CYP Now - How to recruit and retain social workers

Recruitment and retention challenges in children's services mean councils are searching for new ways to attract and retain social workers. Joe Lepper looks at different approaches and investigates what actually works.

Children's services across England have been hit by ongoing shortages of social workers, with more than half of posts vacant in someareas.

Latest Department for Education children's social care workforce figures show there are seven regions with a vacancy rate above the September 2016 national average of 16.7 per cent.

The problem is particularly acute in the capital with a 25.8 per cent and 23.2 per cent average vacancy rate in outer London boroughs and central areas respectively.

Retention is also a problem, with four regions - the North East, East Midlands, central London and outer London - all recording a turnover rate in September 2016 above the England average of 15.1 per cent. Meanwhile, 2010 research showed the average working life of a social worker is around eight years, half that of a nurse.

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