Everyone who's in care has a social worker. Your social worker works for us (the council), in a team with other social workers. The person who's in charge of the team (your social worker's boss) is called the Team Manager. Social work teams are all part of one really big team called Children's Services.

All social workers have to have special training. It means they understand how to work with people, look after them, and keep them safe.

Your social worker is a really important person in your life when you're in care.

They're someone you can talk to about stuff that's going on and how you're feeling. You can tell them if you're feeling sad or angry – you don't ever have to pretend that everything is fine when you talk to them.

It's your social worker's job to make sure you're safe and cared for. That's whether you're in foster care, in a children's home, or being adopted. They'll always listen to you, respect you, and keep you safe from harm.

Your social worker will also write your care plan for you, which has lots of rules in about how you'll be cared for, where you'll live, etc. Everyone has to follow what your care plan says.

You'll probably have lots of questions about having a social worker when you first get one. We have tried to answer some within this section.