Working with Families Experiencing Vulnerability A Partnership Approach

Social workers and other professionals often become involved in the lives of families due to concerns about the safety and wellbeing of children. Interventions that address such concerns by harnessing the protective and nurturing capacity of parents, and other carers, are a vital focus for work with families. However, children are rights-bearing citizens deserving of services and supports in their own right. This chapter therefore argues for a rights-based, relational approach to practice that is inclusive of children. The chapter draws on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as a framework for supporting children as rights-bearing citizens with their own agency and decision-making capacity, and argues for relationship-based practice with children and families. The chapter explores how the guiding principles of the UNCRC can inform practice at the level of the individual child, the family, and the community, to increase engagement with, and to improve outcomes for, children. The UNCRC defines a child as any person from birth up to 18 years of age.