ABSTRACT
It is quite unusual to read about social work in connection with schemes of early intervention in the Health and Social Services. The Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work estimated that in 1980, in Local Authority Social Services Departments there were about 15,700 front-line Field Social Workers, 5,000 Team Leaders or Area Managers, and 4,000 in central management or advisory posts. Eighty per cent of Field Social Workers work in area offices, 15 per cent in hospitals, and 1 per cent in general practice or child guidance clinics and a further 2 per cent in other settings. Amongst the 2 per cent of Social Workers to be found in other settings will also be found the 50 or so school-based Social Workers employed by Local Authority Social Services Departments. The concepts of screening and early identification are not current with Social Services thinking, as they are within the educational and medical fields.
