Children and Families Social Work: A Position of High Responsibility
Children and Families Social Work: A Position of High Responsibility
The influence of a qualified social worker working with children and families should not be underestimated. The positive impact of social care is difficult to measure. In a society that obsesses over graphs and statistics, the qualitative impact of social work is overlooked. It is only when something goes wrong that it is brought to the attention of the public.
Meanwhile the success stories are plentiful and it is for that reason that social workers find their role endlessly rewarding. The positive impact of children and families social work is particularly long term, it is invested in the future. By making changes to a child's upbringing and living circumstances, social workers are reshaping the path of that child's life and increasing the likelihood that they will grow to be highly functioning, wholesome members of society. The knock on effects of this are so numerous that it is impossible to estimate the extent to which a success story has improved not only the service user individually, but also society as a whole.
An article published in The Cumberland News describes the successes from which social workers obtain a great sense of reward:
"[The successes] might be very small, in the wide view of society and may just involve a hard-working school pupil getting some decent GCSE grades, a teenager landing their first job, or something as simple as a youngster finally trusting an adult and feeling safe and secure for the first time."
The system is by no means perfect. Qualified social workers are few and far between and social care recruitment continues to be in turmoil. But considering the stresses of a job which is under a lot of pressure and carries such high responsibility, social workers still unceasingly provide an invaluable service to society.