Social work and welfare: useful links and news sources

Key employers

• The obvious big players in the UK social care and welfare sector are the local government and councils, since it is local authorities that have statutory responsibility for providing social care to the communities they serve. Here, social workers and social care workers have to operate within structured policy and legislative procedures.
• Secondly, there is the voluntary or ‘third' sector. Care staff in this sector have clearly defined roles as advocates on behalf of specific user groups. Examples of large organisations within this sector are: Age Concern, Mencap and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). Careers in the voluntary sector offer more opportunities to work in the advocacy and counselling aspects of social care.
• A third big player is small to medium-sized enterprise (SME). SMEs make up the majority of private sector care providers, and they are rapidly expanding, offering residential care, housing, fostering and adoption services. There are many private organisations that offer more specialist services, e.g. for hard-to-place children.
• Agencies have become more numerous in recent years. Some London boroughs and city unitary authorities rely heavily on agency staff. The working hours and types of work available through agencies tend to be very flexible.
• Self-employment is a final employment possibility, and this can be very suited to doctoral graduates with qualifications in essential practices in the sector. Indeed, independent social work and social work consultancy have grown steadily over the past decade. There are two categories: those who work directly with service users, and those who work as expert witnesses, or in service development, advisory, investigatory or reviewing capacities. The latter category would often call themselves consultants. Staff choosing to be self-employed also need to possess a broad range of business skills. These generic business skills can be found in the experience and skills gained by doctoral graduates, throughout a varied spectrum of academic and professional disciplines.

Jobs and work

• Action for Children
• AllCareJobs
• Barnardo's
• Camp America
• Careers in Probation
• Charities Aid Foundation
• Charity Choice - for a directory of contact details for charities and voluntary organisations
• Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS)
• Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC)
• Community Care - also a good source of news
• Community Service Volunteers (CSV)
• Compass
• Directory of Local Councils - for local councils' contact details
• GapYear.com
• Great Social Care
• HM Prison Service
• International Committee of the Red Cross
• International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) - for jobs overseas and also a good source of news
• Jobcentre Plus
• Jobsgopublic
• Jobs in Social Work
• Local Government Jobs
• National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)
• NHS Careers
• NHS Jobs
• Oxfam
• People Unlimited - recruitment agency
• RIG Social Care - recruitment agency
• Save The Children
• Scottish Social Services Council - also has details of training and bursaries
• Skills for Care
• Social Care Association - also good for news and networking
• Social Care Careers - has a directory of social care job sites
• Social Work and Care - also has details of training
• Socialwork and Care Jobs
• Social Work Careers - has a directory of social work job sites and details of training
• Society Guardian
• Third Sector
• Vinspired
• Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO)
• World Vision UK
• YouthNet

Study

General Social Care Council (GSCC) - for details of routes into social care work and courses available
National Skills Academy for Social Care 
Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) - also careers information
NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) - for funding for social work courses

News

• Age Concern
• British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) 
• British Association of Social Workers - also for vacancies
• Care Quality Commission (CQC) 
• Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) 
• Charities Aid Foundation 
• Children's Workforce Network (CWN)
• Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
• Department of Health (DH) 
• Every Child Matters 
• Journal of Social Policy 
• Local Government Association (LGA) 
• Mencap 
• Mind 
• National Probation Service (NPS) 
• Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) 
• Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) 
• Skills for Care 
• Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) 
• Student Social Workers Forum 
• Sure Start 
• Social Services Yearbook 

Reference

• British Journal of Social Work - Covers papers reporting research, discussing practice, and examining principles and theories
• Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) 
• Cutting the Cake Fairly - 2008 report
• General Social Care Council (GSCC) 
• National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC) 
• Putting People First - government policy document
• Social Services Directory 
• Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS)