Have Your Say

Have Your Say

Our social work community have shared their thoughts and insights into a range of social work-related topics with us. This issue, we’re looking at how the profession has changed and where our community believes that it’s headed. We’ve had a variety of responses and it’s clear to see that there is no singular approach which could impact upon the profession.

Let us know what you think by sharing your thoughts with us via our social media channels, or email us directly at press@mysocialworknews.com

How has the social work sector changed since you first joined the profession?

“There is a lack of services now for early intervention. By getting in there at the beginning, we could help prevent children from coming into care or removing them as soon as possible. We should get the youth services funded again and the early interventions” Marcie, Fostering Social Worker, Warwick

“A great deal. When I started, we had the time to spend with families and actually support them through direct work and assistance. It moved on to be an assessment role and commissioning out to support services, which then reduced due to funding issues and service-led rather than userled. Safeguarding has evolved in becoming more recognised across other agencies and supporting multi-agency liaison and support for a family.” K, Practice Lead, London

“I think that we have more skills available to us, but not enough direct work time. Caseloads were, in fact, higher when I first began, but less paperwork. Social workers present as less formal.” Sarah, Senior Practitioner, Cambridge

“Since the 1990s there has been an increase in the level of technology and complex computer systems to record work with children. There was more staff employed in administration roles to complete admin tasks. Models of practice are increasingly reliant upon signs of safety without reference to social work theory. New entrants to the profession are being trained differently and tend to be much younger often without direct work experience with children and/or vulnerable adults. Social Work no longer has the opportunity to raise the consciousness of service users and wider society - today social work has become reactive to events in people's lives rather than proactive in changing and challenging society to promote inclusion.” Vivienne, Social Worker

“It has become a lot more ‘target’ driven. However, this in itself is not a bad thing, but there is a tendency to concentrate too highly on this and not on the excellent outcomes being delivered. This is especially important as another change is the dwindling resources that were once available to reach a much bigger target group. There is a lot of focus on early intervention, quite rightly. However, there’s is a significant lack of resources to address the number of children in need, before social care becomes an intervention rather than an intervention. This is another big change over the years as social work practice was primarily regarded as an intervention service.” Sara, Service Manager, Hull

“I joined social work in the mid-'90s. I have witnessed the profession move from being engagement focused with emphasis on direct engagement and encompassing group and community work to it being an administrative assessment-based profession led by risk management. This move seems to have mirrored the American model of social work practice which focuses primarily on children's social work, and to a much lesser degree

on adult social work. Successive governments seem to have scapegoated social work and withdrawn funds from both frontline children and adult services ending in service provision being reactive rather than progressive and preventative.” Sarah, Principal Social Worker, East Sussex

What do you think is the future of social work?

“I feel social work will give out what is put in. The workforce needs to feel valued and properly supported by increased wages and future prospects. Training needs to encompass a range of areas and specialisms should be guarded, not reduced. I fear this won't happen.” Rosalie, Social Worker, Cornwall

“If adults have to arrange to pay for their own services, as they more or less do now and insurance companies start to offer a product on the basis of a version of Dilnot, it is possible to see social workers employed to assess against a funding package away from local authorities.” Nick, Retired, Poole

“It's certainly not clear what the future is. I feel that unless social work becomes more about humanity rather than money, we may go some way to making a positive change. There is far too much bureaucracy, money pinching, cuts, ego and stress in the profession which deflates from the reason we started this. Social work needs to be recognised as a specialist role that suffers from increased workloads and limited time to actually work with a family in a supportive manner.” K, Practice Lead, London

“Sadly, I think that it will be privatised; and so, the money will be made from adversity. I think that health, education and social work should form integrated teams. A recognition that we need to work together." Sara, Senior Practitioner, Cambridge

“The ideal would be if health and social services truly work in partnership to provide a holistic service. There is evidence this ideal is being achieved but it is taking a long time as the top managers themselves are not fully signed up to different ways of working. Recent legislation has increased expectations but there has been a lack of resources to back up the grand ideals set out in the Care Act.” Surinder, Social Worker, Greenwich

“We really need to ensure that the practitioners of the future are supported to not only fill their potential but also support those of their colleagues around them. The next five to ten years will probably bring us more conflict and challenges, I hope that workers continue to get the support that organisations like BASW can provide as I can see their services being of paramount importance in equipping the social workers with the tools to provide the services much needed by families. We need to nurture all our social workers to be the best they can be for themselves and others." Mark, Senior Practitioner, West Midlands