A cornerstone of child protection reform in Australia has been the focus on developing child protection practice frameworks to guide training and competencies informed by evidence-based approaches. A review of current frameworks has identified four significant gaps and limitations in Australian frameworks: inconsistency and lack of child-focused planning so that outcomes tended to emphasise parental and practitioner satisfaction, or decreasing expenditure; lack of guidance as to what practitioner assets might produce better child protection practice; little guidance on the models, techniques and tools needed for each aspect of child protection practice; and lack of an evidence base for the frameworks being used or, in some cases, evidence that indicated that the frameworks used were actually producing negative or contrary outcomes.
A new Social Care Institute for Excellence quick guide for practitioners gives an overview of evidence-based interventions that may be effective when working with children and young people who have experienced abuse or neglect. The guide also covers principles that children and young people have identified as being most important for the professionals who support them.
And lastly, Podsocs, a podcast for social workers as an initiative of the School of Human Services and Social Work at Griffith University, highlights topics of interest for all human services practitioners, students and academics. Podsocs features up-to-the minute research, diverse perspectives on social phenomena and focus on knowledge and skills needed in the human services.