Memorandum submitted by 11 MILLION
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Children and young people have told
us that, following the trauma of family breakdown and removal
into care, they want and need someone in children's services with
whom they can have an enduring and trusting relationship. The
social worker is often the person to whom they look.
1.2 This submission is predicated on the critical
importance of ensuring that social workers have the emotional
and intellectual capacity to undertake this difficult and demanding
task and that the support and development framework encourages
and supports them to stay in their roles for a sufficient length
of time such that they can provide enduring support for troubled
children and families.
2. ENTRY ROUTES
TO THE
PROFESSION
2.1 The most important issue with regard
to entry is to ensure that the profession attracts people of the
right intellectual and psychological calibre to deal effectively
with the emotional and cognitive demands of the job. Entrants
need to have high levels of self awareness, be psychologically
minded (ie tuned into the underpinning emotional factors which
influence behaviour of self and others), have excellent analytical
and writing skills (or demonstrate the capacity to develop these
rapidly), be effective communicators and have strong boundaries.
Ease of entry should not dilute these requirements. We believe
that the introduction of a two year diploma focused too strongly
on accessibility resulting in too many social workers entering
the profession who struggle with assessment, analysis and report
writing—all key skills for effective social work.
2.2 Having said that, more part-time training
should be available to ensure the pool of suitable entrants is
not deterred by the standard three year full-time course. Allowing
students to complete their academic and placement requirements
over a longer period (maximum five years) may increase access.
3. CONTENT AND
STRUCTURE OF
INITIAL TRAINING
3.1 A three year bachelor's degree/two year
master's degree is the minimum level for initial social work training.
We favour a move towards social work becoming a master's only
profession in the way that teaching is evolving. This would have
the dual advantage of raising the standards of the profession
as well as its standing. Social workers attaining NQSW status
must work a probationary year in protected roles with full professional
status only being attained on successful completion of the assessed
NQSW year. With the introduction of the mandatory master's programme,
the undergraduate degree would become part one of social work
training, with completion of the master's forming part two, within
a nationally determined timescale.
3.2 NQSWs must, as a minimum, have protected
case loads which include the shadowing of a child protection case
led by an experienced social worker. NQSWs should be allocated
a mentor who would be separate from their line manager and provide
ongoing support and advice. Line managers should observe a range
of practice on a nationally agreed basis and successful completion
of the year should be contingent upon observation of effective
practice. Line managers must also provide formal supervision on
a minimum of a monthly basis. Learning needs must be clearly identified
and action taken to ensure learning outcomes are achieved. As
a minimum, NQSWs must be able to demonstrate effectiveness in:
assessment and analysis; accurate record keeping and report writing;
effective engagement with children and families (including the
active participation of children and young people in the process
of assessment and on-going planning), and ability to work in partnership
with other agencies and professionals. Training should also include
input from police as well as health and education professionals
to ensure NQSWs are fully aware of the roles and responsibilities
of key partners in the children's workforce and are prepared for
the requirements of integrated working. Dual assessments with
other professionals eg health visitors, should be part of placement
requirements. Shared/joint training modules with others in the
children's workforce would be an advantage.
3.3 Views on whether the generic social
work degree is fit for the purpose of training children and families
social workers are highly divergent. It is our view that, as recommended
by Lord Laming, specialisation should commence at the end of the
first year. Working with children and families with complex needs
is a highly demanding specialist area of work that requires students
to absorb and digest significant quantities of evidence and research.
The final two years of the undergraduate programme give limited
time for this to be done comprehensively, even less so if the
work to be covered spans the whole age range. There needs to be
a detailed and substantial focus on: attachment theory; child
development (physical, intellectual, emotional, social); neurological
research regarding the impact of early nurturing on the development
of the brain; child protection (signs, symptoms, protective factors,
investigative requirements); systems theory; training in direct
work with children and families; legislation; equalities and diversity;
understanding best practice in relation to early intervention
and prevention, and the ecological and environmental factors affecting
children and families and their impact on healthy development
and functioning. There needs to be integration between the academic
and the practice elements so that they are complementary and actively
enhance learning and progression. This onerous workload cannot
be effectively achieved within a generic three year programme.
Progression to a master's only qualification would allow for much
greater in-depth study spread over the whole training programme.
