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The purpose of this paper is to reflect on development in children’s social work over 35 years from the perspective of someone who has worked in the field as a practitioner and director.

Interview.

The paper provides insights into implementing the Reclaiming Social Work model and how systems can better support social work practice with children and families.

The paper offers a unique perspective on developments in the field and implications for the future of children’s social work.

In the context of current developments in children ' s services in the UK and increased emphasis on workforce development, the authors describe a survey of successful completers of a Post-qualifying (PQ) Child Care Award Programme, one of 18 such programmes in England that ran between 2001 and 2006/7. The survey ' s aims were twofold: first, to gather the respondents ' overall evaluations of their PQ training and information about their past and current work circumstances; and second, to explore their knowledge and opinions on the latest developments in children ' s services in relation to their own work practices. The findings from the survey are outlined under four themes, which are then discussed in relation to other relevant studies, reviews on the role and tasks of social workers and current developments associated with the Every Child Matters agenda and the integrated workforce. Concerns are raised about whether social work professionalism is being effectively utilised within the current children ' s services arrangements.

The march of time is relentless; it brings with it ever increasing technological innovations that cannot bypass or skip over the delivery of personal social services. Within these services, the computer has already found its way to management and research personnel. They itch to put it to use to crunch out the kind of data that they feel they need in order to deliver more cost‐effective services to higher priority targets. The fly in the ointment is the practitioners; they just cannot or will not produce reliable data of the type needed for the number crunchers.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the particular characteristics and strengths of mainstream undergraduate and postgraduate university education for social workers.

A brief summary of the establishment of the honours degree or M-level qualification as the requirement for registration as a social worker in England is followed by a summary of the main aspects of “mainstream” social work courses. The values underpinning a “student” rather than a “trainee” route into social work are explored and some limited comparisons made with recently introduced fast-track specialist programmes. Where relevant, the student experience is contrasted with that of fast-track specialist trainees.

The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential impact on the social work profession and on agencies providing social work services of the cuts over the past few years in the numbers of students on “generalist” mainstream social work programmes.

This is a conceptual paper. It recognises that more information is available on long-established university programmes than on the more recently available fast-track routes into social work and cites relevant research.

The paper points to the changing balance between numbers entering social work in England via mainstream and fast-track specialist programmes and argues for a fuller debate amongst all stakeholders as to whether this change is in the interest of the profession and those who need social work services.

The author argues that the unequal level of funding between the different entry routes into social work is distorting choice (for students and future employers) between fast-track specialist and mainstream social work education. It is hypothesised that differences between the curricula and learning experiences of the two routes may have an impact on the social work service available to vulnerable people across age and needs groups. It also points to a potentially negative impact on social work education and the knowledge base of the reduction in numbers of academics with both social work practice experiences and research qualifications.

This is an original paper that draws on the author’s experience and the published research and grey literature cited.

This paper aims to explore how the introduction of new accounting information influences the understandings of cost-consciousness. Furthermore, the paper explores how managers use accounting information to shape organizational members’ understanding of changes, and how focusing on cost-consciousness influence professional culture within social services.

The paper is based on a case study, drawing on sensemaking as a theoretical lens. Top management, middle management and staff specialists at a medium-sized Danish municipality are interviewed.

The paper demonstrates how accounting metaphors can be effective in linking cost information and cost-consciousness to operational decisions in daily work practices. Further, the study elucidates how professionalism may be strengthened based on the use of accounting information.

The study is context specific, and the role of accounting in professional work varies on the basis of the specific techniques involved.

The paper shows how managers influence how professionals interpret and use accounting information. It shows how cost-consciousness can be integrated with social work practices to improve service quality.

The paper contributes to the literature on how accounting information influences social work. To date, only a few papers have focused on how cost-consciousness can be understood in practice and how it influences professional culture. Further, the study expands the limited accounting metaphor research.

The purpose of this paper is to expose and dispel some outdated dilemmas and straw men that have drawn attention away from debates of substance in social work. The paper presents what Frontline believes to be the substantive dilemmas facing the social work profession, as it looks into the future.

