With 13,000 needed to join the 1.2 million already working in this field there is more demand than ever before for people who can do this challenging but rewarding job.
Liz Rugg, assistant director of Specialist Services at Brighton & Hove Children and Young People's Trust is looking to fill 11 vacancies for children and families social workers.
She outlines the reasons why there's a dearth of experienced social workers willing to work with vulnerable children.
"It's a challenging job at the best of times but in the present climate when children's social work is all over the news it's even more difficult.
"And when it comes to stories about children, the press tend to vilify individual social workers and that's not helpful.
"Not surprisingly, some people are now bailing out of the profession or finding quieter areas of social work where they are not open to that degree of challenge."
Social work may have had a bad press in recent years but the reality is that it's one of the most fulfilling careers around, according to people who work in the profession.
"It's an immensely rewarding job," says Rugg. "You have a real sense you are making a difference with children. Which is why it's still a profession people want to be part of.
"I was very heartened when we carried out a recent survey of our frontline social work team and more than 80 per cent said they enjoyed their jobs, that they were committed to them, saw the point of their work, and felt supported by this authority."
While she is keen to emphasise the job's upsides, Rugg doesn't gloss over the hard realities of working in frontline social work.
"There is a lot of drug use in Brighton and Hove and many of the families we are dealing with have a backdrop of domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health difficulties or all of these factors.
"We need staff who are resilient and who can maintain a professional distance while also caring about what they do. The day that we deal with children and don't care about them is the day to stop.
"We help staff maintain a professional attitude supporting them, managing them and challenging them. We put a lot of emphasis on good supervision so staff are supported to make some very difficult decisions."
Just what kind of person is drawn to this tough and often thankless job? According to Rugg social workers should have a degree of empathy and compassion, be clear about what they want to achieve and be able to stay calm in tricky situations. The job is stressful, so a sense of humour also helps. It's also important to keep the child clearly in focus.
"You have to be able to stay calm and measured while not becoming burnt out or cynical," says Rugg. "We also need people who can take direction and work as a team."
Holly Williams, 30, is a social worker of seven years experience who works with Brighton & Hove City Council.
She says: "It is a challenging job but it is also incredibly rewarding. The challenges are: the pressure of a heavy workload, dealing with vulnerable, emotional issues and often with volatile clients in difficult situations.
"The positive sides of my job include working with children, getting to know them, making changes, supporting them and seeing them flourish. When you first meet them they are sometimes neglected, emotionally deprived or sexually assaulted. It's heartening to be able to make their lives better.
"It's also great working with a supportive team. It's your colleagues who help you get through each day. I deal with difficult issues day in and day out, but talking to my colleagues keeps me sane."
In order to further support its social workers as well as protect the interests of vulnerable children, Brighton & Hove CYPT brings together all the agencies in the city that work with children and young people, their parents, carers and families.
The Trust – a merger between the City Council's Families, Children and Schools Directorate and the South Downs NHS Trust Children and Families Directorate – employs 5000 people providing education, social and health care for 52,000 children, young people and their families.
Williams says: "You are working closely with health visitors and the police and learning from the skills they have. We complement each other."
She deals with the sometimes life-or-death professional judgements she has to make every day by risk assessing every situation she comes across.
"You say to yourself: 'What is the priority today? Are the children at risk? What do you need to do to follow statutory guidelines and what might you need to do that is important for the child? Getting the balance right between what's important to the child and the child's welfare is difficult."
Another aspect of the job that many social workers find interesting is how every day is different – and often unpredictable.
Williams says: "You can expect a calm day of catching up on reports and statements but it can change rapidly and you need to be able to respond to that. You need to be able to deal with difficult, challenging situations on the hop and be thrown into potentially confrontational situations."
Any social worker working with children will tell you that the high point of the job is seeing a child's life changing before their eyes.
"It's the little things," says Williams. "Like a child telling you they feel better about themselves, that they feel happy again, or proud of themselves, or when they're able to talk about emotions that were too hard for them to deal with before. It's why I enjoy my job."
This article has been sponsored by Brighton & Hove City Council
