The debate about cuts to disability benefits and Iain Duncan Smith’s subsequent resignation as work and pensions secretary dominated the headlines following the budget earlier this month. But why would a busy social care professional, with a big caseload, be interested in the social welfare rights of their service users?
When managing a welfare rights and money advice service in local government I regularly attended case conferences with fellow professionals including social workers, occupational therapists, educational welfare officers and health visitors. At one such meeting attention turned to a family whose name was repeatedly found on the agenda. Colleagues around the table bemoaned the lack of progress; the children were not attending school and concerns were raised about the mental health of family members and unhealthy living conditions in the home.
Before the next meeting I agreed an adviser would contact the family to look at their finances and benefits. Over the course of several home visits a welfare rights adviser claimed the correct disability benefits for two of the children and carer’s allowance for the father. A backdated housing benefit claim helped to clear rent arrears, an alternative (much cheaper) fuel supplier was found and a successful grant application meant new school shoes could be bought for the children. During the next couple of case conferences it was noted how there had been a breakthrough with this family: there was a marked improvement in their health and wellbeing, engagement with services and school attendance.
I pointed out that this could be linked to the children now having appropriate footwear for school, their house no longer being so cold, their landlord stopping threatening to evict them and that they had some income to adequately feed themselves. It was clear the intervention of a professional with expertise in social welfare law led to a very significant improvement in this family’s circumstances, at a point at when nothing else seemed to be working.
I now teach social welfare law, policy and advice practice at Staffordshire University. The degree focuses on welfare benefits, housing rights, money advice, consumer rights, family law and immigration and asylum. These might not be topics at the forefront of a social care professionals mind as they travel to work, but they will undoubtedly have an impact on the lives of their service users. A recent social care blog by academic Di Galpin suggested “issues such as social justice and human rights are core to the social work profession” – and these are also the principles that underpin social welfare law advice.
Service users across the social care sector are feeling the impact of cuts to public services, the high cost of housing and childcare, low wages and welfare reform. If we are serious about tackling the emotional and financial cost of these issues the intervention of social welfare law advisers is crucial. Timely support dealing with benefit, housing or debt issues can prevent families and vulnerable individuals presenting to already overstretched statutory social care services.
In my experience social care professionals can be understandably reluctant to dabble in the murky waters of welfare law. It’s not straightforward and advice needs to be accurate and timely. So here are some tips: make sure you know who to go to for advice and support. This might be a colleague from a local authority advice team or someone who works for a voluntary sector organisation. Make them your friend, ask them to keep you updated on important developments and invite them to your team meetings. Subscribe to one of the excellent e-bulletins that summarise news in the social welfare law sector (rightsnet and incomemax are good places to start). Consider booking on a social welfare law training course when you are looking at your continuing professional development in your next supervision session.
And above all, remember the service user who seems overwhelmed with life and wants you to make everything better is probably struggling to cope with a benefit sanction, doesn’t understand how universal credit works, has been threatened with eviction by their private landlord or has been hit by the bedroom tax. To really make a difference to their lives we need to get to grips with these social welfare law issues.
The Social Life Blog is written by people who work in or use social care services. If you’d like to write an article for the series, email socialcare@theguardian.com with your ideas.
Join the Social Care Network to read more pieces like this. Follow us on Twitter (@GdnSocialCare) and like us on Facebook to keep up with the latest social care news and views.
