Community Care

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Investing in social workers in the face of “extremely challenging constraints in funding” has helped a council improve its Ofsted grade from inadequate to requires improvement. Boost to social worker numbers.

Social Worker 225

Social Worker Adoption Foster Care Disability 225

Community Care

MARCH 30, 2023

A scheme placing social workers in schools does not reduce children’s need for statutory social care services, one of the largest ever randomised controlled trials carried out in the sector has found. No impact on social care outcomes It found that the rate of section 47s was 5.5%

Social Worker 265

Social Worker Schools School Social Work Interventional 265

Community Care

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

Agile working practices such as hotdesking are failing to meet social workers’ needs in Scotland and employers should review them, a study has concluded. Our findings (consistent over the last five years) indicate that agile working models in Scotland are failing to meet the needs of social workers.”

Social Worker 263

Social Worker Criminal Justice Government Adoption 263

Community Care

OCTOBER 6, 2022

They have not made a proactive choice to become a foster carer or adopter, but find themselves in a situation, not of their own choosing, but wishing to safeguard a child they love. At CoramBAAF , we hear from local authority social workers and managers who are passionate about providing much needed support to kinship families.

Social Worker 249

Social Worker Adoption Consultation Anxiety 249

Community Care

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

Children who met thresholds were left waiting up to six weeks to see a social worker due to “significant, widespread and systemic” weaknesses in a council’s front door service, Ofsted has found. An inspirational social work leader’: tributes paid to children’s director who died after contracting Covid.

Social Worker 290

Social Worker Adoption Interventional Foster Care 290

Community Care

FEBRUARY 8, 2023

The Department for Education (DfE) has backed a care review proposal for a five-year early career framework (ECF) for the development of children’s social workers, but rejected its call to introduce national pay scales to recognise progress. “We do not intend to create new DfE-led pay scales.

Social Worker 247

Social Worker Consultation Government Adoption 247

Community Care

FEBRUARY 25, 2022

The number of social workers leaving children’s posts in English councils or trusts has spiked to its highest point in at least five years, according to Department for Education figures. The number of FTE agency workers increased by 3% on the year to 5,977, a fourth consecutive annual rise.

Social Worker 305

Social Worker Government Administration Adoption 305

Social Work Blog

NOVEMBER 22, 2021

November 23rd marks National Adoption Day. In 1976, Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts decided to celebrate adoption for seven days in his state. Eight years later, President Ronald Regan expanding the observance to becoming National Adoption Week. On November 23, the month’s event culminates with National Adoption Day.

Adoption 98

Adoption Child Welfare Foster Care LCSW 98

Community Care

JULY 25, 2023

Three councils have been selected to test giving responsibility for child protection cases to specialist social workers.

Social Worker 208

Social Worker Adoption Consultation Interventional 208

Community Care

APRIL 15, 2024

This may be due to older siblings already having been adopted or even being deemed too old to be adopted and therefore remaining in long-term foster care. The three-hour session was facilitated by nine professionals, including staff from Coram’s activity days team, social workers and play specialists.

Adoption 241

Adoption Foster Care Interviewing Social Worker 241

Community Care

APRIL 7, 2022

As he prepared to take over as Association of Directors of Children’s Services president, Steve Crocker said he was “awed” by the proficiency of social workers entering the profession. I know when I go and talk to newly qualified social workers in Hampshire, I am awed by their professionalism and experience and skills and ability.

Social Worker 264

Social Worker Government Mental Health Schools 264

Community Care

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

Black and Asian children were less likely to be on an adoption/placement order – the most intrusive form of state intervention in family life – than children from white and mixed or multiple ethnic groups. It is also important to note that mixed heritage children were significantly over-represented in adoption.

Adoption 250

Adoption Interventional Social Worker Government 250

Community Care

MARCH 7, 2024

The government is urging more councils and children’s trusts to test its planned five-year programme of support for newly qualified social workers (NQSWs) in children’s services. The policy is designed to boost social workers’ skills and knowledge, but also improve retention.

