This sector includes a varied range of careers and professions associated with providing help, care and support, across the general community.

The definition of social care work used by the Department of Health & Children is:
"Social care workers plan and provide individual or group care to clients with personal and social needs. Client groups are varied and include:

• Children and adolescents in residential care;
• Young people in detention schools;
• People with intellectual or physical disabilities;
• People who are homeless
• People with alcohol/drug dependency;
• Families in the community;
• Older people.

Social care workers strive to support, protect, guide and advocate on behalf of clients." 

Skills and attributes
You need to be altruistic - a  ‘people person’ - to enjoy working in this career area. Personal attributes such as empathy, compassion, self-awareness and open-mindedness are typical of those found working in the social care sector.  Strong communication skills, an ability to use critical reflection, teamwork and interdisciplinary work are all important skills for social care practitioners. 

Most jobs in the field of Social and Caring involve working with clients and their families, often over a long period of time. For example, you might be:

• Supporting and helping vulnerable people – older people, people who are homeless, adolescents in residential care, people recovering from alcohol or drug dependency, people who are immigrants
• Caring for people with learning disabilities or with physical disabilities
• Giving advice and information – about welfare rights, education, money, careers or jobs – to people who need it
• Working in a community education centre, engaging local people of all ages in different learning activities
• Counselling people to help them sort out problems in their lives – an area where you must develop a trusting relationship with your client.

SOCIAL WORK
Social work is a profession for those with a strong desire to help improve people’s lives. Social workers often see clients who face a life-threatening disease or a social problems, such as inadequate housing, unemployment, a serious illness, a disability, or substance abuse. Social workers also assist families that have serious domestic conflicts, sometimes involving abuse.

In Ireland the biggest employer of social workers is the Health Service Executive (HSE). Social workers also work with adoption agencies, hospitals and clinics, and in the probation and welfare service. 

Voluntary agencies catering for specific interest groups also employ social workers. These include charities, special schools (run by religious groups or parents) and treatment centers.

Social Workers must hold a qualification recognised by the Health and Social Care Professional Council* (CORU)  that will lead to the award of National Qualification in Social Work (NQSW).

It is possible to combine an academic social science degree with professional social work training, or alternatively, you can complete a postgraduate professional course, following a three-year social science degree or its equivalent.

Social workers are registered at the Health and Social Care Professionals Council (CORU). Registration applies to anyone wishing to practise in Ireland in the regulated professions, regardless of whether they received their qualifications in Ireland, within the EEA/EU or elsewhere, and whether they work in the public, voluntary or private sector, as an employee, or as a private practitioner. 

NOTE: Social Workers are now required to apply for registration with CORU, the body charged with regulating health and social care professionals in Ireland. 

The deadline of 31 May 2013 is particularly critical for those social workers who hold a Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW) or a National Qualification in Social Work (NQSW) - historical qualifications of the profession. CORU has advised these social workers and their employers that their qualifications will not be accepted after this date. If they do not apply before 31 May they may not be able to register.

*(Formerly the National Social Work Qualifications Board (NSWQB)- Dissolved 31 March 2010)

Medical Social Work
Most public hospitals employ Social Workers. Medical and Public Health Social Workers provide persons, families, or vulnerable groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses, such as Alzheimer's disease or Cancer.

Medical Social Workers are involved in counselling patients. They also help plan for their needs after they are discharged from the hospital, by arranging for at-home services, such as meals-on-wheels or oxygen equipment.

Mental Health Social Work
Mental health and substance abuse Social Workers assess and treat individuals with mental illness or substance abuse problems, including abuse of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs.

Examples of the services involved in this area include individual and group therapy, outreach work, crisis intervention, social rehabilitation, and training in skills for everyday living. They also may help plan the best way to make use of supportive services to ease a patients’ return to the community.

Mental health and substance abuse Social Workers are likely to work in hospitals, substance abuse treatment centers, or with individual and family services agencies.


COMMUNITY & WELFARE
Community Workers are sometimes employed by Local Authorities to run community and youth projects that aim to address such problems as teenage pregnancy, or anti-social behavior.  

The work of Social and Community Workers can involve assisting one-parent families, the area of adoption, or finding foster home care for neglected, abandoned, or abused children. 

Through community and FÁS workshop programs, Community Workers may be involved in helping disadvantaged young people find suitable employment. There are also career opportunities for Trainers that help workers cope with job-related pressures or with personal problems that affect the quality of their work. 

As a Probation and Welfare officer in the Department of Justice, you may find work with the Adoption Board, in the Courts, or in Prisons and places of detention. 

Working with Older People
Another area of social and community work is working in services for senior citizens, running support groups for family carers or for the adult children of aging parents, advising elderly people or family members about choices in areas such as housing, transportation, and long-term care, and coordinating and monitoring these services.

