Children and Family Development
"Social work practitioners and clinicians believe in the worth and dignity of the people they work with."
Marilyn Dooley would know: She just retired from 40 years as a social worker in the public service - many of them in the Downtown Eastside. The pride in Dooley's voice as she speaks about social work is evident. She describes a profession that takes a non-partisan approach to improving the lives of residents in B.C. by showing respect and giving credence to people and children who need someone to listen and help them find solutions to their problems.
Dooley believes public service and social work go hand-in-hand. She praises the calibre of social work in public service within B.C., pointing out the dedication of staff who make themselves available at all hours of the day or night, every day of the year.
"Suffering diminishes all human beings if we don't make things better," Dooley says. "Nobody has all the answers, but some professions have to take on the social responsibility."
British Columbia celebrates Social Work Week from March 5-11, a time to acknowledge social work practitioners and clinicians for their devotion to improving the lives of B.C. children and families. The week recognizes the vital role they play in B.C.'s hospitals, schools, mental health and treatment facilities, child and family programs, youth outreach, community development, resource and counselling centres and on the front lines of the province's child protection system.
Quotes:
Minister of Children and Family Development Mary McNeil -
"Practitioners and clinicians involved in social work are driven in their efforts to make B.C. a better place to live and deserve our praise for their commitment to working with children and families across the province."
"In B.C., we are fortunate to have such strong individuals who face difficult decisions every day yet strive to help those needing support and in crisis overcome the challenges they face."
Quick Facts:
- Throughout B.C., social work practitioners can be found in areas such as child welfare, health, adult and child mental health, family service, community care, addictions and treatment, employee assistance, community living and social policy.
- Among the people they serve are families, youth, seniors, criminal offenders and trauma victims.
- The Ministry of Children and Family Development has more than 2,600 front-line social work staff - compared to just over 2,100 in 2005.
- Ministry social workers perform roles in mental health, child protection, adoption, residential resources, youth justice, child and youth with special needs and multi-disciplinary functions.
- Many social work and front-line practitioners are graduates of other programs, including areas such as child and youth care, and MAs and PhDs in counselling and clinical psychology.
- The current number of trained social workers working within Aboriginal Delegated Agencies has grown from 70 in 2006 to 368 at the end of 2011, for a net increase of 54 social workers from 2010.
- B.C. has 13 social work degree programs offered by seven public post-secondary institutions, eight bachelor of social work and five masters of social work programs.
- The latest available statistics show that over 360 degrees in social work (290 bachelor degrees, 70 master's degrees) were awarded in 2009 by B.C.'s public post-secondary institutions.
Learn More:
To view the B.C. Social Work Week proclamation, go to: http://www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/child_protection/pdf/social_work_week_2012_proc.pdf
For more on social work schools in B.C.:
http://www.ubc.ca/okanagan/socialwork/welcome.html
http://www.tru.ca/new_students/programs/socialwork.html
http://www.nvit.ca/socialworkvancouver.htm
http://www.viu.ca/calendar/UniversityDegreeCompletion/BachelorSocialWork.asp
For more information, or to speak with Marilyn Dooley, please contact:
Corinna Filion
Communication Director
Ministry of Children and Family Development
250 812-7977
