Anyone out there working with the above challenges on a daily basis? How do you meet them?
The social work reform board has set a standard for social workers to meet in this area - is this realistic? Can you lift people out of poverty while so many cuts are going on? How do you get the balance between service users rights and the law?
Your thoughts welcome!
morrison: Anyone out there working with the above challenges on a daily basis? How do you meet them? The social work reform board has set a standard for social workers to meet in this area - is this realistic? Can you lift people out of poverty while so many cuts are going on? How do you get the balance between service users rights and the law? Your thoughts welcome!
id be fascinated if anybody has been lifted out of poverty/ moved towards social justice in recent times by actual social workers
conexions workers i can see and other key localised projects that I know definitely offer value
I just dont think statutory social work has the tools to do so
wondering what you see the social work role as ?
Somewhat sad to see this question still needing to be asked well over a decade after I co-wrote an article for "Practice" touching on this very issue following my initial practice placement with a Children and Families front line duty team, which I understand was later used in social work training on some courses after I had myself qualified just about the time it was first published.
"The social worker as a professional advocate: working with clients claiming benefits"
The social worker as a professional advocate: working with clients claiming benefits.
Reference:
Practice, 9(1), 1997, pp.49-58.
Abstract:
This article is drawn from the first author's experiences of teaching a Welfare Rights Advocacy course to social work undergraduates and being active in voluntary sector agencies as an advocacy trainer, and two case studies taken from the second author's practice placement as a Diploma in Social Work undergraduate, following attendance on the Welfare Rights Advocacy Course. The practice placement was with an Outer London Borough Social Services Department Children and Families Duty Team and illustrates attempts to put into practice the use of professional advocacy to promote empowerment by developing the self-advocacy skills of clients.
Full Text: http://www.scie-socialcareonline.org.uk/repository/fulltext/0017172.pdf
I guess part of the answer here is that this is the kind of social work student social workers can practice whilst on placement but that gets beaten out of them by the fatigue of fighting the system (and far to heavy case loads) to actually stop and consider such fundamental questions as just why social work is necessary and therefore what it should have as its core values and ethos.
But that's just me and very easy to say now I am retired and as mentioned in other recent posts also now a poacher rather than a gamekeeper but still fighting for Social Justice, Human Rights and attempting to combat the poverty which is so often a key contributor to the Social Injustice and deprevation of the Human rights of the many people social worker's social work has an impact on.
I am also dissappointed there hasn't been more discussion on this thread.. Here are a few of the things I do in this respect: -
1. argue continually against my Authority's charging policy, which fails to recognise the basic fact that life on benefits is life on the breadline. I propose repeatedly that charges for those who are dependent solely on Benefits should be pegged somewhere in relation to the DLA / Attendance allowance level... no success yet, but at least people are eharing
2. Encourage the people I work with to appeal every negative decision & get the best possible support, and work with the advocacy services ( especially by providing reports). When someone wins an appeal, I try to announce it to others in the team to encourage them to do the same, rahter than adopt the passive stance our managers promote, that it's not our job to deal with benefits, housing etc...
3. promote support between individuals - e.g. putting people in touch with each other so that one woman who is good at dealing with the authorities offers to help another by accompanying her to the Housing Dept / DwP appointment. This was made easy by the existence of a monthly group which is sadly now disbanded... so I refer to our local voluntary advocacy agency's weekly informal 'Internet Cafe' as a good place to find out how others have dealt with similar situations...
4. Always raise the issue of working conditions when we're discussing individuals employing private carers... although ironically, they can often provide much better wages & conditions than those offered by the agencies. This is tricky, because I also want to protest at being charged with being an employment adviser / auditor / inspector...
My dilemma is that I often find myself in conflict with managers, and when I'm reminded that one of our professional values is to support our employers' policies, I get a bit wobbly. Dont others feel compromised by so many of the situations we find urselves in these days?
Morrison,
of course social workers are faced with these challenges everyday. If said SW was not sensitive to issues of social justice, human rights and poverty, they would probably, at worst, be a judgemental practitioner and, at best, fail to do a holistic assessment as families do not exist in isolation.
However, that's very different to 'lifting people out of poverty'. I think SW's in the local authority are more likely to signpost families to other resources as the main role is being the lead agency in child protection.
Benefits agency is a very specialised role as well and one would need to research welfare rights, pretty much full time, to be able to fulfill this role properly. CAB have very highly trianed staff in this area.
Whilst I agree that an awareness is very important, how many roles can the SW fulfill? And how well would the SW do them?
Good question morrison.
I think that the first two issues (i.e. social justice and human rights) are much less tangible than poverty but all are interrelated. I believe that poverty is the base problem that leads to the others. Poverty often involves lack of education and expectations.
Often our poorer service users (I don't like this term but it is the current accepted term last time I looked) are not able to articulate as well as better educated families and therefore they are denied access to services and even benefits at times. So the first thing that we can do is to advocate on their behalf and ensure that they receive everything that they are entitled to.
I really enjoyed reading Bob Holman's books on these subjects and I would recommend them. Rather humbling in my experience.
In short though we need practitioners who are themselves articulate and confident who can stand up and be counted and who have an intellectual curiosity and passion to change people's lives for the better (if that is what they want).
Ultimately this is a systemic problem amd it doesn't just affect service users. LA's are pushing down the cost of care and I feel really uncomfortable placing people in organisations that have poor pay and conditions for their workers. .
Try arguing at the moment that you would rather use a provider that pays a living wage to it's employees and you would struggle to get a hearing let alone agreement.
I think that we have become part of the problem in some respects but having said all that we will keep on trying to improve lives and are also part of the solution to the problem..
Regards
Julian.
Hi Peter
what we need is good strong managers who encourage the fundemental questions which you describe. I took on a locum last year and she was brilliant - a fantastic advocate with really strong values. She did a brilliant job and was a very strong person.
I met her former manager who told me to be careful as this person would not justy follow orders and would challange decisions and would never take her on again as she was difficult to manage.
All the things that I value in a practitioner were disadvantages in this manager';s eyes. This is what we are up against at times and I find this very FRUTRATING.
My experience with advocacy is that it isn't all about challenging decisions and supporting people in making complaints.
Sometimes it's about explaining to people how the system works or helping them find out what their rights are, supporting them in preparing for meetings, encouraging them to sit with us when we make phone calls on their behalf so they can hear how we talk to people, or discussing which is the best way to get their voice heard. It does work best as a partnership. It's just not very flashy.
i'm not sure where human rights come into benefits. the cuts have to happen for 2 reasons. we are skint and the benefits system needs overhauled, so much money wasted and handed out needlessly. see the benefits scrounger thread.
Julian: Hi Peter what we need is good strong managers who encourage the fundemental questions which you describe. I took on a locum last year and she was brilliant - a fantastic advocate with really strong values. She did a brilliant job and was a very strong person. I met her former manager who told me to be careful as this person would not justy follow orders and would challange decisions and would never take her on again as she was difficult to manage. All the things that I value in a practitioner were disadvantages in this manager';s eyes. This is what we are up against at times and I find this very FRUTRATING. Julian.
A question for managers is not whether they are happy to work with social workers following their clear duties to advocate for service users, but how the manager case records their own response and accepts their own duty to take up any institutional issues with their own management team/colleagues, as they can be in a better position to influence how good practice is developed and supported.
The role of managers is to act as an employers representative and this can cause a conflict of interest between their individual statutory duty to comply with GSCC codes of conduct and the fact that employers can knowingly introduce policy they know to be unethical and as such, managers are expected to implement the bad practice. The Codes of Conduct do not apply to employers on a statutory basis and this includes decisions and actions any manager takes in their role as an employer.
So therefore I would like to hear of how registered social worker as managers to challenge their own management colleagues/employer and how they keep their job..
JoSoPhine, I think you’re assertions are a bit judgmental and unfounded in many cases. I have worked with very passionate managers who have not forgotten their past as social workers and advocates and who have not been obsessed with their own career advancement and therefore do not see themselves as mouthpieces for the employer. Social workers are also employees, are they not? Of course managers implement policies that they may find unacceptable; this is no different than social workers doing things in their practice which they have problems with. The question is whether said practices are dangerous and unethical. I have worked with social workers who were selfish and offered me no support, who made lives of students and unqualified staff miserable, and I have worked for mangers that put their careers and reputations on the line to support us. Social Work Managers are not the employer; the organisation is the employer so a registered social worker who happens to be a manger is the same as you. I truly detest these managers versus practitioner’s argument because on the whole it not only is divisive; it has no resonance to my own social work experience.
tiptop: JoSoPhine, I think you’re assertions are a bit judgmental and unfounded in many cases. I have worked with very passionate managers who have not forgotten their past as social workers and advocates and who have not been obsessed with their own career advancement and therefore do not see themselves as mouthpieces for the employer. Social workers are also employees, are they not? Of course managers implement policies that they may find unacceptable; this is no different than social workers doing things in their practice which they have problems with. The question is whether said practices are dangerous and unethical. I have worked with social workers who were selfish and offered me no support, who made lives of students and unqualified staff miserable, and I have worked for mangers that put their careers and reputations on the line to support us. Social Work Managers are not the employer; the organisation is the employer so a registered social worker who happens to be a manger is the same as you. I truly detest these managers versus practitioner’s argument because on the whole it not only is divisive; it has no resonance to my own social work experience.
I was referring to managers as registered social workers, who knowingly implement policies they know to be unethical. I was not seeking to generalise but to highlight that many unethical practices require the sanction of an employer and by default an operational manager. If an employer asks a manager to implement an unethical policy and they knowingly do so, the manager can say they acted, not as an individual social worker, but as a direct representative of the employer. A manager is a direct representative of an employer , IE acting on their behalf, is quite different than a social worker as an employee, they would have no such defence, if they knowingly implement unethical practice.