This would include a detailed infant observation and, in part
two, a more specialist focus on child protection and other key
areas such as drug and alcohol abuse, etc.
3.4 In addition to the above, placements
must have minimum requirements to ensure effective coverage of
core areas of knowledge and experience. These must include: assessment
of a complex family (including taking a detailed history and completing
a genogram); direct work with a child in need and securing appropriate
multi-agency collaboration and intervention; acting as lead professional,
and shadowing a child protection investigation. Student social
workers must be able to demonstrate progression as they acquire
experience on their placements, taking on increasing levels of
responsibility as they near the end of their programme.
3.5 We have focused primarily on knowledge,
skills and experience in the above. Social workers must also appreciate
and internalise the values underpinning the profession including
being non-judgemental, placing a high premium on equality and
diversity, developing their capacity for reflective practice,
and understanding their own responses to emotionally and psychologically
challenging situations. Issues of class, race, ethnicity, religion,
sexuality and disability need to be explored and students need
to develop an acute understanding of their own conscious and unconscious
reactions to these matters.
4. QUALITY
4.1 We have limited knowledge of the effectiveness
of the General Social Care Council (GSCC), however I will comment
on the basis of having made one referral regarding a serious allegation
against a social worker. Despite submitting detailed evidence
to the GSCC (including the results of the local authority investigation),
and numerous phone calls, emails and letters chasing the case,
it took the GSCC more than two years to consider the matter. This
was unsatisfactory.
4.2 The quality, suitability and supply of practice
placements must be monitored by both the placing institution and
the GSCC. All practice teachers must be suitably qualified, and
assessment of the placement should include oversight of records
kept on the student and scrutiny of placement plans. Students
should evaluate placements as part of the process. Poorly performing
local authorities must satisfy the GSCC that placement supervision
and practice will meet required standards.
4.3 Low entry requirements for many social
work undergraduate programmes and poor expectations of students
mean that it is difficult to fully assess whether the shift to
a degree level course has had a significant impact on the calibre
of the people entering the profession.
5. POST-QUALIFYING
TRAINING AND
CAREER PATHS
5.1 Post-qualifying training must be thoroughly
quality assured by the GSCC.
5.2 Overload, low morale, inadequate supervision,
and case loads dominated by an unremitting diet of child protection
too frequently lead to social workers leaving frontline service
for alternative careers. Duty work is undervalued with work such
as fostering and adoption and working with disabled children often
being referred to as "specialist", with the implication
that duty and assessment can be done by any qualified social worker.
Frontline child protection and provision of children in need services,
including duty and assessment, should be seen as a specialism
in its own right. This would potentially raise the standing and
morale of frontline workers, and this could be further reinforced
by the implementation of Lord Laming's recommendation for the
establishment of consultant social workers. This proposal should
assist in keeping the most experienced social workers in practice.
Consultant social workers could, once established, be responsible
for the monitoring of student social work placements and observation
and oversight of NQSWs. Salaries must reflect the enhanced requirements
of the role.
5.3 Post-qualifying training in child protection
must include input from other key agencies, notably the police,
education and health. It is essential that all social workers
are aware of the requirements for joint working in child protection
investigations and are competent to contribute.
5.4 Many employers are strongly committed
to supporting the development of social workers. However, standards
are at times sacrificed to the necessity of maintaining an adequately
staffed workforce and putting qualified workers through post-qualifying
courses. I am aware of courses that deliver poor quality in terms
of content and standards and make few demands upon the PQ students.
The good intentions must be matched by rigour in terms of training
and standards if performance is to be of a sufficiently high calibre.
5.5 Supervision has moved a long way away
from the focus on reflective practice predicated on a psychodynamic
model. Clearly, while supervision must cover oversight of cases,
quality standards (including file monitoring) and management issues,
space must again be made for full consideration of the impact
of the work on the supervisee and the complex dynamics affecting
families, the social worker and the wider professional and community
context. This is a highly skilled task for which training should
be mandatory and accredited.
5.6 A system of spinal points awarded on
the basis of taking on additional responsibilities or acquiring
specialist skills would enhance the career opportunities of social
workers and help to make the profession more attractive, as well
as help keep more experienced practitioners on the front line.
May 2009
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