Child protection is tough, but some moments make it all worthwhile

Social workers: what would you do differently if you could go back to the start of your career? I qualified in 2011 and have always worked in frontline child protection. I have worked in large cities and rural local authorities, and have already experienced significant shifts in the profession. These are driven by changes made by the government and have had an impact on some of the most vulnerable families.

My social work manager in Leeds once told me: “If you don’t like change, you’re in the wrong job.” They said this after I was moaning about our service being restructured. Looking back, I don’t think there has been a truer statement made about social work. There will be many restructures, managers, team members, policies, governments that come and go and affect the way we deliver services to clients. After four years of social work, here is my advice for anyone starting out in child protection.

You will have good and bad managers, and sometimes you can learn more from the ones who don’t support you. They will teach you to make sure you record both your and their decision-making clearly in your notes and provide you with a template for what type of manager you don’t want to be, should you wish to climb the ladder. They will also make you appreciate the supportive mangers you come across who let you argue your viewpoints about your clients and then provide you with clear guidance about the way forward in working with them.

You will make mistakes – even when you’re guided by a supportive manager. Whatever the error, don’t try and cover it up. Tell your manager straight away – it’s a lot better than them finding out from someone else, because if that happens it makes it harder for them to protect your decision-making.

In this job people will always surprise you. The parents you work with won’t always make the “right” decisions and won’t always choose their children’s needs over their own. But, saying that, I’ve seen professionals write parents off only for them to turn it around and have their children returned to them. Don’t underestimate the bond that a parent has with their child; it’s a powerful motivator for change.

Don’t hold your hand up and volunteer for everything, and don’t feel pressured to take on additional work. This is easier said than done as you will undoubtedly see your colleagues under pressure and want new opportunities to learn. But, if you’re newly qualified, don’t give up your study days or feel guilty that you have a protected caseload. You will never get this opportunity again to learn and nurture your career, and there will be plenty of time in the future to help your colleagues.

Don’t panic when someone tells you they are going to contact their solicitor about your decisions regarding their children. This used to scare me and make me feel that I had done something wrong. Now, I almost prefer it when clients contact their solicitor so that any decisions can be explained by them. Most of the time solicitors encourage their clients to work with the local authority.

This job will change you. You will witness horrible things that parents have subjected their children to, and then you will be expected to switch off and join in the rest of the world. This does get easier with time and it’s important you find a way to relax or you are likely to burn out. There will be days when you wonder what difference you are making to the families you are working with. But then you will have a breakthrough moment with a child that will remind you why you became a social worker. Those moments make the job worthwhile.

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