Reports

A critical history, fifty years after the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. The examples of Community Social Work (CSW) showcased in 2018 by Iriss rest on a long tradition of community-orientation within the profession in Scotland. The interest in community also stems from the detailed work Iriss has undertaken in looking at the future of social work and social care in Scotland.

Iriss was involved in delivering workshops, alongside Corra Foundation, that helped explore with intermediary support organisations their approaches to expressing the impact and outcomes of their work. The organisations taking part all received core funding through the Scottish Government's CYPFEIF and ALEC Fund (Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund), which Corra Foundation administers.

the process we used to engage partners and others with the Leadership stories: developing effective supervision project

a project to improve understanding about supervision and clarify the role of good management in effective leadership

A collection of resilience resources covering topics such as Supervision, Leadership, Self-care, Support and Learning

Project rationale

Supporting Workforce Challenges is a continuation of Iriss' project The View from Here which aimed to understand the experiences of Scotland's social services workforce. This project was developed as a response to the wealth of qualitative data about the daily challenges facing those who provide care and support.

This three-month project was inspired by the Iriss Insight exploring social work’s role in upholding the human rights of Scottish Gypsy Travellers. The Insight highlighted the need for state agencies including those involved in health, social care and social work, to incorporate culturally competent practice into their services to Scottish Gypsy Travellers. It is important for all social services providers to consider how to engage participation from Scottish Gypsy Travellers, for example, staff and foster carer recruitment, local and national policy makers, and local user forums.

This evidence review was commissioned by Life Changes Trust to explore the evidence around the contribution of community-led approaches to social care and support to human rights and equalities outcomes.

This summary, produced by Iriss on behalf of the Social Work Services Strategic Forum, presents the key findings of research which set out to better understand public perceptions of social services. It explores the level of knowledge, understanding and attitudes towards social services and the reasons for these views.

Since the end of 2015, Maddiston Community Council, Iriss and a range of other partners have helped carry out a variety of local activities in Maddiston and Rumford. The aim of this work was to explore with local people how they feel about the area they live in, and work with them to make some real positive changes.