Reflections after two thirds of placement

Yet again it’s been ages since I last posted- I totally underestimated how difficult this stage of the course is.

I am effectively working full-time- for no salary- and then coming home at night and having to write a reflective log, thinking about what I’ve learned that day.  At weekends I write the essays, or update the records evidencing my competence in the key roles of social work, ready for each supervision session and my final assessment portfolio.  In this time too, there is often reading to be done, to give me a vague idea about what and why I do what I am doing during the week!

It is safe to say I am totally exhausted at the two-thirds stage of placement.

However, I am absolutely loving the placement, and, in contrast to my views before, I could actually see myself working in children’s services (although I think I would still prefer to avoid child protection work).

What has most surprised me, probably, is the realisation that much children & families work is actually done, not with children, but with the families ie. adults!  For example, to protect children, you have to work with those caring for them- their parents.  Arranging foster care involves mostly working with adults, to recruit new carers  and then to support them in their role.  Some roles combine working with children and adults, but few roles work solely with young people, certainly within statutory services anyway- independent agencies may differ of course.

It may sound very naive, but probably like most of the general public, I thought of children’s social work as child protection;  this placement has opened my eyes to the many different roles that exist within children’s services!

Although I am loving my practice experience, however,  I am avidly counting down the days to my break in a week- Dad is going away on business, so I am going to stay with Mum for 10 days while she recovers from her recent surgery.

Penalising the poor

It suddenly went manic at placement this week, hence no posts- too busy during the day to write, too tired once I get home!

But today this story lept off the front news page of the BBC at me.  The government is hoping to reduce the unpopularity of it’s student fees by offering an arrangement whereby students can choose to avoid paying tuition fees by also waiving their right to further financial support via loans/ bursaries/ maintenance grants.  This, the government says, will enable students to go through university and graduate without also accumulating huge debt, and it is thought the scheme will be very attractive and beneficial to those students who choose to live at home to reduce their costs.

However, just which students will this scheme benefit?  It sounds great- students who are just beginning careers/ adult life will be able to avoid huge debts (mine total approximately£17,000 and I avoided tuition fee loans- now the average will be larger than that).  But it doesn’t take a huge IQ to realise that most students rely on the loans and grants schemes, along with credit cards and overdrafts to survive university- even those living at home during their courses- so this scheme will benefit mostly those whose parents or partners have high enough incomes to support them for three years.

This will exclude many of the very students the government is continually telling us it want to attract into higher education- those from lower income families, those where nobody has previously been to university, looked after children… There is no mention of any intention that this initiative might lower state costs in higher education provision, thereby possibly enabling the level of tuition fees to be reduced, or maintenance grants to be increased.

So: richer students will benefit, while poorer students will still be discouraged from entering higher education due to the cost.

And, as these same richer students will only be denied a student loan- which as the name suggests is repayable anyway- those poorer students who will continue to repay (possibly soon-to-be increasing) fees and loans on graduation will now also be in the enviable (?) position of subsidising the education of those in a more enviable financial position to themselves!

New labour/ Old Tories????

Very long day, but very worthwhile

Got home at around 9pm from the BASW student conference, with flea bitten legs and a headache (courtesy of one train passenger with a manky dog and a very annoying son with a loud and piercing voice), but it really was a worthwhile day.

I’m tired, but my enthusiasm for social work has been renewed.  It can be hard as students, as on placement you have little contact with other students for up to 100 days at a  time, all you hear in the media at present is negative propaganda, and other media and government sources seem to constantly report that even when we finally qualify we will still not have any of the skills we need, and will be dangerous if let loose on a vulnerable public.  It was hardly surprising that many students I spoke to before the conference began today, and in the breaks, said they were feeling disheartened.

So although the audacity of some claims made by certain presenters (who for the time being at least shall remain nameless) made me unsure whether to laugh or cry, it was good to be in the presence of so many other students with a general sense of enthusiasm and passion for our chosen profession.

No doubt the day will fuel many future posts as I process my thoughts over the next week or so, but for now, I will just say that, maybe, if we stick together as social workers, if we own our profession and determine to drive it forward ourselves, if we start to advocate for ourselves in the way we do so well for the people we work with, then, in the words of the conference slogan…

WE CAN DO IT!

31 days down…69 to go…

I’m almost a third of the way through my placement.  Thinking of it like that seems very scary! It’s flying by.

Tonight I have finished my first portfolio assignment, an assessment/ intervention report which I’m not happy with  but it is only a draft at present, so the uni tutor can check I’m on track to pass, and can be improved prior to final submission as part of the portfolio.  Two weeks ago, we found out that my Mum’s breast cancer has returned, and she will need a mastectomy this time.  We will learn on Friday if it has spread to any other organs, and the date for the operation, as well as any plans for chemotherapy.

