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Social work in the digital age: work in progress

Published on 27 November 2018
Update on 26 September 2022
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Summary

One of the 21 measures of the Poverty Plan, announced by the President of the Republic on September 12, concerns "the renovation of social work to better accompany people's lives" and take into account, in particular, " the digital transformation of access to rights".

Social workers are on the front line when it comes to the millions of French people who are far from or in difficulty with digital technology. The transition to an all-digital world is having a major impact on the organization of social services. The irruption of digital technology in social work also calls for an increase in skills as well as a revaluation of functions.

While the High Council for Social Work (HCTS) is preparing to publish a guideline text on the digital transition in social work, the departmental councils of Seine-Saint-Denis, Loire-Atlantique and Isère have undertaken to reflect together on thefuture of social work professions: the department of Calvados, for its part, organized a day devoted to the articulation between social work and digital technology last May.

High council of social work: how to take advantage of digital how to take advantage of digital technology to improve the quality of support for people?

On July 3, the High Council for Social Work (HCTS), meeting in plenary session, approved a guideline text on the digital transition in social work, which will be made public after a final round of discussions with partner organizations. It will be progressively completed by practical sheets dealing with the different facets of digital intervention in social work. The rest of the article

75% of the professionals in the social action professionals do the digital procedures "in the place of theuser

In order to better understand the role of digital technology in the professional practices of social workers, Emmaus Connect interviewed 93 social action professionals individually or in focus groups in 2016.

Thestudy shows that digital technology has been integrated into the social work sector, even though there are still differences between the different areas of support (budgeting, access to rights, socio-professional integration, housing, emergency accommodation, and ad hoc reception).

  • 75% of professionals say they do digital procedures "in the place of theuser
  • 95% declare that access to digital technology is very often done by accompanying the user.
  • 83% of social workers surveyed consider digital technology indispensable in their professional practice, and 58% consider it indispensable in a user's journey. The rest of the article

Hauts-de-France: social workers face the dematerialization of administrative procedures

The Regional Directorate of Youth, Sport and Social Cohesion (DRJSCS) of Hauts-de-France, asked the Regional Institute of Social Work (IRTS) of Hauts-de-France to conduct a survey among social workers " to study their practices and especially to collect and analyze their needs to accompany people in a situation of illiteracy due to their social fragility.

A total of 70 social workers were surveyed. While 87% of them have a computer (desktop or laptop), and 100% of them have a connection, only 13.3% of the administrations/structures surveyed have a computer intended for supporting the public's autonomy within a defined place.

49% declare having difficulties in the pedagogical support of the user (difficulties linked to the illiteracy of the supported public or to the cognitive difficulties of the person). The rest of the article

Social work in the digital age

This is the theme of a special report published by the Revue française de service social. As an introduction to this dossier, Joran le Gall, President of the National Association of Social Service Assistants (Anas) observes that " social work has long been at a distance from the computer tool. Indeed, in the core business of helping people, the computer tool does not seem essential. Nevertheless, computerization is gradually crossing social work by two means: the dematerialization of administration (e-administration) and the computerization of social files".
  • The first part of the dossier(IT in social work, state of the art and issues) sets out the general framework of computerization and its issues, both in terms of the design of a tool and its daily use in a professional setting.
  • The second part(the dematerialization of administrations: new conditions for access to rights?) deals with the dematerialization of administrations and the questions it raises for access to rights for the public, as well as certain proposals currently being implemented in order to limit the non-use of rights by the people being supported.
  • The third part(IT as seen by professionals) deals with the relationship between professionals and the tool, a source of many questions for professionals in the field.

A call for contributions from "Cahiers du Travail Social

The Cahiers du Travail Social proposes, in an issue dedicated to the digital, a new societal paradigm, to question "the place and use of digital communication tools in the field of work, and more particularly in social work. It will be a question, among other things, of analyzing the social uses of the digital as well as the transformations that this generates as much in the one who manipulates these tools as in the one targeted by this manipulation. And to ask ourselves what the digital technology does to work, to social work, and more particularly to its professional users and users. Indeed, the appropriation of digital tools cannot be decreed and also depends on their mastery by individuals. Therefore, it will not be a question of denouncing the negative effects of the introduction of digital technology in access to rights, but of analyzing its effects.

