In these times of scrutiny of public accounts and accountability of public servants, something deemed necessary to a functioning democracy; there is a small sector that has managed to pull the wool over the public eye, and eschews accountability while courting ever more authority.
Social workers can carry much the same responsibilities as police officers, and in fact much of their training is very similar.
Social Workers are regulated by provincial colleges, and in order to practice, workers must register with their respective college.
The Colleges function much like the Bar Association for lawyers, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, and many other professional associations and colleges; they develop regulations and ethical guidelines for their professions, and have the authority to maintain levels of professionalism within their ranks.
Government social workers however, particularly those working the touchy line involving government involvement in family affairs, and enforcement actions against families have found a way to sidestep regulation and accountability.
Only in the Atlantic Region, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, and Newfoundland and Labrador, are family services workers referred to as social workers, and required to maintain registration with their colleges; Nunavut and Northwest Territories require maintenance or a Family Service Appointment to practice as a family services social worker.
The rest of Canada somehow got conned by a piece of word play.
The provincial governments from Ontario westwards do not employ social workers. They hire social workers to do social work, but they call it family services, or child protection.
Call them Child Services, or Child Protection Workers, whatever you will, they are hired primarily and preferentially from backgrounds and education of Social Workers, to do social work.
The provincial colleges do not approve of the situation and those in British Columbia and Manitoba have openly called for registration of all Social Workers.
There have been citizen movements in both British Columbia and Ontario to demand registration of all Social Workers.
Social Workers are expected to interface with other professionals and authoritative bodies and provide people like police with unbiased information to work with.
Social Workers are expected to compile and sum up the work of other registered professionals in an unbiased manner.
Social Workers are expected to make unbiased decisions as to a child’s best interest with authority above and over that of the child’s parents.
Under the guise of Child Services Workers, Social Workers responsible for some of society’s most sensitive decisions yet are accountable to no-one but themselves.
Under the guise of child protection, Social Workers given authority over children, parents, and families are also given control of funding for their supports and services; this is a huge conflict of interest.
How is this in the best interests of the children?
It is time to change.
The ever greater authority demanded by the family services sector,
to subject families and children to their whims and views,
creates a necessity for action.
Civic groups, regulatory colleges and associations of Social Workers must put aside their separate agendas and co-operate for the sake of children and families.
Accountability is a good first step.