Community Social Work
The Community Social Work Service operates through a community-based family services hub called Centru Antida. The service cuts across all SJAF services.
AIMS
≈ To identify and support hard-to-reach socially excluded families and those at risk of poverty;
≈ To dialogue with and build a genuine, supportive and loving-kind rapport with identified vulnerable, socially excluded and poor families;
≈ To engage such families in a relationship that enables them to explore different solutions to their pressing problems and life challenges;
≈ To carry out holistic family-support interventions through access to a range of supports available in-house as well as those provided by other organisations;
≈ To develop a trans-disciplinary, community-based practice involving practitioners from diverse fields of practice – social work, counselling, mental health, non-formal education, youth work, training and employment, complimentary therapies, entrepreneurship and the expressive arts;
≈ To enable vulnerable families to build bridges with enabling parish structures and support organisations across sectors: social welfare, education, health, mental health, employment, entrepreneurship;
≈ To advocate on their behalf when the situation so requires and to submit policy recommendations to policy makers;
≈ To learn from community social work practice so as to share insights about what works with other practitioners from state and non-state organisations;
≈ To refer individuals and families to other service providers as and when required to maximise well-being outcomes and to minimise duplication;
≈ To always ensure the safety and protection of children and adults deemed vulnerable and to always act in their best interests.
Community Social Work team members have the opportunity to practice within a generic service such as well as with specialised in-house services such as LWIEN (mental health) and SOAR (female victims and survivors of domestic violence). The team of social work practitioners meet every week to discuss casework, revisit policies, procedures and practices, access team-building and mentoring, share developments, dialogue with invited guests, discuss outcomes of representation in different national fora and networks and plan collaborative work initiatives. Practitioners identify areas for further personal and professional development on the basis of which continuous professional development opportunities are organised with input from both external resource persons and Foundation staff.
In terms of the generic social work practice, the team offers a range of supports to families from the localities of Ħal Tarxien, Paola, Fgura, Birżebbuġa and Santa Luċija. Families are offered a range of supports depending on identified needs during the care planning stage. Supports include access to in-house learning support opportunities, links to mainstream non-formal education courses, support groups, access to free in-kind support such as food items, clothing and household and personal and house hygiene items, access to a Volunteer Befriender or a Volunteer Mentor, basic repairs and maintenance in the case of very poor families, provision of a second hand laptop, finding employment and access to services offered by other agencies at local, regional and national levels.
AIMS
≈ To identify and support hard-to-reach socially excluded families and those at risk of poverty;
≈ To dialogue with and build a genuine, supportive and loving-kind rapport with identified vulnerable, socially excluded and poor families;
≈ To engage such families in a relationship that enables them to explore different solutions to their pressing problems and life challenges;
≈ To carry out holistic family-support interventions through access to a range of supports available in-house as well as those provided by other organisations;
≈ To develop a trans-disciplinary, community-based practice involving practitioners from diverse fields of practice – social work, counselling, mental health, non-formal education, youth work, training and employment, complimentary therapies, entrepreneurship and the expressive arts;
≈ To enable vulnerable families to build bridges with enabling parish structures and support organisations across sectors: social welfare, education, health, mental health, employment, entrepreneurship;
≈ To advocate on their behalf when the situation so requires and to submit policy recommendations to policy makers;
≈ To learn from community social work practice so as to share insights about what works with other practitioners from state and non-state organisations;
≈ To refer individuals and families to other service providers as and when required to maximise well-being outcomes and to minimise duplication;
≈ To always ensure the safety and protection of children and adults deemed vulnerable and to always act in their best interests.
Community Social Work team members have the opportunity to practice within a generic service such as well as with specialised in-house services such as LWIEN (mental health) and SOAR (female victims and survivors of domestic violence). The team of social work practitioners meet every week to discuss casework, revisit policies, procedures and practices, access team-building and mentoring, share developments, dialogue with invited guests, discuss outcomes of representation in different national fora and networks and plan collaborative work initiatives. Practitioners identify areas for further personal and professional development on the basis of which continuous professional development opportunities are organised with input from both external resource persons and Foundation staff.
In terms of the generic social work practice, the team offers a range of supports to families from the localities of Ħal Tarxien, Paola, Fgura, Birżebbuġa and Santa Luċija. Families are offered a range of supports depending on identified needs during the care planning stage. Supports include access to in-house learning support opportunities, links to mainstream non-formal education courses, support groups, access to free in-kind support such as food items, clothing and household and personal and house hygiene items, access to a Volunteer Befriender or a Volunteer Mentor, basic repairs and maintenance in the case of very poor families, provision of a second hand laptop, finding employment and access to services offered by other agencies at local, regional and national levels.
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The Community Social Work team is very mindful of the Foundation’s ethos and work creatively and collaboratively to ensure this ethos is kept alive.
Referral Form for Professionals:
(Click to download. Fill in and send back to us)
(Click to download. Fill in and send back to us)
| sjaf_social_worker_referral_form_28_9_21.docx |
Stories by Children supported by SJAF Social Workers - click to shop