Learn on the go: the Community Care podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

A manually transcribed transcript of this podcast is available here. 

Welcome to Learn on the go, the podcast from Community Care Inform, where we discuss the issues affecting social workers and social care practitioners.

This is a special, one-off edition of Learn on the go, discussing the seismic Supreme Court ruling on 2 June 2026 which overruled its own decision in P v Cheshire West and Chester Council & Anor [2014] UKSC 19 (Cheshire West) on the meaning of deprivation of liberty. In doing so, the Supreme Court held that:

• There is no “acid test” when it comes to determining whether a person is deprived of their liberty, and instead a multifactorial assessment must be undertaken, and
• A person who lacks capacity within the meaning of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 can still give valid consent to their confinement for the purposes of the subjective element of the Article 5 test.

Discussing this issue is Alex Ruck Keene, an experienced barrister, writer and educator. His practice at 39 Essex Chambers is focused on mental capacity, mental health and healthcare law, in which he has appeared in cases at all levels up to and including The Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights. And indeed, Alex was one of the barristers on the Attorney General for Northern Ireland's legal team in this Supreme Court case.

Questions were asked by Natalie Valios, senior content editor, Community Care Inform Adults.

0:01:30 - How the case came about

0:04:08 – Why judges have been uneasy about the acid test

0:08:03 – The parties involved and their arguments to the court

0:14:24 – Who did the Supreme Court rule in favour of?

0:15:38 – Clarifying the correct approach to identifying a deprivation of liberty

0:21:08 – The meaning of multifactorial

0:23:22 – Reassuring anyone worried about removal of safeguards for disabled people

0:26:24 – Can the case be challenged?

0:29:42 – Is a statutory definition needed?

0:32:14 – What happens next?

0:37:01 – What does this mean for Liberty Protection Safeguards?

References

• The Supreme Court judgment
• Supreme Court summary
• Mental Capacity Law and Policy: Attorney General for Northern Ireland resources

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A manually transcribed transcript of this podcast is available here.

Welcome to Learn on the go, the podcast from Community Care Inform, where we discuss the issues affecting social workers and social care practitioners.

This episode looks at county lines and child criminal exploitation. Discussing this is Adam Elliott, founder of The Long Game, a youth-led intervention to reduce young people’s risk of exposure to these forms of modern slavery.

Adam uses his lived experience to highlight how children and young people are groomed, exploited and manipulated into county lines.

At about 1 hour and 20 minutes, this is an extended edition of Learn on the go but we feel it is justified. Adam’s story is hard-hitting and, at times, difficult to listen to but it is full of information and tangible red flags that have to be heard to be understood.

We realise that it’s a commitment on your part to sit with his story to the end but you will find learning points all the way through. If you’re finding it difficult to listen to, you may want to take a break and come back to it. We’d like to remind you to practise self-care and use supervision and peer support if you’ve been affected by this episode.

Questions were asked by Natalie Valios, senior content editor, Community Care Inform Adults. 

00:01:45 – Life before county lines

00:03:44 – Stereotypes and vulnerabilities

00:06:52 – Being groomed

00:08:53 – Dropping off the first package

00:13:13 – Early warning signs

00:14:59 – How county lines operate

00:23:13 – A community problem

00:25:52 – Asking for help

00:27:52 – Trap houses

00:34:51 – Hope of escape

00:38:40 – Facing prison

00:42:57 – Knife and chemical attacks

00:48:53 – Victim of modern slavery

00:51:27 – Parents’ suspicions

00:54:39 – Arrest on 18th birthday

01:01:44 – Missing out on life

01:07:51 – Contextual safeguarding

01:10:07 – Family support

01:11:20 – Importance of knowing the slang

01:13:55 – Misconceptions

01:18:08 – Crime and Policing Bill

01:19:18 – Life now

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode discusses perinatal mental health. Approximately one in five women in the UK experience mental health issues during pregnancy and up to one year after birth, and if left untreated they can lead to long-lasting effects on mothers, infants and the wider family.

In recent years, significant funding has been invested in specialist perinatal mental health services but there are disparities in access to these services and experiences with health and social care professionals.

This episode explores the role of social workers in perinatal mental health, the risk factors of developing perinatal mental illness and the red flags to look out for that may indicate a new or expectant mother is struggling with perinatal mental health issues.

