Incompetent or child-snatchers: media coverage of social work

Season 1, episode 4This episode focuses on dealing with change and loss as a result of becoming physically disabled as an adult, and how practitioners can support individuals who are coming to terms with the impact of disability on their body and their lives.The guest is Rebecca Regler, a lived experience worker. Rebecca qualified as a social worker 10 years ago but didn’t get the chance to put her training into practice because soon after graduating she was diagnosed with the connective tissue disorder Ehlers Danlos syndrome, which left her unable to work.Rebecca discusses the emotional impact that can occur from unexpectedly becoming disabled as an adult; how it can affect mental health; the loss of identity, including professional identity and how someone perceives themselves within relationships; the financial implications; and how social care professionals can provide support and advocacy to help adults at such a difficult time.Questions are asked by Natalie Valios, senior content editor, Community Care Inform Adults.Community Care Inform subscribers can access additional resources and a written transcript of the podcast.Subscribe to the Learn on the go series to stay up-to-date with new episodes. Look out for the next episode in Season 1, which will be released at the end of May. Meanwhile, you can join Community Care's Social Work Community for careers guidance, private discussion rooms with fellow social workers and even more podcast episodes. 

This episode discusses perinatal mental health. Approximately one in five women in the UK experience mental health issues during pregnancy and up to one year after birth, and if left untreated they can lead to long-lasting effects on mothers, infants and the wider family.In recent years, significant funding has been invested in specialist perinatal mental health services but there are disparities in access to these services and experiences with health and social care professionals.This episode explores the role of social workers in perinatal mental health, the risk factors of developing perinatal mental illness and the red flags to look out for that may indicate a new or expectant mother is struggling with perinatal mental health issues.The guests are Tara Mitchell, a registered social worker and operations manager of the perinatal mental health service at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and Wan Abdullah, a mother with lived experience of perinatal mental illness.Asking the questions is Gemma Balmford, assistant content editor, Community Care Inform Adults.Subscribe to the Learn on the go series to stay up-to-date with new episodes. Look out for the next episode in Season 1, which will be released at the end of April. LinksRoyal College of PsychiatristsMBRRACE-UKTavistock and Portman The perinatal mental health elearning programme Maternal Mental Health Alliance

This episode discusses domestic abuse within young people's relationships. It explores the intricicies around age and statutory and voluntary support services available for young people. This episode provides practical tips on how practitioners can address risks with young people and their parents/carers - such as how to structure conversations, and the key indicators of risks that shoud be considered when working with young people who are at risk of, or who have experienced abuse. Multiple assessment tools are discussed, along with various specialist services. The guest is Jenifer Lamadrid, an experienced social worker, who has been trianed within domestic violence and abuse services. Jenifer has previously worked as an IDVA (independent domestic violence advocate), and has a key interest in working with young people at risk of, or who have experienced, abuse. Asking the questions is Gillian MacFarlane, content editor, Community Care Inform Childrens. Assessment tools and specialist services mentioned: Safe LivesBrook Sexual Behaviours Traffic Light ToolBAMBUUURespect Young People's ServiceWomen's Aid Victim Support - Support SpaceSubscribe to the Learn on the Go series to stay up-to-date with new episodes. Look out for the next episode in Season 1, which will be released at the end of April. Join Community Care's 'Social Work Community' for careers guidance, private discussion rooms with fellow social workers and even more podcast episodes. 

This episode discusses the issues around mental capacity and suicide, and what has been called the ‘you’ve got capacity to choose to kill yourself phenomenon’. The guest is Alex Ruck Keene, an experienced barrister, writer and educator. His practice at 39 Essex Chambers is focused on mental capacity, mental health and healthcare law, in which he has appeared in cases at all levels up to and including The Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.Alex is the creator of the website Mental Capacity Law and Policy, which provides resources and expert commentary on some of the most difficult mental capacity issues.In March 2022, Alex was made an honorary KC, reflecting his contributions to mental capacity and mental health law outside the court room.NB: Any views expressed by Alex are his alone and not those of any organisations he is associated with.Asking the questions is Natalie Valios, senior content editor, Community Care Inform Adults.We’d encourage you to look after yourself while listening and use supervision and peer support if this brings up anything difficult for you.And if you’ve been affected by this episode, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123.

This episode of Learn on the go is about domestic violence and abuse. It covers what domestic violence and abuse is; the various forms it can take, and how to risk assess and make referrals. This episode explores a domestic violence risk assessment tool called the CAADA DASH, as well as the purpose and importance of multi-agency risk assessment conferences known as MARAC, and how these are used to bring professionals together to support victims of domestic abuse. The expert guest is Jenifer Lamadrid, a senior social worker for a London borough where she also serves as a MARAC representative for children’s social services. Jen mentions she has worked as an IDVA. This is an independent domestic violence advocate, someone who supports victims and is separate from police and social services. The questions were asked by Gillian MacFarlane, content editor at Community Care Inform. 

