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.

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.

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.

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 Faculty stands ready, as always, to be part of the solution.

Prof. Andrew Azzopardi
Dean
ObO Heads of Department and Deputy Deans