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goodenoughcaring.com is an arena for the discussion of issues of interest to parents, foster parents, residential child care workers, counsellors, youth support workers, social workers, teachers, mentors, social pedagogues, educateurs and to young people who are, and adults who have been, in care. If you are interested in, or involved in the care,upbringing and education of children and young people or in the nurturing of children and young people who are unable to live with their own families goodenoughcaring.com is a site for you. The website welcomes thoughtful views - personal, practical or theoretical - about the care of children and young people. If you want to comment about child care or about goodenoughcaring.com use our comment form or email goodenoughcaring@hotmail.com
The goodenoughcaring.com site is archived at the British Library.
The goodenoughcaring Journal is an online publication which invites anyone wishing to publish articles, essays, memoirs.stories and poems about parenting, nurture, child care work and related fields or those wishing to write about their child care experiences to submit as e mail attachments papers or articles for publication to the editors at goodenoughcaring@hotmail.com The members of the editorial group are Evelyn Daniel, Siobain Degregorio, Jane Kenny, Ariola Vishnja, Mark Smith and Charles Sharpe. The current edition was published online on 15th December, 2009. The next edition will be published during June 2010.
The goodenoughcaring Journal No 6 is now online !
In this issue :
In the first of a series of articles, in which different writers will consider the influence the place they were born and brought up has had on their adult lives, the Totnes author Bob Mann starts the ball rolling by reflecting on his experience of having lived in the town of his birth for most his life.
Jonathan Stanley , the Manager of the National Centre for Excellence in Residential Child Care in England in an interview with Charles Sharpe talks about what NCERRC has achieved and is achieving for the residential child care service in England.
Laura Steckley of Glasgow School of Social Work listens to the views of young people and argues that, depending on the circumstances, physical restraint can be part of an overall therapeutic experience for some young people.
Cynthia Cross , a freelance child care consultant and trainer offers us case vignettes which provoke us to challenge the defensive nature of practice guidelines for child care workers.
Jeremy Millar , in a moving description of an innovative project at Robert Gordon University, tells us about the participation of children and young people (recipients of social work services), in the training of social workers and Calum Strathie writes about Video Enhanced Reflective Practice and how it has been used in Dundee - with the involvement of young people - in a unique pilot training course for residential child care workers.
Nancy Mohindra examines the mental health services provision for young people in England.
The social worker, Donna Hugh , in a wide-ranging overview of educational provision for children looked after in the care system, shows why we should still be concerned about the educational achievement of these children.
Dominic McNally , who is a social worker, explains how psychodynamic principles influenced his work when he was a residential child care worker.
Leon Fulcher, M. Williams, M. Fisi’ihoi and S. McGladdery tell the story about what happened over a 6-month period during a young person's transition from secure residential supervision to an intensive foster care placement using a Team Parenting approach.
News, Events and Opinions
The text of Charles Sharpe's seminar 'Love and Hate in Good Enough Residential Child Care' which he presented at NCERCC conference Understanding Residential Child Care: Valuing the effect and effectiveness of daily living held in Leeds on January 28th, 2010, can now be found on this site in 'Writings''.
A National Conference for Social Care in Ireland
Social Care Under the Spotlight : Moving Forward Together
This conference is to be held on February 24th and 15th at the Sheraton Hotel, Athlone and it marks the first combined conference presented by the three representative bodies of the social care field in Ireland, The Irish Association of Social Care Workers, the Residential Managers Association and the Irish Association of Social Care Educators.
The theme of the conference is focused on the recognition of the current difficult economic and social climate for social care and promotes the importance of continued integration of social care education, practice and policy to ensure delivery of quality care services in Ireland. A range of topics are being presented at the conference which will be of benefit to those involved in all aspects of the social care field.
Further information about the conference is available at the IASCW website at www.iascw.ie and bookings can be made by emailing info@hotel-solutions.ie
The goodenoughcaring writing competition
We invite all visitors to the goodenoughcaring.com site to take part in our writing competition. The pieces of writing may be essays, articles, short stories and poems. There is no lower or upper limit on the length of the pieces of writing and spelling punctuation and grammar are not too important as long as the piece is understandable and interesting. All entries must be emailed as attachments to goodenoughcaring@hotmail.com by March 31st, 2010.
The title is :
‘Fritz Redl once said “Modern society loves kids, neglects children and hates youth”. Write what you want about any aspect of this statement’.
The first prize is a £100 book token. The second prize is a £50 book token and the third prize is a £25 book token. The best five pieces will be published in the June 2010 issue of the goodenoughcaring Journal.
The entries will be judged by the Journal’s editorial group.
On sale now : Love Is Enough : sincerity and professionalism in the care and education of children and young people
A few copies of the goodenoughcaring book , Love Is Enough : sincerity and professionalism in the care and education of children and young people edited by Charles Sharpe, Evelyn Daniel, Siobain Degregorio, Jane Kenny and Ariola Vishnja and published by Abbeyhill Press remain. To purchase a copy from the UK send a cheque for £11.95 made payable to goodenoughcaring to 5 Orchard Waye, Totnes, Devon TQ9 5PN together with the address to which you would like the book to be sent. This includes the postage cost making this a bargain ! Purchasers from outside of the UK may have to pay additional postage charges. If you prefer to do these things electronically it is available for purchase through Amazon. The ISBN is 978-0-9560438-0-1. The book will be of interest to those with a professional interest in the lives of children, to students of child care and to parents immersed in the process of bringing up children. The authors offer an exciting variety of literary styles to illustrate and analyse their experiences of childhood, parenting and love.
The goodenoughcaring.com website is edited by Charles Sharpe. I am a child care consultant. I provide support to child care organisations in the United Kingdom and Europe engaged in looking after emotionally troubled children and young people. My services include project development, management supervision, team development and staff training. I have been involved in the care and education of children and young people as a practitioner, manager, teacher, trainer and lecturer. I am a psychodynamic counsellor and psychotherapist.
I am known to be vociferous about the lack of depth in training provided for those who work with emotionally troubled youngsters. In Writings at goodenoughcaring.com you will find articles, papers, a recommended reading list, and training documents I have written about child development and about the care of children and young people who have experienced disrupted childhoods. Most of these have been written and devised for different courses I have run. I hope they have general interest and are helpful towards the professional development of those who work with children and young people. My blog goodenoughlife can be found at http://goodenoughcaring.blogspot.com/
Useful Links
National Children's Bureau http://www.ncb.org.uk
Scottish Institute of Residential Child Care http://www.sircc.strath.ac.uk
Psychoanalysis and Therapy http://www.psychoanalysis-and-therapy.com
Childhood http://www.childhood.org
Children Webmag http://www.childrenwebmag.com/
The Planned Environment Therapy Trust http://www.pettarchiv.org.uk
The International Child and Youth Care Network, CYC-NET http://www.cyc-net.org
Clare Winnicott : Life and Work http://www.clarewinnicott.net
The Child Care History Network http://www.cchn.org.uk/
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