@socialworkO

Social work reporting, resources and reflections. Curated by @vincepeartsw

Joined February 2015
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Who ran the village pacts that cut hazardous child labour on some Côte d'Ivoire cocoa farms? Government social workers, in teams of four. And no family was punished for falling short. Save the Children told us how it worked: socialworkworld.org/cote-div…

How government social workers ran Côte d'Ivoire's village pacts against child labour

Save the Children explains who facilitated the Village Social Contracts, what happened at the first meeting, and why no family is punished for falling short.

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NHS mental health staff will work inside children's social care teams in Stockport, Tameside and Rochdale under a £9.4m pilot covering up to 7,000 children and their families, from early 2027. No referral threshold if the clinician is at the next desk. socialworkworld.org/care-tog…

NHS mental health staff to join children's social care teams in a £9.4m pilot

Care Together will cover up to 7,000 children in Stockport, Tameside and Rochdale from early 2027, after a national review found children with a social worker more likely to be turned away.

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South Australia's Ombudsman found child protection workers moved three children away from their mothers without using their legal powers, twice through "safety plans" the mothers had refused. A plan the parent has refused is not a plan. socialworkworld.org/south-au…

South Australia moved three children against their mothers' wishes without using its powers

Two of the moves were made through safety plans the mothers had clearly refused. A plan the parent has refused is not a plan.

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Seven in ten new requests for council-funded adult social care in England end with information only, says @CQCProf's State of Care. 223,000 fewer adults get long-term council-funded care than 20 years ago. The £23,250 means test hasn't moved in 15. socialworkworld.org/cqc-stat…

Seven in ten requests for council care end with information only, CQC State of Care finds

223,000 fewer adults get long-term council-funded care than twenty years ago, the means test has not moved in fifteen years, and the regulator says the market is being reshaped by accident.

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Missouri moved its child abuse investigators on to regional teams in September. Caseloads now average 38.5 against a goal of 15, and one round trip to a report was 340 miles. The law still says every report must be started within 24 hours. socialworkworld.org/missouri…

Missouri child abuse investigators sent hundreds of miles as caseloads climb after a shake-up

Workers say they are seeing the child and leaving the harder questions for later, as average caseloads reach more than double the state's target of 15.

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Advert Nagalro, the professional association for independent social work, is welcoming new members. Cover of up to £10 million, a 24/7 legal advice helpline and £5,000 towards fitness to practise legal costs. nagalro.com/members/benefits…
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Maf Khan of Newham and the late Dave Fry of Croydon are the joint Overall Social Workers of the Year 2026. All 14 Gold winners from Thursday's ceremony at the House of Commons, as @socialworkaward marks 20 years #SWA26 socialworkworld.org/social-w…

Newham manager and the late Dave Fry named joint Social Workers of the Year

Gold winners in 14 categories were honoured at the House of Commons as the Social Worker of the Year Awards marked their 20th year. Here is the full list.

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South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal has ruled that government social workers acted unlawfully when they told two young mothers' families about their babies and tried to stop adoptions the mothers had consented to. socialworkworld.org/south-af…

Social workers unlawfully told young mothers' families about adoptions, South African court rules

The Supreme Court of Appeal found the Gauteng department treated two consented adoptions as child protection cases and put family and culture ahead of what the Children's Act requires.

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Systems down because of the PHP flaw? Don't work round them with personal email or WhatsApp, watch for scam emails riding on the news, and if you're an ISW with a WordPress referral form, call your web host today. socialworkworld.org/php-cybe…

What social workers should do now about the PHP cyber security flaw

Councils and health boards have taken sites offline while a critical flaw is fixed. Here is what it means for case recording, scam emails, data breaches and independent practitioners' own websites.

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Foundations, the What Works Centre for Children and Families, has won up to £85m from the DfE over a maximum of ten years. Its family group conference trial helped build the case for the pre-proceedings duty in force since July. socialworkworld.org/foundati…

Foundations wins up to £85 million to stay the What Works Centre for children and families

The Department for Education grant runs for up to 10 years. The charity's trial of family group conferences helped build the case for the pre-proceedings duty that came into force in July.

