BV2300 Child protection in the welfare state – Compulsory measures, follow-up and foster care Course description

This course addresses the child welfare service’s intervention decisions concerning the relationship between children and parents. The students will receive an introduction to the country social welfare boards’ case processing, placement outside the home and compulsory measures. The main focus is on measures outside the home, such as foster homes and institutions, but orders imposing preventive measures in the home are also discussed. Children’s and parents’ participation in intervention decisions is a core topic, as are professional and ethical issues resulting from the child welfare service’s exercise of power. The course will provide an analytical approach to the complexity of decisions in child welfare work.  

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

The student must have completed and passed the first year of the Bachelor Programme in Child Welfare. 

Knowledge 

The student 

·         has broad knowledge of the complex processes and decisions involved in the child welfare service’s work in cases where there is serious concern about a child’s care situation 

·         has knowledge of the child welfare service’s right to order preventive measures in the home    

·         has broad knowledge of case procedures and the child welfare consultant’s role and responsibility in the county social welfare board   

·         has broad knowledge of different measures outside the home and is familiar with ethical and professional considerations related to work with and follow-up of these measures 

·         has broad knowledge of foster homes as a child welfare measure, including the division of roles and responsibility, the use of network placements and the importance of contact and access 

·         has broad knowledge of emergency and crisis work, and different professional and ethical dilemmas that can arise in this work 

·         has knowledge of how children/young people and parents’ participation can be facilitated in child welfare cases 

Skills 

The student 

·         can apply an interdisciplinary knowledge base to perform targeted work with children, young people and families   

·        can apply relevant legislation and guidelines   

·         can apply knowledge of cultural diversity and demonstrate multicultural understanding when working with children, young people and parents/guardians in the child welfare service 

·         can apply professional expertise and knowledge to cooperate across agencies and professions and to communicate and cooperate expediently with children, young people and parents/guardians    

·       can use experience and knowledge to build relations, cooperate and communicate with children, young people and parents/guardians in a way that promotes inclusion and participation 

·         can talk to children and young people about topics such as neglect, violence and sexual abuse  

·         has insight into and can analyse and critically reflect on documentation that forms part of the child welfare service’s work 

·         can interpret and analyse information and observations in order to make professional assessments of children’s care situations   

General competence 

The student 

·         can critically reflect on power relations in the child welfare service’s work  

·         has insight into their own understandings, attitudes and values, and can reflect on how these can influence their professional practice   

Systematic documentation and evaluation of the art therapy process and outcome is crucial for developing both the quality and the evidence-base of art therapy practices. During this course students will experiment and learn to use different tools to observe and evaluate therapeutic change, art therapy process and its outcome. They learn to consider ethical issues as well as to know the principles and laws that regulate practice with different clients.

The students’ own art therapy practice is at the core of learning during this course. They will practice evaluation of practice processes and utilize the findings in improving professional self-reflection and the quality of practice work. The course includes supervision of the student’s art therapy practice training.

Admission to the programme

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competence: 

Knowledge

The student:

• can critically consider and use ethical principles in evaluating practice

• can analyse and evaluate practice experiences to improve the quality and evidence-base of art therapy

 Skills

The student:  

• can apply different methods and tools to evaluate the process and outcome of art therapy
• can critically reflect and evaluate art therapy process and outcome

• can adjust and develop own practice work in a constructive and flexible manner according to the experiences and evidence of the process and outcome

Competence

The student:

• can evaluate the process and outcome of art therapy

• can contribute to professional collaboration and developing of the quality of art therapy services

The course is combining campus seminars and distant learning. The course will use varied art-based and student-active learning methods. Teaching and learning methods include lectures, workshops and skills training in workshops and practice. It also includes supervised practice

Between the seminars, there will be digital practice supervision and the students will work on the documentation and evaluation assignment that will later be presented and discussed in group.

Skills training takes place during seminars. In professional experiential workshops, the focus is on simulating art therapeutic interaction to enable learning and reflection from the therapist perspective. In personal experiential workshops, students will explore and reflect art making and their own creative process from the client’s perspective.

Practice

The art therapy practice can be conducted both in live and in distant interventions depending of the context of practice and client group. For more detailed descriptions of practical training, see separate plan for practical training.

The following coursework must have been approved in order for the student to take the exam:

• participation in seminars, compulsory attendance of 80 %
• 60 hours of art therapy practice, compulsory attendance of 90 %
• Individual evaluation of own practice on a given format

Course requirements can be conducted in English or in Scandinavian language.

All exam papers are assessed by one internal and one external examiner.