This is compounded by the reality that they need to meet multiple purposes, from evidencing threshold decisions for court to sharing elements of a child’s life story with foster carers. Social workers need to decide what constitutes a ‘significant event’ and how much detail to include. identify protective factors and to decide next steps for intervention in a range of contexts.Ĭompiling and analysing chronologies serves as a foundation for relationship-based practice as they provide an overview of what has happened in families' lives, aid understanding of what their experience of services and professionals might be, what can be learnt from this, and how this can be worked with to effect change in the future.Ĭompleting a chronology is a complex activity.understand the source of actual and potential harm impacting on children and young people.consider the child’s felt and lived experience.capture significant events in the child and family’s life.Chronologies are a vital tool for practitioners working with children and their families, supporting practice in a number of different ways.

Genogram for social work