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The Covid inquiry says adult social care "appeared to be something of an afterthought" early in the pandemic. More than 43,000 recorded Covid deaths in care homes, and eight recommendations, including a voluntary care worker register in England. socialworkworld.org/covid-in…

Covid inquiry says care homes were an afterthought and calls for a care worker register in England

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry's care sector report finds not enough was done to protect people living and working in care homes early in the pandemic and makes eight recommendations to the four governments.

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The clocks go back on Sunday. Everyone else gets an extra hour in bed. Social workers get the 4pm visit that is now a night visit, a phone torch, and a house number behind a hedge. What only social workers understand when the clocks go back: socialworkworld.org/things-o…

12 things only social workers understand when the clocks go back

Everyone else gets an extra hour in bed. Social workers get the 4pm visit in the dark, house numbers behind hedges and a car that is now an office.

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Half of children in care in Tameside had three or more social workers in a year. In Hartlepool it was 3%. The Children's Commissioner's Childhood Lottery compares 162 measures of children's lives across England. What it found and what it recommends: socialworkworld.org/childhoo…

Children in care in Tameside far likelier to change social worker than in Hartlepool

The Children's Commissioner's Childhood Lottery compares 162 measures of children's lives across England and calls for a national emergency fund where outcomes fall below a minimum standard.

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South Africa has declared critical child protection work an essential service. Investigations, emergency removals, foster care supervision and Children's Court work are covered, and people engaged in an essential service cannot strike. socialworkworld.org/western-…

Critical child protection work declared an essential service in South Africa

Investigations, emergency removals, foster care supervision and Children's Court work are covered, and the parties have 90 days to agree a minimum service agreement.

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Social Work Inspirations, week two: @BeresfordPeter on a lifetime arguing that people who use services should have a say in them, and on the practitioners he calls the beating heart of social work. socialworkworld.org/social-w…

Peter Beresford on the practitioners he calls the beating heart of social work

Social Work Inspirations, week two. The chair of Shaping Our Lives, a long-term user of mental health services and an emeritus professor, answers ten questions in his own words.

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New NHS guidance: a concern about radicalisation must not be dismissed because a patient has a mental health condition or is neurodivergent. Working out what drives the behaviour is for whoever assesses the referral, not the clinician. socialworkworld.org/prevent-…

Mental health staff told not to explain away Prevent concerns as illness or neurodivergence

New DHSC guidance replaces NHS England's 2017 advice and says the question of what is driving a patient's behaviour is for the people assessing a referral, not the clinician making it.

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Reema Nanavaty leads SEWA, India's union for 3.78 million women who work with no employer and no safety net. This week she received a Hillary Rodham Clinton Award at Georgetown, alongside Muhammad Yunus. socialworkworld.org/sewa-ree…

The woman who leads India's union of 3.7 million informal workers has won a Hillary Clinton award

Reema Nanavaty of the Self-Employed Women's Association was honoured at Georgetown alongside Muhammad Yunus, for organising women who have no employer and no safety net.

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Northern Ireland now has 4,287 children in care, the most since the Children Order came in. More than half live with relatives or friends in kinship foster care, while the numbers in need and on the child protection register fell. socialworkworld.org/northern…

Record number of children in care in Northern Ireland, and over half live with family or friends

There were 4,287 children in care at the end of March, up 2% in a year, while the numbers of children in need and on the child protection register fell.

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An eight-year-old died after her insulin was stopped. A Queensland inquest has now heard that child safety officers had an "incredible workload", no formal training for new staff and no set way to track cases. socialworkworld.org/elizabet…

Child safety officers had an incredible workload and no formal training, Struhs inquest hears

A Queensland coroner is examining how agencies responded before eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs died when her insulin was stopped. The evidence so far is about the system as much as the decisions.

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Isolation, reflection, internal exclusion. Every school calls it something different. The DfE wants a legal framework for internal suspension, a formal plan before a suspended child returns, and schoolwork from day one. Social workers are on its list. socialworkworld.org/school-e…

Isolation rooms, return plans and work from day one in DfE school exclusion shake-up

The government wants evidence on a legal framework for internal suspension, formal return meetings after a suspension and schoolwork in the first five days. Social workers are on its list.

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