The child protection system has been described as being 'beyond breaking point' in a report prepared for MPs by the British Association of Social Workers (BASW).
The document also says that social workers are facing increasing pressure, and that adults who need the help of social services have to be 'beyond critical' before they get it.
ITV reports that the All Parliamentary Group on Social Care's findings also revealed that the Government's plans to increase adoption speed would be unsafe.
The BASW made the following recommendations:
An end to unpaid overtime
Separation of social worker's electronic records and data collection
Exploration of improved caseload management strategies
A restoration of local authority car allowances
Ending the 'hot desking' culture
Protection of role for social workers
Exploration of how to record social worker's input and achievements
Consideration should be given to proper recognition of restrictive working conditions
Guidance to encourage social work involvement in NHS patient management
The employer health check should be reviewed and more rigorous
Government should liaise with the Association of Chief Police Officers on taking action against those behind websites inciting hatred towards social workers
In a piece for ITV News, the chief executive of the British Association of Social Workers, Bridget Robb, said the report gave an insight into how stressed, overloaded and under-resourced social workers have become.
"Social workers don't want to fail – and indeed most will point to real successes in their day-to-day work – but failure by the standards of political and public expectation are inevitable when the impossibility of their task goes unacknowledged and the extent of the solution is so manifestly inadequate," she wrote.