What is a Social Worker?

A Social Worker is the person who works with you, your family and your carers. He or she will try their best to make sure that your life is good. They will work with other people to do this.

It’s a difficult time when you first come into care and there might be many questions that you would like to ask. Talk to your social worker if you have any worries or queries. It is their job to listen and explain things.

Your social worker needs to get to know you and build up a good relationship with you.  You can expect your social worker to visit you regularly (at least once every 6 weeks) and to be available to speak with you on the phone if needed. Your social worker will always be at your Child Care Reviews and will also be responsible for making sure that you have a good Personal education Plan and a Personal Health Plan.

Your social worker should visit you regularly at your placement (for example your foster home) and should always see you on your own so that you can talk confidentially about anything that is worrying you.

Your social worker will have a Team Manager who is their boss. You may meet the Team Manager at Child Care Reviews. If you have any concerns about your social worker – for example if you are finding it difficult to see your social worker – then you should speak to the Team Manager.

All the social workers and Team Managers have their own telephone numbers and email addresses – you should ask them for this information if you don’t have it so that you know how to contact them if you need to.

If you have the name of the person you are trying to get hold of, you can ring 020 8871 6000 to speak to the operator, who can then transfer you to the right person.