Adoption 217

Adoption Social Worker Engagement Government 217

Community Care

MARCH 25, 2022

Less than 1% of social workers reported to Social Work England last year were referred to a hearing or found to have impaired fitness to practise (FtP), show figures released by the regulator. Of 2,328 referrals received from December 2020 to November 2021, 0.5% In a further 0.3% In a further 0.3% High referrals.

Social Worker 280

Social Worker Adoption Mental Health Government 280

Community Care

OCTOBER 27, 2022

Social workers have been urged to help tackle the impact on Gypsy and Traveller families of increased police powers to evict them from unauthorised camps, brought in this year. “So social workers need to separate those two things. So far, the guidance has been adopted by Wiltshire council and the Welsh Government.

Social Worker 225

Social Worker Welfare Criminal Justice Anxiety 225

The Guardian

JULY 28, 2022

Leiland-James Corkill might not have died had agencies collaborated better, investigation concludes Information about drinking, debts and mental health that could have prevented a baby boy being placed with an adopting mother who went on to murder him was not shared between agencies, an investigation has concluded. Continue reading.

Adoption 83

Adoption Mental Health Social Worker 83

Beyond Advocacy

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

The originalist perspective of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court today—that only laws that existed at the time of the adoption of the Constitution are legitimate—will have a profound impact on today’s society. Summit proceedings are being compiled and will be shared in the coming weeks. Much is at stake in the coming years.

Social Worker 98

Social Worker Schools University Adoption 98

Community Care

APRIL 17, 2024

He was one of those children whose lives were transformed by a social worker. Smith was taken into care as a baby, spending the first 11 years of his life in a foster home before those same carers adopted him. “I had a really positive experience of social workers,” he says.

Social Worker 269

Social Worker Diversity Government Adoption 269

Community Care

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

Eight organisations have been selected to help design and then test the government’s proposed early career framework for social workers (ECF) starting their careers in statutory children’s services.

Adoption 165

Adoption Social Worker Government 165

Social Work With Adults

MAY 11, 2022

It is with a sense of relief, but also pride in our collective resilience as a profession, that we are able to publish the Chief Social Worker for Adults Annual Report 2021-22 in a world which has, at long last, regained some of the familiar trappings of normality. Coming out the other side. Of course, sector pressure is still high.

Social Worker 104

Social Worker Mental Health Diversity Adoption 104

Community Care

JANUARY 14, 2024

The Department for Education’s (DfE) revised version of Working Together to Safeguard Children has removed the previous requirement for child in need assessments and casework to be reserved for qualified social workers. Child protection enquiries and casework will remain ring-fenced for social workers.

Disability 332

Disability Consultation Social Worker Youth Worker 332

Social Work Awards

AUGUST 16, 2023

The Social Worker of the Year Awards is pleased to announce this year’s finalists. The finalists were chosen by independent judging panels of young care leavers, social workers, industry leaders and people with lived experience of social work.

Social Worker 52

Social Worker University Mental Health Disability 52

Community Care

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

For example, some workers who were interested in gaming and digital activities used these as a tool for engagement, which resulted in positive connections. Barriers to implementation Participants reported challenges and barriers to adoption and implementation of digital safeguarding at both national and local level.

Case Management 197

Case Management Communication Adoption Self-harm 197

Community Care

DECEMBER 1, 2023

Introducing specialist child protection social workers is posing workforce challenges for the councils testing the system. Issues included retaining staff, maintaining safeguarding skills among other social workers and avoiding disruption to families as a result of the reform.

Social Worker 259

Social Worker Adoption Diversity Consultation 259

Social Work Haven

JUNE 15, 2023

A student contacted me recently wanting tips on how to write on the topic; ‘why I want to be a social worker’ I explained the great benefits of being a social worker. I also embedded myself in this task and wrote with my own experiences and views on why I became a social worker in an essay format.

