Price: £19.95

To see sections of this book in a PDF, please click here.

How children and young people are treated, especially by those closest to them, shapes their future relationships and social interactions. To help workers support and strengthen positive and protective relationships in children’s lives, this book offers:

accessible explanations of key social and emotional competencies - hope, empathy, love and dignity - described here by the acronym of ’HELD’

practical strategies and resources to help ensure children get ’HELD’, can truly live out their potential, and are protected within families and communities.

Based on the author’s extensive experience in both child protection and - crucially - in work with families facing significant difficulty around having children with severe disabilities, this manual provides:

accessible explanations of each of the four ’HELD’ competencies, along with brief examples

ten strategies for workers to support parents, families and communities in bringing each competency into action; and see why they are important to help protect, support and strengthen children’s wellbeing and safety.

three resources that can be used to help explore the competencies with families and children. Each can be used on its own; or to support and enhance other information gathering tools, assessment frameworks, and intervention planning that workers may already use. They can be used with groups and families, or to help one-to-one work with children and young people, for example in schools or residential settings. These three resources are:

• a summary sheet of the HELD competencies to give to parents and families as a resource to further support bringing them into action
• the Three Houses information gathering tool, already widely used internationally, to help support engagement and enquiry and explore with parents, children and families how these competencies may or may not be present
• a simple assessment framework to help workers analyse information they gather.

Most of the manual can be photocopied for use in staff development within local teams. (Precise permissions to copy are set out in the manual.) The strategy sheets and examples about each competency, and the summary sheet for parents can also be photocopied within those teams for use with clients.

By focussing both on: what is missing in the lives of people who harm each other and - especially - children; and on what is present in families where children are cherished and harm does not happen, it is a resource that can:

enable parents, family members, workers, and communities to become actively involved in reducing the likelihood of children being harmed

support children and young people to develop resilient traits and healthy relationships as they progress on their journey to adulthood.

A4 wirobound. 80 pages. 9781905541553. Published July 2009. £19.95.

READERSHIP
For anyone, regardless of role or agency, who is working - or training to work - to support, strengthen and protect the wellbeing and safety of children and young people; especially social care workers across welfare, health, education and early childhood settings.

In child protection or child welfare agencies, it complement and adds to existing resources by providing a way to explore the social and emotional inter-relational strengths and needs in a way that encourages a different approach to safer outcomes for children.

For workers in education or health settings HELD is offered as an early intervention and prevention resource especially for children aged under five; but usable with children and young people of any age.

CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Hope - having a positive sense of future
Empathy - strengthening connection
Love - providing a secure foundation
Dignity - developing inner strength
Conclusion
Resources:
The Three Houses information gathering tool
Assessing HELD - checklist for workers
Resource sheet for parents

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nicki Weld, BA (Political Science), MA (Applied Social Work) is currently a social work professional leader, and company director, in New Zealand. She has extensive experience in a variety of social service and child protection roles, including senior social worker, supervisor, senior trainer, national social work advisor, and consultant. Nicki has worked primarily in a New Zealand paediatric hospital service, and in the national Child Protection Agency. She co-directs a social services training company and delivers workshops both nationally and internationally, along with the provision of professional supervision. She is co-author of Walking in People’s Worlds - a Practical and Philosophical Guide to Social Work (Pearson Education, New Zealand, 2008) and The Three Houses Tool: Building Safety and Positive Change (in Contemporary Risk Assessment in Safeguarding Children, edited by Martin C. Calder, RHP, 2008). Nicki has also written a number of journal articles. Her Three Houses information gathering tool is used in six countries and has been translated into Japanese and Swedish. Her passion is for child and family work, and she believes in the application of creativity and innovation through connecting head, heart and spirit to inspire people to reach their true potential. She can be contacted on www.cnzn.co.nz.

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