Hi, I'm Georgiana_Scope! I'm a student social worker and want to hear your views! - Page 3 — Scope | Disability forum
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Hi, I'm Georgiana_Scope! I'm a student social worker and want to hear your views!

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  • Georgiana_Alumni
    Georgiana_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 47 Connected
    @chiarieds
    Yes I agree that when so much of the population is disabled social workers need to have some specialist knowledge in this area. I think most social work courses are more general - adults and children and families - and the specialisation comes when you begin practice eg working  at Scope but there should be more core teaching on this area in my opinion. Saying that I am only in my first year so I may get to have more training before my 2 year course ends. There does seem to be an emphasis on safeguarding above information and advice giving due to the constraints social workers are under but thank goodness for peer support like in the forum where likeminded people can share experiences
  • Caz_Alumni
    Caz_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 621 Pioneering
    edited April 2021
    Hi @Georgiana_Scope,

    Thank you for starting this thread and prompting a very valuable reflective discussion! 

    I am a fairly recent addition to the Online community team here at Scope, so I have read all the posts above with a real degree of interest. Like you, I am keen to find out more and learn how to approach my new role, so that I do the best job I can do.

    Reading the posts from our community has helped ME a lot as well. So, thank you very much to everybody for your contributions. And I completely agree with you, Georgiana, about the value of having a forum like this where people can come together, share experiences., and provide peer support to each other. 

    Great to hear that you've found the conversation to be of such benefit, not only in terms of the work that you're doing now, but also for your future career. :)
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  • Georgiana_Alumni
    Georgiana_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 47 Connected
    Hi @Caz_Scope

    Fantastic to hear from you and I hope you are enjoying your new role.

    Scope is fabulous isn't it and the peer support found on these pages is second to none

    I have really benefitted from the input of so many people its information that you can't find in a lecture or textbook.


  • Caley
    Caley Community member Posts: 22 Connected
    I'm a new member and just noticed this thread, so thought I'd add my thoughts.  I haven't had personal experience with social workers, but in my last job as a support worker with elderly people I and my colleagues did work with them on many occasions in getting needs assessments done for elderly people who needed community or residential care services and also in cases safeguarding cases where we were concerned that vulnerable older people were being financially and/or physically abused.  The impression I got was that because there were massive austerity cuts going on at the time and local authorities were drastically reducing their budgets, the social workers would do what they could to avoid taking on complex cases, passing the buck wherever they could, deciding people had mental capacity after seeing them for half an hour when we'd known them years and knew they clearly didn't have capacity, hardly ever getting back to us when we tried to contact them and consistently failing to offer anything other that sticking plaster solutions for gaping arteries, if you get my meaning.  It was a constant battle to get them to do anything and was a source of frustration for myself, my colleagues, the service users and their families who were often desperate and just didn't know where to turn.   Some of the social workers were actually really good people who were working in incredibly difficult circumstances, others just came across as incompetent and/or pretty dismissive and just didn't want to know.  I saw the quality of older peoples' services disintegrate right before my eyes, which was so depressing and for those good social workers who wanted to do their best to support their vulnerable clients, it must have been soul destroying.  I had to leave the job six years ago due to my own deteriorating health, but I dread to think what it must be like now - I can't imagine it will have got any better, specially with covid issues to further destroy an already chronically under-resourced and substandard older peoples service
  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    I worked in care adult care up to last year if anything it has got worse I have also had contact with social services children and familys  I have lost all faith in social services  to be fair 
  • Georgiana_Alumni
    Georgiana_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 47 Connected
    @lisathomas50
    sorry to hear that, id be interested to hear in what way things have got worse and why you have lost all faith as it would help me as a student
  • Georgiana_Alumni
    Georgiana_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 47 Connected
    @Caley
    Welcome to the community and thanks for taking the time to give me your feedback. I'm sorry to hear about your experiences which sound really deflating and upsetting. What can I learn from this as a student social worker? 
  • Caley
    Caley Community member Posts: 22 Connected
    I think one thing to be prepared for is that you may not be able to offer the support to your clients that you feel they deserve because of the constraints with serious under-funding and budget cuts.  The council I worked with and I assume many others had to really tighten their eligibility criteria, for example our local authority stopped providing community care services to anyone other than what they deemed to be "critical" need, leaving many who needed support having to either go without or find the money to pay for it themselves.  A good example of that was daycare services.  A lot of our socially isolated older folk really looked forward to their one or two days out a week and suddenly they were expected to pay £25 a day instead of the previous fiver they'd paid, which many of them couldn't afford on low incomes and it really impacted their emotional wellbeing which was so sad to see.  So I think what I'm saying is be prepared for constant conflict between what you feel a client needs and what you're actually allowed to offer within the very tight and strict criteria, and also possibly huge caseloads where staff cuts have been made and you're dealing with too many cases to be able to devote a lot of the time and energy to individual clients that you feel they deserve .  I apologise for sounding so negative, but that's been my experience of social work in older adult care.
    The fact you're on the forum asking for people's input means you're already invested in becoming a great social worker who really cares about their clients and I really wish you the best of luck - clients deserve people like yourself who care about doing their best and are willing to go the extra mile.
  • Georgiana_Alumni
    Georgiana_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 47 Connected
    @Caley
    Thank you very much this has given me some valuable insights. I'm not looking forward to the pressures I will inevitably face with all the cuts and such, I think huge caseloads is the norm as well.

