BASW response to the Kirstie Allsop – and now Marina Fogle – furore

Beyond the noise, what the media coverage surrounding the Kirstie Allsopp story misses is how social work actually works. 

If a referral is made it must be acted on when certain criteria is met, it is simply the law. This approach doesn’t discriminate between class or status, it applies to all. 

Sadly, like the police, social work does receive malicious referrals, and like the police, we still must make enquiries to establish which referrals require further work and which can be closed without further action, despite our profession facing increasing challenging times with dwindling resources. 

Some suggested that social work should differentiate between malicious referrals and actual referrals. However, how does one know this without making an enquiry, without having at least one phone conversation with a parent/guardian? If we left initial referral management to subjectivity, we would open the gates to too much variance and potentially miss serious abuse. This is why referrals are looked into, even if it just constitutes a couple of phone calls. 

After this, referrals are considered to see whether they get escalated to actual case management. The social worker in this case didn’t do anything wrong, they followed the law and the guidance. 

Additionally keeping a file open is usual practice, since we know that usually a series of incidents or referrals builds a picture, which may indicate a more involved piece of work is needed with a family, something for which the public would be grateful for a social worker intervening. 

Social work is a complex job that constantly works in the grey area, which is why it is such a challenging yet rewarding role, one worthy of our respect. Instead of outrage, more consideration for context and the bigger picture for how social work operates would be valued.