CFAB is proud to launch our Cultural Family Life Library – a series of guides for social workers introducing them to the history and culture of families in diaspora communities in the UK. CFAB initiated this project because serious case reviews have highlighted that social work professionals sometimes require further support to work with families whose culture or religion is unfamiliar to them. Culture-specific training can help inform practice and avoid the risk of inadvertently enabling situations that put some children at risk. Some professionals also feel they lack the tools or confidence to build on cultural strengths, or to question specific cultural practices, potentially hindering better outcomes for children. With one in three children born in 2022 having a foreign-born mother, it is of growing importance that social workers receive more support for working within diaspora communities.
“There are 34,680 social workers for children and families employed by local authorities in England. Just under 75% of them are White British and nearly 90% of Principal Child and Family Social Workers identify as White British. Children from mixed and Black ethnic backgrounds show over representation in most areas of social care, with children from White Irish Traveller, Roma and Gypsy ethnic groups show the highest degree of overrepresentation. Additionally, within the Kinship Care Alliance, we have found that kinship carers from minoritized communities often feel their social workers have misunderstood situations due to cultural differences. CFAB wants to support and empower all social workers, to work confidently and sensitively with families of all heritages, to better protect children. This is why we are delighted to launch the Cultural Family Life Library to help improve understanding of the culture and history of families in different minoritized communities.”
Carolyn Housman, CEO of CFAB
The first guide which we are launching is an Introduction to the history and culture of families from Romania which can be found here.
More guides will follow.
