LEADERSHIP IN CHILD AND FAMILY PRACTICE
This edited collection situates the wellbeing and safety of vulnerable children as the focus of leadership. It provides a guide to theories and practice of leadership for those who want to make a difference to the lives of these children and their families.
Drawing on the experience of a highly successful postgraduate program in Child and Family Practice Leadership, the book explores the changing context of Child and Family Practice and the role of leadership, in addition to the knowledge and skills required for effective practice. Contributors draw upon their own practice experiences and insights into the most effective ways to support the work of practitioners to achieve the best outcomes for children and families. The content comprises a mixture of theoretical consideration, discussion of original research and interviews with child and family practitioners.
Bringing together contributions from leading specialists and professionals in the field, this book will be essential reading for individual practitioners, organisations and policymakers looking to assist the development of leadership within the child and family practice sector. It will also be of interest to those working in child protection and related workforces.
Margarita Frederico is Professor and Graduate Research Coordinator in Social Work and Social Policy at La Trobe University, Australia, and Principal Research Consultant Berry Street Take Two Program. She has taught and researched in social work, child protection, child and family welfare and leadership for many years. Her research is applied and translational, and her focus is on contributing to the development of knowledge to make a difference to the lives of vulnerable children and their families.
Maureen Long is a qualified social worker and family therapist who worked in the child and family practice sector as a practitioner and manager for more than 25 years in both the community and public sectors. For the past 11 years, she has taught in the Social Work program at La Trobe University, Australia, where she is a senior lecturer and discipline course coordinator.
Nadine Cameron has been involved in social work, social policy and sociological research and teaching for nearly 20 years. She also co-wrote the groundbreaking book Social Work and the Body.
This is an excellent resource that pushes us to consider where current systems fail and how to cultivate leadership that will transform child and family services. It is an essential read for those committed to reshaping models of workforce development to improve child outcomes.
Todd I. Herrenkohl, PhD, Marion Elizabeth Blue Professor of Child and Family, University of Michigan School of Social Work, USA
This is an excellent book covering some difficult issues of central importance to both social work and related disciplines. It tackles the question of how high professional practice standards can be achieved and maintained, how practice knowledge, organisational knowledge and research knowledge can be brought to practitioners and used by them. It is one of the few books to focus on this complex matter. It places professional and organisational leadership at the centre of this dynamic and shows how education needs to be integrated into the goals and content of practice. Note: it is very clearly written and engages the reader quickly.
Professor Emeritus Thea Brown, Department of Social Work, Monash University, Australia
LEADERSHIP IN CHILD AND FAMILY PRACTICE
Edited by Margarita Frederico, Maureen Long and Nadine Cameron
First published 2018
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2018 selection and editorial matter, Margarita Frederico, Maureen Long and Nadine Cameron; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Margarita Frederico, Maureen Long and Nadine Cameron to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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ISBN: 978-0-415-79382-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-79383-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-21086-5 (ebk)
To child and family practitioners who each day walk alongside vulnerable children and their families to assist them to be safe and achieve their potential; to the children and families confronting major difficulties in their lives; and to leaders in Child and Family Practice who strive to create caring, knowledge-informed organisations which promote best practice and facilitate positive differences for children and families.
Adjunct Professor Muriel Bamblett, AM, is a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung woman who has made an outstanding contribution to Aboriginal welfare, particularly in the area of child and family services. Since 1999 she has been CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA). She is Adjunct Professor at La Trobe University. Muriel was chairperson of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) for ten years. Muriel is active on many committees, including the Victorian Childrens Council; the Aboriginal Treaty Working Group; the Indigenous Family Violence Partnership Forum and the Aboriginal Justice Forum. Muriel has received many awards honouring her leadership in Indigenous welfare and affairs, including: the Centenary of Federation Medal; the Robin Clark Memorial Award for Inspirational Leadership in the Field of Child and Family Welfare; and the Womens Electoral Lobby Inaugural Vida Goldstein Award; and was a finalist for a Human Rights Medal with the Australian Human Rights Commission. She is also a Member of the Order of Australia. In 2017 she was inducted into the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll and awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in Social Work by the University of Sydney.
Dr Cindy Blackstock is a member of the Gitksan First Nation. Cindy is the Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and a Professor at McGill University School of Social Work. Her work focuses on educating and engaging children, and the public at large, to ensure culturally based equity for First Nations children in Canada. She is best known for a landmark human rights case in 2016 finding the Canadian Governments provision of inequitable services to First Nations children to be racially discriminatory and contrary to Canadian law. She has written extensively on First Nations theory, child welfare and the inequity in First Nations childrens services, and currently serves as a Commissioner for the Pan American Health Organization Commission on Health Equity and Inequity. Cindy is a fearless and effective human rights advocate and activist, and has received many awards and honours recognising this. Cindy completed her PhD at Toronto University and has been awarded ten honorary doctorates.
