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Russ, Erica
- PublicationWhat is Required of Supervisors for Effective Supervision of Social Work Students Undertaking Field Education in an Australian School Setting?(University of New England, 2022-02-03)
; ; ; Rationale: The presence of school social work in government schools varies across Australia. School social work is an innovative pathway for supporting children and young people’s psychosocial wellbeing and educational aspirations and provides a setting for social work field education. However, concerns have been raised regarding the effectiveness of supervision of social work students undertaking field education in Australian schools.
Background: There is evidence of a social work in schools across Australian states and territories, and specifically in New South Wales state schools from the 1970s and a contemporary presence in Victoria and Tasmania. Research to date has focused on the role of social work, with little mention of what is required for effective social work field education supervision in an Australian school setting. A systematic scoping review of the literature revealed only four contemporary sources relating to social work field education supervision in schools. This study develops an understanding of what is required for effective field education supervision in a state school setting in Australia.
Method: This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with six experienced social work field education supervisors in Australian schools. Participants were drawn from three Australian states, and from urban and regional locations. Reflective thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke’s six-phase framework (2006, 2019) revealed three main themes.
Results: Analysis revealed three main themes indicating for effective field education supervision, the following must be considered: (1) the school context, (2) the supervisor’s competence, and (3) supervisory teams in schools are complex.
Discussion: This study demonstrates that the school context for field education is unique and complex, that supervisors allocated to school placements should be experienced, and that there are a myriad of relationships to be navigated and maintained for effective social work student supervision in school-based field placements. Together, these themes highlight a knowledge base and skill set required by supervisors for effective field education supervision in school contexts.
Recommendations: To address the unique supervisory challenges, recommendations are provided for consolidating a knowledge base and skill set focused on school social work field education for current and future field education supervisors.
- PublicationThe "Front Door" to Child Protection-Issues and Innovations(Springer, 2021-01)
; ; ; ; ; How children and families get access to services and supports is critical to the provision of timely help and protective interventions. In this article, the major findings of the front door policies, processes, and practices used across 25 jurisdictions in developed countries are described and assessed. The use and outcomes of actuarial and consensus-based tools to assess risk of harm are examined, and the systemic limitations of such are explored including the potential for misapplication of the tools. Key issues and trends are identified including the increasing use of practice frameworks used in conjunction with risk assessment tools, the development of culturally safe approaches to practice, and the use of differential response to address relational problems such as service user hostility and referrals to community-based supports. The growing use of public health approaches to prevention was identified along with reform agendas to address the difficult task of building system communication, collaboration, and integration. The need for greater use of community development approaches to mobilize informal support networks for struggling families and communities is proposed. Because there are no “off-the-shelf panaceas” available, the importance of jurisdictions ensuring that system changes are undertaken with consideration of their local context and needs is highlighted by these developments. - PublicationHow do we prepare social work students for the challenges they will meet at the workplace and what can we learn from each other in different countries? Short presentations from Australia, Northern Ireland, Finland and Sweden(International Federation of Social Workers, 2020)
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The extent social-work education prepares students for the challenges they meet in the workplace has been discussed with concern about turnover and retention in child welfare (Healy, 2009). A common theme in studies where newly qualified social workers are followed from education to work transition, reports early career unpreparedness, especially their knowledge about how to meet with clients in acute crisis and how to handle demanding work situations, has been underlined (Turcotte, 2006). As working conditions for social workers in many countries are described as demanding, with high turnover rates, recruitment difficulties and where many social workers suffer from burnout, this topic requires attention. At the same time, knowledge about how and what social work students are taught about employer responsibilities, coping and resilience strategies, appears to be limited.
This workshop allows a cross country and intercontinental comparison about how we currently address this critical pedagogy in the social-work curriculum. We know little about a common social work curriculum around ‘how to handle emotionally demanding situations’ or ‘how to recognize burnout and develop resilience habits’ and in general, ‘how to manage the demands of the job’ which seems to be a pedagogical gap. We invite participants to share their knowledge, experiences and reflections about the situation in their own country making it possible to learn from each other. To improve the preparedness of social workers’ and increase the possibility for them to stay at the workplace should translate to an increased quality of the support for service users. Primarily, if social worker turnover is improved, consistent relationship between workers and service recipients are maintained." - PublicationConnectivity: Engaging with Industry in the Creation of Student Placement Opportunities(Australian Association for Social Work and Welfare Education, 2021-03-24)
; ; - PublicationSubmission to the Inquiry on NDIS Workforce
This submission is directed towards the terms of inquiry, specifically (b.) and (c.) The submission will address rural challenges, training needs, remuneration, working conditions and working environment.
This submission draws on the findings of a research project conducted in 2019 at the University of New England, Faculty of Medicine and Health. This research was part of an Honours Thesis titled "Changing nature of the disability workforce under the NDIS in rural areas: Impacts for disability support workers" by Melissa van Leeuwen in conjunction with the supervisor team of Dr Stuart Robertson and Dr Erica Russ.
- PublicationTrends and needs in the Australian child welfare workforce: An exploratory study(Australian Catholic University, 2022-03)
; ; ; The crises in Australian child welfare systems continue to adversely affect vulnerable children and families. This national study, published by the Institute of Child Protection Studies (ACU), found the Australian child welfare workforce is not adequately resourced to meet the current or future demands or support preventative efforts.
Demand for preventative support for children and families experiencing adversity continues to increase, yet the current workforce is unable to meet this demand. Preventative support is poorly defined, poorly trained, and poorly resourced. This increases the pressure on child protection systems and their workers who have to respond to complex situations often with inadequate training or skills and limited experience.
The consequence is that too many children are taken into care, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and too many do not receive the care they need.
This ground-breaking study found more focus is needed to:
- plan for growth in the child welfare sector
- increase and up-skill the workforce to provide preventative support to families.
- increase diversity within the workforce
- better support supports for workers in the field
- develop tertiary education needs to align with future workforce needs with prevention.
Workforce planning and reform is required to support all children and their families' wellbeing, to address vulnerability early and reduce demand on child protection systems.