Residential Social Worker

Also known as:

Care Worker, Residential
Social Worker, Residential

Introduction

Residential social workers provide practical and emotional support to residents in care homes. They may work with children, teenagers, elderly people, or people with physical disabilities, learning difficulties or mental health problems. Residential social workers may be employed by social services departments, charities or private organisations.

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Work Activities

Social workers provide residents with practical support, for example, helping them to claim benefits, plan a budget, pay bills and keep in touch with family and friends. Social workers may also plan and manage group activities, to help residents relate to one another and maintain or develop their social skills. As far as possible, residential social workers enable people to keep as much independence (in terms of their privacy and dignity) as they can.

Social workers also arrange any support services that the residents need. Depending on the needs, abilities and experiences of the group, these services could include counselling, group therapy sessions, legal advice or treatment for a drug or alcohol dependency.

Sometimes social workers help people with the transition from residential care to fully independent living in the community. For example, a social worker may help children to find and settle with foster or adoptive parents.

Residential social workers are part of a team, for example, working alongside doctors, psychologists, nurses, care assistants and counsellors.

Most residential social workers work in a team on a shift basis, so they can provide 24-hour cover. In some cases they may have to live-in, on either a long-term or shift basis.

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Personal Qualities and Skills

As a residential social worker, you must be committed to helping people solve problems, and enabling them to maintain or develop as much independence as possible.

Communication and interpersonal skills are very important qualities in dealing with clients. You must be able to listen carefully and ask the right questions to find out more about the resident's needs. You will also need good team working skills, for example, to work alongside psychologists, doctors, nurses, care assistants and counsellors.

This career can be emotionally and intellectually demanding. You must treat residents with patience, tact and sensitivity. Some residents may be hostile and verbally or even, on occasion, physically aggressive. You must be resilient enough to cope with this and try to win their cooperation and trust through a mixture of sympathy and firmness.

Residential social workers must have a flexible approach to work. They need organisational skills to plan their heavy workload. Residential social workers need negotiating skills when they are liaising with support services and other agencies.

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Pay and Opportunities

Pay rates for social workers vary.

The pay rates given below are approximate.

Social workers in Scotland earn in the range of £28,000 - £35,000 a year. Higher earners (team leaders and management roles) can make from £36,000 - £43,000 a year.

Residential support workers, who do not hold a full social worker qualification, earn in the range of £14,000 - £16,000 a year, rising to around £17,500 - £21,000 a year.

Local authority social work departments run residential homes, hostels and other types of supported housing. Charities and private companies also manage residences.

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Adult Opportunities

It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

In order to qualify as a social worker, it is necessary to have completed an Honours degree in social work or to have taken a degree in another suitable subject followed by a two-year postgraduate course.

For most social work courses, entrants are required to have 6-12 months' relevant experience. This may be paid or voluntary. Organisations such as CSV (Community Service Volunteers) provide relevant volunteering placements in social care.

The Open University offers a BA (Honours) Social Work (Scotland) degree by open and work-based learning. The programme is only available to staff who are working in social care agencies in Scotland and are sponsored by their employer.

If you have a non-graduate qualification in social work, you can study part time for an Honours degree while working in a social care job. You should get time off for practice placements. This route is much less common as your employer has to sponsor you, providing you with suitable placements and funding.

Some local authorities offer training schemes leading to a social work qualification. Contact the social work departments in the local authority areas you are interested in for information.

• 22% of social workers work part-time.
• 35% have flexible hours.
• 7% of employees work on a temporary basis.

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