Each Community of Practice (CoP) will bring together social workers from, policy, practice, and education from their respective fields to share knowledge and experience, receive support from peers and BASW NI.
They will also be an opportunity to highlight issues that you want BASW NI to action on your behalf.
There are similar groups meeting in the RoI, Scotland, Wales and England and we aim to connect with them on shared issues regularly.
The CoP will last for one hour and attendance will provide you with 3 PIP credits.
We invite suggestions on topics for discussion from our members and/or presentations that will be of interest to your colleagues. We want this to be a forum for learning and raising matters that BASW NI can take forward on your behalf.
18.10.23 Self-Care in Trauma Informed Social Work Practice
In this COP we will be joined by Dr Geraldine Patterson a social worker with more than thirty years professional experience. Having worked in children’s services and mental health services in Aberdeen, Geraldine returned to Northern Ireland where she continued to practice as a social worker, approved social worker and team leader across a number of service areas in the Southern Health and Social Care Trust. She is currently employed as deputy head of service within the Trust’s social services workforce development and training team. Over the last twenty years she has been involved in the education and training of social workers and has developed a strong interest in social worker wellbeing. She is a graduate of University College Dublin, Aberdeen University and Queens University Belfast. In 2023 she completed her Doctoral studies at QUB, where her research focused on the experiences of early career child welfare social workers as they become accustomed to working with children and families experiencing adversity and trauma.
Geraldine is presently working with colleagues in the Southern Trust to provide leadership and advice in the development of trauma informed practice. In this COP she will explore how trauma impacts on staff and services users, participants will then have an opportunity to reflect on her research findings and their self -care in trauma informed social work practice.
This session will be held on Zoom, joining links will be sent shortly before the event.
BASW Members please log in when booking.
16.11.23 Community of Practice—responding to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Services consultation
Published in June, the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Services final report included a large number of recommendations aimed at transforming the manner in which services are planned, structured and delivered. Most significant among the 53 recommendations is the call for children’s services to be transferred from the HSC Trusts to a newly created Arms-Length Body which would also take responsibility for services including Youth Justice and the Education Welfare Service.
The Review also recommends the creation of a new post within a future NI Executive for a Minister for Children and Families to provide political oversight and leadership for children’s social care.
The Department of Health is currently consulting on the recommendations from the Review and we would welcome you to join us at our online Community of Practice on Thursday 16 November from 12:30pm – 1:30pm to discuss the recommendations and inform BASW NI’s response to the consultation.
You can find the Department of Health consultation paper via the following link https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/consultations/health/doh-consultation-cscs-consult-paper.pdf