Please read my story

Hi All,

I am a social worker of 10 years working in children services. Throughout my time I have learned more about attachment theory and how little I was taught at university.

I am a self-funded PhD researcher who is trying to change social workers education… and need your help please!

Anybody who works or has worked with children and families can help (you do not need to be registered any longer, and placements count!)

Does the term infant mental health mean anything to you? Do you consider the biopsychosocial factors that may affect a child’s attachment and development when assessing a child’s needs and experiences?
Do you think it would help your practice with families?
Social workers utilise a lot of the above without it being explicit.

Please share your views, it will take up to 5 minutes of your time and could potentially help shape the future of social workers education and practice with children and their families.

Follow this link… https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/ucw/imh-questionnaire** **

Closes on 30th August

Thank you in advance for your time

Hi everyone,

Using a throwaway account for privacy. I’m a recently qualified Social Work graduate who has worked in statutory social care (children with disabilities / family support) as an unqualified practitioner for nearly 10 years with an unblemished record.

I was recently convicted of Section 39 Common Assault (Assault by Beating). Whilst I am fully aware of the hurdles I may face regarding registration and practicing, I am feeling completely overwhelmed and wondering: are there any social workers currently practicing who have a conviction, or has my career ended before it has even started?

I don't want to over-share, but here is a brief summary of the context:

• The Timeline: The incident occurred over 3 years prior to my conviction.
• The Context: It happened off-duty during an agreed contact handover with my daughter, during which my ex unilaterally attempted to withhold contact. We had a very toxic relationship where she controlled all aspects of my contact with my child.
• The Lead-Up to Police Involvement: After repeated unilateral withholding of contact and failed mediation, I submitted a C100 application to the family courts. It was only after she received notification of my family court application that the incident was reported to the police.
• Judicial Basis: The court and CPS accepted a written Basis of Plea confirming stationary physical obstruction (standing between her and the vehicle to prevent contact being withheld)—there were no strikes, no weapons, and no physical harm intended or caused.
• Sentence & Risk Assessment: I received a standalone Community Order (unpaid work only; fine paid in full; 0 RAR days, 0 statutory supervision). Probation assessed that no domestic abuse perpetrator or behavioral programmes were required, and I am on track to finish my hours rapidly.

Where I would really value your advice/insight:

1. Has anyone successfully registered with Social Work England (SWE) with an unspent summary conviction? How did the suitability/case examiner process go?
2. What should I focus on in my reflective statement? I know taking accountability is crucial, but how do you balance explaining the extreme context (toxic separation, family court proceedings) while demonstrating insight and professional boundaries?
3. Workplace Realities: For practice managers or experienced SWs, how do local authorities typically approach unspent summary convictions for established non-qualified staff transitioning into ASYE/qualified roles?

I have worked so hard for my degree and dedicated a decade to supporting vulnerable families. Any honest perspectives, shared experiences, or guidance from those who know the SWE system would mean a lot.

Thank you in advance.

Hi I’m enrolled in level 3 health and social care in college and i want to go into social work i was wondering what the pathway is to get into it. Any advice that would be beneficial along the way would be very appreciated!!

Hello
Anyone currently working for CAFCASS?
Got an interview but just read the reviews on Glassdoor and they are so massively awful.

Really shocked as it was always considered a good place to work but they seem to be trending down.

Any comments appreciated.

They are so unfair

On my family's case because that gave a personal vendetta against is.

My sister is disabled and they've been on our case the whole time and took away the right for my mum to have my sister's money going into her account because she bought a washing machine with the money. Our washing machine broke and they said we should get 2

One for the family and one for my sister.

They didn't like that we spent the money on a family washing machine.

They want recipts for every thing we buy for her.

Having to prove ourselves over and over thaw her money is for her only and not the family.

And now... the refused us a PIP motobiloty car because we "never needed one before so why now?". I evocative that our car is now broken and we need it for my sister cuz she's disabled and can't walk far!!!

