ABSTRACT
Social workers in the child protection field are often working in problem focused settings with problem focused assessments and problem-solving action plans as the basis for interventions. Even though social workers try to involve and explain to the children what will happen, the demand for certainty combined with a problem focused setting means many social workers are unable to create a picture of safety around the children and, therefore, despite the opposite intentions, leave them in conditions where they might end up in a worse situation than before. A lot of child protection workers have good tools to start a conversation with children about safety. However, the authors of this chapter think tools are not worth much if you use them with a problem focused mindset. The Solution Focused approach and the mindset connected to it are often the most helpful way to have these conversations with children in very stressful situations. The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate different examples of how the practitioner can use the Solution Focused mindset as a key to open a conversation with children and young people about change and safety.
