Why judgment in puberty blockers case should not obscure benefits of transition for some children
The voices of those who have benefited from puberty blockers were not apparent in the recent case. It is critical social workers listen to children with gender dysphoria to ensure they get the right support, says Leanne Taylor
January 15, 2021 in Children
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By Leanne Taylor
On 22 December 2020, the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust (“Tavistock”) lodged its application to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal the Bell v Tavistock judgment. After a previous refusal of permission by the High Court, this is positive news for those concerned by the judgment.
‘Before, there were peaks and troughs – with Covid, it’s relentless’: social work eight months into the pandemic
Social workers describe the exhausting impact of long-term working from home, increased pressures and paperwork, and navigating coronavirus transmission risks in Community Care’s survey
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One social worker completed Community Care’s second coronavirus survey at the end of a week of long days attending court virtually:
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I haven’t seen my own child as a result. I haven’t seen any of my colleagues face-to-face and all my visits are out. I have done a hideous four-day sexual abuse final hearing from my own bedroom. I struggle to see anything good resulting from the pandemic. For a little while I thought maybe the powers that be had realised that meaningful contact with a family could be more than just forcing home visits on them, but as soon as [the first] lockdown was lifted, we reverted straight back. You can talk to a difficult
Worsening mental health, domestic abuse and poverty as support falls: social workers count cost of Covid
The results of Community Care s recent survey on the impact of coronavirus highlight the severity of a still-unfolding crisis for many citizens
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A Community Care carried out last month revealed a gloomy assessment from social workers of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their work, eight months on from the first lockdown.
More than seven in 10 respondents said they’d seen the volume and complexity of referrals into their team, as well as their personal workload, increase in comparison with the situation they were dealing with 12 months previously.
Social workers report significant spike in nation’s mental distress
Nearly all local authorities have reported an increase in the number of people accessing mental health services for the first time, according to a new survey.
The research by the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) found 96% of local authorities reported a rise in first-time presentations of mental ill health during the first lockdown.
The research, commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care, found 60% of respondents said the level of demand for mental health services was above pre-lockdown levels.
It also found many Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHP) were concerned that withdrawal of face-to-face visits and monitoring by community services led to requests for MHA assessments which would not otherwise have been made.
Anti-racism in social work: no more questions – just actions please
Social work is institutionally racist and there has been a lack of explicit action to tackle this post-George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. It s time for meaningful action that results in systemic change, says Wayne Reid
Photo: Giovanni Cancemi/AdobeStock
By Wayne Reid, BASW England professional officer and social worker
A senior social work manager joked to me recently that I “was the only authority on anti-racism in social work”. Although she was jesting, it did make me wonder what accountability and protections actually exist to support social workers of colour within the profession, given what we know about the omnipresence of racism. It didn’t take me very long to conclude – very little.