Blog

Whether you are a newly qualified social worker or more experienced practitioner, Doncaster Council is interested in hearing from you. Doncaster are currently recruiting permanent positions across all service areas and need skilled, committed and very child focused social workers with a ‘can do’ approach.
This is a challenging time for children’s social work nationally and the issues that Doncaster Council’s Children and Young People’s Service has faced in the past have been well documented. The important thing is that changes are being made for the better and Doncaster continue to make improvements.
As Lord Carlile stated in his report… More >

Attracting high calibre graduates to the profession is vital. So the announcement that the Department for Education has opened the doors for new training vacancies for the Step Up to Social Work programme is great news. And what’s even better, for those keen to enjoy a career within Yorkshire and Humber, we’re proud to say that 10 of our local authorities are taking part.
 
Beginning in January 2014, Step Up to Social Work will be a tailored training programme which enables trainees to work towards a qualification to practice as a social worker, while gaining intensive hands-on experience. The programme… More >

Since the Children’s Social Work Matters campaign first started, it has been our goal to help support our Children’s Social Workers (CSWs) in their roles. So towards the latter part of 2012, we wanted to give every CSW in our region the opportunity to have their say.
So we invited CSWs employed by all of the 15 local authorities within Yorkshire and the Humber to participate in focus groups and telephone interviews. Everyone who said yes, were asked for their insight and help into a number of key areas by an independent research expert.
 
Through the research we explored:… More >

My passion for adoption is personal as well as professional, which is by no means unusual in our line of work. Many people’s lives are touched by adoption in some way, so while I was working as an area based social worker, I adopted 4 children.
2 of the children were previously related and 2 were just in need of a safe and stable home.
When I talk about this experience, I often say ‘it has been better than I hoped and worse than I feared’. I guess looking back I was very naive about adoption. So by the time… More >

Lyndsey, a senior social worker on the child protection team at Leeds City Council, despairs about a TV-soap portrayal of social workers
I arrived home from my honeymoon in Greece, settled down to catch up on some much needed soap action and discovered that Lola’s baby had been removed from her care in EastEnders.
I immediately asked 154 of my close, personal friends on Facebook what had happened and was told that ‘the social workers were horrible … it’s so far from the truth. Everyone, including clients is talking about it…’
‘Not again’ were my immediate thoughts… ‘Not another terrible… More >

Imagine not knowing who your mum and dad were, what your brothers and sisters looked like or where you were born. Or, never being told about how your parents met, where you lived and what you were like as a baby. Details like these shape who we are and are something most of us take for granted.
However, the adopted children who Julia Garbutt, a Senior Community Care Office in Kirklees meets are not so fortunate. In many cases, their lives are a jumbled jigsaw of memories, and life before adoption is often a confusing web of half-remembered fragments. That’s… More >

How do I get funding to become a children’s social worker? Can I study part time? I’m thinking about moving to the region and wondered what jobs were available? What financial help can I get? I’d like to become a Children’s Social Worker, what qualifications do I need? I’ve already got a degree in another subject, do I have to redo the full 3 years?
These are just a fraction of the questions our Champions have been answering since we launched the Children’s Social Work Matters website. And, hearing the fantastic feedback we’ve had so far, our Champions have been… More >

This is my final blog entry. I have found the blog a great experience not only to try to paint a picture of my work but also as a chance for me to reflect on my learning and experiences. When it is there in black and white on paper it is easier to see the difference your work makes and the amount of work put in to every family.
I think that if I had read a blog like this before I started studying it would have been an additional tool to help me prepare for life as a social… More >

Today I attended a multi-agency meeting at a local school in relation to two teenage boys with learning and behavioural difficulties. The boys have been living with their grandparent since they were only a few months old, but due to deteriorating health the grandparent has been struggling to cope with their complex needs.
We’d already been in contact with the birth mother as their older siblings had recently returned to her care, with our approval and support.
The mother was more than happy to look after the boys, but also recognised this would not be easy. Having recently carried out… More >

I was screening referrals again today. As mentioned in a previous blog post, these are cases passed on to us by professionals or members of the public, who call the department to discuss concerns they have regarding a child. We explore the support already in place for the family and give advice on how to help alleviate problems. In some cases it may be that we advise how to immediately remove a child or reduce the level of risk.
Earlier in the day I received a referral from a school who were concerned about the welfare of a pupil after… More >

Today I had some training. Social workers carry out a lot of their work and interventions through evidence based research and practice. To keep on top of developments within the profession it’s really important that we continue to access the training that is made available to us through the local authority.
The training session today was on life story work, which is a method used to record details about a child or young person’s life experiences and personal development.
When a child is placed in adoption or long term foster care they receive a record of their life in words,… More >

Now here’s a different blog. The local authority has recently had a restructure which involved the formation of a new central assessment team. To help me see different aspects of the job I’m going to spend some time working in this team and today is my first day.
I’ve been taking telephone and e-mail referrals and then screening them. This means deciding whether they fall under the social care remit. Those that aren’t relevant are signposted onto other organisations such as community groups. The role also involves advising professionals in other agencies how they can support families.
Cases that need… More >

Last week presented a new and rather interesting challenge for me. The Guardian Social Care Network asked me to write a review on the first episode of BBC2′s ‘Protecting Our Children’. The programme gives viewers a behind the scenes insight into child protection social work at Bristol City Council. They’d seen my blog and thought it would be really interesting to hear my take on the programme, especially as the first episode focused on a newly qualified children’s social worker’s first big case.
So what did I think about the programme? Was it an accurate portrayal of life as a… More >

Today is a perfect example of how diverse my job can be. I was on duty, which means you are available to handle any referrals that come in. These can be from the public, schools, police or housing to name a few. Each one can be extremely varied making it difficult to give examples so the best way for me to explain this is to summarise one that we received during the day.
The first referral was from the police, following a domestic violence incident. You may be asking why this involves children’s social care. In this case the family… More >

Office day! Yes this is exactly as it sounds. I had three assessments to write up and a case conference report to send to the safeguarding team so I blocked out my diary to spend time doing this.
You rarely get the chance to write up an assessment on the day you complete it. During the visit you usually scribble everything down on an assessment template. This includes everything you’ve been told, along with your own observations and analysis. However – as is the case in any job – in social work there are policies and procedures, nationally and locally,… More >

Today I took three children out for tea, this enabled the family to have a couple of hours respite and meant I could spend quality time getting to know the children and finding out where they themselves would like to live. It’s important to do this as it helps you to build up a relationship with the children. Plus they’re more likely to trust you and talk about concerns.
It’s fair to say I was exhausted by the end of our trip out. Looking after three young children really keeps you on your toes. More importantly I learnt about their… More >

Today I found myself recalling a day out I’d had visiting families shortly before Xmas. The gratitude and warm welcome that we received after delivering food hampers and gifts for the children (even from the families who weren’t our biggest fans) was overwhelming. Once again it reminded me why I love my job.
After completing the Santa experience it was back to the office to ensure all my case recordings were up to date and I had to send a request to our out of hours team.
I needed someone from the team to visit one of my families on… More >

Okay, so today has been a first for me. A family was in court earlier following an application for a residence order to allow the children to live permanently with their grandparents. I’ve worked with the family for a while now and during this time it’s been amazing to see how the children have thrived whilst living with their grandparents.
The local authority (represented by myself) agreed moving in with their grandparents was the best way forward so I went along to show my support not only to the court but to the family as well.
I had prepared a… More >

Today was very interesting. I attended a meeting for a family whose case file will be transferred to me. It’s fair to say the meeting was a little tense as emotions were running high for the family. On reflection I appreciate it can’t have been easy for them to sit in a room full of officials discussing the reasons why their parenting isn’t adequate enough for social care to cease involvement.
The mother, in particular, was finding it very difficult to take anything from all the positives the multi agency group were saying. For her, the whole thing was clearly… More >

I’m Alison (not my real name), a 24-year-old newly qualified Children’s Social Worker at Rotherham Council. I graduated from Sheffield Hallam University last year and have been in the job for four months. I really hope I can help to raise the profile of the vital role of children’s social work teams by sharing my experiences in this month-long blog.
I’ll explain what it’s really like to be a newly qualified children’s social worker – the highs and the lows. It will cover court appearances for residence orders to how we offer crucial support to families as well as the… More >