IASW NEWSLETTERMarch 2020

Welcome to the Spring edition of IASW Newsletter where we give an overview of activities andkeep you up to date with the work of the Board the Council and the staffWe had a wonderful response to the All-Ireland Survey on Social Work Professionalism andcontinue to work closely with our partners BASW NI CORU and NISCC The great response hasprovided a very rich source of data to inform our next steps We will keep you posted Watchout for a Focus Group coming to a town near you very soonThe Board Council and staff of the IASW continue to have a very busy work schedule We doour best to respond to issues as they arise but the landscape is very broad We have beenworking hard on responding to new policies in the interest of promoting best practice in SocialWork in Ireland A response to CASP (Child Abuse Substantiation Policy) and a response to aproposed Regulatory Framework for Adult Safeguarding are examples of two pieces of workthat are current We have also been doing significant work on IASW policies and codes sinceour last newsletterOur interaction with other professional associations has strengthened over the past monthsdrawn together by the HSErsquos attempts to bring all Health and Social Care professionals in theiremploy under the control of the Chief Nursing Officer This is not acceptable to any of theprofessional bodies and we have made a joint case to the minister asking that the HSE come upwith a specific post to represent Health and Social Care professionals and the many servicesprovided by themThe IASW has also lobbied the Minister for Health all political parties TDs and Senatorsregarding the delivery of appropriate professional supervision and management in Social WorkMaintaining service quality avoiding staff burn out and improving recruitment and retentionissues go hand in hand with the right leadership supervision and management in anyprofession We are asking that social workers are provided with the type and structure ofsupervision indicated in literature and by best practice guidance We have looked forward to World Social Work Day Clashing this year with our national holidaySt Patricks Day celebrations were dampened by the Coronavirus situation Please keep healthyand well over the next months and take all precautions advised to protect you and your family

Thank you for your continuing support Please spread the good news that IASW isgrowing and seeking to grow further

Written by Aine McGuirk - Chair SW004099

COVID-19 and the IASW

Dear Members of The Irish Association of Social WorkersIASW has been following all HSE and government guidelines with regard to the COVID-19crisisFrom Monday March 16th all of our staff have been working from home and are contactable bymobile phone or e-mail on their working day Danielle officemanageriaswie Tel 087 7392420 (9am to 12noon only)Cliona cpdofficeriaswie Tel 086 787 9752Marina administratoriaswie Tel 086 024 1055IASW events have been postponed

We plan to continue working within the current constraints and will continue to support you inthe best way that we canWe wish you and your family good healthWritten by Danielle McGoldrick - Office Manager

HSE COVID-19 Guidelines

For Support Services Information for yourself friends family members and colleaguesplease visit our website by clicking below

Support Services Information

The Irish Social WorkerThe Irish Social Worker

The last edition of the The Irish SocialWorker Journal - Winter 2019 was sent toall members on the post on the 14th ofFebruary 2020This special edition of the Irish Social Workeropen access practice and research journalfeatured articles from the IASW NationalConference and the All Ireland Social WorkResearch Conference 2019 among others Itcontains something for everyone featuring avariety of articles from across the professionseveral book reviews and wonderful tributesto the late Noreen Kearney amp MargaretBeaumont The journal is already available forall members to download on PDF format onthe IASW web-pageThe Journal Committee are Calling forArticles for the next edition You can access acopy of the Guidelines for writing an article byclicking belowIf you are a member and you havent receivedyour copy on the post please contact theOffice Administrator at administratoriaswieWritten by Marina Tiribelli - OfficeAdministrator

Guidelines for writing an article

IASW Events and Trainings

What have we done on the first few months of the year

Film amp Panel Discussion on Resilience TheBiology of Stress and The Science of HopeThe screening of Resilience took place onthe 4th of February and was organised bySocial Care Ireland and the IASW with 55people registered to attendResilience is a one-hour documentary thatdelves into the science of Adverse ChildhoodExperiences (ACEs) and the birth of a newmovement to treat and prevent toxic stressand shows how extremely stressfulexperiences can alter brain development andhave lifelong effects on health and behaviourA panel discussion chaired by Cliona MurphyCPD Officer took place afterwardsFor more information on the content of thisevent please click belowWritten by Marina Tiribelli - OfficeAdministratorPicture Cover of the DVD Resilience TheBiology of Stress and The Science of Hope

Visit our website

Family Focused Practice The Role ofMental Health Social WorkOrganised by the IASW SIG Social Workers inAdult Mental Health this event took place onthe 21st of February and had 60 attendants Itprimarily aimed to feature the launch of thePosition Paper on Family Focused Practice inMental Health Social WorkThe position paper was prepared with theintention of offering a view on the role ofsocial work with families in mental healthsettings in Ireland It begins with a review ofselected literature followed by a descriptionof the methodology used to carry out thepilot study and concludes withrecommendations for mental health policyand social work practice in this field The event also included a variety of speakersFor more information on the content of thisevent please click belowWritten by Marina Tiribelli - OfficeAdministratorPicture Front Page of the Position Paper

