Recorded just before the summer break, Andy McClenaghan and guests, Priya David and Duc Tran, discuss some of the many issues faced by overseas social workers who have come to the UK to practice. 

Priya and Duc are Co-Chairs of the BASW Diaspora Special Interest Group and offer insights into the challenges diaspora social workers can face when working in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the steps employers can take to address the problems identified.

In June 2023, the BASW Diaspora Special Interest Group published a framework providing guidance on best practice in the recruitment and induction processes for social workers who have qualified outside the UK. The International Recruitment and Induction Standards for International Social Workers coming to the UK can be accessed here.

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For the past year and a half, the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Services has examined the challenges facing the delivery of children’s services across Northern Ireland. On 21 June, Lead Reviewer, Professor Ray Jones published his findings and recommendations for change.

Host, Andy McClenaghan is joined by Professor Jones, Josephine Dowell, a student social worker and care experienced young person who has been closely involved in the Review process via the organisation Voice of Young People in Care (VOYPIC), and Carolyn Ewart, National Director of the British Association of Social Workers Northern Ireland. They discuss the challenges facing users of children and family services and the social workers who provide them. They also examine Professor Jones’s recommendations for reforming how services are organised, governed and delivered across the region.

The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Services report can be accessed here.

During the discussion, Carolyn makes reference to the document Voices of Social Work Through the Troubles, it can be accessed here.

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This very special episode was recorded live in front of an audience on Monday 12 June, ahead of the BASW UK conference at Conference Aston in Birmingham. 

The theme of the discussion is exploring the role of podcasts as a learning resource. What do social workers gain from engaging in podcasts, what would they like done better, who is yet to be reached and what have the participants learned from making, studying and taking part in podcasts.

Joining Andy McClenaghan to discuss all this and more are Patriche Bentick—Senior Practitioner in Camden Council and friend of and regular contributor to Let’s Talk Social Work, Joe Hanley—lecturer with the Open University and Dr Sylvia Smith—host of the wonderful Social Workers Matter podcast.

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In this episode we return to the issue of poverty in the UK. 

The country remains gripped by the cost-of-living crisis, and while we are all being affected, for some, rising prices represent an inconvenience. But, for those who prior to the crisis were experiencing poverty, and for many millions of households which were already struggling to make ends meet, the impacts have been devastating. 

Andy McClenaghan is joined by social worker and founder of Food is Care, Dominic Watters, Dr Ciara Fitzpatrick, Lecturer in Law at Ulster University and anti-poverty campaigner, and Jonny Adamson, Communications and External Relations Officer at the British Association of Social Workers. They explore the impacts of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and the BASW UK campaign, Social Work Stands Against Poverty.

You can listen to this, and all other episodes of Let’s Talk Social Work, at Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/3g7YcE0 Spotify https://spoti.fi/2QjefE6 and everywhere else you get your podcasts, just search ‘Let’s Talk Social Work’.

To book Dominic's ground-breaking Food Insecurity Training email - [email protected]

For information on BASW’s Social Work Stands Against Poverty campaign, click here.

To read the Christian’s Against Poverty client report Taking on UK poverty, click here.

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Does media coverage reflect the public’s opinions of social work, or does it shape them? Has the tone of coverage changed over the years, and do pressures on journalists working in media outlets limit the extent to which coverage can address the complexities and nuances of social work related stories? 

Joining host Andy McClenaghan to answer these questions are Julia Ross, Chair of the British Association of Social Workers, Anoosh Chakelian, Britain Editor of the New Statesman, host of the New Statesman Podcast and co-host of the Westminster Reimagined podcast and Shahid Naqvi, Editor of Professional Social Work Magazine. Andy is later joined by John McGowan, General Secretary of the Social Workers Union to discuss the work the union has undertaken with media regulators regarding coverage of social work related issues.

To register to attend the live recording of Let’s Talk Social Work in Birmingham on the evening of Monday 12 June, please visit https://www.basw.co.uk/events/talking-heads-social-work-and-podcasts

To find out more about Julia’s book, Call the Social, mentioned in the discussion, click here.

To read the IMPRESS media reporting guidelines for cases involving social workers, click here and for further information on the work of the Social Workers Union in this area, click here.

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In February, Let’s Talk Social Work examined the Government’s strategy for children’s social care in England, Stable Homes Built on Love, and we’re returning to an important issue discussed in that episode—kinship care.

Andy McClenaghan is joined by kinship carer, Natalie Boyes, Sam Turner, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the charity Kinship, and Dr Paul Shuttleworth, Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Education and Social Work at Sussex University. 

Their conversation explores what kinship care is, the challenges kinship carers face, what social workers need to know about it, and what needs to change to ensure children in kinship care, and their carers receive the support they need.

During the conversation Sam references the document Practising in kinship care: The perspectives of specialist social workers. 

Paul’s podcast, Do Do Social Work, co-hosted with Sarah Flagg, can be accessed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and everywhere else you get your podcasts.

Some of Paul’s research can be accessed below: 

Shuttleworth, P.D. (2023) 'What matters for child participation - The role of valuation-based dialogical participation for children living in kinship care in England' Child and Youth Service Review (149) Available at :https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.106959

Shuttleworth, P.D. (2022) ‘Recognition of Family Life by Children Living in Kinship Care Arrangements in England’, The British Journal of Social Work, p. bcac114. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcac114 

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In this very special episode, Andy McClenaghan interviews Nana Akwasi Yabbey-Hagan and Robert Dyer, the hosts of The Social Worker and the Mentor podcast.

They discuss the importance of promoting Black excellence in social work and wider society, the importance of building rapport with young people, and speaking up for social work. The conversation also explores why there are so few men in social work, and what the education sector can learn from social work and vice versa.

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Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, commonly shorted to M.E. and also referred to as chronic fatigue is an illness many people will be aware of. However, the illness is often misunderstood, which can lead to very damaging consequences for people with M.E. 

Andy McClenaghan is joined by Sonya Chowdhury, Chief Executive of Action for M.E. and Tony Crouch, Social work advisor to the 25% ME Group and The Young ME Sufferers Trust. They consider the impacts M.E. has on the lives of those affected and what social workers need to know to support and advocate for service users with the illness.

Several resources are referred to during the episode, they can be accessed via the following links:

Action for M.E.: M.E./CFS in children and young people 

Action for M.E.: Newly diagnosed with M.E./CFS

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence: Myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/chronic fatigue syndrome: diagnosis and management

BASW: Fabricated and Induced Illness Practice Guide

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This episode, made to mark World Social Work Day 2023, explores the role of social work in deeply divided societies. 

Social work is practiced under situations of armed conflict and in deeply divided post conflict societies in many regions and countries across the world. Taking the examples of Bosnia Herzegovina and Northern Ireland, Andy McClenaghan and guests examine how social workers have adapted to deliver services amidst situations of political violence, and discuss the role of social work in post-conflict societies.

With Andy to discuss these issues, are Dr Reima Ana Maglajlic, Reader in Social Work at the University of Sussex, Jim Campbell, Emeritus Full Professor of Social Work at University College Dublin and Janet Walker, Professor of International Social Work at the University of Lincoln and Chair of the British Association of Social Workers International Committee.

As ever, the views expressed are those of the participants and not necessarily the views of BASW.

To buy a copy of International Perspectives on Social Work and Political Conflict, please visit https://www.routledge.com/International-Perspectives-on-Social-Work-and-Political-Conflict/Duffy-Campbell-Tosone/p/book/9781032087283

Milkman, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and the works of William Faulkner, are available from all good libraries and bookshops.

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