Thursday marks the launch of the College of Social Work’s “real social work” campaign at its second annual conference. As a qualified social worker, operational manager for children’s social care, and member of the college, I am ecstatic about bringing “real” social work into political focus. For me, it is about people. It is about forming and maintaining partnerships, helping to change lives, and making our communities and our society better.
At the college, it is our aim to ensure that real social work is on every politician’s agenda in the run-up to the general election. The manifesto emphasises the need for increased investment in social work so local authorities can carry out their statutory duties effectively. We want to ensure that social work is at the heart of integrated care for adults, providing the skills necessary to coordinate services and care packages. We want the inspection regime for children’s social care to more robustly capture the knowledge and expertise of social workers. All bodies providing services to vulnerable people must be held accountable for safeguarding, with transparent processes that will hold up under scrutiny. And underpinning all of our duties should be a coherent continuing professional development framework, reflecting the changing landscape of contemporary social work practice.
It is important that we return social work to the people it serves, and begin to value the opinions, knowledge and skills of social workers. It is crucial that politicians understand and respect the role of the profession, rather than rely on often negative media portrayals. Working across every constituency in the country, social workers are building community capacity and unlocking people’s potential. It is crucial that we are consulted when legislation relating to our profession is under review. We are the ones managing the challenges of implementing new laws and balancing them with the needs of our clients.
Real social work must take into account all the things that affect the people we work with. We are already advocates for our clients. This campaign is our chance to speak up and say what social work means to us as individual practitioners; through social media, in interviews, on blogs and more. New infographics produced by the college will give a bitesize view of how we have reached the current situation, the challenges we face and the key role social work has in our society.
Social work is a strong profession with a holistic base. We are trained to work with people who – regardless of the circumstances – are part of complex human systems. Whoever is in government after May needs to recognise that social workers are vital to the ongoing stability of society because we are right at the heart of communities. There are others who do similar work and build relationships just as effectively, but social workers have unique expertise. We assess and plan for need, we empower people, we put services around the person, and we work with children and families at early stages to prevent problems.
We hope you will join us and add your voice to the campaign for real social work. We’d like you to share our five-point plan with election candidates in your area – and we’re asking those candidates to raise the plan with party leaders. The college can put you in touch with other members in your constituency to help you to work together at a local level.
Your stories, opinions and ideas will be at the heart of this campaign. Using the hashtag #RealSocialWork, we’d love you to spread the word on Twitter and share what real social work means to you. You can also join in the conversation on Facebook and find out more on the TCSW website.
Social work can change lives, and right now we all have a chance to create the conditions for real social work to thrive.
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