This was then broken down into really simple steps that Caitlin could do. “So, just helping strengthen some of the skills that she already has.”įor instance, in relation to the toddler’s physical health, Lauren had worked with Caitlin to agree a goal to provide a healthy diet. “Lots of my work has been parenting support for Caitlin,” Lauren said. Typically, Lauren will work with a family for around four to six months, but the family she was going to see that morning – Caitlin, her toddler and two older teenagers – had needed support for almost a year. And sometimes they’re not in a place where they can focus on that activity… sometimes they just need someone to lend an ear and help them to problem-solve and think through some of the difficulties that they’re having.”Īs a children’s practitioner, Lauren’s role is to meet regularly with families who are involved with a social worker. “I’m mindful that families are complex and go through different things. “I like to go into my visits with an intention or with a purpose, but I’m never fixed to the idea,” Lauren told me. Like Annie, Lauren – a children’s practitioner at Wandsworth – was off to do some work using the graded care profile, with Caitlin, a mother she had been working with for several months. There were several components to the profile, and this visit focused on just one. I reflected on the thoroughness of the visit, and how much thought, time and planning went into it. Kelly’s assessment was very positive and she scored many ones and twos on the profile (with five being the least safe).īack at the office after another bus ride, Annie put the results of the graded care profile onto the child’s record, along with her notes and observations. The visit lasted an hour, and they ended by booking in the next session. Despite Kelly’s initial anxiety, she soon began to relax. Annie told me afterwards that she wouldn’t normally go into so much detail but, as Kelly had learning disabilities and was also quite shy, she needed a bit more prompting.Įvery word that came out of Annie’s mouth was considered and thoughtful she clearly really thought about the language she was using. She went through each question of the graded care profile with Kelly. Her whole demeanour was friendly if you hadn’t known she was there in her capacity as a social worker, you might have assumed Annie was one of Kelly’s friends. The conversation started with Annie asking how Kelly was doing and how the children were, as they were at school that day. I sat at the far end of the room, as Annie suggested, doing my best to fade into the background and not add to the anxiety. Kelly, her mum and Annie sat on the sofa, in front of the TV, which was on. But she was understandably anxious, and had invited her mother to be present too. Only trained practitioners can use it – it had just gone 9am and I had already learnt something.Īnnie had obtained Kelly’s permission for me to attend the visit. The graded care profile is a tool, created by the NSPCC, to evaluate the quality of care parents provide for their children. He and his siblings had been placed on child in need plans after their school raised some concerns regarding possible neglect. But, as a Londoner, Annie uses public transport for all her visits.Īnnie’s reason for visiting was to do a graded care profile for Kelly’s four-year-old boy. Luckily for us, it was a beautiful sunny day – I did wonder what these bus journeys and walks would be like in the depths of winter. It was 9am when Annie, the social worker, and I got on a bus to Kelly’s home. Having never witnessed a home visit in action, I was excited that my day at Wandsworth started with shadowing a visit to Kelly, a parent to four children. So, here it is: home visits, direct work, family therapy, unit meetings, genograms, small wins, difficult decisions, risk, trauma, public transport. Showcasing the complex, emotional, rewarding work social workers do every day is one of the main reasons we launched our Choose Social Work campaign in June. At the end of May, four journalists from the Community Care team spent a day shadowing practitioners at Wandsworth children’s services, to understand what it’s really like to be a social worker.
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