Chris Hogg: Some problems revealed to agony aunts should be dealt with by Social Services

Together with the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS), more than 60 have launched a joint initiative to raise awareness about what social workers do.

The centrepiece of the initiative is a leaflet, entitled So What Do Social Services Do?, which will be distributed in public places in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.

It follows research which shows that social workers generally receive a very negative press.

An ADSS spokesman said the leaflet was an attempt to circumvent the media and appeal directly to the public.

"Social workers do make mistakes and no-one wants them to be hidden or not commented on," he said.

"But there is danger that they are so dreadfully blown out of proportion that they put people off coming forward when, in some cases, this can be a matter of life and death."

Deirdre Sanders

The leaflet came out of a national commission organised by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Deirdre Sanders: "The public has many misconceptions about social workers"

One member was Sun agony aunt and author Deirdre Sanders.

She joined forces with social services workers and came up with the idea for the leaflet.

Agony aunts say they receive many letters from people with problems which require social services intervention.

Deirdre Sanders said the public had a "misguided" idea of social workers and believed that, if they approached them for help, they would take their children away.

"People have got misconceptions about social workers because of a few high profile and very scary cases.

"They are under enormous stress, dealing with difficult cases which the rest of us would not be able to cope with.

"Social services tries to get their lives back on track. People think they will get into trouble if they approach social services, but 99.9% of the time social services work is supporting families."

Ms Sanders said a "significant part" of her correspondents - about one in 10 letters - could benefit from intervention or referral by social workers.

These included cases of child abuse, alcoholism, drug problems and domestic violence.

Myths

The leaflet, whose launch is supported by Health Minister John Hutton, gives general details about the range of work covered by social services, including helping the elderly leave hospital and supporting young carers.

The leaflet aims to explode media myths about social workers

It also aims to kill some myths. For example, it says government surveys show some 80% of people who are in contact with social services are satisfied or very satisfied with the services they get.

It adds that social workers do not invent reasons to stop people fostering and adopting children and are not young people with no experience of life.

Chris Davies, president of the ADSS, said: "There are millions of people all over the country who simply couldn't live as happily and as safely as they do without the constant support of social services.

"Social services are there to help people when no-one else seems to care."

Sarah Eades is one mother who says she has found social services support very helpful.

She has two young children and contacted Buckinghamshire social services because of parenting problems.

They put her in touch with the Winterton Drive Family Centre in Aylesbury which sees 35 parents and children a day and provides many different forms of support.

Sarah Eades: "Social services do not judge you"

She says the help has been invaluable.

"People think social services will judge you, but they are the least likely to judge you."

The launch comes on the day the Old Bailey jury found community care patient Anthony Joseph guilty of the manslaughter of social worker Jenny Morrison.