Poverty, parenting and social exclusion

When using services, parents have reported that they encounter discriminatory attitudes from some professionals on the basis that they are poor. This e-learning resource seeks to help you understand the positive steps that can be taken to building good relationships with parents in poverty. Having first thought about what families value in professional relationships, you will then watch different family members, who have experienced or are experiencing poverty, discuss issues which they value as good practice from the point of view of people who use services. You will then be asked to look at some of the steps that families feel practitioners can take to make a positive difference in their work with a family that is living in poverty. This is followed by a conclusion and a final video message.

Despite poverty and social exclusion being common characteristics of families involved in the child protection system, there is evidence to suggest that professionals struggle to truly incorporate an understanding of the impact of poverty in their assessments and interventions. In practice, social workers and other professionals continue to have difficulty in making sense of the complex interplay between poverty, social deprivation, parental capacity and children's development. This e-learning resource will let you explore your own sensitivity to poverty with the help of six separate scenarios, each highlighting a different issue faced by families living in poverty. After you have worked through the six scenarios, you will be able to see your level of sensitivity to poverty and social exclusion. You will then be able to match your responses to our examples of how to deal with the situations in a sensitive manner, reading our ideas behind each approach. The e-learning resource concludes with a short video clip of a family member relating the importance of a sensitive attitude towards poverty.

It is now increasingly understood that there are different types of knowledge, all of which contribute to the ability of people working in children’s services to do their jobs well. Understanding the types of knowledge that are available, and having access to this knowledge is an important aspect for anybody who is working with families that are living in poverty. The first part of this e-learning resource explores the different types of knowledge that exists to aid you in your day to day work. Having been introduced to the different types of knowledge, a series of questions will enable you to rate how your agency performs in allowing and encouraging you to access and disseminate the different types of knowledge. Once you have reflected on this you will be able to see our suggestions on how you can enhance the performance of your agency in the areas that you felt could be improved.

Poverty affects children from very different backgrounds. Discrimination on the bases of disability, race or immigration status mean that some sections of the population are significantly over represented among poor families. However, many families living in poverty also report facing discrimination on the basis of being poor. This is compounded when involved with child welfare services. This e-learning resource explores the way this discrimination works and seeks to help make practitioners aware of some of the implications. You will examine ways socially excluded individuals may be discriminated against for being poor (or ‘povertyism’). You will then watch some family members present some ways in which they feel povertyism is being perpetuated by professionals and agencies. This is followed by a conclusion and a final video message.

We talked to Moraene (Mo) Roberts, who has worked with the charity ATD Fourth World for many years and who has worked with many families in poverty. Her interview provides a very useful overview of the issues facing families living in poverty and some key lessons for practitioners who are in contact with these families. Follow the link below to watch Mo share her experiences of living in poverty and working with families who find themselves in poverty. The interview is unedited and lasts approximately 20 minutes, covering many areas, some of which are highlighted below: •What is Poverty? •The impact of poverty on individuals. •Negative attitudes received from social care workers as a result of living in poverty? •How do you improve practice when dealing with parents living in poverty? •What positive attitudes can social care workers bring to working with families in poverty? •What difference can changing ones approach towards families living in poverty have?

Practitioners often have to undertake assessments of children and their families who are living in poverty. To help improve the consistency and quality of these assessments the Government introduced the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families. This e-learning resource lets you explore the framework and its many dimensions. With the help of Barbara, a social worker, you will use the framework to assess a family, to help you to understand the needs of children and families in your daily role.

Understanding the various definitions of poverty is a very complicated task, but this e-learning resource is designed to help you see beyond technical definitions and to understand how poverty changes people’s lives. After looking at formal definitions in the introduction, you will then be asked to complete the phrase - 'Poverty is...' in a number of ways. You will then watch a group of family members who have experienced or are experiencing poverty complete the phrase. You will be asked to compare your answers and reflect upon: a) the different aspects and implications of poverty and social exclusion on the day-to-day lives of families and b) how social workers may make judgements about people’s circumstances and behaviour. Note: This resource contains audio.

Research on families involved with child protection services in the UK reveals that many share the common experiences of living on a low income, suffering housing difficulties, and social isolation. The children and families experiencing these factors may often feel that they have few choices available to help them. This e-learning resource explores the complex issues that often surround these children and families. Through a case study, you will have the chance to reflect on an assessment of possible neglect and support services that could be of assistance to them. You can then compare your reflections with the findings of the social workers who undertook the assessment and find out more about the possible services available to the family.

We have put together a collection of facts and figures relating to poverty, parenting and social exclusion, which we have turned into a fun and easy to use quiz. We hope you will use these to support your learning and to increase your background understanding of the topic.

All of us who work with families carry into our work a whole set of beliefs and values about family life and how children should be cared for. This learning object is designed to make you aware of these personal values and how they might impact on your practice. This learning object explores the way that personal values can effect the way you deal with families and seeks to help make practitioners aware of the impact and implications that this can have. You will be asked to capture your initial thoughts relating to 3 case study images depicting different aspects of family life. Afterwards you will hear three child care professionals discussing their thoughts on each case study and the care that they would provide. After listening to these extracts you will be asked to reflect upon whether these individuals allowed their personal values and beliefs to affect the way that they responded to each case study. This is followed by a conclusion highlighting the codes of practice for child care professionals.

Parents living in poverty face a complex set of issues at individual, family and community levels that make parenting more difficult. In this e-learning resource you will explore a case study of a family, to try to gain an understanding of some of the difficult choices faced by parents in poverty, as well as support services that could help parents cope.