The Oranga Tamariki Practice Framework - Setting out, explaining, and reinforcing our practice approach.
Keywords:
Practice Frameworks, child welfare, social workAbstract
Practice frameworks are a well-established mechanism for practice reform and a growing body of literature attests to this promise. Surprisingly then, little is known about how they are intended to, or indeed, work on the ground. This practice note introduces Oranga Tamariki’s new practice framework and explains how this sets out and explains our new practice approach—driving a needed paradigm shift away from risk saturation toward ecological understandings of oranga (wellbeing), promoting te ao Māori principles and supported by the social work discipline, to benefit all tamariki, children, whānau and families we work with. We are proudly (re)positioning and promoting social work in, and for, Aotearoa New Zealand’s child welfare statutory offer. This is just and right for families, whānau and their tamariki. This practice note highlights how the practice framework promotes the ANZASW codes of ethics and SWRB practice competencies while enabling and driving sound and ethical professional practice. Consequently, social work practice is then delivered, experienced, led and quality assured based on the discipline of social work and not on risk-aversive reactions to practice tragedies or the volumes of technocratic policies and procedures that too quickly become outdated.
References
Baginsky, M., Ixer, G., & Manthorpe, J. (2021), Practice frameworks in children’s services in England: An attempt to steer social work back on course? Practice, 33(1), 3–19.
Baron, S., Stanley, T., Colomina, C., & Pereira, T. (2019). Strengths based social work – Practice framework and handbook. Department of Health. Strengths-based social work: practice framework and handbook - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Connolly, M. (2007). Practice frameworks: Conceptual maps to guide interventions in child welfare. The British Journal of Social Work, 37(5), 825–837.
Connolly, M. (2017). Beyond the risk paradigm in child protection. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Connolly, M., & Smith, R. (2010). Reforming child welfare: An integrated approach Child Welfare, 89(3), 9–31.
Featherstone, B., White, S., & Morris, K. (2014). Re- imagining child protection: Towards humane social work with families. Policy Press.
Featherstone, B., Gupta, A., Morris, K., & White, S. (2018). Protecting children: A social model. Policy Press.
Finan, S., Bromfield, L., Arney, F., & Moore, T. (2018). Assessing the quality and comprehensiveness of child protection practice frameworks. Australian Centre for Child Protection, University of South Australia.
Gillingham, P. (2017). Evaluation of practice frameworks for social work with children and families: Exploring the challenges, Journal of Public Child Welfare, 12(2), 190–203. https://doi.org/10.1080/155 48732.2017.1392391
Healy, K. (2005). Social work theories in context: Creating frameworks for practice. Palgrave Macmillan.
Hyslop, I. (2021). A political history of child protection: Lessons for reform from Aotearoa New Zealand. Policy Press.
Munro, E. (2019). Decision-making under uncertainty in child protection: Creating a just and learning culture. Child and Family Social Work, 24, 123–130.
Parton, N. (2016). An authoritarian approach to child welfare and protection? Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 28(2), 7–8.
Stanley, T. (2016). A practice framework to support the Care Act 2014, The Journal of Adult Protection, 18(1), 53–64.
Stanley, T. (2017). Working more reflexively with risk: Holding “signs of safety and wellbeing” in mind. In A. Cooper (Ed.), Adult safeguarding. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Stanley, T., Baron, S., & Robertson, P. (2021). Examining practice frameworks –Mapping out the gains. Practice, 33(1), 21–35.
Turnell, A. (2004). Relationship-grounded, safety-organised child protection practice: Dreamtime or real-time option for child welfare? Protecting Children, 19(2), 14–25.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
By completing the online submission process, you confirm you accept this agreement. The following is the entire agreement between you and the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) and it may be modified only in writing.
You and any co-authors
If you are completing this agreement on behalf of co-authors, you confirm that you are acting on their behalf with their knowledge.
First publication
By submitting the work you are:
- granting the ANZASW the right of first publication of this work;
- confirming that the work is original; and
- confirming that the work has not been published in any other form.
Once published, you are free to use the final, accepted version in any way, as outlined below under Copyright.
Copyright
You assign copyright in the final, accepted version of your article to the ANZASW. You and any co-authors of the article retain the right to be identified as authors of the work.
The ANZASW will publish the final, accepted manuscript under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This licence allows anyone – including you – to share, copy, distribute, transmit, adapt and make commercial use of the work without needing additional permission, provided appropriate attribution is made to the original author or source.
A human-readable summary of the licence is available from http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, which includes a link to the full licence text.
Under this licence you can use the final, published version of the article freely – such as depositing a copy in your institutional research repository, uploading a copy to your profile on an academic networking site or including it in a different publication, such as a collection of articles on a topic or in conference proceedings – provided that original publication in Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work is acknowledged.
This agreement has no effect on any pre-publication versions or elements, which remain entirely yours, and to which we claim no right.
Reviewers hold copyright in their own comments and should not be further copied in any way without their permission.
The copyright of others
If your article includes the copyright material of others (e.g. graphs, diagrams etc.), you confirm that your use either:
- falls within the limits of fair dealing for the purposes of criticism and review or fair use; OR
- that you have gained permission from the rights holder for publication in an open access journal.
