Are you thinking about switching between services?

Are you thinking about switching between services?

When you begin your social work career, the first decision you will have to make is to choose whether you wish to work in children's or adult services. But that initial decision shouldn't limit you. We speak with social worker Lorraine to find out more about her experiences from moving away from children's social work and joining an adult social work team.

What is your current social work role?

I’m currently working in a frontline role within an adult social work team. My job is to assess the situation once a referral has come through from a professional or a family member. Depending on the outcome of the assessment, I may have to either close the case or set up a package of care. This can include moving the adult into sheltered accommodation or respite care. It’s a very different job role compared to working within a frontline position in children’s services.

Throughout your career, you’ve spent considerable time working across both children’s services and adult services. How would you describe the key differences between the two?

In my opinion, there are two main differences. The first is the legislation which underpins the work – each service has completely different areas of law which you need to be aware of.

The second difference is the service user’s wider network. When you’re working with children, the network of professionals involved is a lot wider because you may be liaising with schools, school nurses, health visitors, etc. In contrast, with adults, there are circumstances where there may be no one else involved other than the adult and their GP.

How do the pressures of each service compare?

In my experience, I’ve found that within children’s services there are much tighter frameworks and faster timescales; these put added pressure on the social worker. It’s incredibly difficult to complete all the work required, particularly when you’re working on multiple cases and having to juggle other working commitments such as statutory visits and duty work.

With adult services, there isn’t that same level of pressure. The timescales only really exist when there is a safeguarding concern. There is still a lot of work to be done but it’s a different type of pressure.

Do you prefer working with children or adults? Can you explain why?

I prefer working in children’s services. Like any social worker, I like to think that I can make a difference to that child or young person’s situation. It’s why we train as social workers because we want to be able to make a positive impact.

With the older adults that I am currently working with, a lot of them are near the end of their life. My role is to ensure that I’m doing everything that I can to ensure that they have access to the specific services which meet their needs. It’s still having made a difference to the quality of a person’s life, but it feels different.

If a social worker wanted to switch from children’s services to working with adults (or vice versa), would they need to undertake any additional training to update their knowledge/skills?

Throughout my career, I have worked across quite a few different service user groups, including adults with learning disabilities. If a social worker has regularly changed roles and worked across different teams, then they’ll know that every single team will have their own processes to complete workflows.

For those switching from children’s social care to adult services (or vice versa) then they would need to be confident that they are aware of the different legislation and what processes are in place for that team’s remit. I found that once you’re in the role, you can focus on specific areas of training where you know that there is a gap in knowledge. There is also a certain level of training which takes place simply from working alongside your colleagues and learning from their experience.

Were there any specific pieces of legislation you needed to be aware of once you transferred to adult social work?

Yes, I had to learn specifically about the Care Act, and the Mental Capacity Act because these aren’t relevant to children’s social work.

Once I had undertaken training regarding safeguarding process, and how the Mental Capacity Assessment is conducted, then the work became much easier.

How does a ‘typical’ day in adult services compare to that of a children’s social worker?

In an adult social work environment, it’s usually a lot calmer. The work is still pressurised but there’s not the fast-past frantic feel that can be found within children’s services.

A typical day is visiting one service user, then going back to the office and discussing their needs with the manager. Once the manager agrees with what the social worker is proposing then the work is primarily focused on typing up the assessment and completing the support plan and brokerage form.

Children’s services are completely different. There is a lot more meetings and collaborative work with other professionals. This means that the work is much faster-paced, especially if you have a high number of caseloads.

Having worked across both areas, has your perspective of social work changed?

For me, it highlighted that social work doesn't mean one thing. It’s easy to develop a specific perspective of social work when you’re focused on one group.

The work varies so much depending on what service group you are working with, so it has really helped me to understand the depth of the profession.

What advice would you give to a social worker who is considering moving across to adult services from a children’s social work background?

My advice would be that if you want to try it, then do so. Don’t be put off – if it’s something that interests you then you should always push yourself.

It’s a totally different remit being an adult social worker than being a children’s social worker. I feel privileged that I have been able to make the cross between the two. But I also like to challenge myself, and that’s what it felt like crossing over.