For the proper growth and development of a child, the social environment that they grow up in is a significant consideration. At an early age, these social surroundings are structured and affected by the primary caregivers of a child that are usually the individuals closest to the child. A positive environment positively affects the overall development of a child. Contrastingly, a negative environment is detrimental to the general development of a child. The Children's Right Convention (CRC) places emphasis on the importance of the role of the family in ensuring that there are proper conditions for the welfare and development of a child (Lansdown et al., 2014). The CRC has then structured laws and regulations, such as the Law on Protection of Children’s Rights, which address the rights and welfare of children along with programs structured for the protection of children and family.
The social service employs specialists whose professionalism is focused on working with families that have children. The main role of early intervention, therefore, is to help social workers in the identification and reduction of social problems, to develop the resources of different infants, and to include them in support systems (Dingwall et al., 2014). This role means that the needed social services are provided to families at social risk or to parents that have been deprived of their care rights. Professionals are expected to engage in the creation of a good and safe environment that is necessary for a particular developmental age. In order to conduct the identification and prevention of social risks to a family, early intervention is used as an instrument of social work. In this paper, an assessment of the role of early intervention in children’s social work will be conducted. This assessment includes a description of the functional role of coordination of needed services that early intervention programs have in children’s social work.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Early Intervention
Early intervention (EI) includes services that are presented to infants that exist within the age bracket of 0-5 years who may possess developmental disabilities or risk having these problems (Little et al., 2018). Based on the Individuals with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act (SEND), these services are focused on the prevention or reduction of problems that exist in the first few years of life (Guralnick et al., 2019). These services exist so that the development and learning of children are optimized. SEND states that the needed resources should be presented for all toddlers (3-5 years) that are disabled while establishing comprehensive services for infants (0-3 years old) (Peer et al., 2016)). SEND puts an emphasis on delivering services in with a natural environment while strongly coordinating with the relevant caregivers. Hence, early intervention services are usually provided in the home of a child and in other community settings.
Over time, social workers have acted as one of the groups of specialists engaged in early intervention programs. However, their functions possess lower prominence in comparison to those of other professionals that handle children with disabilities within these programs (Little et al., 2018). This decreased prominence is because the focus on the physical nature of disabilities has been the main feature of these programs. Physical issues often have greater visibility in comparison to the emotional and social challenges that may affect the development of the child involved. Early intervention emphasizes the delivery of services to children within their natural environments, the empowerment of parents, and the engagement of families. This emphasis fits well with the values that are common for social workers.
Elements of Early Intervention
The biological and environmental factors during the development of a child considerably influence their development. In children, risk factors can be divided into four different categories. These categories include factors associated with the development of a child, the interrelation between parents and their children, the experiences and functioning of the children, and social factors (Gillies et al., 2018). If these factors are not reduced or prevented in time, there may be several problems to the family such as violence, issues of family relationships, along with low self-esteem. If social support is provided in time, the creation of a positive environment for the development of a child is encouraged. This form of support is established by investing in the child.
In routine social work, there is an estimation of the capability of the parent to provide for the needs of the child according to their age. This estimation involves the consideration of risk factors focused on basic needs, safety, and the emotional stability and attachment of the family (Dalmau et al., 2017). For the timely identification and prevention of social risks within a family, it is essential to introduce early intervention as an instrument of social work (Zeanah et al., 2017). Early intervention usually includes different methods and programs. It is a collection of services for families with children in early ages and covers various activities that are necessary for the family. For the effective recognition of whether early intervention is needed, an assessment of the different elements that early intervention is comprised of is necessary.
One of these elements is accessibility, which refers to the provision of support to families at the earliest period possible. The second element is proximity to services, which includes an assessment of whether the existing services reach the representatives of the different target groups along with the social centers of different activities (Zeanah et al., 2017). Financial accessibility is an element that refers to the provision of services to families free of charge as services are provided by social workers. The last element is intersectional work, which defines partnerships and collaboration between social work professionals that exist in different institutions for the benefit of the child (Owen, 2020).
The Role of Early Intervention
Risk Factors
Early intervention programs and services typically involve several different environments within which the affected families and children exist. More particularly, early intervention takes place in medical, educational, and community environments. Based on the different components that make up an early intervention program, the main role of these programs is to enable the coordination of the services and functions that exist in accordance with existing regulations. Early intervention services have to be based on the aspect of family and involve the assessment of the children involved by different professionals. An individualized family service plan (IFSP) structured by a group of professionals and continuing activities to cater to the child are established (Krieger et al., 2018). This mandate is then further facilitated by social workers in a variety of positions such as home visitors, assessors, counselors, family educators, case managers, team members, and system consultants. These roles have consistency with the more traditional role of social work.
