As the government gets ready to overhaul the social work sector, Researching Reform has created a petition calling on the government to make registration with new monitoring body, Social Work England, a legal requirement for anyone engaging in social work.
At the moment not everyone who is carrying out social work needs to register with an independent monitoring body. Despite there being a large range of titles used by social workers, the current guidelines only cover people calling themselves a ‘social worker’, which is what’s known as a protected title. This loophole means a significant portion of social workers engaging in a variety of social work roles are not required to register.
You may think that only minor social work roles are affected by the current registration policy, but that’s not the case. Titles like senior practitioner are not protected, although the duties and responsibilities of a senior practitioner are complex and require many years of social work experience to perform. It isn’t possible to quantify how many social workers inside the system are practicing unregistered, because no one holds that information, and there is no one place offering a full breakdown of the number of social work related titles and roles that are currently unprotected. We would invite the government to do this work, during its consideration of the submissions it received on its recent consultation, which Researching Reform also took part in. We also invited the government to make registration a legal duty for everyone engaging in social work.
At the moment, if a service user wants to make a complaint about a social worker acting under an unprotected title, the only option they have is to make a complaint through the local authority. This process is not impartial and often leads to families’ concerns being brushed under the carpet at best, and at worst suffering a backlash within their case resulting in the family or any children involved being unjustly penalised for raising concerns.
The only other option open to service users applies when a social worker lies about their position or registration status, as outlined in the the Health And Social Work Professions Order 2001, under article 39(1) which reads:
Offences 39.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a person commits an offence if with intent to deceive (whether expressly or by implication)— (a) he falsely represents himself to be registered in the register, or a particular part of it or to be the subject of any entry in the register; (b) he uses a title referred to in article 6(2) to which he is not entitled; (c) he falsely represents himself to possess qualifications in a relevant profession.
Whilst the social care sector may not welcome this petition, it is part of an important drive to rebuild the sector’s image. If everyone engaging in social work is visible and accountable, the sector can start to weed out malpractice and negligence, which are largely responsible for the poor view the public has of social work in England.
If you’d like to sign the petition, you can do so here.
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I have written before and will say again to witness a social worker from a foreign country who stood in the witness box on oath as the main witness to say why she stole a child from the school playground and told the court ( I a sorry i no a speak a good English and no a understand ) THE JUDGE DISMISSED HER AND SENT THE CHILD INTO CARE. without knowing the evidence. But then it all goes back to the so called Great British Empire who started the slave industry then Barnado Charity who sold our kids to Australia and Canada for £15 each at the same time Hitler wanted a blue eyed blond haired race, he organised the SS which is a follow on to the British social workers, who are an army to them self’s and ruling the so called Great British Army to rule the Nation, so born in Britain the Nation are ruled from birth to the grave and how many children a year die from Vaccinations, it also goes back to the Eugenics society who state the population needs to be bought down, Christopher Booker the well known journalist who has always supported families who have lost their kids to the care has been banned from reporting more, so it is time to support Natasha’s Petition so sign it and forward on.
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All social workers should not only be registered, they should also be qualified.
The minimum qualification should be a first degree, but there should also be ongoing attendance at seminars and specific courses that are designed for all to keep up to date with, and exchange, the latest news and views.
The whole system needs overhauling and the dead wood cut out. The Establishment is top heavy with management types sitting comfortably in their ivory towers while remaining careless of the complex issues that those of us in the real world have to cope with on a day to day basis.
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Natasha is this still an active petition please?
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I haven’t checked x
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