Social wellbeing faculty concerned about ‘undermining’ of social work profession

The Faculty for Social Wellbeing has expressed its concern about the undermining of the social work profession in the country.

“The Faculty for Social Wellbeing takes note of the strong concern expressed by the International Federation of Social Workers (Europe) about the deployment of persons without a social work warrant to perform social work duties such as case reviews and risk assessments,” Faculty dean Andrew Azzopardi said in a statement.

In a letter to the Prime Minister last May, Ana Rădulescu, president of the International Federation of Social Workers warned the delays in addressing the situation will discourage prospective students from entering the profession.

She called on the authorities to take immediate action.

Unqualified graduates are being employed as social welfare professionals in light of acute shortage of social workers. The practice of social work is regulated by the Social Work Profession Act.

Last December, the social policy department at the University of Malta had also flagged the issue, and had expressed its concern about the practice.

“The Faculty shares the Federation’s concern that this situation fails to safeguard service users, undermines the social work profession and discourages prospective students from pursuing social work studies leading to a warrant,” the social wellbeing faculty said in a statement on Monday.

“It is the State’s responsibility to ensure that appropriate knowledge and skills are used to provide the highest level of care for vulnerable service users, as required by the Social Work Profession Act and Code of Ethics.”

The dean said that while understanding that the demand for social work services far outstrips the supply of qualified social workers, the Faculty calls upon the authorities to explore, together with all stakeholders, alternative courses of action to increase supply. 

“The solutions must be multi-faceted and must span the path from qualification to practice, including for instance, the reclassification of social work stipends and payment on placement; conditions of work commensurate with the responsibilities of the profession; and making it compulsory for eligible persons to obtain an undergraduate or postgraduate social work qualification within a given timeframe,” the statement read.

The faculty said it stands ready to be part of the solution.