Social workers employed by the government are worried about plans to centralise services under an umbrella foundation and feel they should be consulted before a final decision is made.

They say centralisation would standardise services that, by their very nature, operate differently and would translate into a lack of efficient services, explained Social Workers’ Association acting chairman, Joseph Antoncich.

He cautioned that forcing the move might lead to social workers leaving the already struggling profession.

Their concerns were raised after several social workers heard that the government was planning to centralise them within the Foundation for Social Welfare Services.

The Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin yesterday issued a statement on the matter and said it would work to ensure this did not happen. It disagreed with the centralisation of services, adding this would be detrimental to social workers and their clients.

The philosophy behind the intervention of a social worker varied from one case to another. It did not make sense to put them all into one basket, the union said, adding that some social workers operated within a multidisciplinary team that worked best together. Questions sent to the government on the matter remained unanswered at the time of writing.

When contacted, Mr Antoncich explained that, as things stood, social workers employed by the government were either part of the FSWS – that runs support agencies Appoġġ, Sedqa and Support – or of specialised sectors like hospitals, the elderly and mental health.

Mr Antoncich said that, so far, the association had not heard anything officially about the centralisation plan.

However, several social workers had been approached individually and asked whether they would join the FSWS voluntarily now or wait until this became compulsory in 2016.

He said the association felt it should be consulted before such an important decision was taken because it had a lot to contribute. He said social workers had expressed concerns on two levels: personal and professional.

On a professional level, international social work trends were moving in the direction of decentralisation for the simple reason that different services needed different methods and management styles.

For example, he said, a social worker assigned to the elderly applied different methods to one who worked among mental health patients. “Our main fear is that the foundation will standardise everything,” he said.

On a personal level, social workers were concerned that they would be transferred and their work and salary conditions would change.

Some had left the FSWS for specific reasons and would now have to work under it, he said.