Family support is an increasingly important strategic approach to welfare services for children and families. This invaluable resource for all professionals engaged in the development and delivery of these services is underpinned by reflective practice values and structured around four themes: * conceptual frameworks and vocabulary (defining) * policy and organisational structures and processing (planning) * tools for creative practice (doing) * approaches to evaluation (measuring). Contributors from around the world provide international perspectives on core issues in family support. These include the importance of community, the role of statutory and voluntary agencies, youth advocacy, culturally appropriate family support, child protection, disability services and effective means of evaluation. Providing a combination of clear theoretical frameworks and practical guidance, with clear 'how to' messages and a strong emphasis on evaluation, this book will be of interest to social workers, care staff, teachers, community development and police officers, students, policy-makers, evaluators and all those working in all areas of family support.

The contributors to this topical volume explore the role of family support in promoting the welfare of children and their families. The book integrates concepts and experiences from an international perspective, different levels of analysis (society, community and family) and different loci of intervention.

Understanding Family Support provides a definition of family support and a clear perspective on the role that it has in promoting the welfare of children and their families. Family support is a concept that has been used in a range of ways to describe various aspects of child welfare policy and practice. The authors argue that this weakens family support as an overarching child welfare paradigm. They present a unifying definition of family support along with ten principles and a series of reflective practice questions applicable to: legislation and policy; organisation, management and planning; direct work with children and families; and research and evaluation. This is an important resource for any professional engaged in policy development, service design, delivering or evaluation of family support, including social workers, residential care staff, community development workers, teachers, community police, human services managers, evaluators and policy makers.

The Little Book of Reflective Practice is bursting with big ideas which will encourage you to be curious, reflective and courageous in your professional learning journey. It introduces the key reflective theories alongside case studies from educators to show how these can be applied to improve practice. The journey from being to thriving is set out in several chapters each providing different themes which will encourage you to capture your reflections, record your learning and development and apply theories of reflection to your professional practice. Full of practical guidance, activities and questions to prompt reflective thinking, the chapters cover: getting started how to write reflectively creating spaces to be reflective using reflective practice to set targets for your learning and professional development Spaces for capturing your reflective thoughts and reflective activities are provided througout, alongside sections where you may wish to stop and engage in deeper thinking. This book will be invaluable reading for early years practitioners, tutors and early years students on level 3 courses and Foundation Degrees.

Reflective supervision is hard-and it's an even greater challenge when the same supervisor must provide both reflective and administrative supervision. The authors include a unique focus on this blended model of supervision. Reflective Supervision and Leadership in Infant and Early Childhood Programs illustrates the foundations and frameworks of reflective practice and outlines ways to support reflective supervision in a wide variety of work settings. Other highlights of the book are: A discussion of the roles of the reflective supervisor; knowledge and skills needed for reflective supervision; tips for providing group reflective supervision & vignettes outlining common supervisory dilemmas.

"Childress provides extensive information about conducting EI visits and gathering information to individualize intervention and develop service plans. This workbook allows practitioners to reflect on what they do, why and how they do it, and how their practices influence the quality of EI services. In this way, they can learn to manage their workload and thereby avoid burnout through time management strategies, stress management, and ongoing professional development"--

Have you ever wondered what’s going on in your child’s mind? This engaging book shows how reflective parenting can help you understand your children, manage their behaviour and build your relationship and connection with them. It is filled with practical advice showing how recent developments in mentalization, attachment and neuroscience have transformed our understanding of the parent-child relationship and can bring meaningful change to your own family relationships. Alistair Cooper and Sheila Redfern show you how to make a positive impact on your relationship with your child, starting from the development of the baby’s first relationship with you as parents, to how you can be more reflective in relationships with toddlers, children and young people. Using everyday examples, the authors provide you with practical strategies to develop a more reflective style of parenting and how to use this approach in everyday interactions to help your child achieve their full potential in their development; cognitively, emotionally and behaviourally. Reflective Parenting is an informative and enriching read for parents, written to help parents form a better relationship with their children. It is also an essential resource for clinicians working with children, young people and families to support them in managing the dynamics of the child-parent relationship. This is a book that every parent needs to read.