Professional Child and Youth Work Practice—Five Domains of Competence

Professional competencies of practitioners in family and parenting support programmes. A German and Dutch case study

“…Our analyses revealed various demands on practitioners in the field, which require special prerequisites, especially facets of professional competency. The presence of these requirements underline the need to understand working in family and parenting support as a profession (Curry et al, 2012, Dewe & Otto, 2005, which is why a model of the professional competencies in this field of work is needed.…”

“…Against this background, it can be questioned if practitioners working in family and parenting support programmes meet the criteria of an established profession (Curry, Schneider-Munoz, & Carpenter-Williams, 2012). According to Dewe and Otto (2005), a profession is characterized by the existence of scientific training with expert and practical knowledge, an autonomous establishment of a scientific discipline, the formation of a professional and technical authority body for the organization and qualification of professionals, explicitly articulated and evaluated professional ethics, standards of professional practice and visibility in professional organizations, and its own forms of publication.…”

“…In addition, it is not clear whether the work of practitioners in family and parenting support programmes is solely pedagogical activity. Rather, the work is interdisciplinary in the sense that it is social work at the interface of counselling, educational work, and clinical intervention (Curry et al, 2012). Professional competency models for pedagogical professionals and other help giving practices can be inspiring because they deal with related fields of activity.…”