The guests are Tara Mitchell, a registered social worker and operations manager of the perinatal mental health service at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and Wan Abdullah, a mother with lived experience of perinatal mental illness.

Asking the questions is Gemma Balmford, assistant content editor, Community Care Inform Adults.

Subscribe to the Learn on the go series to stay up-to-date with new episodes. Look out for the next episode in Season 1, which will be released at the end of April. 

Links

Royal College of Psychiatrists
MBRRACE-UK
Tavistock and Portman
The perinatal mental health elearning programme 
Maternal Mental Health Alliance

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode discusses domestic abuse within young people's relationships. It explores the intricicies around age and statutory and voluntary support services available for young people. This episode provides practical tips on how practitioners can address risks with young people and their parents/carers - such as how to structure conversations, and the key indicators of risks that shoud be considered when working with young people who are at risk of, or who have experienced abuse. Multiple assessment tools are discussed, along with various specialist services. 

The guest is Jenifer Lamadrid, an experienced social worker, who has been trianed within domestic violence and abuse services. Jenifer has previously worked as an IDVA (independent domestic violence advocate), and has a key interest in working with young people at risk of, or who have experienced, abuse. 

Asking the questions is Gillian MacFarlane, content editor, Community Care Inform Childrens. 

Assessment tools and specialist services mentioned: 

Safe Lives

Brook Sexual Behaviours Traffic Light Tool

BAMBUUU

Respect Young People's Service

Women's Aid 

Victim Support - Support Space

Subscribe to the Learn on the Go series to stay up-to-date with new episodes. Look out for the next episode in Season 1, which will be released at the end of April. 

Join Community Care's 'Social Work Community' for careers guidance, private discussion rooms with fellow social workers and even more podcast episodes.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode discusses the issues around mental capacity and suicide, and what has been called the ‘you’ve got capacity to choose to kill yourself phenomenon’. 

The guest is Alex Ruck Keene, an experienced barrister, writer and educator. His practice at 39 Essex Chambers is focused on mental capacity, mental health and healthcare law, in which he has appeared in cases at all levels up to and including The Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.Alex is the creator of the website Mental Capacity Law and Policy, which provides resources and expert commentary on some of the most difficult mental capacity issues.In March 2022, Alex was made an honorary KC, reflecting his contributions to mental capacity and mental health law outside the court room.

NB: Any views expressed by Alex are his alone and not those of any organisations he is associated with.

Asking the questions is Natalie Valios, senior content editor, Community Care Inform Adults.

We’d encourage you to look after yourself while listening and use supervision and peer support if this brings up anything difficult for you.And if you’ve been affected by this episode, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode of Learn on the go is about domestic violence and abuse. It covers what domestic violence and abuse is; the various forms it can take, and how to risk assess and make referrals. This episode explores a domestic violence risk assessment tool called the CAADA DASH, as well as the purpose and importance of multi-agency risk assessment conferences known as MARAC, and how these are used to bring professionals together to support victims of domestic abuse. The expert guest is Jenifer Lamadrid, a senior social worker for a London borough where she also serves as a MARAC representative for children’s social services. Jen mentions she has worked as an IDVA. This is an independent domestic violence advocate, someone who supports victims and is separate from police and social services. The questions were asked by Gillian MacFarlane, content editor at Community Care Inform.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ethan’s in his early 30s now. He was in foster care from the age of five and then in children’s homes from the age of 11. In this conversation we speak about staying in touch with and seeing family members while in care. 

You'll hear the word ‘contact’ quite a bit - the word that was very much in use when Ethan was young. We hope this makes sense when you listen, while we know practitioners today increasingly recognise the importance of using language that suits the individual child, whether that’s 'family time' or something else. 

Ethan speaks about his experiences of different types of ‘contact’ – including visiting his parents in jail, supervised sessions with his grandparents and siblings, goodbye meetings with other siblings who were adopted, and unsupervised time with his parents as he got older.

He shares his thoughts on how professionals can support children and young people with the complexity of wanting and valuing connection with family, while dealing with what can be its extremely challenging emotional impact.

Ethan was speaking to Joanna Silman, senior content editor at Community Care Inform Children.