In early intervention, social workers have to engage in the structuring of plans and coordinating services, training parents, and the presentation of counsel to caregivers (Lucas, 2017). Caregivers that have infants and toddlers with disabilities have to face several challenges, such as grief and concerns concerning the future of the child. The ability of social workers to be in several roles at the same time is essential for supporting families. In early intervention, social workers are expected to utilize their person-in-environment perspectives for the education of policymakers concerning the significance of the provision of these services to infants and toddlers with social and emotional risk factors. Gillies et al. (2018) state that these risk factors have an impact on optimal development.
Some of the interdisciplinary practices provided in children's social work involve the provision of psychosocial evaluations, case advocacy services, case management, and education. Social workers engage in the provision and coordination of a wide range of family services and supports. In the early intervention of children's social work, social workers conduct home visits for the assessment of living conditions, the patterns of assessment between parents and their children, and provide special instruction to the children and families (Owen, 2020). Social workers also carried out psychosocial developmental assessments of children within their family context. This is essential for identifying the different ways in which their environment affects their mental development.
Functional Role of Coordination
In early intervention, social workers are expected to conduct an assessment of basic family needs and challenges within the functioning of particular families. Based on this assessment, social workers can then make a decision on what specific services should be provided in relation to family needs. For early interventions to actually be carried out, an investigation of an existing allegation of child neglect is necessary (Krieger et al., 2020). This investigation should be based on a realization of whether these allegations are true or false. These investigations then direct the planning and implementation of various family services and the needed social skills structuring processes for the children and parents involved. Social workers are expected to take part in the identification, mobilizing, and connection of families to existing supports.
The 1988 Prevention of cruelty to, and protection of children act states that child welfare systems should direct children that are exposed to maltreatment to the evaluation of early intervention services (Higgins, 2017). According to Chasnoff et al., (2018), the risk of disability usually results in a risk for abuse and mistreatment to the child involved. The main objective of this act is identifying and addressing delays in the development of children, along with other conditions that may exist at the earliest time. A significant level of service coordination and the engagement of the family is usually needed for the effective provision of support to vulnerable infants, toddlers, and caregivers whose condition. Social workers, particularly those that have the necessary information and knowledge concerning the child welfare system, are able to provide knowledge and coordinate activities that children need. These workers also have a position at the policy level, which they can use in promoting the state of their children. Social workers are also expected to ensure that there is an alignment of early intervention systems for the careful coordination of vulnerable children with their families.
Particular disciplines within the field of social work involve medical, clinical family preservation, and school. Each field of social work has specific responsibilities and duties in conducting early intervention practices. A demonstration of this is that employees within the medical profession typically have the capability of having early contact with the family in which a child is born by acting as physicians or family-physicians liaison (Lucas, 2017). Having knowledge and information of medical components of developmental concerns and family systems would support social workers in their responsibility of effectively catering to families that require these services. Proper education of social workers provides them with the necessary information and skills that they need to address any issues that are associated with the development of a child. This information includes knowledge concerning the different developmental disabilities that exist and the ways in which they affect the child both medically and also developmentally. The values of social work also enable social workers to assess and evaluate the effect that these disabilities or the risk of these disabilities have on existing families (Dalmau et al., 2017).
Social workers who are part of early intervention programs collaborate activities identified by the families and teams of the child while acting as leaders within meetings between specialist groups (Lucas, 2017). While visiting these families, service coordinators are also responsible for constantly assessing the functioning of the child and the family. Service coordinators are also expected to work with parents and caregivers to make modifications to the IFSP whenever needed. Finally, social workers should attend any meeting where children and their families are transitions from early intervention (for children between 0-3 years of age) to preschool services (3-5 years of age). This facilitates effective transitions for children and families with constant and well-structured services. Different platforms for social workers to provide the needed services exist through child welfare specialists and community health centers. These opportunities are excellent channels due to a considerable number of individuals that utilize these services.
Knowledge and Skills for Early Intervention
Social workers are expected to have specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes for the provision and facilitation of early intervention programs in which children affected are properly supported. Apart from the social welfare foundation they already possess, social workers are required to possess the capability of recognizing individual family capabilities. They also have to use a person-first approach to all services provided while appreciating the relevance of social influence on the complexity of family systems (Little et al., 2018). This understanding should include an appreciation of the different ways in which disabilities affect the social construct of families and their overall development. Social workers are also expected to have an awareness of how social values and experiences affect the processes and outcomes of the services that are provided.