So writing this essay has been hard, as I’ve been slightly distracted, and concentration has been hindered by the need for frequent, long telephone conversations. Being on placement is good in this respect.  I cannot spend all day dwelling on Mum’s health, and she doesn’t call me during work hours, so work is actually good respite.   Sadly, it is harder to turn off one’s brain when trying to concentrate on academic writing, hence being unhappy with the standard of this assignment.

Although I am no longer my Mum’s carer in the way I was when I was a child, I am still her primary emotional support, as she has few other friends, and was virtually cut off from her family by my father in the early days of their marriage.  I now live in the North West, while my parents live in Bedfordshire, partly to escape the burden of that caring role and establish my own identity and life, but also because it is unsafe for me to be near certain family members due to past events.  So until Mum is well enough to come and stay with me again, I am seriously considering investing in BT!

On a more positive note, my practice teacher sent me the feedback for the direct observation yesterday, and I can only say I am extremely pleased.  His report is very positive, with only one real point to be aware of in future work, which I totally accept, but am able to justify with that particular young person. So that was very encouraging, as although I thought my work was okay, it is good to have that confirmed by an experienced practitioner.

BASW Student Conference

On Friday, I am going to the BASW student conference in Derby and am really looking forward to it.

This conference seems to me to be highly significant, as the social work taskforce is making many sweeping recommendations about the future of social work, including social work education.  Yet it is allowing representations from qualified social workers only: students- the future of social work- are not being heard, even actively denied a voice.   The taskforce conducted a series of meetings to gather the feelings and opinions of the profession, but only qualified staff were allowed to attend these. The practitioners reference group is likewise only open to qualified social workers.   There is no stduent voice on the main taskforce group either- practitioners, managers, and service users, agony aunts, but no students (although I believe there is one academic).  BASW therefore is in a unique position to be able to represent our views to those making the decisionsthat affect us, not only now but in our future careers.

More than that though the conference will be a good opportunity to join with other students and discover how things are for them, in other areas of the country.  Being a student can be very isolating at times,  as you are almost coccooned in your own little university world, with little contact with anyone outside that world.  I’m also looking forward to the various speakers and workshops through the day, which sound very interesting.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

Friday contained all three, I think!

The day started with me visiting a 13 year old boy to give him some information about our service and what we can do for him if he ever needs us.   He had got out of bed on the wrong side however, not helped any by the staff nagging him to come downstairs every few minutes.  Despite my assurances that I didn’t want to force him to see me against his will, they insisted and eventually dragged him downstairs, cursing loudly, telling him it was rude to keep someone waiting.  By this time, his all ready bad mood was even worse, and I got the full brunt of all his pent- up anger at being in care before he walked out on me.  I think I only said a few words myself, but certainly had an education- I learned words I had never heard before, and the way he strung them together was quite impressive!

Luckily, I’m quite thick-skinned, and realised it wasn’t directed at me personally.  Had it been my manager or the other project worker, they would have got exactly the same reaction- I was just there at the time of that explosion.

The direct observation went well later, despite my concerns.  The young person was clearly nervous at my practice teacher’s presence (his body langauge gave that away, and his speech impediment more pronounced), but he coped remarkably well.  Despite his discomfort, there were two very significant moments in the session, which was extremely encouraging for me.   As we left, my practice teacher said it had been a very good observation, but he will give me fuller feedback in Monday’s supervision.  So at least I haven’t spent the whole weekend worrying about it!

I seem to have developed a slight repetitive strain injury in my wrist which is really sore.  I know that the best way to overcome this is to neglect my PC for a while, but with a half-written assingment due for my placement portfolio on Wednesday, this is impossible.  To finish it means at least another day, ie tomorrow, spent at the PC.

An ethical dilemma

As part of the assessment for the placement part of the social work course, on at least two separate occasions the practice  teacher has to observe the student working directly with service users, and provide a report with feedback about the student’s competence. The date set for my first one is tomorrow.  As I am only working with one service user at present, I haven’t much choice of work for the observation- wherein lies my dilemma.

The young person I am working with has had a very traumatic life; he has some degree of learning difficulty and severe attachment disorder.  Communication is a challenge.  He is extremely vulnerable, very easy to influence and is prone to unpredictable and violent outbursts, due to an inability to express his emotions in any other way.

