Resources aimed at Children & Family practitioners
Changes to legislation on looked after children:
The Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020
Virtual contact with service users:
The Principal Children and Families Social Worker (PCFSW) Network has released the following:
The PCFSW Best Practice Guide for Video Call/Contact and Virtual/Online Home Visit
RiP Webinar – Digital family contact time: sharing and building knowledge
RiP Blog – Virtual contact between children and their birth families
Communicating with children and young people:
www.littlepuddins.ie has a helpful Coronavirus Social Story made for children with Autism in mind and may be useful for helping address the worries our children may be having at this time.
A coronavirus book for children
Article from Children’s Commissioner – Children and stress: what’s worrying them most
Research and Practice:
This article is great for understanding how a global crisis may impact children/young people who have experienced complex trauma (and how carers who may be managing this at the moment can be helped to understand).
RiP Blog – Social work with children and families in the pandemic PART 1 RiP Blog – Social work with children and families in the pandemic PART 2
PSDP Tool – Safe uncertainty – A visual tool to help practitioners critically analyse their work with families and explore what factors may be influencing their perceptions of risk (and how much uncertainty we can tolerate). It can helpfully be used in supervision to aid critical reflection.
Stepping Up, Stepping Down Report – How families make sense of working with welfare services
Parents, carers and children and young people:
Advice and support for parents and carers from the NSPCC.
Advice and support for Children and Young People from Young Minds and Childline.
Safety Online:
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP) has created a webpage supporting parents during this time and the closure of schools. Each fortnight, they will be releasing new home activity packs with simple 15 minute activities parent/carers can do with their child to support their online safety at a time when they will spending more time online at home.
Information about the Houseparty app and tips to keep children safe online from NetAware
Online safety activities to do at home and help/advice for parents and carers from Childnet
Expert help and advice for families in a digital world from Parent Info, a collaboration between Parent Zone and NCA-CEOP
NSPCC & O2 Parent workshops and webinars – Free 30 minute webinars for groups of parents, grandparents and carers, making it easy for you to keep your family safe online.
NSPCC Advice – Talking to your child about online safety NSPCC Advice – Inappropriate or explicit content
Safeguarding:
This quick guide from SCIE is for practitioners working to safeguard children and families during the COVID-19 outbreak, including social workers and those working in social care settings.
CASPAR Newsletter – Gives weekly updates from NSPCC on safeguarding/child protection
NSPCC Guidance – Safeguarding during Coronavirus
NSPCC Briefing – Guidance for Social Workers – Summarises guidance from across the UK to ensure that children are protected. Last updated 22 May.
DfE Guidance – Coronavirus (COVID-19): safeguarding in schools, colleges and other providers
Mental Health:
Resources – For supporting children and young people’s mental health
Young Minds open letter to Government – Together with over 30 organisations, Young Minds has written to the Government to tell them to limit the long-term impact of the pandemic on young people’s mental health.
Homeschooling:
DfE Blog – New national helpline for parents launched
CSE (not related to COVID-19):
NSPCC Podcast – CSE – Protect & Respect
Back to school:
A coronavirus back to school story
An alternative back to school story
Transitioning autistic children back to school after COVID-19
Toolkit – Coram Life Education has launched a free teaching toolkit to support children’s health and wellbeing when they return to school. The toolkit is designed to build children’s resilience, self-esteem and kindness and includes practical resources in line with new government guidance, such as lesson ideas for smaller class sizes and to use outdoors.
PCFSW Best Practice:
Ethical Response and Best Practice Guide
Risk Assessment and Prioritising Children and Families’ Needs Best Practice Guide
Video Call and Virtual Home Visit Best Practice Guide
Children with disabilities
Family Fund Research – The impact of COVID-19 on children with disabilities.
Families and parenting:
Podcast – The Association of Child Protection Professionals (AoCPP) has released a podcast about bonding and attachment for new mothers that have had babies during the coronavirus pandemic and how practitioners can support them.
Films – King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Maudsley Charity have launched a series of eight short films to help families struggling under the coronavirus pandemic. The Families Under Pressure series offers parenting tips and advice on topics including: keeping positive and motivated; building your child’s self-confidence and trust in you; promoting better behaviour; how to limit conflict; and using sanctions carefully.
Webinar – Supporting children, young people and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic, from NSPCC
