Where are they now? An appraisal of former child protection social workers employment status and reasons for leaving child protection work

Literature on the UK's social work workforce has historically focussed on the individual's 'intention to leave' practice. However, there has been a dearth of enquiry that has sought to engage those individuals who have already left social work roles, to better understand their rationale; new employment status; and thoughts on if, and when, they might consider a return. This article reports on a mixed method qualitative study with seventy-two of England's former child protection social workers. Findings elucidate the current employment status of these individuals (highlighting a propensity to take up unskilled, low status job roles after leaving the child protection workforce); how they aligned notions of 'stress' and 'burnout' to their time in practice; and their assertion that the perceived negative depiction of the role informed their decision to leave child protection work. The article argues that in 'picking up the baton' for achieving meaningful systemic reform, the new national government's agenda should include how we encourage more responsible reporting of child protection cases, to enhance how child protection social workers perceive the depiction of their role, workforce stability, and relatedly, the safety of the children who are in need of England's child protection services. This article explores with a group of seventy-two former child protection social workers the reasons for their decision to leave child protection work. It also details their new job role (including for those who have left social work practice altogether). It highlights how the former child protection social workers associated their time in child protection work with periods of high stress leading to burnout. It also considers one of the main factors which they aligned with these feelings of stress and their decision to leave this area of work. This was in relation to how they believed the child protection job role was being depicted by national media and politicians after high-profile cases of child death came to light. The article considers the importance of the new national government seeking to address how these cases are discussed by media and politicians so as to improve the experiences of those still working in child protection, and the children in receipt of England's child protection services.