Strengths Based Social Work
Mark Harvey, Chief Social Worker for Adults in England, Department of Health and Social Care
Over the past few years I have been the Principal Social Worker for Hertfordshire and co-chair of the national PSW network and am currently the Operations Director for adult disability services in Hertfordshire. I was also appointed as Chief Social Worker for England in October 2019 alongside Fran Leddra. The year ahead is likely to be one of significant change and opportunity as well as complexity and challenge, but I am looking forward to helping lead an approach that can embed social work as core to this work and ultimately achieve a better outcome for the people we serve.
“Social work requires artistic responses and freedom of thinking to create something new with people. Strengths base social work re-connects people with their lives, their relationships and their community”
Applying the Strengths Based Practice Framework for Professional Practice
Tricia Pereira, Co-Chair, Adults Principal Social Worker National Network, Head of Operations, London Borough of Merton Council. Co-Author, Strengths-based approach practice handbook
Tricia is a qualified Social Worker, Practice Educator and Best Interest Assessor. Her specialism is Sensory Social Work - Working with Deaf and deafblind children and adults, older people and adults with physical disabilities. As a former Head of Safeguarding Adults she was instrumental in developing safeguarding and social care systems in three Prisons pre-Care Act 2014. Tricia’s work experience covers both Adults and Children’s Social care and the Voluntary sector and is the Former Co-Chair of the Adults Principal Social Work Network for England.
“Good supervision should support a two-way approach, whereby social workers and social care professionals are encouraged to prepare for their supervision session and the session supports the worker to explore, reflect on and find potential solutions in their work. Rather than the worker being given directives or being provided with a range of solutions or answers. Double-loop learning is a reflective learning process and also a problem solving learning process”
Delivering a Strengths-based approach to Adult Safeguarding
Jenefer Rees, Principal Social Worker, London Borough of Islington. Chair, Principal Social Worker Network, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS)
Jenefer is Principal Social Worker for Adults in London Borough of Islington and is responsible for Learning and Development, Policies and Procedures, Practice Assurance and Improvement as well as generally ensuring that social work practice is understood, valued and considered when making any operational or strategic changes within Adult Social Care and the wider council. A top priority over the last 18 months has been to develop and embed Strengths Based Practice within Adult Social Care in Islington focussing not only on social work practice but also on the wider infrastructure such as commissioning and integrated working as enablers for this approach.
Jenefer is also the Chair of the London Adults Principal Social Worker Network, Vice Chair for the National Adults Principal Social Worker Network, and a member of the London ADASS Carer’s Network. She started her career in Adult Social Care as a Day Care Worker for People with Learning Disabilities, also with experience of working with Adults and Children within Residential Care. After qualifying as a Social Worker Jenefer worked as a Social Worker with all client groups, and also gained experience of managing a wide range of teams and services both as a Team Manager and Service Manager.
“Unless people’s lives are improved, then all the safeguarding work, systems, procedures and partnerships are purposeless. Making Safeguarding Personal means it should be person-led and outcome-focused. A strengths based approach is about Exploring all of the individual’s circumstances rather than making the problem or gap the focus of the intervention”