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Social workers: have you ever had a security guard accompany you on a home visit?

One of the major talking points in episode 2 of social work documentary Protecting Our Children was the use of security guards on a home visit. We put together a light-hearted poll to find out just how widespread the practice is: Online Surveys &...

Published 9 Feb 2012 12:44 PM by Mad World

Filed under: bbc, children, media, protecting our children, security, social work, workforce

Protecting Our Children: Live chat is back on Monday

The second episode of BBC2 social work documentary Protecting Our Children screens on Monday 6 February at 9pm. And our live social work chat will be happening once again too. Join us and our panel of social work experts from 8.30pm as we preview and...

Published 2 Feb 2012 4:39 PM by Mad World

Filed under: bbc, protecting our children, social work

Protecting Our Children live chat - your comments

We had a great response to the live chat we organised during BBC social work documentary Protecting Our Children. Just click on the chat box on the page and you can review the 500+ comments made by our panel of experts and the social work contributors...

Published 31 Jan 2012 9:47 AM by Mad World

Filed under: children, media, protecting our children, social work, workforce

Protecting Our Children BBC social work doc: Live chat tonight

I'm sure you will have all heard about the BBC social work documentary, Protecting Our Children , which starts tonight (Monday). Don't forget that tonight you will be able to join a live discussion, directly before, during and after the programme...

Published 30 Jan 2012 9:40 AM by Mad World

Filed under: bbc, chat, children, protecting our children, social work, workforce

SCIE appoints new chief executive

News just in from the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) - Andrea Sutcliffe (left) has been appointed as its new chief executive, to replace outgoing head Julie Jones. Sutcliffe is currently the chief executive of the Appointments Commission...

Published 11 Jan 2012 11:28 AM by Mad World

Filed under: scie, social care, social work

Social care 2011: Who had a good year, who had a bad year?

by Mithran Samuel and Simeon Brody Good year Kaliya Franklin Franklin has emerged as one of the foremost service user bloggers and campaigners against cuts to disability benefits and care. Blogging at Benefit Scrounging Scum and The Broken of Britain...

Published 22 Dec 2011 9:30 AM by Mad World

Filed under: adults, children, Politics, social care, social work, workforce

Community Care's top 10 stories of 2011

We wrote hundreds of social care news stories, analysis pieces, features and good practice guides in 2011. But which stories proved most popular, in terms of hits, on our website? Here is the top 10, in reverse order: 10. Councils withdrawing social workers...

Published 20 Dec 2011 9:30 AM by Mad World

Filed under: 2011, adults, children, social care, social work, workforce

'This is early intervention': a social work view of family troubleshooters plan

David Cameron's plan to tackle 'problem families' is early intervention work by another name, according to a College of Social Work representative. "And a lot of early intervention services have been cut," pointed out Laura Eden...

Published 15 Dec 2011 3:12 PM by Mad World

Filed under: children and families, early intervention, social work

What do troubleshooters do that social workers don't?

David Cameron is to announce plans for a network of "troubleshooters" to give more focused support to troubled families. It all sounds very good but leaves me with a few thoughts. What will these "troubleshooters" do that social workers...

Published 15 Dec 2011 11:47 AM by Mad World

Filed under: children, david cameron, familes, Politics, social work

New social work boundaries tool and an ethical minefield

The GSCC has produced a really snazzy looking interactive tool which social workers and students can use to test their knowledge of professional boundaries. I had a go at it and particularly enjoyed the sound effects. The tool involves a number of different...

Published 24 Nov 2011 4:12 PM by Mad World

Filed under: conduct, gscc, social work, workforce

Community Care Live Children and Families: Highlights

Thousands of social workers, social care staff and students gathered at the Business Design Centre in London for Community Care Live Children and Families yesterday. There were lots of highlights and some incredibly popular sessions. Delegates queued...

Published 17 Nov 2011 3:53 PM by Mad World

Filed under: children, Community Care Live, social care, social work, students, training, twitter

A social worker's ode to hot desking

There was a time when people wrote poems about daffodils, or tigers or the night mail crossing the border. How times have changed. Here is a rather splendid poem about hot desking by an anonymous social worker: Hotdesking's fine if you're all...

Published 24 Oct 2011 5:15 PM by Mad World

Filed under: adults, children, hot desking, social care, social work, workforce

Podcast: homelessness, charging for care and social work assistants

Just finished editing Community Care's latest podcast in which we discuss the idea of housing homeless people before dealing with associated substance misuse problems, charing parents who put their children into care and news that social work assistant...

