diary writing of a social worker
Answers
Monday:
Monday’s always start with a rush and my Children asking for me to take them to school. Thankfully, they accept me collecting them later for their swimming lessons. I never worry whether I will find a desk or not as in our open plan office this can be an issue. I stopped being precious about that a long time ago. My first appointment is with my Manager and a Council Member who has been chosen as contact lead for our team. A productive meeting, and great to meet someone from the Council interested in Children in Care. As usual my next meeting is straight after; and is my Student’s mid way review. I arrive a few minutes late, and offer my apologise as we review the placement, and my Students progress. I have time for a quick working lunch, and finally check my e-mails. Sitting with the team means I am also able to respond quicker to their queries and offer informal supervision and case guidance. Monday’s I also leave early to take my Children to their swimming lessons, but today I left my work phone on and receive a call at 5.30pm as a Young Person has gone missing from their placement, and asking what she needed to do!
I have a child protection case involving a teenager visiting a man who has been prosecuted but not convicted for sexual abuse. The parents are spurning the agency’s concerns but it has to be monitored. My breakfast is interrupted by a phone call from a police officer to arrange a joint visit to the man that afternoon. He dismisses our concerns and keeps telling us that he wasn’t convicted. Patiently, we explain the different burden of proof in criminal cases and child protection work.
Later, I visit to the parents to begin work to help them protect their son. It’s a difficult visit and I don’t make much progress.
Tuesday
Our records aren’t always up to date and the morning is spent trying to track down a family who have moved. I have to trace them through the health visitor; the phone number she gives me is unobtainable, so I make an unannounced visit and luckily find the mother and child in. The mother explains she has a new mobile number. I carry out the assessment, hoping I can get it written within the timescale.
Wednesday
I get a phone call from a junior school; the parents of three children on my caseload have decided to home educate them and withdrawn them from school today. They have difficulty providing proper care for the children, and while they mentioned home schooling in the past, gave no indication they were going to take this step.
I had just completed a core assessment of them last week and it is awaiting approval – now it will have to be changed by Friday.
I visit a family where one child had cancer, now in remission. She tells me that when she was last in hospital, the doctors never asked her views about treatment. This surprises me. She tells me she felt very left out of these important decisions.
Thursday
I visit the teenager I saw on Monday, and try to get to know him better. He’s polite but shares little, so developing the relationship will be a challenge.
Later, I visit the family who are home schooling. The children are happy about not going to school and looking forward to trips to museums and other activities. The parents have many ideas about what to teach the children, but I am worried about their lack of socialising with others.
I email the education department, alerting them to my concerns and hope whoever visits will be able to assess the effectiveness of the parent’s home education plan. Updating the core assessment takes the rest of the day and early evening.
Friday
The timescale on the case where I was struggling to trace the mother and child is up and writing the assessment takes all morning.
My manager asked me to transfer one of my cases to a colleague, as the client wants a female social worker. I take over one of my colleague’s cases in return – it involves two children in care. Their mother suffers from severe depression, making it hard for her to care for them. When I visit the children, they describe graphically their experience when their mother once spent three days in bed. Luckily a relative and neighbours helped out with cooking and getting them to school.
Hope it helps you.
Mark it as brainlist.