Respectful, inclusive processes that involve families have value in themselves. Family members need to feel ‘recognised’, in order to be able to participate fully in key decisions. When children are really vulnerable to harm social workers have to work even harder to create partnership with families where risk is present. For infants, babies, and very young children, as well as older children who are non-verbal or require constant care as they grow up, we need to find ways to work with risk that do not necessarily involve family separations.
The Professional Social Worker: An essential text for all social workers