Published 7 Oct 2011 12:38 PM by Mad World

Filed under: adults, children, homelessness, podcast, social care, social work, workforce

Public sector stress and social workers

It's probably no suprise to readers that public sector workers are more likely to take time off due to stress . Our government's particular hatred for the public sector has seen it being blamed for an economic crisis caused by the financial sector...

Published 5 Oct 2011 5:00 PM by Mad World

Filed under: cuts, pressure, public sector, social work, stress, workforce

Twitter tips for social workers

An article on our Student Zone about using social media has prompted folk on Twitter to start thinking about what advice they would give social workers or students planning to use the micro blogging site. A new hashtag #twittertips4sw is being used to...

Published 5 Oct 2011 12:33 PM by Mad World

Filed under: media, social work, students, twitter, workforce

Laughter yoga for social workers

Will you be incorporating this into your social work practice in the UK? I would be interested to hear from anyone who tries it out. Read More...

Published 27 Sep 2011 3:58 PM by Mad World

Filed under: Mental Health, mindfulness, social work, workforce, yoga

Action for Happiness and meditation

There was an interesting piece in the Guardian earlier this week about a reporter who spent a week trying to integrate into their lives some of the tips for happier living produced by Action for Happiness. The experiment was apparently not without success...

Published 22 Sep 2011 5:49 PM by Mad World

Filed under: action for happiness, meditation, Mental Health, social care, social work, workforce

A reflection on England's riots and their impact on social care

I have just finished editing Community Care's latest podcast, which is a reflection on this week's riots in England. You can listen to it using the player below, or go to our podcast page . My colleagues and I enjoyed an unusually wide-ranging...

Published 12 Aug 2011 4:35 PM by Mad World

Filed under: crime, media, Politics, riots, social care, social work, workforce

I've got a caseload that's bigger than yours

An anonymous Community Care reader and social worker has sent in this rather splendid poem: I've got a caseload that's bigger than yours It's so large it won't fit in my drawers! All day long I struggle and sweat I'm a super-doopa...

Published 10 Aug 2011 4:56 PM by Mad World

Filed under: caseloads, poetry, social work, stress, workforce

Do social workers need iPads?

They may well be very nicely designed but I'm usually rather sceptical about people saying they "need" the latest shiny consumer gadget, such as the iPad. However, in an article in Bizgene , a social worker says it has really helped with...

Published 10 Aug 2011 2:38 PM by Mad World

Filed under: ipad, social work, technology

What does a mental health social worker do?

If you ever wondered then head down to Fighting Monsters who breaks it down in a very informative way. I'll certainly never complain of being busy again! (Actually, I'm sure I will but not for the next couple of hours anyway). Read More...

Published 2 Aug 2011 12:19 PM by Mad World

Filed under: Mental Health, social work, workforce

Does social work have confidence in its degree?

More than two-thirds of the people who voted in our online poll believe the social work degree is out of touch with practice (see below). Ok, so it wasn't a particularly scientific survey and respondents were self selecting but it's an interesting...

Published 1 Aug 2011 4:38 PM by Mad World

Filed under: social work, students, training, workforce

Does social work know where it's going?

Alice came to a fork in the road. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" responded the Cheshire cat. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."...

Published 29 Jul 2011 3:32 PM by Mad World

Filed under: philosophy, social work

Theories are ok, but social work training must get practical

One of my jobs is generally overseeing Community Care's Student Zone . Community Care has received a letter from a student about social work training which I thought would make an interesting guest post. Here it is: by Wendy Jones I am a student,...

Published 14 Jul 2011 3:06 PM by Mad World

Filed under: social work, students, workforce

Cardigan the dog responds to chief social worker 'rival' claim

Regrettably, I've had another communication from Cardigan the Dog, who insisted he be given a right of reply to the entry I posted yesterday on Humphrey the therapy dog. Here is what he had to say: There are a number of innacuracies and insubstantiated...

Published 8 Jun 2011 5:41 PM by Mad World

Filed under: cardigan, chief social worker, dogs, social work, workforce

Should social workers be rotated, like crops?

I know almost nothing about agriculture. But I do know that every now and again crops planted in a field are rotated, swapped with other crops, to prevent the field becoming fallow. As I understand it, too much of the same crop over a long period of time...

Published 23 May 2011 3:14 PM by Mad World

Filed under: carespace, social work, stress, workforce

Calling all international social workers

Wev'e set up a new sub forum for international social workers on UK social work community site CareSpace. All non-UK social workers are welcome to use it to share information, good practice or ask questions of their international colleagues. It's...

