Do Social Networking Sites have a place in modern social work? Fiona Hopkin Staffordshire County Council Funke Adebare Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

 Students based in adoption team for Staffordshire County Council  Leaflet for prospective and approved adoptive parents  Presentations to adoption and adoption support teams  Presentations to prospective and approved adoptive parents  Continued by adoption team Previously…

 Birmingham Practice Symposium 2011  Social networking and children’s social work as a whole  Further development of the project  Stockholm International Social Work Conference  Feature in Professional Social Work magazine Previously …

 Working party established  Professional boundaries  Universal UK policy  Support the use of SNS Now…

 Free  Controlled communication  Mass market  900,000,000+ Facebook users  450,000,000 Facebook users access Facebook on a mobile device  7,500,000 Facebook users under 13 years old  5,000,000 Facebook users under 10 years old Social Networking Sites

 Technological developments  Reactive vs. Proactive  Confidence as practitioners  Communicate to service users But why???

 Privacy and confidentiality  Professional boundaries Social Networking Sites & Ethics

 Support  Advocacy  Immediate help  Empowering Opportunities

 Service users  Vulnerable children and young people  Isolation  Contact  Social workers  Disciplinary action  Registration Risks

Thank you. Fiona Hopkin Staffordshire County Council Funke Adebare Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council