Community Care Inform subscribers can access additional resources and a written transcript of the podcast here: https://www.ccinform.co.uk/practice-guidance/podcast-transcript-the-emotional-impact-of-contact-ethans-experience/

You can watch the video interview Ethan did with Jenny Molloy spoke about his experience of being taken into care, and the social workers who made the biggest difference to his life here: https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2023/10/26/choose-social-work-they-helped-me-escape-the-life-i-was-living-as-a-teenager/

Ethan believes strongly in the importance of sharing lived experience of different aspects of being a child in care to help improve practice with young people today and speaks at training events for social workers and other professionals. If you would like to get in touch with Ethan, please email ccinformhelpdesk@markallengroup.com and we can pass a message on.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Learn On The Go, the podcast from Community Care Inform where we discuss research, theories and practice issues and look at what they mean for social care practitioners.

In this episode we talk to Jenny Molloy, motivational speaker, trainer, care leaver and bestselling author of three books with a fourth about to be published.

Her first book, Hackney Child, written under the pen name Hope Daniels, describes Jenny’s childhood and how at the age of nine she walked into Stoke Newington police station with her two younger brothers and asked that they be taken into care. Both their parents were addicted to alcohol, their mother was a sex worker, and they’d experienced neglect, malnourishment and poverty.

When she was 19, Jenny decided to read her social services files, where she discovered that both her parents had also been in care and had experienced traumatic childhoods. So it is testament to Jenny’s strength of character that she not only conquered her own alcohol addiction, but achieved her childhood dream for her future: that her children be raised in a safe, loving, family home and have a "normal life", breaking the cycle of children in care having their children go into care.

Ordinarily, Jenny talks and trains about life as a child in care, and issues around care leavers and childhood trauma. On this occasion, Jenny is talking about how childhood trauma can play out in adulthood, and how she relapsed and then recovered when it happened to her.

We do want to give a content warning: Jenny talks about her attempted suicide, being sectioned, and time in a psychiatric hospital. 

We know it can be difficult to hear about people’s trauma so we’d like to remind you to practise self-care and use supervision and peer support if this has brought up anything difficult for you.

And if you’ve been affected by this episode, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123.

During the interview, Jenny references the Lambeth Children's Homes Redress Scheme, which you can read about here. And she also mentions the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS).

The questions were asked by Natalie Valios, senior content editor at Community Care Inform Adults. 

0:02:37.3 - The three triggers

0:10:10 - The psychiatric hospital

0:17:49.8 - Recovery

0:20:53.1 - Adult mental health services

0:27:36.9 - Healing

0:31:23.7 - Advice for social workers

0:33:41.4 - The future

0:37:05.8 - Hope

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Helen, a facilitator of The Freedom Programme which supports victms and survivors of domestic abuse, and two other mothers with lived experience spoke to Jenny Molloy, bestselling author, motivational speaker and care leaver about their experiences with children's services and what support is most helpful for people in abusive relationships. The conversation was recorded on location at Trevi, the charity that supports women and children.

As well as community support for women and children, Trevi runs Jasmine's Recovery Centre, a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre exclusively for mothers and their children. We recorded a separate episode about mothers experiences of social work connected to substance use. You'll find the episode in the podcast feed.

Full transcripts of both episodes and supporting materials are available to Community Care Inform subscribers at ccinform.co.uk.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Helen, Vicky and Hannah, spoke to Jenny Molloy, bestselling author, motivational speaker and care leaver about their experiences of children's services as mothers using, and in recovery from, drugs and alcohol. They share what did and didn't help them, and what they would like social workers to understans.

The conversation was recorded on location at Jasmine Mother's Recovery Centre, part of Trevi, the charity that supports women and children.

Find out more about the centre and Trevi's work here: https://trevi.org.uk/services/jasmine-mothers-recovery/

Some of the women touch on the fact that many women who have experienced trauma and drug and acohol addiction have been in abusive relationships. We recorded a separate episode about mothers experiences of social work connected to domestic abuse. You'll find the episode in the podcast feed.

Full transcripts of both episodes and supporting materials are available to Community Care Inform subscribers at ccinform.co.uk.

Content warnings. While these are stories with positive outcomes, there are brief mentions of attempted suicide, domestic abuse, difficult childbirth, and women also speak about their older children being removed.

We’d encourage you to use supervision and peer support if this episode brings up anything difficult for you, and generally to look after yourself while listening.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.