Child Welfare Services
The public health service in Ireland is obliged to provide social work services for children considered to be 'at risk' and for other child care services. This involves making recommendations to the appropriate authorities. These services are delivered at a local level by the Health Service Executive (HSE). The Social Workers who deliver these support services may be known as Child Welfare Social Workers, Family Services Social Workers or Child Protective Services Social Workers.

Childcare 
Childcare is now commonly referred to as "Early Childhood Education and Care" and pre-school children in Ireland are “children under 6 years of age, who are not attending a national school or equivalent”.  Pre-school services include pre-schools, montessori, play groups, naíonraí, day nurseries, crèches, childminders and other similar services looking after more than 3 preschool children. {See EDUCATION SECTOR for detailed information on roles in the area of Childcare}.

DISABILITY
Research shows that some 18.5% of the Irish Population (749,100 people), have some form of long-term disability (or disabilities).

It is not always obvious when a person has a disability. The disability can be hidden such as dyslexia or epilepsy. It can be a visual or physical impairment; it can be an intellectual disability, or a person my have multiple disabilites or secondary impairments caused by the primary disability. Some disabilities are acquired, such as a medical condition or brain injury, and may require very specific and specialist care either short-term or long-term.

For various reasons and at different stages in their lives, people need support to develop and maintain their independence, dignity and control.  The main policy objective for people with disabilities is that they should be supported to lead full and independent lives, to participate in work and society and to maximise their potential.

Workers in the disability sector provide a whole range of support services from face-to-face caring and training roles, to behind the scenes administration. People that work in the Disability sector contribute to day-to-day client support and the smooth operation of numerous facilities and services for people with a disability. 

Visit our Sector Expert St. Michael's House for detailed infomation working in community-based services for people with an intellectual disability.

Care Assistant & Support Roles
There are many people who's chosen career path is to provide care on a daily basis. Care roles include:

• Respite Worker - provides family carers with a break from full-time caring responsibilities
• Special Needs Assistant - assigned to a child with a disability within the classroom situation
• Care Attendant -(or nursing assistant) can work in a variety of care facilities in the public, private and voluntary care sectors, varying from residential nursing homes to community day care facilities and health centres.
• Personal Assistant - provides assistance to an adult individual with a disability to allow them to live as independently as possible
• Home Help - is employed by the HSE and provides support to a person with a disability, or an elderly, frail person who may wish to remain in their own home but require some assistance with certain tasks

Many colleges of Further Education offer courses in Care/Healthcare Assistant at FETAC Level 5 and Level 6 that are designed to prepare students to work competently in these settings. 

Garda Vetting
Following implementation of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 it is mandatory for persons working with children or vulnerable adults to be vetted by the Gardaí.  The Act lists the following work or activities where people working with children and vulnerable adult will require vetting:

• Childcare services
• Schools
• Hospitals and health services
• Residential services or accommodation for children or vulnerable persons
• Treatment, therapy or counselling services for children or vulnerable persons
• Provision of leisure, sporting or physical activities to children or vulnerable persons
• Promotion of religious beliefs

PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology is the scientific study of thought, emotion and behaviour. The Psychologist examines the various aspects of human experience - people's emotions, their thoughts and their actions and applies their understanding to the person. Psychologists work in a variety of professional settings, including clinical, counselling, educational, organisational and academic environments.

The first step to a career in psychology in Ireland is to study for a primary degree at honours level. Completion of an approved primary honours degree enables a student to become a graduate member of The Psychological Society of Ireland (P.S.I.). Further education and specialist training is then necessary to develop a career in psychology. 

Counselling
Counsellors help people to deal with problems,  or at times when they are experiencing distress or loss of direction in their lives. 

Counsellors usually work with clients on a one-to-one basis, meeting them in private and treating their problems in confidence. People may need counselling to help them cope with situations or issues such as bereavement, anxiety, drug or alcohol dependency, debt or domestic violence.

At the moment, there are no legal minimum qualifications needed to become a Counsellor. However, the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) is very concerned that counselling standards should be developed and improved. For this reason, the IACP has developed strict Codes of Ethics and Practice for its members. They also have strict accreditation criteria, which is very highly valued by employers.

Career/Guidance Counselling
Guidance Counsellors require post-graduate training. To become a Guidance Counsellor, you undertake a one year full-time post-graduate programme in guidance and counselling (or it's equivalent).  Most Guidance Counsellors have spent some time in mainstream teaching before undergoing further training, allowing them  to specialise in career guidance counselling.

Guidance counsellors are mainly employed in second level schools, but they can also be found working in the Community Sector with early school leavers, disadvantaged groups, in Local Employment Services (LES) and in FÁS. {See EDUCATION SECTOR for additional infomation on Guidance Counselling}