Safety Planning Research
Emily Keddell, a social work lecturer and researcher at Otago University, New Zealand has recently published a paper on a study looking at the work of Open Home Foundation practitioners using the Signs of Safety approach in building safety to reunify children to their families of origin. Sixteen of the nineteen children were reunified in nine families. Keddell interviewed practitioners and family members to build a detailed ‘rich’ description of the safety planning and reunification process and the paper captures well many of the challenges of safety planning work. Among other things, Keddell’s study found that the key elements in enabling successful reunification work were:
- Strong working relationship between worker and parents that considered risk and safety
- Strong focus on parental and family strengths
- Sustained and detailed exploration of what exactly safe parenting looked like and how it could be achieved
- Time to build the working relationship and do the casework
Full reference: Keddell, E. (2011). Going home: managing ‘risk’ through relationship in returning chidlren from foster care to their families of origin, Qualitative Social Work. Available here.
The Department for Child Protection in West Australia has chosen November 12, 13 and 14, 2012 for its second Signs of Safety Gathering. All 17 districts from around the state will present as well as three international presentations. This Gathering will provide an end-to-end picture of a comprehensive system-wide Signs of Safety implementation. Participants from overseas and elsewhere in Australia are welcome though places will be limited.
