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Practice Tools
There are many tools that professionals who work with children and their families can access to support their practice. These tools, combined with professional judgement and the relationship the worker develops with the child and family, can be effective in promoting excellent interventions and outcomes for children.
Overview
The tools promoted in this section are evidence based and supported by evaluations of their effectiveness. It is important that any worker using tools to support assessment, planning and intervention is clear about the following points:
- You know why the tool was designed,
- the client group it was intended for (children, adults, individuals, groups, drug users etc)
- the practice area it was designed for (assessment, planning, intervention, review)
- the outcomes that were intended (clarity in decision making, identifying particular issues etc)
- the evaluation results on the impact on using the tool on improving the practice area
- any pitfalls including specific application, methodology or training required to use the tool successfully
Once you have this understanding, it is best to either talk to a colleague who has used the tool before, or to practice using it yourself prior to working with a client.
Not all tools will fit you - each practitioner will have a different way of working and the best tool is always the one that you have the most confidence in and that challenges your thinking.