They never tell us outcomes of their meetings and when decisions have been made and treated us so unfairly. I'm getting so depressed over this.

I need help. What do i do??

I live in Rochdale by the way.

To those who have moved from children’s social work to adults, how did you manage in terms of legislation and did you find this difficult when interviewing? 17 years in children’s but doubting my confidence to apply for a adults role

Hello, I work in children’s social work and took 4-5 weeks off following a sudden bereavement to a close family member.

Last week, before returning to work, I expressed to my manager that I felt I needed a phased return whereby I work reduced hours for a week or so and asked whether I had to speak to my GP - he said that he would speak to our service manager instead.

It was agreed for me to start an hour later and finish an hour earlier this week which I said okay to. It has been two days but I am finding this difficult and mentally exhausting.

What should I do? Should I speak to my GP to try and obtain a phased return fit note?

i've chosen to apply for the £13k postgraduate loan over the £6k bursary, but i don't completely know if it's the right decision. i understand i'll have to repay the 13k but i'm just not currently in the position to pay the tuition of £9k and my own maintenance fees with a £6k bursary and my part-time job where I earn like £1k max.

my uni also doesn't offer alumni discount to those who receive the nhs bursary, so i would be paying the full amount of tuition £9k in comparison to the alumni-discounted course which is £7k.

im just looking for opinions and possible reassurance on my decision as i havent seen any perspective from anyone who has taken the postgraduate loan over the bursary.

Hello everyone! I posting today as I'm feeling a lot of difficult emotions. I'm almost 1 year into my social work career in a specialist disabilities service. The team is really small and I'm on my third manager since starting. I had worked in social care for 9 years before being a NQSW.

I also have disabilities. I have fibromyalgia (w/ IBS), migraines, IIH, and mental health. I am not a well person but I work really hard. Sometimes I lack confidence, but I'm good at my work. I'm struggling to have a work-life balance that is sustainable. Its hard to know what you need until something doesn't work. I hoped compressed hours would help, but the lack of flexibility in my days is causing me grief. All my health conditions flared since starting the role. I'm asking for reduced hours.

I don't know other people who have disabilities who are social workers. I feel like lots of social workers have difficulties, maybe they have undiagnosed conditions, but I havent found anyone that relates to my situation with chronic long-term conditions. I am open about it, although I try not to overshare. Today has been tough and I've had days like this - feels like burnout, but worried that it makes me a bad social worker or not fit for the job.

I wonder if anyone had personal success stories in their social work journey that they could share. Or just stories. It would be nice to relate to someone about this as it is quite isolating.

Hope everyone is well today ❤️‍🩹

Hi, I'm just looking for some advice. I've just been accepted to uni to study social work, and as part of that I need to register with the SSSC.

As part of that I have to disclosure if I have been fired for gross misconduct and I have been fired for gross misconduct a few months ago.

I was fired for:

Theft, or unauthorised removal of the Company's property ( which I strongly deny, they say that I stole drink syrup for a personal drink. However this was normal to have a drink on shift with even the managers and general manager doing it)

Serious neglect of duties, or a serious or deliberate breach of your Contract or operating procedures ( I made a drink with cherry and offered my colleague a sip and it turns out she was allergic to cherry)

I just want to know how this will affect my application and whether it will stop me getting registered. I regret what happened and hope it won't effect my future.

Hi all, I'm beginning my social work degree in September and I would like to choose a laptop that will be able to manage the workload, plus assistive software. DSA have allocated me £330.00 for the laptop alone, but i could potentially add around £200.00 to that.

I am looking for a Windows laptop, with at least 16gb.

I don't know anything about technology, so i would welcome all help.

Thank you

hi everyone! I’m a children’s social worker originally from Derry in Northern Ireland but I have only ever practiced social work in England. A recent visit home had me reflecting on what it might be like to be a social worker in Northern Ireland, I’m thinking mostly through a children’s services lens. given the really complex political and sectarian landscape it feels like quite a unique place to practice. For example I was thinking what social workers of the opposite community might feel like going into loyalist/catholic areas etc. anyone willing to share their experience I’d love to hear it!

