After four years of social work, here is my advice for anyone starting out in child protection.
"I've been a social worker for 30 years and I've certainly never worked in the golden years of social work having endless resources.
Six years of social work reforms championed by David Cameron aimed at driving up standards in child protection services have largely failed to deliver improvements, the government's spending watchdog has concluded.
Seek out mid-level and managerial experience after 2 to 5 years of social work.
For some 20 years, Lawrence Palinkas, a professor of social work at the University of Southern California, has studied the social networks that form like crystals among work teams who spend the winter together in scientific missions in Antarctica.
A two-year multi-agency review of social work in the principality, published today, has concluded that local authorities need to act quickly in the face of serious staff shortages and a growing need for social workers.
"Cambodian social workers have good experience after years of work, but little theory training or larger understanding of the field," said Dr. Luise Ahrens, who has worked to deliver aid to Cambodia for 22 years and who pushed for the establishment of social work programs in the country.
Tristram Hunt, the shadow education secretary, called it "great news for the profession", saying that "Labour is committed to pursuing a national effort to boost the image and prestige of social work in the years ahead".
Participants were required to have a Bachelor of Social Work degree, at least one year of experience in direct social work practice, and an interest in mental health training.
This came after I'd spent a number of years pushing through social work reforms, including the creation of social work units – which crucially introduced the role of the consultant social worker.
