Harvard UniversityPHYSICS 6990-Social-Work-Survey-Report2223

Survey Paper Contents About 1 About the survey 2 The impact of funding cuts 3 Procedure or service user driven? 7 Morale 9 Management & Support 10 Pressure & Time 14 Development & Training 18 Future of the work ...

Survey Paper Contents About 1 About the survey 2 The impact of funding cuts 3 Procedure or service user driven? 7 Morale 9 Management & Support 10 Pressure & Time 14 Development & Training 18 Future of the workforce 20 Motivation & Positivity 21 About the authors 24 Further information 24 Abstract Regina There have been significant advances: growing understanding of the high level of expertise needed in social work, appreciation that the work cannot be reduced to case processing but is a human service offering help to those in need, and increasing local and professional autonomy as central prescription has been radically cut. But, however skilled the social workers, it is difficult to do good work in a non-supportive environment and work conditions have undoubtedly got tougher; funding cuts, rising referral rates and continued public criticism creating a fearful culture. My review showed that, for too many people, ‘good’ social work had come to mean ‘complied with procedures and kept records up to date’; we were not looking enough at whether those receiving the service had benefited from their contact. Although the focus of my review was child protection, I was aware that managerialism had had similar effects in other areas of social work. Breaking out of the straitjacket of targets and performance indicators requires radical reforms. It needs social workers to regain confidence in theirexpertise, to assert that time spent with users is central to good practice, not something to be fitted in if all managerial tasks have been completed. It needs seniors to provide professional supervision, not just administrative checks. And we need to pay more attention to feedback from those who have received a social work service. So what picture do we get from these survey results? There are a few positive findings: despite all the difficulties, a quarter of respondents rate their morale as high or very high and only a third rate it as low or very low; many newly qualified workers appear to be given the extra support they need as they start their career. However, there is plenty here to depress the reader. While direct cuts to front line social work have been limited, there have been significant cuts that hamper social workers’ ability to provide a good service. Cuts to managers reduce the capacity of the organisation to provide a good level of supervision. Cuts to administrative staff increase the bureaucratic demands on social workers. Despite the removal of many nationally prescribed timescales and targets allowing more local flexibility, time with families still seems a low priority in many offices. What needs to change to counter the negative findings? Realistically, funding is not going to increase in the near future, so politicians and senior managers should take responsibility for advising how cuts can be handled and not leave it to front line workers to juggle unmanageable workloads with the ever-present fear that something will go wrong and they will be blamed for cutting corners. Priorities need to shift away from processes and towards actively helping individuals and families who need a social worker. One major under-used resource at present is the expertise in the workforce that cannot be fully utilised because of the dysfunctional conditions in which practitioners are working. Rectifying this will be the most productive line of action. About the survey The 2014-2015 Social Work Survey is the latest in a series of annual surveys by Liquid Personnel, the specialist social work recruitment consultancy. We have been conducting detailed opinion polls of social work practitioners for several years, looking at their views, the challenges they face, and the forces which impact upon their daily work. The first Social Work Survey was launched in 2010, looking at a range of elements including morale, working hours, and how to attract more people into the profession. Over the last 4 years, the survey has grown significantly both in terms of its scale and scope. We have looked in increasing depth at the working lives of the UK’s social workers, each year seeking to understand more about the profession, and also to highlight the key challenges arising. This has included assessing the manageability of caseloads, looking at a social worker’s typical day, and canvassing opinion on topical news stories from the closure of the GSCC to the introduction of the Frontline fast track social work training initiative. There have also been significant increases in the level of response. Whilst the 2010 survey generated a little under 300 responses, the 2014-2015 Social Work Survey was answered by Survey Paper1,571 social work practitioners of various levels, from newly qualified social workers through to directors, making it one of the largest ever independent surveys of UK social workers. For 2014-2015, we wanted to take another significant step forward, and teamed up with Professor Eileen Munro of the London School of Economics and Political Science. In June 2010, Professor Munro was commissioned by the government to conduct a review of child protection, with her final report published in 2011. This report made a number of recommendations to improve the system, with significant emphasis on shifting the focus away from targets and compliance, and towards the safety and welfare of children and young people. We worked together to create an accessible survey which would provide informative and insightful results. Consequently, this year’s survey looks at the extent to which Professor Munro’s original proposals have been brought into practice effectively, and how the challenges identified in the report affect not just child protection, but social workers across all disciplines.