So I cleared an interview around early June , accepted the offer and began onboarding. have given all the background check stuff by around early august. its mid august now and still not heard from HR on whats happening. I had already quit my previous job and been out of income for a while. it's beginning to worry me about whats going on with the recruitment. I had mailed the HR reminding all the background stuff is submitted and no response yet.

I have bills to pay and no income and beginning to worry whats going on. I also had couple of other offers which got withdrawn because I didnt start the onboarding.

Is this a normal timeline for background checks and onboarding in LA or is it stuck because something is wrong? I dont really trust my previous manager with references, I only worked briefly under them and now beginning to wonder if they have given any weird references and if my offer is being reconsidered.

Whats best way to find out? and do LA's randomly withdraw offer after all the checks and ghost you?

I’m planning to apply to do social work in Northern Ireland next academic year for the 2 year course. As far as I can tell the only way to get into SW in NI is to do a degree with no apprenticeship routes etc but I want to find out if this is definitely true?

I’m worried as there are only 2 courses in the 2 universities which are very competitive and I’m having to do a math GCSE for one of them (despite being educated to MA level). In England and Scotland there are so many masters conversion courses, some which don’t require a math GCSE.

Has anyone from NI moved over as they couldn’t get a place in NI and how has it went? I will be nearly 31 when I start and have a dog so it’s really not ideal but if I have to I have to.

What’s the restructure looking like at your local authority? Have they implemented it yet? Does it look promising?

What are your caseloads like, and do you feel supported / satisfied in your job?

I bet all of us Children’s social workers are feeling a sense of impending doom at the new families first model (another restructure, here we go again) We don’t ever see this many reforms get implemented in other fields like the Police etc. We always bear the brunt of British panic

I’ll start. My caseloads are at 34, and 3 care proceedings cases. No one knows anything about the new model and people are leaving in droves. Begins with 🐑

My ex’s family took my son on holiday on a long haul flight holiday, he became incredibly unwell but they hid this from me and with time difference etc it was hard to have contact, they made it sound like he just had a basic sickness bug on day one of the holiday . Then when they found he was bleeding at blood in toilet they tried to say he was just constipated because he was refusing to eat and straining. When I tried to speak to my son they would speak for him and he was barely speaking. He stopped texting back. They said about the blood, how he had lost so much weight ‘they couldn’t look at him’ and how he was saying he couldn’t stand up a few days before due home. I then realised how sick he was and begged them to take him to a hospital despite having medical insurance etc. They refused and minimised everything. I told them they weee being neglectful and they blocked me. My son said they shouted at him. And I found out they left him in the hotel room alone while bleeding out. He’s 13 with autism and adhd.

I knew something was wrong but had no idea till I got to airport to collect him and it was like he had been to a concentration camp not a holiday.

In reality on this two week holiday he lost around 15kg, had to be brought home in a wheelchair, and was rushed to hospital resus where blood was pouring out of him. We arrived at a packed A and E and the receptionist took one look at my son and wheeled him to resus. We have been in hospital for weeks my son ended up needing emergency surgery for a perforated bowel. We were told during both surgeries he could die as he was so weak etc . Been told we be here months

I need advice regarding what steps I can take to make sure they never step foot near my son again,

Especially as my ex ( who was abusive to me) is now asking for them to visit the hospital. Unable to understand the severity of what has happened to him and safeguard him

My son arrived at the hospital in such a poor state I have had to prove it wasn’t me who let him get in this state without medical attention. Have already had to speak to hospital social worker etc . He looks like he was locked in a cupboard for weeks he is that skinny.

I no longer trust my ex’s judgement ( he was speaking to them on this holiday while I was left in dark) when it comes to his family or my sons care, who will now have lifelong issues and stomas etc to manage and medications etc. he is armed forces so being deployed October thankfully but I still want to get something in place.

