"We must advocate for the communities we work in"

It’s no secret that Northern Ireland has a complex past.

I was lucky enough to be born into peace. My parents, however, recall chilling stories of what it was like growing up during the ‘troubles.’

Unfortunately, tensions are on the rise again, only this time it’s children as young as 13 being encouraged at times to partake in criminal behaviour.

In my role as a School Social Worker, I have been working alongside young people who have been involved in these antisocial criminal acts.

Are they criminals? That’s a label I wouldn’t want to place on any young person. When I speak to young people who have been involved, it’s a combination of factors that have led to them making the decision to stand in the street and throw a brick.

COVID lockdowns caused schools to shut their doors, ultimately widening the academic attainment gap, particularly for students living in socioeconomic deprived areas.

Young people also lost access to their youth clubs, parents struggled financially on furlough, and mental ill health was a concern for all.

As a profession, we can only begin to build rapport with the community that we serve if we engage creatively, honestly, and with a willingness to become the guest not the facilitator.

Then, we can begin to build a foundation, to understand at a deeper level the issues at the heart of the community that impact the children and young people we serve.

Social work needs to have a political voice to advocate for the communities that we work in. In Northern Ireland, between 2011 and 2019, schools had their spending cut by 11%.

Years of austerity has meant that vital services, that are preventive and supportive to young people, have been reduced, cut, or made redundant due to lack of funding.

As social workers, we need to lobby for investment into working class areas, to develop youth programmes, and support on-the-ground community services.

However, the professional hierarchy is still very active and we can prioritise certain professionals at the cost of developing professional relationships with those at the heart of the community, such as youth workers and community workers.

Investment is much more than purely financial, it’s time, and I believe we need to be given time to work alongside communities. Teachers and educational professionals take on so many roles within the school environment, and having Social Workers implemented into the foundation of an education placement allows the teacher to focus on their primary duty - to teach and inspire the future generation, whilst Social Workers focus on mental health, social wellbeing, and family issues.

This addresses every element of the ecological model, allowing the child’s needs to be met in every layer, from micro to macro.

Now, this is not a new idea. In fact, there are many countries that utilise School Social Workers.

The United States of America School Social Work Association recommends 1 per 250 pupils.

In Sweden, School Social Work is mandated into the Swedish Education Act with a ratio of 1 School Social Worker per 800 pupils.

This concept is recognised as far afield as India with the Integrated Child Protection Scheme, which contracted Social Workers for over 800 schools.

I believe, wholeheartedly, that blending Social Work and Education secures a brighter future for our young people.

School Social Workers are equipped with the knowledge and skillset to provide tailored holistic, child-centred interventions to provide a wraparound support package for our youth.

The next logical step is to establish School Social Workers and ensure places of education have the budget available to implement this service.