consider the SGO regulations of 2016, the learning from SCRs by Birmingham, Devon, Oxfordshire and Nottingham and how assessors can deliver strong and thorough assessments.

It will focus on the SGO as a permanence order and making sense of the children’s needs and the prospective Special Guardians capacity so assessments inform thinking about addressing vulnerabilities and developing robust support plans.    We will draw on relevant research and theory about the role of relational experiences and trauma on parenting.

The course will also think about the additional complexities for families and assessors of carrying out these assessments in the time of Covid-19 where lockdowns and local restrictions directly impact practice.

Learning Outcomes

·         Understand the legislative and regulatory framework for SGO/Connected Persons assessments

·         Identify messages from research and learning from Serious Case Reviews that inform best practice in SGO assessments

·         Consider the critical factors in successful placements and disruptions

·         Explore use of attachment theory and the secure base model including assessment tools

·         Develop confidence in analysis of risk and protective factors to form recommendations

Impact on Practice

·         Workers will be able to apply learning in order to deliver robust and well evidenced assessments which highlight strengths and vulnerabilities and identify support needs.

·         A greater understanding of how considering support needs and being aware of Adoption Support Fund can improve the outcomes for children who are or will be placed with family members.

Methodology

This course will run over zoom for a group of up to 15.    It will be delivered as two half day workshops.

Workshop 1:

·         Explore the legislative and regulatory framework of kinship care.

·         Using SCRs discuss what an assessment should consider.

·         Tips and advice on constructing a report and making recommendations.

·         Consider how to adapt to working virtually

Workshop 2:

·         Explore tools that can be used in assessments including when working virtually

·         Think about the underlying research and theory and how this may help us in making recommendations

·         Discuss ongoing support needs for kinship families in the context of assessment.

Each workshop will involve a mixture of presentations and interactive discussions.  There will be a focus on information available to take away to ensure all learning styles are considered.    All attendees will need to be able to participate through Zoom using microphone and video.

This course is suitable for social workers undertaking assessments or supporting SGO and Connected Person’s carers and anyone managing such work.

Course Details

Each workshop will take place via Zoom from 10am until 1pm. An electronic certificate of attendance will be provided to all attendees by email after attendance at the course. This course equates to six learning hours. Electronic handouts will be emailed to all attendees prior to the course taking place.

The course will be provided over Zoom, attendees will need to have access to a device capable of accessing the Zoom video conferencing software and a reliable internet connection. You can test your connection by following this link