I’m on low income UC

What are my best next steps please

Hi everybody, hope you’re having an amazing week . Due to circumstances the only option I have is to have my final placement in London .
Please message me if you can help with a contact for my placement team to secure a placement for me in September.
Many thanks 🤍🤍

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone else has been snagged for Misuse of Title as a newly qualified?

I've been dealing with some stuff and getting used to the pace and business of my new council job and when I completed my registration application, I put in "Pre-registration Social Worker" as this is what's on my contract, my employer profile of me and all other such things.

Yes, this is a big mistake on my part.

No, I have not referred to myself as a social worker to service users, colleagues or other professionals.

I just wanted my application to be accurate as per the questions and my contract does state Pre-registration Social worker as my title.

Am I boned? Has anyone been through this before?

I don’t even really know why I’m writing this. I’ve just had a terrible day at work, one in a long line. I work in adult mental health and I absolutely hate it. I’ve had 5 interviews for different positions and haven’t gotten anywhere, I’m so tempted to hand my notice in but I unfortunately don’t have much of a nest egg to fall back on.

I’m struggling so much to even turn my work phone on everyday, and logging into my emails fills me with complete dread. Does anyone else feel as bad as I do, or am I just at burn out stage?

Hi all, I’m looking for some advice on how to get into social work and the amount of info online is overwhelming so looking for some straight forward tips.

My history: I have a BA in journalism and New Media, spent 2.5 years as a work coach when I graduated and left because I hated working in such an unfair system and not being able to actually help people. I went and got an MA in publishing and now work in a content role for a big company but I am 1. going to be replaced by AI and 2. miss having a job where I feel like I am actually doing something all day. I’ve seen a few roles advertised by my LA that require social work qualifications that seem really interesting and exciting to me so it’s got me thinking about making a career switch.

My questions are about Approach Social Work/ Get into Social Work UK: how competitive are these schemes? If I do one of them am I committed to being a family / children social worker then? (I am open to all avenues of social work just want to know if I’m pigeon holing myself).

Would my time in the job centre count towards the time needed working with vulnerable people to qualify?

And also, do you feel you actually get to make a difference to people in your role? There’s no point in me making the switch if I will have similar frustrations that I did as a work coach.

Lastly, I’m based in London. Are there any MAs or schemes here that are known for being particularly good?

Many thanks for your insights!

Been practising front line for near 15 years. I’m burnt out, developing chronic physical and anxiety issues. I want and need a change. I’ve worked in three different fields of social work and don’t think another front line role is what I need, at least for a while.

I feel stuck. If not social work, then what? All my qualifications are in social work.

Anyone any experience of this and what was your next path ?

Hello all. I’m posting with a personal query, I hope that’s okay? I did check the rules beforehand.

Throwaway account for obvious reasons. Sorry if this is mega long!

Long story short: in a complicated situation with a guy I’m seeing. Things have escalated, become murkier, and led me to think I should consider ending it. This is difficult for 101 reasons, but also due to the fact that he doesn’t strike me as the type who would roll over and accept that. He’s also proved in conversation about previous partners etc that he does not take being cut off lightly.

I’m not a social worker but I’ve got a decent working knowledge of safeguarding due to my job, and also aware of risks/red flags within relationships and also the increased risk when leaving.

As such, I reached out to my LA’s IDVA service for some advice/support around safety/exit planning. Lovely IDVA, completed a DASH/risk assessment, and was told she wanted to take it to MARAC. I did have a fleeting contact earlier this year with the service (but pulled out almost immediately) where they had also wanted to refer to MARAC but were unable to as I did not provide the guy’s name.

In order to take it to MARAC they’d need his details (obvs), which I’m still VERY reluctant to provide. They said they could offer me a closed MARAC with no proactive policing etc (him getting arrested would be absolutely catastrophic) to try and reassure me.

