Common Core of Skills, Knowledge & Understanding and Values for the "Children's Workforce" in Scotland

That the best interests of the child must always come first

UNCRC Article 3

Relevant sections of the Common Core:

As an employee or a volunteer you will:
Help identify & work with the needs and strengths in parents, carers and their networks in the interests of children and young people for whom they care

Ensure children, young people and families understand what information will be kept in confidence; and why some information from or about them may be shared

Understand the extent of your own role and be aware of the roles of other workers

Respect and value the contribution of other workers

Know what information to share, when to share it and with whom

Be aware of who can help parents or carers identify their own needs or strengths

What people told us during the Consultation and Workshops:

Help identify & work with the needs and strengths in parents, carers and their networks in the interests of children and young people for whom they care (Common Core ref: A3)

23. Workers must always act in the best interests of the child or young person. Quite often this will involve supporting parents, other family members or carers. The importance of being non-judgemental is a key area to help parents discover the things they are good at, their strengths, and the areas where they need more help.

24. A strong example was given during the workshops of a mum with learning disabilities who had other children in care and was desperate to keep her one remaining child with her. The range of workers involved never gave up on mum and their patience and professionalism eventually paid dividends. The factors of success involved helping mum to discover her confidence and strengths - although she may have had difficulties discussing issues with workers, she was a good "hands-on" mum and really engaged in play activities with her child. This was the platform to build on that nursery staff, social workers and health workers were looking for.

25. The importance of bringing early help to parents was also highlighted during the workshops. Examples of parents who are failing to cope due to, often, temporary emotional upset (e.g. marriage break-up or unemployment) were raised regularly during the workshops. In these instances "respite" type help (e.g. via a community childminder) was utilised and, in these cases, this early help was all that was needed to prevent more serious problems developing.

Ensure children, young people and families understand what information will be kept in confidence; and why some information from or about them may be shared (Common Core ref: A4)

26. Acting in the best interests of the child also requires the sharing of information where appropriate. Being open and honest with children, young people and families from the outset and explaining why some information may have to be shared was seen as a key building block for positive relationships. ChildLine and ParentLine volunteers stressed the importance of this during the consultation.

Understand the extent of your own role and be aware of the roles of other workers (Common Core ref: B3)

27. Workers need to be clear in their understanding of the boundaries of their own role and where that boundary meets the boundary of another worker's role. This is crucial in understanding when to get other workers involved. An awareness (at least) of these other roles and what they can do to help was seen as important.

Respect and value the contribution of other workers (Common Core ref: B4)

28. Mutual respect between workers must be shared at all times. This point was raised frequently during the consultation and workshops. Examples of where respect is important included colleagues working in the same team, relationships between different statutory agencies and relationships between statutory agencies and the voluntary sector. Where examples cited a lack of mutual respect, this was seen as one of the key barriers getting in the way of providing the right support for children, young people and families, when they need it.

Know what information to share, when to share it and with whom (Common Core ref: B5)

29. The "human" side of information sharing, described at paragraph 26, was just one important factor raised. During the workshops the complexity and "grey areas" around information sharing procedures added real pressure to workers. There were calls for clearer guidance and information sharing protocols to help workers understand what information to share, when and with whom.

Be aware of who can help parents or carers identify their own needs or strengths (Common Core ref: B6)

30. The example given of the mum struggling to find her confidence and strengths (paragraph 24) also shows the importance of different workers working together to help identify strengths. It was not until social and health workers involved the local nursery that the ability of the mum to really engage in play activities with her child was recognised.

Relevant quotes from the consultation:

Workers need the ability to build warm engaging relationships, putting families at ease, being non-judgemental

Building on strengths is more than utilising existing networks and support. It is also about utilising and building on the existing knowledge, skills and abilities of parents themselves

Spot when parents are doing well and encourage that behaviour

[Workers should] limit their advice to their area of expertise and competency but ensure families have access to the right sources of support

Self reflection / Discussion questions:

31. The following questions are examples of the sorts of questions you can reflect on individually or discuss in your team. By doing so you are already beginning to implement the Common Core.

• Think about occasions when you were working with parents. Can you identify the range of strengths that the parents demonstrated? Were there any that were not obvious to you or to the parents before you started to work with them? Which other workers helped uncover the strengths of parents?

• Reflect on a time when you shared information with another worker or agency. What was the most difficult part? What more could be done to make information sharing more straightforward?

• What does "mutual respect" mean to you? Consider having a session with other workers to discuss what mutual respect means to you all and try to agree a definition.

Would you like to share your views or do you need more help?
Post your comments or questions on the workforce section of the GIRFEC Knowledge Hub. See Annex B for details.