Social work: Stress as demand increases in Wales

Raeanna Grainger says the Covid pandemic meant children "lost their school routine, they missed their friends and the clubs they were involved in"

A social services leader has said she is "frightened about the future" of children's services.

It comes as BBC Wales research showed a huge increase in demand on local authorities.

One council in Wales saw safeguarding referrals - where a child is at risk of abuse of neglect - double in the past year.

The Welsh government said it was aware of the pressures on councils and would continue working with its partners.

More than 220,000 contacts were made with children's services departments in 2022-23, out of a population of about 623,000 under-18s in Wales.

That is up from 201,452 the year before.

Compared to 2021-22, the number of contacts increased in all but three of the 20 councils that responded to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from BBC Wales.

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Denbighshire saw the biggest rise - 8,202, up from 5,147 in 2021-22 - while Bridgend saw its safeguarding referrals spike from 1,086 in 2021-22 to 2,154 in 2022-23.

Safeguarding referrals also increased in 11 of the 17 councils that responded.

Generally, numbers dropped during the pandemic but rose quite sharply the year lockdown measures were lifted.

Meeting the rising demand for help comes at a cost.

Bridgend's social services cabinet member Jane Gebbie said children's services had overspent by £7.5m this year alone, a position she said many councils were in.

"How are we going to sustain that? I'm not sure. I'm frightened about the future. I've been in local government for over 20 years and I've never seen it so strapped for cash," she added.

Raeanna Grainger is a manager for children's safeguarding in Bridgend, having qualified as a social worker in 2006.

She manages the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub where all initial contacts are received and dealt with by social services, education, health and police.

Her main responsibility is to ensure all responses to safeguarding are safe and appropriate.

That responsibility has increased for social workers across Wales, with child exploitation, the cost of living crisis and the effects of Covid behind the rise, said Raeanna.

"Families lost their support networks, they lost services they were working with and we know nationally mental health has been challenging," she said.

The cost of living meant they were supporting families that would not have needed council help before the pandemic.

Raeanna Grainger says triathlons are one of the ways she copes with the stresses of her job

Raeanna climbs mountains and competes in triathlons to manage the distressing things she sees at work.

She said social work was a fantastic career but maintaining a healthy work-life balance was crucial to cope.

Working with children since she qualified as a social worker in 2006, Raeanna's main aim is to ensure all responses to safeguarding are safe and appropriate.

"I love my job and I want to do a good job. It's not lost on me, the sense of responsibility that comes with being a manager for safeguarding."

Raeanna has worked for different councils during her career but said she has come across familiar problems, including domestic violence, drug and alcohol misuse and poor mental health.

Emerging issues in recent years have included "criminal exploitation such as county lines or child sexual exploitation".

Claire Marchant says society needs to do more to promote the "fantastic opportunities" in social work

Bridgend's corporate director of social services, Claire Marchant, said the council had to significantly increase staffing to ensure it could keep up with demand - and says the team responds to 99% of cases within 24 hours.

But a high vacancy rate in children's services across Wales shows recruiting social workers can be tough so Bridgend, much like other areas, is looking internationally as well as "growing their own".

Claire said the media - and society more widely - needed to do more to promote the 'fantastic opportunities' in social work.

The Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru agreed there was not enough money to keep up.

President Alwyn Jones, who is also chief officer for social care in Wrexham, said: "Clearly we have to get to grips with it because it will put a massive strain on the public purse and ultimately we may find we don't have enough money. It feels like a perfect storm."

The number of child protection investigations - if there is risk of significant harm to a child - also increased in 13 of the 19 councils that responded.

Blaenau Gwent's rose from 106 in 2018-19 to 825 in 2022-23, while Newport and Caerphilly's went up from 713 to 1,467 and 515 to 1,094 respectively.

Raeanna said it was really hard to see families and children in distress and social workers were not desensitised to the suffering they witnessed, but colleagues helped each other to make sure they do not lose sight of what they are trying to achieve - making life better for children and families.

"Social work is a fantastic career, it's interesting, fast paced and fulfilling," she said.

The Welsh government said: "Local authorities are having to make difficult choices in setting their budgets and will need to engage meaningfully with their local communities as they consider their priorities."

A spokesman added that Julie Morgan, the deputy minister for social services, met councillors recently to "hear their concerns about the direct impact of pressures" on the sector.