Social work can be described as work that is carried out by qualified personnel to help improve the situation those suffering from social depravation. Social has many different types of fields of practice such as social workers involved in substance abuse, medical/public health, child welfare, mental health and working with aboriginals. Children are one of the most vulnerable groups in our society, being subjected to abuse such as psychological abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and trauma. In fact, in a study conducted from 2013-2014 in Australia alone the researchers found that 198,966 children were suspected of being harmed or at risk of neglect and abuse (child family community Australia, 2015). Due to these factors Child welfare and …show more content…
In this field social workers are required to work with the agencies and the community to identify those children who are in need of protection. Social workers must decide how to help and protect these children best.
A necessary belief held by social workers is that government interference in family should be extremely minimal, the exceptions being when parental care is below average according to the community standards and the child is at risk harm. There are many services, resources and programs that are available for families and children in this field of practice. One of these is in services provided by Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS) founded in Sydney on the year 1973 to offer children and families a range of support services and programs designed to help each family’s specific needs. These services are family oriented, community based and also should engage