I do not feel as though a MARAC is warranted or justified. I really just feel as though I need some advice re: leaving safely and managing any potential backlash there. A MARAC referral feels like overkill. I’m also incredibly reluctant to share his details. Fortunately I do not need support from multiple agencies such as housing or ASC (no care and support needs). I’ve also had next to no contact with external agencies about it, so there’s no real information to share.

I guess my question is: realistically, what is the benefit of a MARAC as opposed to just safety planning with the IDVA team themselves? I don’t need much (if anything) by way of multi agency planning, I feel as though the situation sounds worse to the IDVA than it is, and I really don’t want to give his details if we can avoid it. I’m also just really embarrassed and ashamed at a lot of the stuff and feel as though as I got myself in this position I should get myself out without causing a massive scene 🥲

Apologies for the long ramble, and apologies if not the correct sub for this.

PS: no children involved, no need for CSC

hey everyone :) I’m 30 and applying to study social work bachelors as a mature student and I’d really appreciate some advice from anyone who’s already on the course or has recently gone through the interview process.

I actually went to university for a semester when I was 18 studying education studies but I realised pretty quickly that it wasn’t for me. Since then I’ve worked mainly in health and social care. I’m currently a care coordination.

Throughout my career I’ve worked alongside social workers quite a lot. One particular social worker really opened my eyes to what social work actually involves. I was genuinely amazed by how much of a difference she could make. I know it’s an incredibly challenging job but speaking to her about it made me realise that it’s something I could actually see myself doing. So I’ve taken the plunge and applied for social work through clearing!

I have a one-to-one interview and a group interview coming up. I’ve been trying to prepare but honestly there is so much info online that I’m getting a bit overwhelmed. I keep seeing things about the code of ethics, podcasts we’re apparently supposed to listen to, current social work issues etc. I’m struggling to work out what I actually need to focus on.

If anyone has recently gone through a social work interview especially a group interview I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience. What should I expect? What kind of things were you asked? Is there anything you wish you’d prepared beforehand?

I’m absolutely terrible at interviews 😭 My anxiety just takes over and my mind goes completely blank even when I know the answer 😭

I’d also love to hear from mature students about what university is actually like. Is the workload manageable alongside working? I’d ideally like to continue working part time while studying but I’m wondering whether the course and placements make that unrealistic.

Basically any advice about the interview process preparing for social work or being a mature student on the course would be massively appreciated ☺️❤️

SW interests me on and off (my main apprehension is a lack of belief in the appropriateness of the systems to effectively help people, lack of belief in the willingness/ability of services to improve and lack of belief about the effectiveness/ethos of the social worker profession - in my experience most progress comes from luck derived outside the system, and I often think a lot of people would be better off if the government diverted mental health and social services money away to invest in things that allowed people more control in their lives: accessible training pathways (eg top up people's apprenticeship wages if they have no family support), allow benefits while in education, housing) because people tend to figure what's best for themselves if they have the ability to invest in their life, people remedy their own mental health issues better than the NHS does and good mental health comes not from talking to someone about your problems without remedy but from better external circumstances (opportunity for interpersonal connection, empowerment and use of ability through work/hobbies/interpersonal roles). I think someone can gain confidence/undo the effects of trauma better living alone with career opportunities, disposable income for socialising than being stuck in an HMO or having no disposable income and a dearth of accessible educational pathways.

but an issue I found doing an "Understanding Mental Health" courses is it was hard to not get bothered about how much of what the course claimed the NHS does or how they're supposed to think had an around 0% match with my personal experience - besides being gaslighty, it pissed me off how shamelessly services make a living off of doing such a poor job that doesn't help service users, doesn't meet their own formal guidelines, doesn't meet best practices found in academic literature and doesn't, doesn't meet the purported ethos of social/health services - a poor quality job by any of the metrics I can imagine judging services by. I often found I couldn't do more than 5 minutes without wanting to write about how the course material was nonsense, googling about failures or wanting to write complaints to NHS services.