    I am looking at going into probation/youth offending/ helping prisoners I know that these services are overstretched as well

    I used to be a journalist and thought that field was tough to crack !

    What  traits would the ideal social worker have in your opinion
  • Caley
    Caley Community member Posts: 22 Connected
    The criminal justice system would indeed be a very challenging career but could also be really rewarding if you're able to support people towards a better quality of life away from offending.  
    I'd say having empathy would be very important, being able to see things from a client's perspective (even if it doesn't make a lot of sense to you - quite often it doesn't), being able to build a rapport with clients (not always possible however hard you try, but it does help if you can gain their trust) having a very non-judgmental approach, good communication skills as you'd be liaising with lots of other people and departments and may well come across those who I mentioned earlier - the ones who want to pass the buck, are judgmental, don't want to know etc so having the ability to remain professional while being assertive and sometimes persistent could be very important. Assertiveness might also be needed with clients sometimes. Also I'd say admin skills like record keeping (which I assume is a statutory requirement anyway), report writing etc and time management skills would be essential.  Knowledge of other organisations and what they offer, like voluntary organisations in your area, is invaluable and it's well worth building up contacts to help with sharing information and referrals.
    I worked many years in the voluntary sector as an advice and advocacy worker, moved to the statutory sector as a support worker and then did a degree in counselling and learnt a lot about the link between previous life experiences and current issues in peoples' lives, including looking at things like addiction, criminal behaviour etc and how that can be common in those who have been through difficult pasts such as trauma/abuse/neglect in childhood, and I'm assuming you cover this on your course.  It is something which may come up if you're working with offenders and although it's not an excuse for criminal behaviour, it can sometimes be the reason behind it and getting some insight into a client's background might help to understand and help them better.  
    I'm not sure which would be the toughest, journalism or social work in the criminal justice system, but you certainly sound like you're up for a challenge!