The assumption in all of this is that the manager advises social workers that they are knowingly implementing policy they know to be unethical or at least legally dubious.
A cursory look at a number high court or appeal court rulings suggests that somewhere along the process of being challenged, many practices have been followed on the basis of knowing them to be unethical/unlawful or that the employer used sophistry to argue the contrary.
Part of my response is to draw attention to the fact that the Social Work Codes of Conduct do not apply to employers on a statutory basis and therefore notions of social justice that miss an institutional factors are bound to fail. And that fact that nearly all social workers work within the state also means little opportunity to challenge much, as by definition working for the state requires collusion with it.
Josephine - when yo say "gem" is that because you feel my response is naive.
I am assuming that you do not agree with my post. Is that correct?
Would enabling young autistic service users to access university by providing support packages through self directed support count?
Julian: Josephine - when yo say "gem" is that because you feel my response is naive. I am assuming that you do not agree with my post. Is that correct? Julian.
Apologies, this was just a a typo, I had cut and pasted/edited the posting and did not recheck before submitting.
Ok thanks - appreciate your response.
Shirack I like your analogy but I think that there is a difference.
I just have to think about it a little longer to articulate exactly what I believe the difference is.
Julian: Shirack I like your analogy but I think that there is a difference. I just have to think about it a little longer to articulate exactly what I believe the difference is.
There comes a time when managers are streched in both directions. I was and ended up suspended. Subsequently found to be a white knight but exhausted from the experiance. I don't blame managers for taking the soft option. But I prefer a good nights sleep.
Maybe you didn't think it through but it has made me think.
The problem is that I wouldn't get a good night's sleep by taking the soft option either. Well actually I generally sleep well but I would feel uncomfortable during my waking hours.
Also I do very definitely blame managers for taking soft options which was the point of my original response.
Your experience sounds very traumatic and you made a stand which is the whole point. and without wishing to sound patronising I find that reassuring.
Julian: Good question morrison. I think that the first two issues (i.e. social justice and human rights) are much less tangible than poverty but all are interrelated. I believe that poverty is the base problem that leads to the others. Poverty often involves lack of education and expectations. Often our poorer service users (I don't like this term but it is the current accepted term last time I looked) are not able to articulate as well as better educated families and therefore they are denied access to services and even benefits at times. So the first thing that we can do is to advocate on their behalf and ensure that they receive everything that they are entitled to. I really enjoyed reading Bob Holman's books on these subjects and I would recommend them. Rather humbling in my experience. In short though we need practitioners who are themselves articulate and confident who can stand up and be counted and who have an intellectual curiosity and passion to change people's lives for the better (if that is what they want). Ultimately this is a systemic problem amd it doesn't just affect service users. LA's are pushing down the cost of care and I feel really uncomfortable placing people in organisations that have poor pay and conditions for their workers. . Try arguing at the moment that you would rather use a provider that pays a living wage to it's employees and you would struggle to get a hearing let alone agreement. I think that we have become part of the problem in some respects but having said all that we will keep on trying to improve lives and are also part of the solution to the problem.. Regards Julian.
had a really interesting convo in the office the other day about how people should recieve benefitrs they need (and so as a social worlker we should only push for those) rather than entitled to - got very heated - I was in favour of entitled but it raised an interesting question over what would happen if all benefits were claimed- isntr there an estimated billions that go unclaimed every year?? Have noticed since the credit crunch there is a hell of a lot of judging and moralising going on about people who claim benefits in our office and across the building
In the families that Ive worked with I found that poorer families place their faith in the state a whole lot more than middle class families - some of the biggest battles Ive had are getting people to push that little bit more than they are used to - basically because they are brought up to believe that the govt is there to protect and support them - we all know that aint the truth!
Anyone know how many social workers campaigned against Birmingham City Council social injustice?
I suppose some managers decided to say the cuts are unethical and unlawful and the Council just quietly agreed and did not worry about the £53 million involved.
Families begin legal battle against Birmingham City Council over cutsFour severely disabled adults have begun a legal battle against Birmingham City Council in an attempt to overthrow a £53 million cuts package.
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/adult-care-blog/2011/04/victory-in-legal-challenge-against-birmingham-care-eligibility-hike.html
The calculator of injustice....and computer says NOJudges have ruled that Birmingham City Council's plans to limit social care for disabled people are unlawful.
The families of four severely disabled people took the case to the High Court sitting in Birmingham.
The test case is the first in a series of possible legal challenges to councils around the UK mounted by those facing cuts to social care.
Birmingham City Council is planning to reduce care packages to about 4,000 people over the next three years.
The authority, a Conservative-Liberal coalition, says it needs to make the cuts to help slash £118m from its adult and communities directorate.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-13147675
Via: http://twitter.com/Radished/status/60771521936891904