Social Worker 52

Social Worker Empathy Advocacy Diversity 52

Social Work Haven

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

You asked, what is a social worker home visit checklist? A social worker home visit checklist serves as a comprehensive guide for social workers conducting home visits to assess the holistic health and well-being of their clients. Over the years of practice, I have also found this tool useful.

Social Worker 52

Social Worker Mental Health Social Services Social Services 52

KVC

MAY 24, 2022

These stories came from youth and families we’ve served, foster or adoptive families who support our mission, and KVC team members who provide in-home family therapy and support, mental health treatment, foster care, adoption, inpatient children’s psychiatric treatment or other life-changing services.

Foster Care 52

Foster Care Adoption Mental Health Hospitals 52

Community Care

APRIL 11, 2024

Laming’s report made 108 recommendations, designed to increase the priority placed on children within government, local authorities and other agencies, enhance joint working and significantly improve the quality of practice by social workers and other agencies. I’m very clear that in social work it’s not about the chat.

Social Worker 334

Social Worker Government Interviewing Social Services 334

Community Care

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

Tolhurst, previously the deputy chief whip, used her first tweet since her portfolio was confirmed to highlight social workers’ “vital role in keeping our children safe”, in encouraging applications to Frontline. Sign up with them to train as a social worker here: [link].

Schools 254

Schools Child Welfare Adoption Social Worker 254

International Federation of Social Workers

MAY 25, 2022

The policy paper “The Role of Social Workers in Advancing a New Eco-Social World” has just been adopted as part of the 2022 IFSW General Meeting. Awareness raising regarding ecological and social change is widespread nowadays, but […].

Social Worker 69

Social Worker Adoption 69

Teaching & Learning in Social Work

MARCH 29, 2024

Editor’s note: In this blog post, four social worker educators share a sample from their new and free resource about using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in social work education. Alexander Rubin , LCSW, is a clinical assistant professor based in field education at the University at Buffalo School of School of Social Work.

LMSW 246

LMSW LCSW Child Welfare Confidentiality 246

Community Care

MARCH 7, 2024

The magazine covered the gamut of social work and social care including child protection, adoption, mental health and services for disabled and older people. Photo: Community Care The early years Social work had always been close to Mark’s heart. How has social work changed in 50 years?

Interviewing 195

Interviewing Social Worker Psychiatric Adoption 195

Community Care

MAY 3, 2022

Currently kinship care is wedged uncomfortably into systems designed primarily for fostering and adoption and is often the poor relation in a hierarchy of rights and support.” In Professor Joan Hunt’s 2021 study of social workers working with kinship carers, practitioners highlighted the unique complexities of carers’ roles.

Adoption 306

Adoption Social Worker Foster Care Healthcare 306

Community Care

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

A model for this sort of change is provided by the creation of regional adoption agencies (RAAs) over the past seven years. It found that RAAs appeared to have sped up the time taken to place a child for adoption, relative to performance by councils who were then outside regional structures.

Adoption 205

Adoption Government University Foster Care 205

Community Care

AUGUST 4, 2023

Social work’s poor public image is driving people out of frontline children’s roles, hurting recruitment and making families fearful and distrustful of practitioners. One local authority-employed social worker said: The view of the public is that social workers are incompetent.

Social Worker 224

Social Worker Interviewing Adoption Government 224

Famcare

JANUARY 27, 2022

It’s also a broad profession in terms of the situations and expectations that social workers come across. Casework can be very demanding at times. Despite it being a challenging field, it’s also one of the fasting growing ones here in the US.

Adoption 52

Adoption Case Management Social Worker Social Services 52

Social Work Blog

JUNE 30, 2022

Top stories include: Human Rights Advocacy: Wave of LGBTQIA+ Bills Underscores Vital Role for Social Workers. With the recent spate of anti-LGBTQIA+ bills introduced or passed in many states, NASW and social workers are stepping up to advocate for this community, especially against legislation targeting transgender youth.

Social Worker 52

Social Worker Child Welfare Empathy Advocacy 52