Visit our website

Choosing to Live with Harm Exploring ACEs Academic and Practice Forum -

Autonomy Mental Incapacity and Inabilityto SafeguardOn the 20th of February this seminar co-hosted by the HSE National SafeguardingOffice UCD and the IASW took place at theAisling Hotel with over 120 people registeredMsKathryn Mackay Lecturer in Social Work atStirling University was in charge of presentingthe subject This seminar was of greatimportance as inquiries into the failure toprotect adults from harm and abusehighlights the need for practitioners to betterassess an adultrsquos ability to safeguardthemselves as distinct from mental incapacityThe presentation was followed by a paneldiscussion For more information on the content of thisseminar please click belowWritten by Marina Tiribelli - OfficeAdministratorPicture Tim Hanly (HSE) Kathryn Mackay(University of Stirling) Cliacuteona Murphy (CPDOfficer IASW) Freda Quinlan (HSE) and SarahDonnelly (UCD)

Visit our website

Domestic ViolenceThis event was carried out by the IASW ACEsAssociate Group in collaboration with theSchool of Social Work amp Social Policy ofTrinity College DublinIt took place the 2nd of March in TCD andhad over 100 registrations as well as TCDstudents in attendanceA member of the ACEs Associate groupprovided a brief overview of what ACEs areAfterwards Professor Stephanie Holt fromTCD explored what research is telling usabout domestic violence as an ACE and DavidMcDunphy from Daughters of Charity DublinSafer Families Service described his practicalapplication of ACEs knowledge in respondingto service users where domestic violence is aconcern The topic was later opened to theaudience for discussionFor more information on the content of thisevent please click belowWritten by Marina Tiribelli - OfficeAdministratorPicture Presentation and attendants

Visit our website

Working with families with a child withanxiety ndash a solution-focused approachThis event took place on the 25th of Februaryand was an interdisciplinary event run bySocial Care Ireland and the IASWThis workshop introduced participants to asolution-focused model for working withchildren adolescents and families

1 Understanding Anxiety2 Introduction to a strengths-based

approach to working with childrenadolescents and parents amp

3 Specific interventions for Anxiety suchas CBT

The training was delivered by Dr John Sharrysocial worker psychotherapist and solution-focused trainer with over 25 years experienceworking in Child and Adolescent MentalHealth as well as consulting with individualsand organisationsFor more information on the content of thisworkshop please click belowWritten by Marina Tiribelli - OfficeAdministrator

Visit our website

Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act2015This two-day training took place on the 11thand 12th of February run by Social CareIreland and the IASWThe Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Actwas signed into law on the 30th December2015 The Act is about supporting decisionmaking and maximising a personrsquos capacity tomake decisions The aim of the course was to provide front-line health and social care practitioners withthe knowledge and skills required toimplement it into everyday practice Josephine McLoughlin provided this trainingShe is the Director of Legal Capacity TrainingLtd a company which inspires health andsocial care practitioners to embrace the valuesand principles of the ConventionFor more information on the content of thistraining please click belowWritten by Marina Tiribelli - OfficeAdministrator

Visit our website

Building Professional ResilienceThis full day workshop took place on the 6th of March The aim was to introduce the practice ofmindfulness meditation and self-compassion as genuine supports in the art of buildingresilience enhancing listening and communication skills and nourishing ourselves as healthand social care professionals Some of the learning outcomes were

Learning the practical skills of mindfulness meditationLearn a range of mindfulness practices for daily use to minimise stressDevelop a toolbox of internal skills ampDevelop methods to respond compassionately to physical pain stress difficult emotionsand thought patterns among others

The workshop was facilitated by Alvina CassidyFor more information on the content of this workshop please click belowWritten by Marina Tiribelli - Office Administrator

Visit our website

IASW CPD Accreditation updatePlease be advised that the IASW has chosen to discontinue our CPD accreditation serviceThe main reason we are no longer providing this service is due to the fact that it is theindividual social workerrsquos responsibility to allocate CPD credits themselves (as stated in theCORU SWRB CPD Framework) for new and enhanced learning resulting from attendance at theevent This is based on the principle that one hour of learning is equal to one CPD creditFor more information about CPD please click belowWritten by Danielle McGoldrick - Office Manager

CORU Frequently Asked Questions - CPD

General CPD updateThe CPD Officer Cliona Murphy returned from a career break in November and over the pastfew months she was engaged in key tasks concerning Continuing Professional DevelopmentThe first task was collating and analysing your feedback on CPD needs and how the IASW canbest support your professional development This process was largely informed by theevaluation forms completed at IASW CPD Events in 2019 and the 2018 Survey of IASW MemberCPD Needs Data collected through the 2019 Survey of IASW Member CPD Needs was alsoused to inform the review and build on what has worked to date and move away from activitiesthat members donrsquot find particularly useful or supportiveOn another hand CORU commenced a review of their CPD approach in 2017 The review wascompleted in October 2019 For your convenience the IASW CPD Resources section wasupdated with

a summary of the key learning from the audit of social workersrsquo CPD portfoliosa summary of the revised CPD requirements of registration ampthe new CORU documents to support registrantsrsquo CPD

