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Why do we want social workers?
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The role of social workers is likely to change, as many disabled and older people are now receiving cash via individual budgets or direct payments to pay for their support needs, instead of having services provided by Social Services.
In future social workers may become Support Brokers to help people spend the cash by choosing the services that best meet their assessed needs. For example, a Support Broker could give information about the range and type of services that are available for people to purchase.
Do you think this is what social workers should do?
We are conducting research into people’s views about the future role of social workers. All responses will be treated as confidential.
Professor David Leece, Manchester Metropolitan University
Dr. Janet Leece, Honorary Research Fellow, Staffordshire University
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To be honest I'm not entirely sure what my social worker *does* at the moment!
I know she came to my house, talked to me for an hour, and then signed a care plan (mostly copy/pasted from electronic notes I gave her from my DLA form) to say I was eligible for a few hours of personal care and a few hours of social care each week.
But everything else has been at least one step removed. The assessment for the equipment I have was done by an OT. I was talked through the Direct Payments stuff by an Independent Living Advisor from the same organisation who now do my payroll stuff for my PA.
Every time I have had a disability question for her (is there an accessible transport service for people who can't use the bus? what should I do if I break up with my boyfriend who fills the role of my main carer? who can help me with my DLA form? etc) she just tells me to go to the CAB, as if going into town and spending the day at the CAB office was the easiest thing in the world for someone with mobility and fatigue issues. I don't bother contacting her any more.
I fear that a "Support Broker" will be much like a "Job Broker" - hands you a local freebie paper and tells you to find the information yourself, then takes the credit.This is a reply to this message.
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What's the difference between a real social worker and a bogus one?
You get more visits from the bogus one
peteThis is a reply to this message.
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I'd see what the result of the governments paper on welfare reform is before I'd commit any research to paper.
Just trying to be helpful and save you some frustration...
I suspect that social workers will be the second level of people we will have to convince that we are in need of assistance but remain in our own homes, after convincing the ATOS medical interviewer that is.This is a reply to this message.
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Adult Care Social Workers are already "Support Brokers".
They visit to assess how many hours care you need. Then discuss with you whether to go for Direct Payments or whatever else may be suitable.
That is what they do.
What do you think they do?
If you can explain what you think Social Workers do then it might illuminate this discussion and give you more comprehensive answers.This is a reply to this message.
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In the new personalised system proposed by the government disabled and older people will assess their own needs rather than social workers doing this. If eligible for support people will then be given a budget or pot of money to spend on their needs. It has been suggested that the role of social workers will be to help people find the services they need based on their local knowledge. But it doesn't have to be a social worker it could be a support broker employed by a private company or self employed. Any thoughts on this?
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Yes, here's my thoughts.
Social Workers are trash. Uneducated, power crazy trash.
My only contact with them proved this. I shall elaborate if required.
If eligible for support ....
And just who will decide this? The uneducated social worker?
Or ATOS, as it secures yet another government contract designed to ensure that as few people as possible are deemed eligable?
Treating the disabled as stupid doesn't help at all. Given an amount of money, surprisingly enough called DLA, we actually in the main manage to find our own services.
Paying someone else only reduces the amount available for care and mobility.
Which is a stupid idea.
Just my thoughts.
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When it comes to daily living needs, social workers (along with occupational therapists) are invariably able-bodied and not in the best place to judge. It can take forever to get anything out of them. (I've been waiting over a year for them to arrange an emergency alarm). It's also my observation that they tailor provision to what they have easily available, not what is best for the individual. We should decide what we need.
The one brilliant thing my social services department does is organise a fully-accessible social group: crafts, boating, computer classes, sports, etc. with transport and assistance all taken care of. I don't have the hassle of phone calls to check if venues are accessible, getting up early to book the dial-a-ride, etc....I can just go along on the day if I'm well enough. It's also the only opportunity for me to go out and have fun as 'just one of the gang' instead of 'special needs girl'. But the funding allocated for this is due to be stopped in 2 months' time.This is a reply to this message.
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disabled and older people will assess their own needs rather than social workers doing this.
We already assess our own needs - that is why we or other professionals contact Social Services.
If eligible for support people will then be given a budget or pot of money to spend on their needs
That is currently what is *supposed* to happen and then we are allocated funding through Direct Payments.
However, what *actually* happens is that we assess our own needs and then get told by Social Worker or Social Work Assistant that we don't need what we've asked for or are not eligible for it.
Most Social Services staff who work with disabled and elderly people are not Social Workers, they are Social Work Assistants, because it is cheaper to use Assistants than Social Workers.
So the *new* system won't be any different from what already exists.
Except, paying a private company or self-employed person would cost more than a Social Work Assistant, which means that the pot of money for our care will be less than it already is because it will be needed to pay the higher employment costs of the new employees.This is a reply to this message.
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In a rush at the minute so will reply more fully later but just wanted to say that working as a support broker is not what most social workers had in mind when they decided to train, nor does the training prepare them for that role.
I qualified in 1991 and expected to be an independent and professional practitioner, working where necessary with other professionals to ensure that people's widest needs were considered and hopefully met.
I do welcome the integration of health and social care as the boundaries between health and social needs is very blurred but always felt that my role was to be on my clients sie, working with them , collaboratively to empower - sorry very social work word - to achieve their goals.
David - did you used to live in Keele?This is a reply to this message.
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It has been suggested that the role of social workers will be to help people find the services they need based on their local knowledge. But it doesn't have to be a social worker it could be a support broker employed by a private company or self employed. Any thoughts on this?
Again, I think it'll be like the myriad Job Brokers (Remploy, Shaw Trust, etc) who are supposed to help and support us with finding suitable work.
Someone with no understanding of the issues we individually deal with and precious little training is going to "signpost" us to information that we could quite easily find of our own accord.
They will then expect to be *paid* for treating us like idiots who couldn't have googled/looked in the Yellow Pages/flicked through the local free paper/asked a friend/etc without their help.
Furthermore I suspect the budget to pay them for treating us like idiots will be far, far higher than the amount of money that actually filters through to us for, you know, covering our needs on a practical day to day level.
I also believe there will be an element of fear - you don't dare complain about your (insert unprofessional here) in case they get your benefit/support package stopped.This is a reply to this message.
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Why do we want social workers?
I *don't* want a social worker!
Between bad experiences of social workers as a child and seeing how my dad gets treated by his social services dept I'm going to keep on avoiding them for as long as I humanly possibly can. I'd rather live in a pigsty than have to grovel to someone less educated than me for a few PA hours a week.
If I were *truly* allowed to self-assess for the care hours I need without having to go through a social worker I probably would. There are times when I'm ill when the support would be valuable.
But having to wade through all that bureaucracy? Muddling on by myself is easier work at the moment.This is a reply to this message.
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When it comes to daily living needs, social workers (along with occupational therapists) are invariably able-bodied and not in the best place to judge.
My last OT (before this one) was Deaf and brilliant.
The DDA is a unique piece of legislation in that it doesn't work both ways. It's illegal to discriminate against a disabled person but it's perfectly legal to discriminate against someone for not being disabled. Social services depts should take advantage of this and advertise their OT/SW vacancies as being for disabled people only. That'd right a few wrongs.This is a reply to this message.
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Yeah ! the only good social worker is none at all really... as for being 'brokers' the mind boggles some jumped up nobody you see once a millenenium decides where your care should come from is outrageous. we need disability bodies to advise where best it should come from and from whom. I am appalled charities are heavily lobbying social service in the UK and vying for our care, and not one word of consultations toward us, you can be sure the SS via LA's are gunna pick the cheapest, and you will like it or do the other thing.
The danger is charities are nor professionals, most of them are rank amateurs and unaware these days, the RNID was heavily lobbying behind deaf people's back to provide services from them we didn't want, and weren't consulted for, and we had to complain to LA's assisting them with cold calling on us and mass mailing to give them money too.
The RNID used our LA to ask us for money and the LA poaid their bluddy postage too ! They do this with no right at all. SS are in a powerful position to hand our care over to vested interests and by LA demands to find the cheapest they can get, I don't ever want to see any other SW who just turns up on the off chance deciding my care future, buzz off ! I give me the dosh I will decide where it is spent, I know what I need.
My autistic son was allocated a SW 9 times in 4 YEARS and we have only ever met one and only him ONCE he lasted 2 weeks and went... the SS simply could not employ a SW with enough knowledge to handle an autistic. SW and SS lack continuity of care and support, they haven't got their act together and in many respects disabled do not want them any more, power to us, not them.
I would rather use direct payments to empower my peers, not put wages in AB's pockets...This is a reply to this message.
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Hoss normally I would agree with you but I find your comments a bit insulting. I appreciate that your experience of social workers has been negative, and I would never try to excuse anyone's poor behaviour, but that does not give you the right to tar everyone with the same brush.
Social Workers are trash. Uneducated, power crazy trash.
Uneducated - no, I have a Bsc in Psychology and am now studying for my Msc in Social Work and have worked for childrens services as an assistant SW for 6 years. I also have a great deal of life experience as someone who has had a social worker. And I don't make the assumption that these things alone will make me a good social worker, I will continue to learn by reflecting on my own practice and others and by actively seeking feedback from the people I support. I won't talk for other people but I work and continue to work very hard to gain my qualification and education, at much personal and financial cost to myself - and no, I don't want a round of applause for that, I just don't want to be called uneducated.
Power crazy - no, in my experience social workers have the power to make recomendations, not the power to make decisions. This often leaves us feeling useless and unable to help even when our assessments and the persons are the same (and in my experience they often are the same). In fact I am hoping that the personalisation stuff will enable SWs to offer something which actually works, because frankly its hard doing a job when you try your hardest to support people and managers and the authorities refuse to give you the tools and resourses to give people what they need and want. It's thankless and hard and makes me want to cry, especially as I'm a service user too and know how frustrating it is to be on that side of the fence!
