• Josh MacAlister: Disrupting and Reforming Children's Social Care
    Jan 27 2025

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    In this episode Matt and Hannah chat with Josh MacAlister, Labour MP, former teacher, founder of Frontline and Chair of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. The episode explores the progress of social care reforms since the review was published, how it has informed the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, and his hopes for the future of social work with children and their families.

    Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Podcast. We are always interested to learn what you thought of the episode and welcome your feedback, suggestions, or ideas for future topics. Stay connected and join the conversation on our social media channels!
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Emily Frith: Making adoption work in the 21st Century
    Jan 20 2025

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    It’s Blue Monday, so this episode starts with Matt and Hannah sharing some of their own struggles with their mental health and wellbeing. They are then joined by Emily Frith, CEO of Adoption UK, exploring the importance of relationships and support in adoption, open adoption and what this means for children, birth families and adoptive families, and the importance of the right support being in place for all involved.

    Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Podcast. We are always interested to learn what you thought of the episode and welcome your feedback, suggestions, or ideas for future topics. Stay connected and join the conversation on our social media channels!
    LinkedIn: The relational Social Work Podcast
    Instagram: @RelationalSW
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    48 mins
  • Katrin Bain and John Harris: Parents as citizens – ensuring they are not forgotten in child protection
    Jan 13 2025

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    It’s the first episode of Series 2, and Hannah, Matt and Producer Arin are delighted to be back in the studio. In this episode Matt and Hannah chat with Katrin and John about their book, ‘Social Work, Parents and the Child Protection Process’. This episode includes an exploration of some of the representations of parents which Katrin and John have identified through their research, and what this can mean for how social workers work with parents, and the notion of parents as citizens

    Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Podcast. We are always interested to learn what you thought of the episode and welcome your feedback, suggestions, or ideas for future topics. Stay connected and join the conversation on our social media channels!
    LinkedIn: The relational Social Work Podcast
    Instagram: @RelationalSW
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    52 mins
  • Always Hope: Bringing innovative change to complex systems
    Dec 16 2024

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    In the final episode of series 1, Hannah, Matt and Producer Arin talk about previous episodes, sharing their reflections of the series as a whole. Matt and Hannah then chat with Jessie Ben-Ami and Frances Flaxington from The Innovation Unit about the work they do, with a particular focus on Always Hope, a project which has brought prison, probation and Children’s Social Care together, to provide a more joined up and impactful approach to working with care experienced young adults leaving custody. Make sure you listen to the end, where Coventry City Council choir sing us out with what is sure to become a Christmas classic!

    Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Podcast. We are always interested to learn what you thought of the episode and welcome your feedback, suggestions, or ideas for future topics. Stay connected and join the conversation on our social media channels!
    LinkedIn: The relational Social Work Podcast
    Instagram: @RelationalSW
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    57 mins
  • Sukriti Sen: Fighting for fairness - from Bangladeshi school girl to Coventry’s DCS
    Dec 9 2024

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    In this episode Matt and Hannah speak with Sukriti Sen, the Director of Coventry City Council’s Children’s and Education Services. Sukriti shares her experiences of growing up as a person of colour, her experiences of racism, her sense of fairness, and the importance of Children’s Services representing the communities that they serve, and how this led her into social worker. Discussions include the importance of relationships, the financial challenges faced by Local Authorities, the ethical issues in relation to AI in social worker, and her hope for the future of social work.

    Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Podcast. We are always interested to learn what you thought of the episode and welcome your feedback, suggestions, or ideas for future topics. Stay connected and join the conversation on our social media channels!
    LinkedIn: The relational Social Work Podcast
    Instagram: @RelationalSW
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    47 mins
  • Beth Vecchione: Changing lives through the arts
    Dec 2 2024

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    In this episode Matt and Hannah chat with Beth Vecchione, founder and Director of Care to Dance, about the impact that dance can have on the lives of care experienced young people. The episode explores the importance of access to the arts, trauma informed approaches, and how social work can be brought into a creative space to support young people to thrive.

    Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Podcast. We are always interested to learn what you thought of the episode and welcome your feedback, suggestions, or ideas for future topics. Stay connected and join the conversation on our social media channels!
    LinkedIn: The relational Social Work Podcast
    Instagram: @RelationalSW
    Visit Our Website and Subscribe to our mailing list: www.therelationalsocialworkpodcast.com

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    48 mins
  • The Children and Families Truth Commission: Listening to voices which are hard to hear
    Nov 25 2024

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    In this week’s episode Hannah and Matt speak with Michele Simmons, Simon Howarth and Natasha Phillips, authors of ‘Eroding the Right to Family Life: Human Rights violations in Britain’s child protection systems’. This episode explores the findings of this report, developed through the voices of over 600 parents and young people who have experienced child protection and care proceedings, exploring the harm the system can cause, as well as recommendations of how the system can work better ‘with’ children and their families. For social workers and others working in the child protection system, this episode may be difficult to listen to, but often it is the voices which are difficult to hear, that we need to listen to and can learn the most from.

    Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Podcast. We are always interested to learn what you thought of the episode and welcome your feedback, suggestions, or ideas for future topics. Stay connected and join the conversation on our social media channels!
    LinkedIn: The relational Social Work Podcast
    Instagram: @RelationalSW
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    51 mins
  • Stories from Childhood: A World Children’s Day Special
    Nov 18 2024

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    To mark World Children’s Day which takes place on 20th November, in this episode Matt, Hannah and producer Arin, will share stories from their childhoods, reflect on how these experiences have shaped them, and reminisce about their favourite TV programmes and childhood foods. This episode explores identity, loss, shame, strength and the importance of wider family in children’s lives.

    Thank you for listening to The Relational Social Work Podcast. We are always interested to learn what you thought of the episode and welcome your feedback, suggestions, or ideas for future topics. Stay connected and join the conversation on our social media channels!
    LinkedIn: The relational Social Work Podcast
    Instagram: @RelationalSW
    Visit Our Website and Subscribe to our mailing list: www.therelationalsocialworkpodcast.com

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    47 mins