This awareness requires knowledge and familiarity with existing early intervention policies and methods at the different levels of government (Gillies et al., 2018). Due to the comprehensiveness of the children’s social work profession, there are different policies and methods that children social workers should be aware of. Social workers should also have an understanding of the systemic natures of families and the meaning that this presents for family assessments, the determination of family needs, and the facilitation of family involvement within the intervention approach (Lucas, 2017). This knowledge is necessary for social workers to comprehend and support the principles of family strengths and growth. Having the appropriate knowledge and skills also results in an ability by social workers to engage in the generation of new knowledge through the use of existing research and the implementation of early intervention processes.
Social knowledge and skills are founded on an ecological systems framework. This model incorporates a wide variety of systems, such as the individual and the family, while acknowledging the interrelationships between these systems. This model is essential in structuring the early intervention context that social workers exist in.
Effectiveness of Early Intervention
One of the main aims of early intervention is the provision of a base for states to structure and utilize well-structured and coordinated services that include specialists from different disciplines The services provided in these programs should be presented to families and their infants and toddlers from when they are born to when they turn three years old. These are children that show developmental delays or are observed as being at risk for developmental delays. The need to address the needs of these children and coordination between the specialists and agencies involved, structure this act. The substantial influence of this aim represents a need for the assessment and restructuring of existing programs. With the increased growth and expansion of early intervention programs and the provision of services to a higher number of children and families, it is essential that all practices are based on well-founded practices (Dalmau et al., 2017). While social workers function as the providers and coordinators of services within early intervention practices and procedures, their interests in research should be based on the evaluation of their approaches. The development and effective design of early intervention methods will only take place through the assessment of existing models.
Enrollment within early intervention programs has made differences for children that are disabled and for their families as well. Based on this, there exists a need for research studies that assess different aspects of early intervention. These aspects include factors such as how to better refine the role of social workers within early intervention programs and how to increase the effectiveness of their existing roles. This research is also necessary because programs that have well-defined curriculums demonstrate a better impact on children as opposed to approaches that are not well-structured.
Conclusion
In social work, early intervention methods are essential for reducing and preventing risk factors for the children involved. The roles of early intervention have expanded within the social work parallel. There are a wide variety of opportunities for social workers, including roles such as service coordinators, counselors, and counselors. Social workers have had an awareness and participation in early intervention programs that cater to children at risk or who possess developmental disabilities and their families. This awareness and involvement have increased over the last decade. Social workers' role in early intervention programs as coordinators of the services involved is mainly based on an understanding of the outlines of the SEND act. To act as coordinators and engage in their functional role, social workers should have knowledge and information concerning developmental disabilities and their impact on family and social systems. This knowledge enables the coordination of existing resources available to local and state systems to deliver needed services.
References
Chasnoff, I. J., Barber, G., Brook, J., & Akin, B. A. (2018). The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act: Knowledge of health care and legal professionals. Child Welfare , 96 (3), 41-58.
Dalmau, M., Balcells-Balcells, A., Giné, C., Cañadas, M., Casas, O., Salat, Y., ... & Calaf, N. (2017). How to implement the family-centered model in early intervention. Anales de psicología , 33 (3), 641-651.
Dingwall, R., Eekelaar, J., & Murray, T. (2014). The protection of children: State intervention and family life (Vol. 16). Quid Pro Books.
Gillies, V., Edwards, R., & Horley, N. (2018). Challenging the politics of early intervention: Who’s saving children and why?. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work , 30 (1), 73-75.
Higgins, M. (2017). Child protection social work in England: how can it be reformed?. The British Journal of Social Work , 47 (2), 293-307.
Krieger, A., Rodgers, M. and Starkey-Ingalls, E., 2018. Early Intervention, Documentation, and Service Delivery: A Retrospective Review of IFSPs and Service Notes..
Lansdown, G., Jimerson, S. R., & Shahroozi, R. (2014). Children's rights and school psychology: Children's right to participation. Journal of school psychology , 52 (1), 3-12.
Little, M., & Mount, K. (2018). Prevention and early intervention with children in need . Routledge.
Lucas, S. (2017). A children's space? Participation in multi‐agency early intervention. Child & Family Social Work , 22 (4), 1383-1390.
Owen, N. (2020). Feasibility and acceptability of using telehealth for early intervention parent counselling. Advances in Mental Health , 18 (1), 39-49.
Peer, L., & Reid, G. (Eds.). (2016). Special educational needs: A guide for inclusive practice . Sage.
Zeanah, C. H., Humphreys, K. L., Fox, N. A., & Nelson, C. A. (2017). Alternatives for abandoned children: insights from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project. Current opinion in psychology , 15 , 182-188.