Published 6 May 2011 3:48 PM by Mad World

Filed under: international, social work

Social work: the novel, and new approach to bipolar

A US social worker has written a novel about a social worker and called it The Social Worker. You don't get much more social worky than that. The author hopes the book -- "which focuses on an abused child named Joey who eventually becomes a social...

Published 20 Apr 2011 3:36 PM by Mad World

Filed under: bipolar disorder, Mental Health, social work, US, workforce

Cardigan the social work dog: My manifesto for change

I don't often have guest posts on Mad World but this one struck me as unusual enough to warrant making an exception. We ran a story last week about Cardigan, the UK's first social work dog. As something of a joke we added his name to our poll...

Published 8 Apr 2011 1:38 PM by Mad World

Filed under: cardigan, social work, workforce

March 26, social workers and defence mechanisms

It seems lots of social workers joined their public sector colleagues, unionists and other on the 26 March demo. You can see a few pics here . And now for something completely different - a quiz to test your knowledge of psychologicial defence mechanisms...

Published 28 Mar 2011 5:16 PM by Mad World

Filed under: Mental Health, social care, social work, workforce

A different way to look at vulnerability

US social work academic Brene Brown argues that accepting vulnerability is an important personal step in becoming "wholehearted" and therefore more at ease with ourselves. Check out the video below. Read More...

Published 21 Mar 2011 3:34 PM by Mad World

Filed under: Mental Health, social work

Melancholia and World Social Work Day

Ok, these two topics aren't really connected, well, hopefully not anyway. Firstly Providentia has a fascinating look at an 1861 guide to melancholy. And of course don't forget that it's World Social Work Day tomorrow - surely an excuse for...

Published 14 Mar 2011 3:11 PM by Mad World

Filed under: depression, Mental Health, social work

Social workers urged to fight council cuts

Ok, things haven't quite got as a far as a general strike in the UK yet but I really like this striking image produced by Industrial Workers of the World principally in response to events in Wisconsin where the governor is attempting to introduce...

Published 9 Mar 2011 3:52 PM by Mad World

Filed under: cuts, Politics, social care, social work

Israeli social workers go for all out strike

It seems Isreali social workers could show their colleagues here in the UK a thing or two about radical industrial relations. According to Haaretz , social workers in Isreal are planning an indefinite strike with the aim of winnning a 35-40% pay rise...

Published 7 Mar 2011 3:47 PM by Mad World

Filed under: industrial action, israel, pay, social work, strike

New Community Care social work podcast launches today

If you are interested in social work stuff and like listening to things on the internet then you'll love the new Community Care podcast. Be gentle with us - it is our first attempt - but in this episode we discuss the glass ceiling facing black and...

Published 4 Mar 2011 9:24 AM by Mad World

Filed under: adults, children, media, podcast, social care, social work, workforce

What social workers think: the CareSpace weekly roundup

Far be it from me to blow my own trumpet, but I feel compelled to point out that I have written my first weekly round-up of the best bits from CareSpace - the forum for UK social workers. Do feel free to read and comment. Read More...

Published 21 Feb 2011 11:22 AM by Mad World

Filed under: carespace, social care, social work

The public perception of social work: long socks, plastic bags and a Renault 4?

Do you drive around in one of these? It's a Renault 4, by the way. According to appropriately named spoof news site The Spoof , social workers will be freed from a number of onerous regulations in April, including requirements to: drive a Renault...

Published 21 Feb 2011 11:06 AM by Mad World

Filed under: media, social work, social workers

Love, the Joy of Teen Sex and The Archers

First up, various academics, therapists and doctors have written to Channel 4 complaining about some of the messages communicated in its Joy of Teen Sex programme. We reported a couple of weeks ago that Channel 4 stopped referring to Ruth Corden as a...

Published 9 Feb 2011 4:18 PM by Mad World

Filed under: families, media, Mental Health, sex, sexual health, social work, young people

Social worker victim in new crime thriller

If you're a fan of the crime thriller genre you might be interested to know that a new offering from Ann Cleeves revolves around the murder of a social worker. Apparently the investigation by DI Vera Stanhope in Silent Voices revolves around a case...

Published 7 Feb 2011 2:11 PM by Mad World

Filed under: literature, media, social work

Social workers' £80,000 houseboat washed up on Essex coast

Rather sad story in the Mail about a 100ft houseboat rennovated by two social workers and featured on the TV show Grand Designs in 2007, which was left uninhabited on the Thames Estuary, broke free of its moorings and washed up on a beech in Westcliff...

Published 2 Feb 2011 3:50 PM by Mad World

Filed under: barge, essex, london, social work

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