Dear Editor,
I am penning this letter with the hope of highlighting the plight of social workers, especially those who work within the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security. A social worker is a change agent, a helper who is specifically employed for the purpose of creating planned change in the lives of individuals, etc.
First, these workers are professionals just like any other professional who would have had to invest in themselves financially by paying the same fees at the University of Guyana to receive their degrees. They would have had to put in the same long hours as other students and particularly in the case of social work to plan and execute projects in communities, in some cases expending their own resources to ensure that the projects were successful. They would have touched lives even while being students from these projects. They would have acquired the necessary social work skills so as to be competent to tackle the many social issues facing the nation.
It is therefore heartrending to know that these professionals having obtained a BSc in Social Work receive a meagre salary of $66,000.00 per month. In addition to the meagre salary, they work long hours, especially those in the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) who on a regular basis have to work way beyond the normal working hours, sometimes late into the night, and are even expected to work on weekends with no consideration for the fact that they need to have time for themselves. Please note that the hotline of the CCPA is a twenty-four hour service.
These workers do not receive overtime, although on many occasions they have to put their hands in their own pockets to either feed themselves and clients, or pay transportation while dealing with these matters. The latter is not reimbursed when money is not available, or else there is a long delay in receiving advances. These matters are irksome knowing that there are persons who do not possess the necessary qualifications but are nevertheless employed as social workers and receive salaries which include duty free concessions, among other perks. There are also persons who work in communities who do not possess the minimum Diploma in Social Sciences but work for more money than these officers. There definitely is a discrepancy here.
Secondly, the officers attached to the Ministry of Human Services work with very limited resources, such as inadequate computers, stationery, office space, transportation, and the necessary general tools to effectively provide an efficient service to clients. In the case of computers, apart from having a limited number, very often there is no ink to print documents.
To add to this, there is no internet service connection, except in the offices at the senior level. The problem is that with no internet connection where antivirus could be downloaded, all the available computers now have viruses and have not been serviced.
Further, in the case of the CCPA there is only one cell line available for officers to make cellular calls to clients. One now has to imagine the number of calls that have to be made by officers on a daily basis and picture how much time could be lost while waiting turns to use this facility, bearing in mind that in many cases officers are dealing with crisis situations. The other end of this scenario is that while in the field, officers are expected to use their own money to purchase credit in order to communicate with the office.
With regard to transportation, officers attached to the Ministry of Education are not entitled to duty free concessions and only those officers from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security whose applications were processed through the Public Service Commission qualify for this. In any event, many of the officers have not taken advantage of this benefit since they cannot afford to pay for a vehicle. To add to this, those on contract have their contracts renewed on a yearly basis, therefore they are not entitled to duty free concessions. On the other hand, those who are contract workers, whose contracts are renewed every three years benefit from duty free concessions, although they do not have to do field work; this means that their vehicles are parked during the day while officers have to take public transportation to go out in the field, and this can be treacherous at times. This is compounded in cases where they have to walk long distances where transportation is not accessible.
Another dangerous situation is where officers are exposed to threats from clients both in the office and in the field, to the point where the police have to be called to remove aggressive clients. It is quite possible that an officer may be injured one day before the relevant authorities awake to this danger.
Thirdly, the expectation of the ministry with regard to the workload of officers is unrealistic indeed. It is here that the social workers are burdened. The officers are crying out under the heavy load, but it seems that their cries have fallen on deaf ears. Where is the Guyana Association of Professional Social Workers?
Why are they not looking into the welfare of their social workers? It appears that this association has forgotten its mandate to take care of its own. Where are the psychologists? Where are the heads of department? Where is the government? Where are they all? In a well run system, supervisors would have been there to ensure the health of their workers and that they work at their best, knowing well that social work is a high stress job and that they contribute to the healing of persons – therefore a better society for all.
There is evidence at the CCPA that an officer on a monthly basis receives an average of twenty cases at time; this can go to as much as thirty-five cases. Further, there are only two officers for Region 3 with over two hundred cases for the year already, and they have no form of transportation. In the case of probation officers who have to service the court, they are sometimes expected to be in several court rooms at the same time. The expectation here is that officers are expected to effectively deal with their caseloads. It is not humanly possible for one person to handle so many cases per month effectively or efficiently, bearing in mind these are highly stressful cases.
This is a caseload that officers should be handling for the entire year. Day and night the officers have to deal with highly stressful cases, such as domestic violence, all forms of child abuse and neglect, teenage pregnancy, HIV/Aids, and juvenile delinquency cases amongst many others.
I can almost envision the answer from the decision-makers that social workers in many countries experience high case loads also. But I guarantee that I will not hear that those professionals are not paid adequately and cannot survive comfortably on their earnings and benefit tremendously when they retire. Further, they are given the necessary resources to work effectively and efficiently.
In the case of many of Guyana’s social workers they have their own issues to deal with, such as paying their bills and putting a meal on their tables, yet they are expected to be in the right frame of mind to effectively deal with all the social problems they are presented with when clients come to their door. In addition, the environment of the office is not conducive to support officers; there is disdain for officers every step of the way, and should a problem arise with a client or work-wise, that officer has to face ‘the music’ on their own. The public being unaware of all the problems that a social worker is experiencing, just see an inefficient social worker and are ready to condemn that worker.
To my mind whenever vacancies for probation officers/social workers are being advertised it should clearly state that the applicants need to be superhuman. Persons should know that they would not be able to de-stress at the end of the day.
They would not be able to relax during the day after dealing with several cases. The other aspect is with the heavy caseloads, can officers effectively follow up on these cases? What is in place for social workers to be counselled after constantly dealing with these highly stressful cases?
Could it be that apart from holding many seminars on domestic violence, child abuse and all the many other social issues, that emphasis needs to be placed on the welfare of social workers who are the first responders dealing with the many social ills that are on the increase in our country?
Could this be a large part of the reason that our social problems are increasing since most of the time the people who are expected to bring relief are themselves under stress and in need of relief? I do hope policy members take these questions into consideration.
Surely, the plight of social workers in Guyana and more specifically officers who are attached to the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security need to be addressed urgently. Without the well-being of this group, society would find it more difficult to deal with social problems. It is also time to take another look at those who are placed in decision-making positions to ensure that they are properly qualified for these positions.
If Guyana is serious about stopping domestic violence, child abuse, reforming juvenile delinquents and the many other social ills faced, then the plight of these social workers needs to be addressed urgently.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
