Social Workers work as part of a designated clinical and care team, managing a caseload of children and young people to keep them safe and support their emotional and mental health.
Social Workers in CAMHS support children and young people’s needs, engaging in safety planning, giving advice to their parents and carers, and liaising with their professional network.
You should be passionate about children and young people and be able to support their emotional and mental health needs by finding solutions to their problems.
You will need to be able to engage with children, young people, their parents and carers. Responding to queries from parents, professionals, and reassuring young people in crisis.
You will bring important skills to this role which are very valued in CAMHS, such as network liaison, risk management, safeguarding knowledge and a psychosocial perspective.
- Work as part of a designated clinical and care team, managing a caseload of children and young people
- Undertake a number of new assessments each month with a primary focus on young people’s mental health
- Deliver support to parents and carers in one to one and group sessions, responding to queries and offering reassurance
- Promote and improve the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people
- You will receive ongoing support from your peers and other senior members of your care team
- With experience, you could become a senior social worker, supervising the work of other social workers
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My specific area of specialisation is safeguarding young people within an inpatient setting. Often the young people who come to us have already received a significant amount of intervention at home to try and avoid them having to be admitted to hospital. Quite often when young people still require an admission following this, it is because they are acutely unwell and require inpatient admission to have their mental health assessed over a longer period.
We work on a four-to-six-week pathway, and I support different disciplines with the formulation of assessments and treatment plans by ensuring that we capture what life is like for that young person prior to their admission. I also try to ensure that young people have a robust support package when they are discharged from the hospital, to try and reduce the likelihood of them needing to be re-admitted.
When I worked as a healthcare assistant on the ward, I really enjoyed getting to know the young people and listening to their experiences. Often our young people come to us having experienced traumatic incidents, and I felt that I wanted to be part of the solution, by ensuring that they were listened too and protected as they moved on from our care.
I usually get into work at around 7am and go through my emails before 9am when we go into our handover meeting. During handover we meet with staff from the nightshift, and they share updates on how our young people are doing. After this I can be meeting with multi-agency professionals, speaking with families, spending time with young people or writing reports. No two days are the same, which makes my role interesting and my days busy.
I’m always looking for additional training, whether that’s through the NHS, Pennine Care, or external providers. There’s lots of different training opportunities for social workers to attend, and I keep up to date with outlets such as community care and research in practice. Recently, I arranged for all the staff on the ward to receive training from two adults with lived experience. It’s important that as a practitioner I keep evolving in my practice to ensure that I am working to create positive outcomes for the young people I work with.
The most rewarding aspect of my job is seeing young people discharged from our care and return home. The young people that I work with are really vulnerable, and being admitted to hospital can be daunting and frightening. I really enjoy seeing our young people become more confident and work towards discharge.
It’s all about relationships. It’s key that you’re able to forge relationships with people at some of the most challenging times in their lives. This applies to young people and their families alike. You need to be patient, tenacious, and a good communicator.
Being able to confidently advocate for young people and families, which sometimes means that you will need to challenge other professionals to achieve the best outcomes for young people.
You can play a small part in the big change. Our young people may have lots of different professionals involved with their care, so remember that it is a privilege to be trusted to support young people at their most vulnerable time. Whilst this role can be challenging, the rewards are wonderful.
I would recommend any training on trauma informed practice or care. This is important throughout all areas of mental health and social work, but specifically working within a CAMHS inpatient setting. Having that understanding and ability to put these concepts into practice is crucial.
I think COVID forced us all to work differently. I use Microsoft Teams for meetings, and it is helpful when trying to get multiple professionals from across Greater Manchester in one place.
I live and work in Greater Manchester, where I witness everyday how poverty and social inequalities are becoming more significant for our young people. I am motivated by the opportunity to advocate for young people, and fight for social justice to make our community a safer and happier place.
