New social work body calls for government support during Covid pandemic

The Children's Social Work Collective (CSWC), which launched earlier this month, said the strain on children’s services through the pandemic has been "unrelenting" and is "likely to be devastating for the country’s most vulnerable young people".

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It said that social workers who have worked throughout the pandemic, are now questioning whether they will be able to safeguard children through the second national lockdown, which began on 5 November and will continue until at least 2 December.

Dan, a social worker in London who is part of the new group, said: "We’re trying to maintain our contact with children through lockdown. But the need is so high right now - with more families than ever relying on charity just to feed themselves - that I’m terrified we’ll miss something.

“Many of the other services we rely on are working virtually, so we are often the only professionals actually seeing children at home."

The group said social workers have had to carefully balance their duties to visit children against infection risks.

Another social worker who has worked through the pandemic, who did not wish to be named, said: "It’s scary completing home visits right now. Sometimes I have no choice but to visit families one after another. What if I gave them the virus?"

Concerns were previously raised during the first national lockdown that social workers are being forced to make their own protective equipment as they follow government guidelines to continue visiting vulnerable children and families who have coronavirus symptoms.

The group also said there are indications that the crisis has worsened the “postcode lottery of services for children”. It warns that the continued state of lockdown has meant in some areas they are now even more likely to step in only when a child is in immediate danger, warning that, at worst, that will mean a child being seriously hurt.

It added that children’s services rapidly implemented new ways of working to adapt to the crisis at the point of the first lockdown, but the response has been different across the country, with some areas requiring regular physical visits to children while others have focused much more on virtual contact.

Beth, a social worker in the North East, said: “I have seen young people's mental health deteriorate significantly since the lockdown. Many young people in care and care leavers feel incredibly isolated and are really struggling. The impact on these young people has been overlooked.”

CSCW said more focus is required from central government on the challenges facing social workers, with policy and investment that reflects children’s needs. It said that without more understanding of the difficulties on the ground, children’s social workers are “likely to be overwhelmed at the same time as action is being taken to prevent the same outcome for the NHS”.

The formation of CSCW follows previous attempts to create a single representative body for frontline social workers.

The College of Social Work was established in 2012 through £5m in government funding, it was envisaged that the college would be the main professional body for social workers.

However, it closed just three years later due to financial problems caused by a failure to secure sufficient membership or government contracts.