Training of Children and Families Social Workers - Children, Schools and Families Committee Contents


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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