Social work in the digital age: work in progress

One of the 21 measures of the Poverty Plan, announced by the President of the Republic on September 12, concerns "the renovation of social work to better accompany people's lives" and take into account, in particular, " the digital transformation of access to rights".

Social workers are on the front line when it comes to the millions of French people who are far from or in difficulty with digital technology. The transition to an all-digital world is having a major impact on the organization of social services. The irruption of digital technology in social work also calls for an increase in skills as well as a revaluation of functions.

While the High Council for Social Work (HCTS) is preparing to publish a guideline text on the digital transition in social work, the departmental councils of Seine-Saint-Denis, Loire-Atlantique and Isère have undertaken to reflect together on thefuture of social work professions: the department of Calvados, for its part, organized a day devoted to the articulation between social work and digital technology last May.

High council of social work: how to take advantage of digital how to take advantage of digital technology to improve the quality of support for people?

On July 3, the High Council for Social Work (HCTS), meeting in plenary session, approved a guideline text on the digital transition in social work, which will be made public after a final round of discussions with partner organizations. It will be progressively completed by practical sheets dealing with the different facets of digital intervention in social work. The rest of the article

75% of the professionals in the social action professionals do the digital procedures "in the place of theuser

In order to better understand the role of digital technology in the professional practices of social workers, Emmaus Connect interviewed 93 social action professionals individually or in focus groups in 2016.

Thestudy shows that digital technology has been integrated into the social work sector, even though there are still differences between the different areas of support (budgeting, access to rights, socio-professional integration, housing, emergency accommodation, and ad hoc reception).

  • 75% of professionals say they do digital procedures "in the place of theuser
  • 95% declare that access to digital technology is very often done by accompanying the user.
  • 83% of social workers surveyed consider digital technology indispensable in their professional practice, and 58% consider it indispensable in a user's journey. The rest of the article

Hauts-de-France: social workers face the dematerialization of administrative procedures

The Regional Directorate of Youth, Sport and Social Cohesion (DRJSCS) of Hauts-de-France, asked the Regional Institute of Social Work (IRTS) of Hauts-de-France to conduct a survey among social workers " to study their practices and especially to collect and analyze their needs to accompany people in a situation of illiteracy due to their social fragility.

A total of 70 social workers were surveyed. While 87% of them have a computer (desktop or laptop), and 100% of them have a connection, only 13.3% of the administrations/structures surveyed have a computer intended for supporting the public's autonomy within a defined place.

49% declare having difficulties in the pedagogical support of the user (difficulties linked to the illiteracy of the supported public or to the cognitive difficulties of the person). The rest of the article

Social work in the digital age

This is the theme of a special report published by the Revue française de service social. As an introduction to this dossier, Joran le Gall, President of the National Association of Social Service Assistants (Anas) observes that " social work has long been at a distance from the computer tool. Indeed, in the core business of helping people, the computer tool does not seem essential. Nevertheless, computerization is gradually crossing social work by two means: the dematerialization of administration (e-administration) and the computerization of social files".
  • The first part of the dossier(IT in social work, state of the art and issues) sets out the general framework of computerization and its issues, both in terms of the design of a tool and its daily use in a professional setting.
  • The second part(the dematerialization of administrations: new conditions for access to rights?) deals with the dematerialization of administrations and the questions it raises for access to rights for the public, as well as certain proposals currently being implemented in order to limit the non-use of rights by the people being supported.
  • The third part(IT as seen by professionals) deals with the relationship between professionals and the tool, a source of many questions for professionals in the field.

A call for contributions from "Cahiers du Travail Social

The Cahiers du Travail Social proposes, in an issue dedicated to the digital, a new societal paradigm, to question "the place and use of digital communication tools in the field of work, and more particularly in social work. It will be a question, among other things, of analyzing the social uses of the digital as well as the transformations that this generates as much in the one who manipulates these tools as in the one targeted by this manipulation. And to ask ourselves what the digital technology does to work, to social work, and more particularly to its professional users and users. Indeed, the appropriation of digital tools cannot be decreed and also depends on their mastery by individuals. Therefore, it will not be a question of denouncing the negative effects of the introduction of digital technology in access to rights, but of analyzing its effects.

Labo Société Numérique

Labo République Française Agence nationale de cohésion des territoires
Social work in the digital age: work in progress