Whether you’re newly appointed, mid-career, or long-established as a Director of Adult Social Services, your connection to the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) is essential to your success—and to the voice of the sector.
ADASS offers more than representation. It is your professional community, strategic partner, and platform for leadership. Your engagement—locally, regionally, and nationally—can shape practice, policy, and people’s lives.
As a new DASS, you’ve likely been an Extended Member of ADASS and part of your region’s Assistant Director network. Stepping into the statutory DASS role opens new pathways for contribution and influence. Every DASS helps set the direction of regional sector-led improvement (SLI), leads or sponsors peer challenge, and may chair or co-lead national policy networks.
This matters. The Department of Health and Social Care continues to invest in regional SLI—and your leadership shapes its credibility. Engaging with your regional branch offers peer support, shared learning, and alignment across councils. You’re not alone. You’re part of a system of mutual accountability and improvement.
The value of ADASS includes:
• Professional development and networking: Through the annual Spring Seminar, national conferences (like NCASC), and regional events, ADASS creates space for reflection, challenge, and learning. New DASSs can also access mentoring from experienced ADASS Associates.
• Policy and guidance: ADASS regularly shares practical guidance, briefings, and insights—from emerging best practice to national reform. Whether it's handling provider failure or navigating funding reform, you’ll find timely advice tailored to the role.
• Research and insight: Rapid surveys and sector-wide intelligence provide a strong evidence base for national influence. Your voice shapes the story. ADASS uses this data to amplify concerns and advocate for solutions.
• Representation and advocacy: ADASS is a trusted voice at national level—meeting with ministers, regulators, and civil servants to reflect the lived experience of Directors and the realities of local delivery.
• Communication and connection: Weekly bulletins, newsletters, and shared resources keep you connected to the big picture, and the fine detail of operational leadership.
ADASS thrives on collective effort. The more you put in, the more we shape together. Take up opportunities to lead national policy groups—from mental health to digital, housing to care markets. These are collaborative spaces bringing together DASSs, people with lived experience, providers, and policymakers. The credibility you bring as a current DASS makes your contribution vital.
You’ll also gain fresh insight into how national decisions are made, how other places operate, and where innovation is emerging. This is the engine of sector-led improvement—driven by Directors, not directed from the centre.
In time, you may choose to become a Trustee of ADASS—the national charity that underpins our collective voice. This role supports national governance and helps sustain a profession-led future for adult social care.
Engaging actively with ADASS is not a nice-to-have. It’s a professional necessity—an opportunity for growth, influence, and impact. The sector needs your voice. And you need a network that understands the weight and possibility of this role.
Further resources:
Your ADASS Membership Pack describes the benefits of belonging to ADASS and how it works in practice and can be downloaded here.
Partners in Care and Health, (a joint LGA/ADASS/SCIE programme) offers a range of support and improvement resources across all the areas covered by this guide.
Department of Health (2006) Best Practice Guidance on the role of the Director of Adult Social Services http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2008-2585/DEP2008-2585.pdf
Department of Health and Social Care (2025) – Care and Support statutory guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-statutory-guidance/care-and-support-statutory-guidance
Humphries R & Timmins N (2021) Stories from social care leadership, Progress amid pestilence and penury, King’s Fund, https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/reports/social-care-leadership
LGA (2017) Managing risk in adult social care – risk awareness tool & other resources https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/our-improvement-offer/care-and-health-improvement/financial-and-sustainability-risks