Membership
ADASS Membership
Our membership is drawn from serving directors of adult social care employed by local authorities and their direct reports. Associate members are past directors and their direct reports, and since 2019, our wider membership includes principal social workers.
There are four categories of ADASS membership
Full membership
This is only available for the current serving statutory Director of Adult Social Services (DASS) in each Local Authority in England. Full membership of ADASS is membership of the Local Authority, not of the individual Director. Interim and Acting Directors are full members equally.
Extended membership
Additional leads who are senior managers who report directly to the DASS and/or those to whom the DASS reports. The Full Member or the local authority may determine the people to be proposed. Each Full Member can nominate up to four Extended Members. Full Members who wish to nominate more than four members, can do so by paying an Additional Extended Member fee (see below).
Principal Social Workers
Principal Social Workers are included as a separate category. Each full Member can nominate one Principal Social Worker, and these places are not exchangeable with extended members.
Associate membership
This is available to all ex-serving permanent DASSs (Full Members) and ex-Extended Members or Principal Social Workers once they have left their post. Associate membership of ADASS is membership of the individual, not of any organisation.
Full Membership
All membership fees are reviewed by the ADASS Treasurer on an annual basis. Any change to membership fees may be approved by a simple majority vote at any meeting of the Association.
For DASS and extended members, ADASS operates a Tiered Approach to fees based on the size of the Local Authority. As the size of Authority can be subjective due to the differing structures of local authorities, this approach uses population to measure size.
- Tier 1
Population Range: 501,000+ ; Membership Fees (2024): £2,947 - Tier 2
Population Range: 200,001-500,000 ; Membership Fees (2024): £2,739 - Tier 3
Population Range: 0-200,000 ; Membership Fees (2024): £2,528
Additional Extended Member
Each full member can nominate up to 4 extended members and 1 principal social worker. Full members can nominate additional extended members to join the ADASS membership at an additional 1/6 of the membership for each additional extended member.
Associate Membership
In 2024, Associate Membership fees are £345 (pro-rata). Associate membership fee is eligible for Gift Aid, which means that as long as the member is a UK taxpayer and has paid enough tax to cover the Gift Aid claimed, ADASS can boost the fee paid by 25% at no additional cost to the member. The Gift Aid form is included in the membership application form. Associates who wish to do so can set up a recurring yearly Direct Debit with ADASS.
Join our Associate Network
We have just over 100 associate members, mostly ex-Directors, mostly ex-Directors but now including former extended members. Many of us are still involved in social care matters, either directly or through non-Executive roles in Health, Housing, Social Care or other aspects of the Voluntary Sector.
Some are working as consultants, chairing safeguarding boards, undertaking reviews and support work. Others offer their time on a voluntary basis to mentor senior managers in Social Care, support ADASS policy areas or work with chairs of policy networks. Many of us do paid and voluntary work.
Becoming an ADASS Associates has many perks. We can circulate specifications for projects to our network for ADASS and other organisations which Associates are free to respond to – paid or unpaid. We communicate, support and meet together through the year. Associates aim to continue to uphold the Vision and Values of ADASS, in any support work we do.
If you think you might be eligible to join our network, please apply via the membership form below or get in touch with a member of our team.
Chat to an Associate
Please feel free to contact one of the ADASS Associates Group contacts if you have any questions or queries before you apply, or for any support. The co-chairs are Carol Tozer and Keith Skerman and Kathy Clark is the Secretary.