social work and social workers

American National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics

This resource details the code of ethics used by the United States National Association of Social Workers. Professional ethics are at the core of social work.

The profession has an obligation to articulate its basic values, ethical principles, and ethical standards. The NASW Code of Ethics sets forth these values, principles, and standards to guide social workers' conduct. The Code is relevant to all social workers and social work students, regardless of their professional functions, the settings in which they work, or the populations they serve.

Social workers (Radio 4 series: Woman's Hour)

This episode of Radio 4's Woman's Hour series looks at the stereotypes surrounding social workers, in light of a new six part documentary which follows a year in the life of social workers from a children’s services unit in Bristol. Host Jenni Murray is joined by Annie Hudson, Head of Children's Services with Bristol City Council and Clare Phipps, a social worker with the Looked After Children Team. Jenni asks them how we can change public perceptions of what seems to be one of the most vilified professions in the country.

Targeted youth support pathfinders evaluation: final report

This report presents the findings from the evaluation of the Targeted Youth Support Pathfinders (TYSPs). The policy was developed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to ensure that young people in need of support receive a genuinely personalised package of support, at the earliest possible opportunity. The evaluation was designed to capture the impact of the service reforms at the level of infrastructure, professional working practices, individual young people and overall outcomes.

Caring in the Older Population

This document is for local authorities engaged in planning and delivering services to support older carers and summarises ILC -UK and the National Centre for Social Research's Living and caring?: an investigation of the experience of older carers. It gives key points, the background and the characteristics of care provision and discusses access to services, leisure, health, housing, and quality of life and care recipients.

Councils adapt ICS to unlock its potential

The authors, from Dorset Council, explain how they are trying to get the best out of the Integrated Children's System despite its limitations. The ICS was intended to enable a single consistent approach to case-based information gathering, case planning, case aggregation and case reviews. As such, the easily generated and clear reports would help social workers collect, organise, analyse and retrieve information.

How should we define social work?

The Social Work Task Force has signalled its intent to come up with a new definition of social work to counter public misconceptions. Anabel Unity Sale reports that with the negative coverage that social work attracts, it is hardly surprising that the public is not clear about what social workers do, and that people are led to believe that professionals swoop in and steal babies from families, give older people with limited mobility a bath and then make their dinner.

Care Skillsbase website

This website provides specially designed tools to help social care workers. The tools are quick, easy to use, and do not require any specialist skills expertise. All social care staff use information and communicate in their jobs. To do this they need: speaking and listening skills; reading and writing skills; number skills. Care Skillsbase helps managers in the care sector take constructive action on communication & number skills.

Looked-after children: third report of session 2008-09: volume II: oral and written evidence

Provides the detailed oral and written evidence presented to the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee session on looked after children. The session aimed to investigate the performance of the care system in England, consider whether the Governments proposals for reform were soundly based, and to find out whether the Care Matters programme would be effective in helping looked after children. A summary of the findings are provided in Volume I.