Michael delves into the challenges faced by child social workers when dealing with highly demanding and emotionally consuming cases. The episode highlights the story of a 15-year-old boy named Craig, who had a traumatic upbringing and exhibited aggressive and violent behaviour. Despite efforts to find suitable placements for Craig, his behaviour continued to pose challenges, leading to frequent changes in his living arrangements.  It sheds light on the difficult decisions social workers must make in prioritizing cases and providing the necessary support to children and families in need.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Challenging Cases Monopolise Time: One or two highly challenging cases can consume most, if not all, of a social worker's time, regardless of the caseload size.

• Limited Resources: Social workers must make daily decisions on how to allocate limited resources to provide the most appropriate services to children and families in need.

• Complex Trauma: Cases like Craig's highlight the impact of complex trauma on a child's behaviour and the challenges in finding suitable placements to meet their needs.

• Attention to High-Risk Cases: Social workers tend to focus on cases that pose the highest risk or demand the most attention, potentially leaving other urgent cases with less immediate attention.

• Discretion in Time Management: Social workers have discretion in how they spend their time, often prioritising cases based on perceived risk and urgency, despite the desire to provide equitable support to all cases.

BEST MOMENTS

"No matter how small or large your caseload, you probably know from experience that you only need one or two highly challenging time and emotionally consuming cases to monopolise most, if not all, of your time."

"Despite this reality, you still have to strive to ensure that you give each case the necessary attention, thought and consideration that each case deserves."

"A case that springs to my mind involved a 15-year-old boy who I refer to as Craig. Craig was one of the most traumatised and dysregulated young men who I have ever come across."

"The frustrating thing is that the nature of some cases leaves you with no choice other than focusing on them and this is all the more likely when the case is in care proceedings."

"As a social worker, you have quite a bit of discretion concerning how you spend your time most constructively. But apart from what you are instructed to do by your manager or managers, your attention will tend to centre on who you perceive to be most at risk and who screams the loudest."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

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HOST BIO

Michael Watson is a qualified social worker and author with over thirty years of experience working with children and families. As an expert in family court, Michael is in a key position to assist, advise, and coach parents through their private law family proceedings and provide them with the information and skills to represent themselves successfully in court. His two books, ‘How to Represent Yourself in Family Court’, and ‘FAMILY COURT: Giving Evidence In Family Court’, provide parents with a clearer understanding of family court proceedings, legislation, and parenting skills.