Children, Family and School Social Workers

As a children, family and school social worker, you work with children and families facing all sorts of difficulties - poverty, abuse, neglect, illness, family breakdown. Your job is to find out what each family needs and help them access the right support. You work with schools, doctors, police and other services to piece together a plan that helps.

Your week involves home visits to understand how families are living, conversations with children to find out what they need, writing reports for court, and attending meetings with parents, teachers and other professionals. You will see families at their most frightened or overwhelmed, and your calm, steady support can make a real difference. The work can be emotionally hard - you see real suffering - but it is deeply rewarding when a family you've supported starts to recover and children become safer and happier.