I have explained the process and gained his consent carefully.  However when I let the residential unit staff know about the observation, they told me that this may cause a difficulty, due to my assessor being male- apparently C has difficulties with some men and this can not be predicted until he actually meets them.  C however is sure he will be fine, as I will be there and, to quote him,  ‘you make me safe’.

My dilemma is therefore, is it right to risk causing distress to C?  The chance is 50/50, and there is of way of knowing until the situation occurs.  It almost feels as if I am using him for my convenience- and I guess I am in a way.  I could legitimise it in my mind by saying that avoiding exposure to distressing situations forever would be equally harmful, but in my gut it still feels wrong.

On the other hand, in one way, I feel as if I have no choice in the matter, due to the requirements of the university.  I have absolutely no other work that I could use instead, which puts me in a Catch 22 situation.

I have considered ways of minimising distress to C (seating arrangements, activities); I have prepared my practice teacher for potential difficulties.  If nothing else, I guess he will get the chance to observe how I handle an anxious or distressed child.

Ah the joys of being a social work student!

Possible move of team

Since I have been on placement, the agency has received very little work- I have spent a lot of my time in the office doing very little at all.  I have worked briefly with one young person, and am doing some work with another, and that is all.  I am now 27 days through my placement, and there is little sign of improvement, which is worrying because if things don’t change, I will not have the learning opportunities to fulfil the assessment requirements to pass the placement.

In supervision with my on-site supervisor yesterday, it was mentioned that it may be possible to second me to a fostering and adoption team to do some work there, until things pick up in the agency where I am officially placed.  The fostering team is great- I have visited them on an informal ‘introducing my face’ type visit when I began my placement, and was very impressed with their enthusiasm and commitment. It would also be good to be working with actual social workers, to observe and learn from them, rather than trying to learn social work skills from people who are not social workers!

It seems I may begin there the week of the 29th, and I am looking forward to it.  I have enjoyed my time at the agency where I am now, but I will admit it has been frustrating due to the lack of work.

Worrying experience

The agency I am placed with receives information about children placed in external foster placements or out of borough residential units regularly so that we can offer them information about our service.  This may involve sending written information, or a home visit.

Today we had a list of names arrive, so I spent some time this afternoon phoning the fostering agencies to try to obtain contact information of the young people.  Usually the procedure would be to ring the agency, who would not provide information to me directly but refer me to the child’s social worker, who would then provide me with the information.

The last fostering agency I rang, however, gave me contact information (carers names, address and telephone numbers) of three young people with no checks at all.  They had not heard of our service, but did not telephone back to check I was who I said I was, or refer me to the young people’s social workers.  Within ten minutes I had full details of all three young people, all on full care orders (ie. having been found to be at risk of significant harm by a court), and it was terrifyingly easy.  I could have been anybody.

I was so worried that I rang the team manager of the fostering team to let him know- the agency will now be receiving an urgent visit from a fostering support worker to discuss their procedures for information sharing about young people.

Lord Laming talked in his most recent report about social workers being too willing to trust parents during child protection investigations- it seems the problem may be more widespread than that.

Cutting child poverty

Today a  new bill is being published to make working towards ending child poverty a legal requirement on councils, health authorities, government and other bodies.

It may just be me, but this seems totally unworkable, if not impossible…

Poverty as the government defines it is expressed completely in terms of material wealth, ie. parental income.  However, in a time of increasing economic certainty for many people, current income is being stretched further and making ends meet is harder and more stressful than ever.  Redundancy is ever looming for many. And living on benefits is becoming reality for huge numbers every day.

Many people who have never had this experience live under the illusion that welfare benefits keep people out of poverty.   Sadly, this is not true.  A family with no other income source which is forced to rely on jobseekers allowance is immediately cast below the government’s own poverty line.  The levels of benefit are designed to provide the very basic essentials of life- no luxuries or non-essentials. In other words, to enable somebody to buy a supermarket loaf of economy range white bread, not a branded wholemeal loaf, bus fares to the jobcentre to sign on, not a one week holiday for the children in the family.  Television is considered a luxury as is home contents insurance.

The government can only afford to maintain the welfare state with benefits at these levels- if they are increased, costs will likewise increase and spending cuts required from other services to compensate.  Where would these cuts come from? Education? I think not… Health? That wouldn’t please voters much…  Defence? Never been known in the course of history.  Social care?  Probably.. but the adult services budget, of course- less sexy and important to voters at present.

So I will be very interested to see how the governement intends to remove all these children from poverty, whilst still being able to afford the welfare state and all its other spending priorities.

Call me a cynic, but it seems to me this is more, yet again, about being seen to be doing something, in light of the unavoidable general election which hovers ominously on the political horizon.