Ethan’s in his early 30s now. He was in foster care from the age of five and then in children’s homes from the age of 11. In this conversation we speak about staying in touch with and seeing family members while in care. You'll hear the word ‘contact’ quite a bit - the word that was very much in use when Ethan was young. We hope this makes sense when you listen, while we know practitioners today increasingly recognise the importance of using language that suits the individual child, whether that’s 'family time' or something else. Ethan speaks about his experiences of different types of ‘contact’ – including visiting his parents in jail, supervised sessions with his grandparents and siblings, goodbye meetings with other siblings who were adopted, and unsupervised time with his parents as he got older.He shares his thoughts on how professionals can support children and young people with the complexity of wanting and valuing connection with family, while dealing with what can be its extremely challenging emotional impact.Ethan was speaking to Joanna Silman, senior content editor at Community Care Inform Children.Community Care Inform subscribers can access additional resources and a written transcript of the podcast here: https://www.ccinform.co.uk/practice-guidance/podcast-transcript-the-emotional-impact-of-contact-ethans-experience/You can watch the video interview Ethan did with Jenny Molloy spoke about his experience of being taken into care, and the social workers who made the biggest difference to his life here: https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2023/10/26/choose-social-work-they-helped-me-escape-the-life-i-was-living-as-a-teenager/Ethan believes strongly in the importance of sharing lived experience of different aspects of being a child in care to help improve practice with young people today and speaks at training events for social workers and other professionals. If you would like to get in touch with Ethan, please email [email protected] and we can pass a message on.

Welcome to Learn On The Go, the podcast from Community Care Inform where we discuss research, theories and practice issues and look at what they mean for social care practitioners.In this episode we talk to Jenny Molloy, motivational speaker, trainer, care leaver and bestselling author of three books with a fourth about to be published.Her first book, Hackney Child, written under the pen name Hope Daniels, describes Jenny’s childhood and how at the age of nine she walked into Stoke Newington police station with her two younger brothers and asked that they be taken into care. Both their parents were addicted to alcohol, their mother was a sex worker, and they’d experienced neglect, malnourishment and poverty.When she was 19, Jenny decided to read her social services files, where she discovered that both her parents had also been in care and had experienced traumatic childhoods. So it is testament to Jenny’s strength of character that she not only conquered her own alcohol addiction, but achieved her childhood dream for her future: that her children be raised in a safe, loving, family home and have a "normal life", breaking the cycle of children in care having their children go into care.Ordinarily, Jenny talks and trains about life as a child in care, and issues around care leavers and childhood trauma. On this occasion, Jenny is talking about how childhood trauma can play out in adulthood, and how she relapsed and then recovered when it happened to her.We do want to give a content warning: Jenny talks about her attempted suicide, being sectioned, and time in a psychiatric hospital. We know it can be difficult to hear about people’s trauma so we’d like to remind you to practise self-care and use supervision and peer support if this has brought up anything difficult for you.And if you’ve been affected by this episode, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123.During the interview, Jenny references the Lambeth Children's Homes Redress Scheme, which you can read about here. And she also mentions the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS).The questions were asked by Natalie Valios, senior content editor at Community Care Inform Adults. 0:02:37.3 - The three triggers0:10:10 - The psychiatric hospital0:17:49.8 - Recovery0:20:53.1 - Adult mental health services0:27:36.9 - Healing0:31:23.7 - Advice for social workers0:33:41.4 - The future0:37:05.8 - Hope

In this episode, Helen, a facilitator of The Freedom Programme which supports victms and survivors of domestic abuse, and two other mothers with lived experience spoke to Jenny Molloy, bestselling author, motivational speaker and care leaver about their experiences with children's services and what support is most helpful for people in abusive relationships. The conversation was recorded on location at Trevi, the charity that supports women and children. As well as community support for women and children, Trevi runs Jasmine's Recovery Centre, a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre exclusively for mothers and their children. We recorded a separate episode about mothers experiences of social work connected to substance use. You'll find the episode in the podcast feed.Full transcripts of both episodes and supporting materials are available to Community Care Inform subscribers at ccinform.co.uk.

In this episode, Helen, Vicky and Hannah, spoke to Jenny Molloy, bestselling author, motivational speaker and care leaver about their experiences of children's services as mothers using, and in recovery from, drugs and alcohol. They share what did and didn't help them, and what they would like social workers to understans. The conversation was recorded on location at Jasmine Mother's Recovery Centre, part of Trevi, the charity that supports women and children. Find out more about the centre and Trevi's work here: https://trevi.org.uk/services/jasmine-mothers-recovery/Some of the women touch on the fact that many women who have experienced trauma and drug and acohol addiction have been in abusive relationships. We recorded a separate episode about mothers experiences of social work connected to domestic abuse. You'll find the episode in the podcast feed.Full transcripts of both episodes and supporting materials are available to Community Care Inform subscribers at ccinform.co.uk.Content warnings. While these are stories with positive outcomes, there are brief mentions of attempted suicide, domestic abuse, difficult childbirth, and women also speak about their older children being removed. We’d encourage you to use supervision and peer support if this episode brings up anything difficult for you, and generally to look after yourself while listening.

In this episode, two expert guests discuss media coverage, blame and shame of social workers.The guests are Dr Liz Frost, associate professor of social work at the University of the West of England, and Dr Maria Leedham, senior lecturer in applied linguistics at the Open University.They discuss Maria’s research into mentions of social workers in UK newspapers and TV dramas, why media coverage almost entirely focuses on child protection, and whether there are signs that this negative bias might be changing.The questions were asked by Ruth Hardy-Mullings, head of content at Community Care. LinksCommunity Care story, including podcast transcript:How negative perceptions of social work are reinforced in the media: https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2023/10/12/how-negative-perceptions-of-social-workers-are-reinforced-in-the-media/ Sharon Shoesmith interview: https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2023/07/05/sharon-shoesmith-how-social-workers-can-get-their-professional-pride-back/'You can literally change a young person's life': podcast episode with Dan, an 18-year-old with care experience: https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2023/08/08/you-can-literally-change-a-young-persons-life-an-18-year-olds-message-for-social-workers/