Tell us where you fit in (solicitor, barrister, social worker, guardian, judge, researcher, court staff, something else)

I’m a Social Worker (not that I admit that to everyone I meet!).  I have been working in the child protection field for nearly 6 years and, perhaps unusually, I love my job – despite all the challenges it throws in my path.

Tell us about your typical week Tell us about where you’re at this week (bad week, good week, rewarding week, soul destroying *headdesk* kind of week?)

One of the reasons that I love my job is that I never have a typical week – my main motto is to always expect the unexpected. My job covers such a range of roles and responsibilities that it is almost impossible to sum them up: I am expected to do everything from arranging financial support for families who have run out of money; to providing parenting advice; to being a shoulder to cry on for families, professionals and colleagues; through to making life changing decisions about where children should live; attending Court; and supervising contact. It is hard to do justice to the range of tasks that I undertake as a Social Worker – I frequently find myself laughing at the unusual things that I do – they certainly don’t warn you about most of them in the Social Work training. I often describe myself as a Jack of All Trades – if people aren’t sure who should be doing something, or even what they should be doing, then it usually falls to a Social Worker to do it or sort it out.

As for this week… Luckily it was only four days (although I could have done with 5!) It was a hectic, helter skelter kind of week – with too much to do and not enough time – and the predictable crisis or two before the long Bank Holiday weekend. But I got to the weekend in the end.

Tell us about the highs and lows and the reasons you do the job

I am passionate about my job as a Social Worker, although sadly this is increasingly unusual in my field. My job, and the reason that I do it, can be simply summarized – to ensure that children are safe and that their needs are being met. This doesn’t always make me popular with the families I work with, but I try to use an open and honest (some would say blunt) approach in my work with all families, making it clear what the concerns are about their children and what the parents or family members need to do to change. That is what gets me up and out the front door in the morning – the many children I have worked with, and will continue to work with.

The highest point of my job is definitely seeing children happy, safely cared for and having their basic needs met – whether this is with their parents, family members or with other carers. Unfortunately, striving for this also leads to the lowest point of my job, which is removing children from their parents. The process of removing children from their home, whatever the circumstances, is not a job I relish, although it is important and necessary for some of the children that I work with. Continue Reading…