The General Council of Social Work is the Spanish organisation representing social workers. It advocates for social services professionals and plays an essential role in emergency situations through the State Group for Intervention in Social Emergencies (GEIES). Given the exceptional situation of last year’s floods, the aim of this initiative is to strengthen social services with more social workers, thereby enabling CGTS’ members to better assist individuals and communities affected by natural disasters.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Social Rights, the CGTS has launched a comprehensive social intervention project to support communities impacted by the floods that occurred in Valencia and other Spanish regions on October 29, 2024. This initiative, funded through a direct grant provided for in the Royal Decree-Law 7/2024, aims to provide care and support to affected individuals from a biopsychosocial and community perspective through social services. This refers to a specific social care delivery model that focuses on biological, social, and psychological approaches with individuals and on an ecosocial approach with the community.
This immediate emergency relief operation has shown the responsiveness and effectiveness of organized social workers in crisis management, thereby underlining their pivotal role in guaranteeing extensive care for individuals, families, and the community as a whole.
The GEIES was pre-activated on October 30, 2024, just one day after the disaster, and fully activated on the following day. Since then, the GEIES’ staff has coordinated a deployment of teams from seven professional bodies in Aragón, Madrid, Catalonia, Murcia, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia and Extremadura.
During the emergency, the GEIES brought together 56 people in direct intervention, along with more than 400 professionals activated by the Official Body of Social Work of Valencia, who have provided immediate emergency care, social triage, and support to vulnerable individuals and families. The interventions focused on municipalities such as Paiporta, Alfafar, Benetússer, Massanassa, Sedaví, Aldaia, and Catarroja. With the help of these specialised teams, this project enabled local Social Services to deliver assistance, grief support, and community rebuilding, thereby enhancing resilience and social cohesion in the affected areas.
The project is currently at a fieldwork phase, which has involved hiring twelve field social workers (nine in the Valencian Community and one in Letur, Castilla-La Mancha), as well as a regional coordinator and a social projects technician at the General Council offices in Madrid. This team is responsible for following up with the project, and continues to provide support to local Social Services, as well as to develop strategies to strengthen the community cohesion. To that end, the General Council has signed an agreement with the municipalities located in the affected areas.
Post-emergency intervention functions, such as social triage, are being carried out on the ground to support and strengthen the Public Social Services System in the affected municipalities, as well as to offer care and social support to the affected people.
Additionally, in order to improve the quality of care in different sectors (health, education, and social care providers), the General Council is actively conducting research and developing several protocols, and procedures to deal with emergency situations.
In fine, as mental health of social workers is a pressing issue, burnouts of Social Services teams are being studied, and psychosocial support groups established for social professionals in affected areas. Moreover, within the project’s framework, training and capacity building activities are being carried out for social services workers in charge of social emergencies.