The legal tail and the social work dog: Has the focus on legal proceedings damaged social work practice?

This is an invitation-only seminar. If you are particularly interested, please get in touch.

This webinar is led by child law specialist Martha ​Cover, Barrister at Coram Chambers. Martha has specialised in care proceedings and adoption for 30 years, representing local authorities, parents and children. She is a former chair of the Association of Lawyers for Children. Martha regularly speaks and writes on child law matters, including adoption and policy issues affecting care proceedings.

This seminar will explore the interaction between legal proceedings and social work. Have prescriptive and time-limited rules governing social work applications for care and placement orders skewed social work away from welfare considerations towards legal considerations? Does the social worker have to start planning for possible compulsory legal interventions at the beginning of their contact with a new family? If so, what does that do to their professional relationship with the parent and to the assessment process? Is it a neutral assessment or is it done with a view to gathering evidence for a potential legal application? The presentation will be followed by time for questions and discussion.