You can use the CORU sample CPD record template to record your learning and the impact ofyour engagement in CPD Finally the IASW CPD folder comprising the IASW CPD policysupporting documentation and resources is under reviewPlease click below to access all the updatesWritten by Cliona Murphy - CPD Officer

IASW CPD Resources

IASW 50th Anniversary

Dear IASW MembersNext year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the IASW To celebrate this milestone the IASWBoard are planning some events to take place during that year We will keep you posted abouttheseIn the meantime if anyone has photographs of IASW social work events over these past 50years we would be very pleased if we could borrow themPlease contact the office at administratoriaswie to arrange collection or if you have them inelectronic format send them via emailThank you very much in anticipationJohn BrennanWritten by John Brennan - Vice Chair of the IASW

Other News

European Social Work Research Associationrsquos Outstanding Publication AwardDr Kenneth Burns Dr Siobhan OrsquoSullivan and Professor Alastair Christie of the School of AppliedSocial Studies have received the European Social Work Research Associationrsquos lsquooutstandingpublication awardrsquo The award was received for a research article published in the British Journal

of Social Work This highly prestigious award is presented once a year by ESWRA for a researchpaper of outstanding quality The unanimous decision by the selection committee recognisedthe uniqueness of the study design the impact and the quality of the research undertaken Youcan read more about the paper on the journalrsquos web-page by clicking belowWritten by Dr Kenneth Burns - Member of the IASWPhoto Professor Alastair Christie Dr Siobhan OrsquoSullivan and Dr Kenneth Burns

The British Journal of Social Work

Internship at the IASW

From Monday 10th of February until Friday 28th of February Valentina Erne did an internship atthe IASW Valentina a 19 year old student from Friedrichshafen in Germany came to usthrough Atlas Language School and helped the the Office Administrator and the CPD Officerwith a variety of tasks We were very happy with her contributions during the three weeks shespent with usSome of the tasks she helped amongst others were

Doing a geographical breakdown of members by CountyPreparing CPD Packs for training and eventsHelping prepare the envelopes for the delivery of the JournalCollating CPD evaluation formsSending emails

We want to thank Valentina for her help and wish her best of luck on her return to GermanyWritten by Marina Tiribelli - Office AdministratorPhoto Valentina Erne

Important information

Keep your information up to dateIn early 2020 members have been receivingemails from the office aiming to update theinformation we have on fileIt is important that your information is up todate so you receive our emails and DONrsquoTMISS OUT on conferences and seminarsnetworking opportunities up-to-date CPDmaterials and ndash Fitness to Practise LegalExpense Cover The 2019 Journal was printed and sent toyour home in mid-February Let us know ifyou have not receive itRemember you can always log in with youremail and password and update your detailsas well as your payment method at anytimeIf you cant log in or you need to changemembership category contact the OfficeAdministrator and let us know

We need YOUR helpThe IASW is run by

members for membersIf we ask that each

member recruits onenew member and

everyone does this wewould succeed in

reaching our goal of2000 members byDecember 2020

Competition for membersNeil Thompson of Avenue Professional Development Programme (APDP) online learningcommunity has kindly offered IASW members three free places for 12 months (normal pricepound99 plus VAT) If you are committed to self-directed learning and would like one of the placesplease submit a short piece on What professionalism in social work means to me in nomore than 300 words to cpdofficeriaswie by Thursday 9 th April Information about theProgramme can be found in their web-page by clicking belowWritten by Cliona Murphy - CPD Officer

The Avenue Professional Development Programme

Submissions and RepresentationsTo download all submissions please visit the IASW website by clicking below

IASW Submissions and Representations

List of all submissions and communications so far in 20201 General Election 2020 - IASW calling on Social Workers to make their voices heard in

GE20202 IASW calling for Feedback re New Tusla CASP Guidelines3 Social Workers Call for the HSE to resolve professional issues - Advertisement of Chief

Nursing Officer (CNO) Post

The IASW is invited to participate in many advisory expert review and focus groups We alsoreceive invitations to a wide variety of events In addition we also meet with CORU TuslaMinisters Government Departments and the media

List of all representations so far in 20201 National Safeguarding Advisory Committee2 Prevention and Early Intervention Network Regional Briefings3 European Child Guarantee seminar with Prof Hugh Frazer4 Tusla Membersrsquo Network Meeting5 Policy Forum Event Cameras in Care Situations6 Launch of HSE explainer video for Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act7 Optimising the Impact of HSCP in Representative Roles8 PEIN New Working Group - PEI for Children and Families living in Direct Provision9 Launch of Report Card 2020

10 Member Dialogue with Tusla the Child and Family Agency

National Social Work Organisation of Ireland Limited | Trading as Irish Association of Social WorkersSt Andrews Resource Centre 114-116 Pearse Street Dublin 2 Tel 353 (0)1 677 4838

httpswwwiaswie administratoriaswie