Trash - thanks mate but this isn't a view shared by everyone. In fact just the other day I visited a woman who remarked how pleased she was to have and SW and how refreshing it was to have an SW who has a disability and "gets it". We worked together on her care plan and she was thrilled because I was able to make suggestions that she'd not even thought of.
I freely admit that some social workers are pants but some of us actually take pride in the work we do and all of the workers that I come into contact with share a strong ethos of working in partnership with people because they recognise that they are the experts in their own lives and our role is not to pass judgement on their lives but to use our skills to help get them the services they need.
No it doesn't always work but to blame social workers is too simple and misses the wider picture which in my view is this country's lack of positivity around the value of people with disabilities, lack of funding for services, the lack of creative thinking and the governements properganda that disabled people are lay-abouts just to win a few cheap votes without actually addressing the real issues.
I'm just sick and tired of being told I'm usless and don't positively contribute to peoples lives just because I work in social work.
Rant over
RainbowWheels
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I'm with you, RainbowWheels. A lot of social workers go into the profession because they have experienced illness, disability, poverty or family difficulties themselves. Many of these same people are Oxbridge educated in other subjects and go on to qualify as postgraduates after work experience as unqualified workers which drew them into the field.
To insult them as 'trash' is to insult your own cohorts. Yes some people have bad experiences, but this also goes for doctors, nurses and every other of the caring professions. They deal with massive caseloads and pitiably small resources and hold on to their integrity in spite of the efforts of the media to undermine them.
If you don't like what they do then I suggest you train yourself so you can see how challenging the job is.This is a reply to this message.
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I'm with Rainbow and Darrow as well though I do acknowledge and believe that people have had bad experiences with social workers.
One thing that drew my to social work was my own experience as a mental health service user which I hoped I could use to help to improve other people's lives. If I'm honest I probably startede as a bit of a do-gooder but I became much humbler as time goes on.
My own issues mean I was only in the profession for four years and I do miss it terribly but I am using my professional and personal skills now in my work as a service user consultant. I learned the basics in my training but have gone on learning from all the people I have worked with - professionals as well as service users.
I will never defend bad practice, though I may understand how it happens, and want to applaud good practice which does exist but is often not recognised.
I watched Panorama tonight about children's services in Coventry and felt nothing but admiration for the work that is being done in adverse circumstances.
Do complain if your service is bad - it's part of my work to help to address service user dissatisfaction with services and to make services more responsive to what people need and want. Please do also give credit where it's due.
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Social workers for the deaf were a positive hindrance, there was no doubt about this at all. up until the 1990s few had any qualifications in communicating to their deaf charges. The power they exerted over deaf lives was flagrant abuse of human rights nothing less, they took decisions for deaf with bare if any deference to what deaf wanted. They interfered with their children's upbringing, choice of partners, and all sorts.
It was a great relief when interpreters (Private), came into their own, and we were given choices who we could use and found out how deaf were being exploited by the system via SW. The sheer joy of being ASKED do deaf want or not want something was a revelation up until then the SW word was law, and they decided everything.
The SW got stroppy because terps got more money than they did, unsurprising terps were professional communicators and social workers were not, and then we moved terps in alongside SW making their position untenable in many cases, now, who need 'em... in a hissy fiit 10 years ago SW withdrew from offering communication support, GOOD ! they were amateurs anyway, but you can't help feeling good GOD they have been law to the deaf for 30 years prior to that. The arrogance was despicable from them too. Good riddance.This is a reply to this message.
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Sorry, I have meant to come back to this thread and apologise earlier.
I know SW's are not uneducated, or power crazy ot trash, and I apologise for that.
However I have had a couple of lousy experiences with them, well more than a couple
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The only SW I did get along with was in a social setting and she worked in the Prison Service so unlikely to affect me or my thinking much.
I just get the feeling that SW's are being removed more and more from social work, and being caught in between the client and the system, and the welfare refoms will only make bigger puppets of them.
Additionally, when I was supposed to be receiving constant care 24/ 7 I was visited by someone from the Adult Care team who just claimed I needed, well nothing. Absolutely nothing but insults and accusations of fraud.
Bearing in mind I could not walk, could not easily be understood, had limited hearing blah, blah, had no wheel chair, no care, no cooker, no carpets, and no bed I think that they migt have assessed the situation a bit better.
So if they turn to these people again, what can I expect? Well an outright denial that I can receive any help, again.
SW are not trained medics, so how can they assess us? Well the one I met assessed me as being in receipt of too much benefit. And that was it.
After poking and prying into my entire private life.
Several complaints later and the manager came to see me and offered me two tap turners and a grab rail which I waited 6 months for.
So I am confused. Just what are Social Workers, social work assistants, Social Services and Adult Care teams actually doing?
And what is it they may be suggested to be doing in future?
Sounds like less social work and more assessing, which in my experience is not good.This is a reply to this message.
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i never see my social worker and when i do the first thing that comes out of her mouth is "we havent any money "
Oh and come to think about it she doesnt seem to know didly squat about disability .This is a reply to this message.
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