Memories from World War Welcome back to all After six years non stop I took a breather Now it feels right to restart and expand and I hope you'll be pleased with the result This is the first in the new series of podcasts that will be more of a magazine format...

International Social Work Volume Issue Page - November lt br gt Children with disabilities and their families often experience life circumstances that lead to reduced quality of life in low- and middle-income countries This article describes the development of a curriculum to train community volunteers to provide support to families of children with disabilities in Lusaka Zambia using feedback from an advisory board of local stakeholders Stakeholders had two opportunities to offer input on the...

International Social Work Volume Issue Page - September lt br gt Stress among social work students is an issue of concern and has adverse outcomes This study used a longitudinal design to assess stress resilience and coping in undergraduate social work students in India and a comparative cohort of non-social work undergraduates Standardised instruments were administered at three time points the first on course entry then in the second year of study and finally on...

Salim has been with us for three years and we treat him as one of the familyMy husband and I were lucky enough to retire with good physical and mental health but wanted to still be socially useful After more than years' teaching experience between us we decided to apply to be foster carers Working with teenagers kept us young at heart but the first question we asked the county council was Are we too...

A new diagnostic tool and workforce health check risk blaming frontline professionals for their burnout and distressA healthy workforce is a fundamental prerequisite to ensure children and their families receive the best possible social work support The positive effect of a stable and experienced workforce cannot be overestimated when one considers that inspectors say reduced staff turnover can lead to better quality services However these aims have been frustrated as social workers leave the profession...

Life story books can help adopted children understand their past but are often not prioritised by social workersBaby Charlie was unable to live with his birth family but they were determined that he would know where he came from Although it was sometimes painful Charlie's birth mother and his maternal birth grandparents all spent time sharing memories and anecdotes and explaining what happened in their own words Charlie's mum also pointed out where his cot...

How can you adjust to a new situation feel safe and settled when you don't know how you got there When I was taken into care at I was moved miles from home My relationship with my mum had broken down and I felt isolated and frightened I barely knew my social worker and didn't know any of the staff or other young people in the care home I didn't know why I was there...

The Cheshire and Merseyside Social Work Teaching Partnership welcomed representatives from Teaching Partnerships across the country and partner agencies to Liverpool on th November for the National Teaching Partnership Conference The theme of the conference was celebrating success and sharing best practice and a packed agenda ran through the day with sessions on sustainability...

Young people are exploited for years before getting support Social care schools and police need to know the warning signsJosh had just turned when the police caught him with more than worth of cannabis and in cash They seized the drugs took him home and gave the money to his mum No referrals were made or support offered His mum unaware of what was going on simply gave the money back to Josh and left...

My beautiful daughter was never taken away from me but not all care leavers are so luckyI was years old and eight weeks pregnant when I moved into my th foster care placement I'd moved so many times over the previous two years that I missed almost all of years and at school But I was looking forward to a fresh start I joined teenage parenting groups and met other girls in care who were...