Celebrating social work

‘This year’s theme is ´Co-building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind´. The theme presents a vision of new global values, policies and practices. At the heart of the social work profession is the importance of raising the profile of human rights and advocating for those who can’t advocate for themselves ensuring the diverse voices of those with lived experience are heard.

What the SSSC is doing this World Social Work Day

‘We’re celebrating 20 years of the Scottish Social Services Council this year as it’s the anniversary of the 2001 Regulation of Care Act, which introduced professional regulation and registration of social workers. The way people access and use services have changed over the past 20 years, so too have the skills, knowledge and qualifications the workforce needs to be able to deliver the high quality care we want for Scotland.

Working together

‘As part of our commitment to The Promise we are co-designing our new Codes of Practice to enable and strengthen a human-rights based approach to practice.

‘The themes of co-design and future sustainability are essential, which is why we have been consulting with our stakeholders over the last 12 weeks about our proposals to make changes to our Register. The changes will improve and streamline the way people apply to register, our processes and the qualifications we accept for registration and support new models of care delivery.

‘We have a key role to support the social service workforce to make sure they have the right skills and knowledge, to respond to emerging new skills needs and that we embed best practice within social work education and our learning resources. The rights of the child are reflected in all relevant policy and legislative developments across children’s services, justice and health and social care in Scotland.

‘A positive example of taking a global approach to practice is Scotland’s vision of a Bairns’ Hoose which is an adaptation of the Icelandic Barnahus model based on the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).  

The future

‘With the development of a National Care Service and a proposed Social Work Agency and Centre of Excellence we have an opportunity to achieve greater visibility and recognition of the social work profession.

‘We look forward to seeing what the future brings.’