Position Paper on Adult Safeguarding, Legislation, Policy and Practice

The issue of adult safeguarding is of utmost importance for social workers and for the IASW. For those adults in need of safeguarding, the support and vindication of their integrity, autonomy, and human rights, as well as their protection and safety, may be dependent in large part on the role played by state agencies and civil society. Social workers have a particularly key role to play in adult safeguarding. The present position paper has been developed in the context of emerging legislation and new structures, policies, and services. In publishing the present position paper, which now supersedes a previous paper, the IASW seeks to influence the development and implementation of appropriate legislation, policy, and practice. This is in line with human rights values and best practices and based on our unique role, expertise, and experience as social workers, as well as being influenced by the voices and needs of the people we work with and their families. This is ultimately to seek to ensure that those adults who need professional safeguarding interventions, and their loved ones, receive the best possible services and protection.