JOB DESCRIPTION
Social workers help people to deal with personal and social problems, either directly or by planning or carrying out programmes that benefit groups or communities.
DUTIES AND TASKS
Social workers may perform the following tasks:
- provide counselling and support through a crisis that may be due to death, illness, relationship breakdown or other reasons
- provide clients with information about services that can assist them
- provide letters of referral or reports that will help clients to obtain other services such as crisis accommodation or social security benefits
- guide small groups of people to share their experiences, support each other and learn social skills
- assist community groups to plan and carry out programmes to help themselves (assisting newly arrived immigrants to form an association, for example)
- research community problems, needs and solutions through client contact and records of welfare and health agencies
- analyse statistics and write reports
- develop policy and evaluate programmes
- manage and train staff
- attend professional meetings
- lobby to change social welfare policies and procedures in the pursuit of social justice for all members of the community.
PERSONAL REQUIREMENTS
- emotional maturity
- keen analytical abilities
- able to view other people's problems objectively
- good organisational and communication skills
- able to work independently or as part of a team
- commitment to social justice