  • Georgiana_Alumni
    Georgiana_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 47 Connected
    @Caley
    Thanks very much for your insights some really valuable information there

    are you a counsellor now\? Must be interesting job


  • Caley
    Caley Community member Posts: 22 Connected
    I had to leave my last job due to declining health and did the degree in the hope of being able to find a job more suited to my health issues, but since I graduated both mine and my husband's health has got worse (we care for each other) and after doing a year work placement as a volunteer trainee counsellor with carers, I realised that as much as I enjoyed it, it just wasn't for me.  I found the constraints of the counsellor role quite frustrating after working for years in jobs where I was giving practical advice and support and some personal family issues affected my own emotional wellbeing for quite a while, so I'm now doing a part time OU degree in psychology because I found that side of the counselling degree fascinating and it gives me something to do to keep my brain going.  I don't regret doing the counselling degree though, it was one of the best things I ever did.
  • Georgiana_Alumni
    Georgiana_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 47 Connected
    @Caley
    I'm sorry to hear about your declining health I understand as I have mobility issues that came on suddenly and now affect my whole way of life.

    I don't think you ever regret studying even if you don't follow on on that path. I did a great deal of journalism training but it was natural for me to change path with the onslaught of the internet and a lack of opportunities

    Psychology sounds reaally interesting. I was looking  at PHD's in the states and was looking at psychology...its just my ticket to the US not sure I could be dedicated enough for that level of study, my masters is challenging  enough!
  • ktewaz
    ktewaz Community member Posts: 1 Listener
    Hello Georgiana, I'm new to the scope community but wanted to join after I read this very engaging post. I am just about to become a student social worker, so this thread has been really eye-opening for me. 

    I also have some care experience relating specifically to children's services with a disabled parent. I think my biggest suggestion (that I will implement myself), is to research the medical conditions experienced by service users and how this can impact them. I've felt that the lack of knowledge around medical conditions can be an issue, both to the social worker providing support and the service user themselves. By doing the research ahead of time I hope that it would demonstrate to the service user and we want to work with them not against them. 

    Thanks again for asking these questions!
  • Georgiana_Alumni
    Georgiana_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 47 Connected
    @ktewaz
    Hi there!
    Do tell me more about you? Will you be doing a degree? What area are you looking to get into? Good luck!

    Yes I agree we need to research thoroughly around medical conditions so we can offer the right support.
  • Geegeenumber1
    Geegeenumber1 Community member Posts: 1,066 Pioneering
    edited July 2021
    Hows everybody doing
  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    @Georgiana_Scope things have got worse as less help is given to children and gamilys more children are being taken into care instead of help and support being given .

    In adult care less help is given assessments take longer cut backs in hours people need for home care  longer stays in hospital for elderly whilst care packages are put in place 

    Not enough help for disabled parents they get penalised if they have children that help them and vise versa  parents with disabled children don't get enough help and support 

    Children that are at risk are often missed by social workers until either things have got realy bad or sometimes when a child has died 

    There are children that live on the streets and can't get help and they end up liveing a dangerous life 

    There are so many things the list is long 
  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    The only way your realy going to know is when you become a qualified social worker when you have come across the things that have been said on here only then will you understand 
  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    @Georgiana_Scope I  just read that you want to go into the youth offenders side of things probation and prisoners etc I take my hat off to you its the one of the hardest parts of the profession you need to be very thick skined  and alert at all times and aware of your surroundings  and read between the lines 

    Be presperd for abuse these are the hardest people to get through to and help these are the people thst needed the help before they got that far again being let down by society  help not being there when it was needed 

    You need nerves of steel and be prepared  hope thst you get the chance to make a difference 
  • littleacorn
    littleacorn Community member Posts: 367 Pioneering
    I worked in children and families for may years and found social worker in the whole very helpful when working as a professional with good co ordinated, family focused delivery. Most new social workers found the job overwhelming and never stayed long within their team. Older social worker were set in their ways and found it difficult to adapt to new practice. 

    As a disabled person I find that social workers come with a preconceived idea having read their referal notes. Just like non disabled people disabled people are individuals with individual needs which they are the expert in so should be listened to. Social workers although I do understand are looking at how a persons needs fit into their role and not looking holistically. 

    As part of social workers training I believe that some of the training should delivered by those with experience eg. Disabled people, parents of children with disabilities, families with children,  carers etc

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