• What is the point of child and family social work?

    A blog by Professor Donald Forrester An edited version of this blog was previously published by the NSPCC I came into social work to help people. Helping social workers to help people is still why I do my job, albeit through research and teaching. And in every study we carry out we hear stories of… Read More
  • Why don’t more care-experienced young people go to university?

    University can be one of the most exciting times in a young person’s life; they have the prospect of studying something they are really interested in, meet new people, have new experiences and have a place to make those first adult steps of independence into the world. With all this on offer, why are care… Read More
  • How has Covid-19 impacted the experience of Young People Leaving Care?

    Coinciding with the start of National Care Leavers Week, a new research report is released today concerned with young people leaving care during Covid-19. The research was jointly funded by Voices from Care Cymru and Cardiff University, and involved contributions from 21 care experienced young people and 23 professionals. The report provides valuable insights into… Read More
  • Child Criminal Exploitation

    Children’s social care practice faces several challenges to delivering better outcomes for young people – none more complex and damaging than criminal exploitation. Every day multi-agency services and practitioners are successfully safeguarding children, but when the system fails the effects are devastating to individuals, their families and our communities. With over twenty years’ experience of… Read More
  • Storm in a coffee cup?

    A blog by Professor Donald Forrester When I first heard that the What Works Centre (WWC) was going to study the impact of free, high quality coffee and tea I thought it was a really, really stupid idea. Maybe not up there with electing Trump President, but certainly one of the stupidest research ideas I had ever… Read More
  • Evidence and values

    A blog by Professor Donald Forrester The name “evidence based practice” is misleading. Practice cannot and should not be based on evidence – if by that we mean that the evidence tells us what we should do. Our services should be based on our principles and values. Organisations should be clear what the point of… Read More
  • World Social Work Day 2019: The audacity of hope

    A blog by Dr David Wilkins ‘The audacity of hope’; a terribly unoriginal title but I hope on World Social Work Day 2019, an important message for social work all the same. In the late 1980s, talking about a painting by G.F Watts entitled ‘Hope’, the Reverend Dr. Sampson said: “With her clothes in rags,… Read More
  • What skills make a difference?

    A blog by Professor Donald Forrester In the last blog I outlined why it is important to find out whether and how social work skills make a difference for families. Here I reflect on which skills made a difference in our study. The skills we measured were all related to motivational interviewing (MI). Some were… Read More
  • Does social work make a difference? And if so – how?

    A blog by Professor Donald Forrester This and the next Blog relate to this article. Since I left social work practice to become an academic, almost 20 years ago, most of my research has been trying to find out what helps children and their families. Sad to say, this is rooted in a sense that I… Read More