Young peoples’ experiences of CPS
Australia has a unique non-profit organization called the CREATE Foundation which is set up to provide support and a direct voice for young people in the Australian care system so they can influence governments and professionals. One example of their work sees young people involved with CREATE from every state attending all major professional child abuse and neglect conferences to influence, interact and speak with leading childprotection professionals. I use CREATE young people to speak to the social workers I teach in Western Australia.
Parents’ experiences of CPS Family Rights Group in London
This organisation provides advice, support, advocacy and represents families whose children are involved with social services. Their website is www.frg.org.uk.
Brief Therapy
For an introduction to Solution-focused Brief Therapy you can upload three papers Andrew wrote with Larry Hopwood which cover the first session Turnell & Hopwood SFBT1, second and subsequent sessions Turnell & Hopwood SFBT2 and what to do if you get stuck Turnell & Hopwood SFBT3. Papers available here.
- Brief therapy thinking and skills are at the heart of the Signs of Safety approach – here are links to leading centres of brief therapy training and practice around the worldSolution-focused brief therapy was created by Steve deShazer, Insoo Kim Berg, Eve Lipchik and their colleagues in Milwaukee at the Brief Family Therapy Center (BFTC). With the passing of Steve and Insoo this Center and their website has been closed. The Solution-focused Brief Therapy Association of North America http://www.sfbta.org now carries many of the solution-focused books and training resources, including resources specific to the child protection task developed at BFTC.
- Harry and Jocelyn Korman are brief therapists and trainers in Sweden,their business is called SIKT and they are based in Malmo. I conduct an annual five-day Signs of Safety intensive each March at their centre and other workshops during the year.
- The Brief Therapy Practice in London probably provide more training and consultation in Solution-focused Brief Therapy than any other organization anywhere. Chris Iveson, Evan George, Harvey Ratner, Yasmin Ajmal, Guy Shennan, Jane Lethem and Diana Iveson maintain an ongoing clinical practice and are continuing to grow the solution-focused model. A number of their group have extensive experience in social services and child welfare work. Their homepage has details of training, consulting and therapy.
- The Brief Therapy Institute of Sydney run by Michael Durrant would be the leading centre for brief therapy training in Australia. Michael has extensive experience in child welfare work and has written a book about residential care for children.
- Karin Nordström and Ann Ternström in Stockholm through their business Danderydsteamet provide brief therapy consultation and training services and consultation to teams using the Signs of Safety. Danderydsteamet host trainings by Andrew in Stockholm each September.
- Dr Walter Oppenoorth from The Netherlands provides brief therapy training and resources through his website www.octir.nl. The site also has for sale numerous DVDs from training Andrew has provided in Holland.
- The European Brief Therapy Association website provides more information about brief therapy around the world and also offers wonderful practitioner-led conferences each year.
Strengths-based Practice in Child Protection
St Luke’s in Bendigo, Australia has a long history of providing and describing strengths-based, client-centred, solution-focused, just childwelfare practices. They have many publications and practical resources available at their website.
Family Group Conferencing
Family Group Conferencing or Family Group Decision Making as it is called in the US, is an approach to child protection conferencing that was born in New Zealand drawing upon Maori practices and puts the family and their network at the centre of decision-making. Family Group Conferencing is probably the most sustained and radical experiment in partnership-based child protection practice and is used in countries all over the world. The American Humane Association website offers an excellent introduction and many resources at http://www.americanhumane.org/children/programs/family-group-decision-making/
Signs of Safety in Sweden
Tomas Embreus who has been using the Signs of Safety approach in Sweden for six years. As well as practicing as a child protection worker in Trollhatten he also provides training and consultation for other professionals. See www.embreus.se for more information.
Signs of Safety in Denmark
Henrik Vesterhauge-Petersen and Mette Vesterhauge-Petersen from the consultancy organisation Solution Denmark provide training and consultation in Signs of Safety and Solution-focused Brief Therapy and sell books and DVDs for both.