Social & Caring

Social work is a profession for those with a strong desire to help improve people's lives. Social workers are professionally qualified. They assess the needs of their clients and plan and implement individual packages of care best suited to them. To do this, requires building relationships and supporting people to enable them to realise their potential, take control of their lives and live as independently and safely as possible.

There are numerous specialty practice sections in the field:

• Adoption
• Children and Adolescent mental health
• Child and families
• Disabilities
• Elderly
• Fostering
• Medical
• Mental Health
• Primary Care
• Probation
• Refugees and Asylum Seekers
• Substance Abuse

Typically, cases are referred to the Social Worker by another professional, for example, a doctor, a school principal, a healthcare worker or by a member of the general public. 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. They may also assist families that have serious domestic conflicts, sometimes involving abuse.

Social workers usually have a ‘caseload’ – a number of cases of individuals/families who they work with at any one time. Their work entails visits to service users, assessments, organising packages of support, making recommendations or referrals to other services and agencies, keeping detailed records and participating in multi-disciplinary team meetings. Social workers also provide support and information and crucially use their skills in relationship work.

Children & Family 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.

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 centres, or with individual and family services agencies. 

Probation & Welfare - As a Probation and Welfare officer in the Department of Justice, you can find work with the Adoption Board, in the Courts, or in Prisons and places of detention. Probation services fall under the remit of the public sector - there is no private sector equivalent. The probation services care for those from minor first-time offenders to serious violent or sexual offenders. Their main aim is to prevent reoffending by assessing offenders, challenging their attitudes and trying to change behaviour, towards protecting the general public. 

Probation and welfare officers supervise criminal offenders before trial, during a prison or community sentence and after their release. They may be assigned probation and welfare duties in courts, hostels, workshops, prisons, places of detention or other centres. They also have a role in  assisting the courts with sentencing decisions by supplying reports on those who have committed offences, outlining the health, social, educational and vocational circumstances of the offender as well as his or her attitude to the crime. The report must assess the likelihood of re-offending and/or the risk of serious harm. A Probation officer may recommend attendance at counselling, an addiction support programme or anger management course etc. They may also work with voluntary organisations and statutory bodies to secure suitable placements for offenders on probation. The job role includes helping those in custody to cope with their imprisonment, work towards rehabilitation and re-integration into the community. A Probation officer may also be required to provide liaison services with the families of offenders serving a custodial sentence.

Opportunities

In Ireland, the biggest employer of social workers is the Health Service Executive (HSE). Social workers also work with adoption agencies, hospitals, 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 centres.

Qualification
In order to practice as a professional qualified Social Worker in Ireland, you will need to hold an approved qualification. Approved qualifications will be determined through the making of bye laws by each Registration Board. 

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.

A list of the qualifications approved by the Social Work Registration Board is available from the IASW here.

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 was 31 May 2013 for those social workers who hold historical qualifications of the profession including Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW) or a National Qualification in Social Work (NQSW).

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

 

 

Social care workers are typically employed to support social workers in implementing care packages. They do this by providing the practical and emotional support recommended under the care plan.

This may involve working in a person’s home, in a day-care centre, community centre or residential or nursing home. Social Care Practitioners may be working with children or adolescents in residential care; people with learning or physical disabilities; people who are homeless; people with alcohol/drug dependency; families in community; older people; recent immigrants to Ireland, among others.

Responsibilities range from providing personal care such as washing, dressing, feeding and toileting, to assisting with the delivery of activity programmes in day-care centres or nursing homes, through to managing a team of social care workers in any of these settings.

To enjoy working in this career area, you need to be altruistic - a people person. 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.

 

Jobs in the field of Social and Caring may involve working with both clients, and their families, often over a long period of time, for example:

• 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.

The Social Care profession will soon be subject to statutory registration by the Health and Social Care Professionals Council. The Council, which was established in March 2007 under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005, with the appointment of the Social Care Work Registration Board taking place in April 2015. It is anticipated that statutory registration of social care work will take place in 2017. Information is available on its website at: www.coru.ie.

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 behaviour. 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 programmes, 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.

Social Housing - Social housing is a significant area of community work. The Irish Council for Social Housing reports that Housing Associations manage 27,000 homes in over 500 communities throughout the country. They provide housing and related services to families, the homeless, older people and people with disabilities. 

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.

CORU is currently establishing Registration Boards for twelve Health and Social Care professions including Social Care Workers. The Social Care Workers’ Registration Board is expected to be established in 2014. This will require that any individual wishing to use the title of “Social Care Worker” and/or holds a recognised qualification in Social Care, or equivalent will be required to register with CORU.

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 may have multiple disabilities 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 information working in community-based services for people with an intellectual disability.

A comprehensive area on disability is also available this site - click here to view

Social Care Support Roles

There are many people whose chosen career path is to provide care on a daily basis. Care roles include:

• Care Worker - provides care for children /young people with special needs in residential homes, day care centres and special schools.
• 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. 

Childcare - Childcare is now commonly referred to as "Early Childhood Care and Education" 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 and occupations in the area of Childcare}.

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 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 an undergraduate degree at honours Level 8. Completion of an approved degree (i.e. a degree where psychology is the major subject is required) enables a student to become a graduate member of The Psychological Society of Ireland (P.S.I.). Further postgraduate 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 includes 450 hours of client work and supervision.

Career/Guidance Counselling - Guidance Counsellors require post-graduate training. To become a Guidance Counsellor, you undertake a one year full-time (2-year part-time) post-graduate programme in guidance and counselling. Most Guidance Counsellors have spent some time in mainstream teaching before undergoing further training, allowing them to specialise in career guidance counselling. Full details of recognised training programmes are available from the National Centre for Guidance in Education NCGE here.

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 SOLAS (Formerly FÁS). {See EDUCATION SECTOR for additional information on Guidance Counselling}