There are many different structures for different organisations. I am going to be explaining the current structure of social services and am going to explain the effect of the management structure whilst looking at the main services that main sectors have to offer. I will explain the functioning of one social work setting and analyse the impact of social work with regards to a particular group. I will use a recent case for my chosen sector and evaluate the failings of the social services, who those failings effected and what has been done since to ensure it does not happen again.
http://www.nhssb.n-i.nhs.uk/structures/social_services.gif
Above is an example of how the Social Services Hierarchical structure looks. It follows the layout of a pyramid and derives into the base of staff level employees with usually the CEO or director at the top. There are many pros to having an organisation structure like this. It allows employees to see clearly who it is they need report to and makes obvious their levels of responsibility. This is critical to a social service organisation to safeguard not only themselves but their service users. A hieratical system, however, does also have its disadvantages. It promotes rivalry which could distract some who are particularly competitive. Martin, J and Fellenz, M (2010) suggest Often Hierarchies are created not because they are functionally required but because they provide a venue for pushing unwanted people up in the organisation or for providing promotional avenue. These dysfunctional hierarchies are in fact the cause for reduced organisational effectiveness
Another common example of organisational structures is Matrix. The its employees by function and product. The design of this structure is rather flat in comparison to that of the hierarchy. They usually work under the head of a project manager but also have a functional head who they would report to. An advantage of this is that it allows employees to specialise in a specific field but can sometimes also cause confusion as to who to report to.
Ealing social services offer many different services: childcare and early years, , child protection and safe guarding, welfare benefits low income, fostering and adoption and care homes. Im going to look at Child protection and safe guarding. Below is the hierarchical structure that Ealing use for their Children in need team:
Again it is clear to see who is in charge and who each employee needs to report to. At the top there are the team managers; below them is the deputy team manager. The deputy would be responsible for reporting to the team manager. Below the deputy there the social workers and senior social workers who are both responsible for reporting to the Deputy team manager. Below them there are who report to the social workers and senior social workers.
Ealing Social services children in need team (2011) state on their website: Children in a social work service to families where children are deemed to be in need as defined by section 17 of the Children Act 1989. They work predominantly with: Children whose names are on the child protection register, children deemed to be in need of family support services due to an assessed level of need and children with a disability that is not deemed to be severe and profound the latter are referred to the Children with Disability Team. Social workers will assess family needs and draw up a family support package with parents to enable children to be safely and effectively cared for within their families. The team are trying to improve the lives of their service users by providing a support which can be empowering. They have a responsibility to ensure children and young people who may be marginalised are their welfare. They have other teams who they work in partnership with such as the Youth Offending team who try to prevent re offending among youths and provide support for victims of youth crime. These statutory organisations are funded by the government. Although these teams do the best they can to improve the lives of marginalised children and youths, mistakes can and do happen. This can lead to drastic effects on not only the service user but the organisation as a whole especially if one has not followed the code of conduct provided by the social services.