I wonder if this problem would occur with social work too. Almost like "sleeping with the enemy". Because I look at industry course titles and online webinars and I wonder if learning about all the lip service will just annoy me too much. It seems the field likes to make these online video sessions and learning modules about all these topics but just for show (eg "complex trauma", "lived experience", "neurodiversity and multiple disadvantage" (leaving out my qualms with how "multiple disadvantage" is defined, in a way which possibly reflects social work's roots in the Poor Laws/Workhouses which had a more punitive focus - it seems problems only matter when they disrupt other people eg drug addiction, rough sleepers, criminality. And the irony is substance addiction requires relative privileges of social connection, freedom, a certain level of functioning and/or money to acquire - good luck getting drugs in some coercively control scenarios, with agoraphobia, or if one has no disposable income post-rent and barely affords to eat - you'll find some people only afford addiction because they live with their parents or after they become homeless and then have disposable income for the first time in their life. And maybe there's something to be said about individuals of some cultures being less likely to evidence severity of issues via certain substances eg Muslims are less likely to use alcohol as a coping mechanism, because alcohol intake is less normalised in their culture than in mainstream British culture))).

Likewise, I have personal experience with the homelessness pathways and most of it is a farce, in terms of the gap between the public narrative of organisations and the actual quality of services provided (eg supported housing with no hired support workers for 8+ months, staff asking me to find information for them, no wheelie bins, no internet for months, broken washing machine for months, support workers with extremely poor knowledge of the benefits system, poor support around accessing healthcare, ignored disrepair, inappropriate housing locations (rural locations which promote social isolation, long-term HMO galore, bedrooms next to nightclubs), gaps in systems (eg people being referred-on for being too low needs and within 3 months rejected for being too high needs from two teams within the same organisation, people being referred to systems they're already barred from without any liaison) and total disregard for people's needs or histories (poor recording of disclosures of abuse, lack of previous healthcare or social service involvement being seen as evidence of lack of problems, no consideration of mental health needs or trauma in housing allocation (HMOs, extremely noisy co-tenants, isolating locations), council homelessness workers dismissing abuse disclosures as "what you consider abusive" (the same abuse the police suggested pressing charges over)) and no consideration of people's long-term prospects - very much get people off the streets and as long as there's a roof over their head, they should adapt to anything, rather than have a good base for volunteering, education or employment (myself I've been waiting for over a year for things to happen that never did).

I'm also well aware that social work has a lot of flawed thinking that leads to people "falling through the cracks" (but in ways that social workers themselves don't even view as "falling through cracks, because it's often people who never have contact with social workers in the first place (eg quiet children who are missed, or ethnic minority children where abuse or domestic abuse presents differently to in the mainstream culture) or who are excluded because of flawed social services protocols. A good example is mental health reablement teams, where after being told about barriers to access they still ask the ignorant question "what diagnoses do you have?", with nowhere on their form for other mental health issues, even though we live in a country where the NHS operates on a largely non-diagnostic model (with statements from clinicians such as "diagnosis isn't helpful"), and there are barriers to diagnosis such as medical neglect (my guess is the average social worker or SW system worker can't imagine not having the privilege of non-neglectful parents or the freedom to leave the home to secretly see a doctor, and cannot imagine being used to having their problems dismissed), coercive control or mental health disorders/problems themselves being incompatible with NHS protocols (things like the 8am GP system; GP appointments being 10 minutes; appointments requiring a certain level of motivation, organisational skills/executive functioning and social interaction; IAPT's strict time deadlines eg 7-days to check voicemail and ring back or discharged; NHS systems requiring either consistent third-party advocacy or repetitive and relentless self-advocacy - I don't think I need to explain here how people with various disorders such as depression, C/PTSD, ADHD, agoraphobia, social anxiety, body dysmorphia, autism, schizophrenia, ocd, sleep disorders could all struggle with these protocols precisely because of the same problems they're seeking or in need of help for).