I'm very ambivalent about social workers. My niece has a graduate degree in social work, and is currently working in Madagascar. On the other hand, I've never gotten anything useful out of any of the social workers I've actually had contact with in a professional capacity. So there's that.

On the gripping hand, I may simply not be the kind of person who's able to benefit from them. (And bear in mind that these contacts were in hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics. All they did was hand me a flier with a lot of phone numbers on it. What I really needed was a knowledgeable friend.)