Government Turns Its Back on Social Workers
When tragedy strikes in child protection, politicians are quick to express their shock. Yet the crisis in child protection is allowed to continue. Now, the government has deliberately chosen to deepen the distress within the social sector, claims Talentia, Union of Professional Social Workers
According to the government’s plan, starting at the beginning of next year, substitute social workers could operate with an increasingly varied educational background, aiming specifically to ease recruitment issues in child protection. For instance, a student of administrative sciences could substitute for a child protection social worker.
– We have repeatedly stressed that this change will only worsen the situation: client safety will be jeopardized, and recruiting qualified social workers will become even more challenging. Nearly 3,000 people signed our petition demanding that the eligibility requirements for temporary social workers remain unchanged. Yet the government is ignoring social workers’ concerns, says Talentia President Jenni Karsio.
The eligibility changes are calculated to save two million euros annually, meaning child protection would operate on an even smaller budget. Talentia fears that new child protection tragedies are just a matter of time.
Talentia has proposed several solutions to improve the recruitment of licensed social workers, but these have not been considered.
– We appeal to the government once more to reverse this downgrading of social worker qualifications, Karsio urges.
This news has been translated from Finnish to English by AI assistance.
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