Putting Analysis into Assessment, Second Edition: Undertaking Assessments of Need - a Toolkit for Practitioners

Addressing issues of concern to child care social workers, particularly analytical assessment and how to avoid common pitfalls in thinking and practice, Putting Analysis into Assessment is the essential guide to improving assessment practice in child care social work. It provides strong theoretical foundations, and successfully demonstrates how these ideas can be translated into practice. This revised edition offers a range of new and tested practice tools, case studies, practice development sessions and activities, plus new section on risk and resilience and assessing need and risk in chronic situations.

About the Author :
Ruth Dalzell has social work skills in field work, family placements and youth justice gained during 12 years of direct social work practice with children and families and has considerable experience in individual and group work with children, young people and adults. At NCB she instigated, managed and delivered practice development projects and , consultancy. Ruth has published widely on practice development issues for children's services. Emma has worked as a social worker, manager and trainer, she has extensive experience of working with children and families with complex and challenging needs. She has authored several publications on how services can best work together to support parenting more effectively. Sheryl has worked as a social work practitioner and team leader, specialising in work with children and families on the threshold of care. With a Diploma in Public Service Management and training in systemic family therapy, Sheryl has a strong interest and practice in solutions-focused therapy.

Review :
As social workers are striving to push back the excessive levels of bureaucratisation and increase the space for professional practice, this excellent book offers easily understood ways to improve critical reasoning skills and will be useful for individuals, teams, and agencies. Professor Eileen Munro Social Policy Department, London School of Economics I found the sections on resilience particularly helpful - and when I made use of the section on how to use research skills (e.g. developing hypotheses and cultural awareness) it received excellent feedback from students. Students commented on how it helped them to make sense of research skills, which they had previously struggled with and which with the best will in the world they had often seen as being somewhat distanced from their practice. Ruth Neville, Principal lecturer, Division of Social Work, University of Huddersfield