The paper draws on the insights and experiences of the past four years during which Frontline has been innovating in the field of social work education and leadership development.

Building a better social work system requires addressing several important questions, namely, whether social work; first, is a practical or intellectual task; second, is a generic or specialist profession; third, focuses on social or therapeutic change; fourth, requires bureaucrats or change agents; and fifth, involves measuring inspections or measuring outcomes.

The paper sets out the key dilemmas facing the social work profession, which must be debated and addressed in order to build a better social work system.

Research and experience show that evidence-based practice (EBP), i.e. using the best available knowledge in daily professional work, is difficult to achieve in social services. The purpose of this study is to understand the development of organizational EBP learning processes in daily work through workplace education for staff and managers of supported homes for people with cognitive disabilities. The authors examine how the EBP model and new knowledge are understood and made actionable in the workplace, applying theories of organizational learning.

The authors used empirical material collected from an EBP workplace education pilot in Sweden, as well as documents on national EBP implementation in Swedish social services. Before the pilot, a focus group interview was conducted with regional senior managers. Participating managers and staff were individually interviewed two to three years after the pilot.

The study illustrates how knowledge-based action emerged from education where EBP was interpreted, understood, reflected on, and tested, supported by codified EBP tools in the work context. The participants, when supervised, and when observing and questioning their own behaviors in practice, contributed to double-loop learning (DLL) processes. Codification of EBP knowledge into useful tools and socialization processes during education and workplace meetings was crucial in developing individual and group DLL and knowledge-based actions.

The bottom-up approach to EBP development and the adaptive contextual learning at the workplace gave new insights into organizational learning in social service workplaces.

In social work education there is often felt to be a disjunction between what students learn in college and what they need to know in practice ‐ the gap between the ‘hard high ground’ of academia and the ‘swampy lowlands’ of practice (Schön, 2003). This paper will demonstrate how an approach borrowed from theatre in education was successfully used to fill this gap and enhance teaching and learning across years two and three of a BA social work course. The paper explores the use of role play techniques utilising a ‘teacher in role’ and ‘mantle of the expert’ (Heathcote & Bolton, 1996) approach to enable students to synthesise theory, practice and skills in a classroom setting.

Integrated care approaches have been recommended for co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders. The purpose of this study is to explore and map the research literature regarding social work and its intersection with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders.

An iterative and systematic search of five electronic databases CINAHL, Scopus, PsycINFO, Social Science Database and Medline was conducted to identify studies published between 2002 and 2022. Two reviewers independently screened publications in two successive stages of title and abstract screening, followed by a full-text screening of eligible studies. Data from each included publication were screened and extracted using Covidence.

A total of 38 eligible studies were included in the final scoping review. The included studies were conducted in eight different counties, including a range of study designs (e.g. cross-sectional, RCT, pilot studies). Only 8 of the 38 studies included people with co-occurring disorders as participants. Study settings were broad, for example, dual-diagnosis, military, homeless, substance use and community-based settings.

A review of the literature surrounding social work practice and its intersection with co-occurring mental health and Alcohol and other drug was warranted to document the evidence on this largely unexplored area of research. This review found that there was a paucity of literature that focused specifically on the role of social work practice in relation to individuals with co-occurring disorders, with a limited number of studies focusing on dual diagnoses.

In social work, as in other disciplines, activism receives mixed responses within the academy, in professional practice and for those who cling to unyielding professionalism. There is a gulf between those who favour research and practice neutrality and those striving for systemic change. The co-option of non-state actors into political discourses, policies and practices is increasingly normalised. Drawing on reflections, observations and campaign examples, this chapter discusses social work activism as resistance to racialised neoliberal politics. It highlights endeavours by civil society actors of conscience, devised to restore humanity at a time when national and international norms have severely ruptured. Two illustrative examples from Australia are used: ‘illegalised’ people seeking asylum and Islamophobia. Although dissent and disruption are hallmarks of critical social work, with social workers having the potential to position themselves as human rights defenders, this prospect is weakened through expectations in research, teaching and practice.