Steve Goodman, deputy director of children's services for Hackney, said: "Training courses aren't fit for purpose and there's a strong emphasis on values but they teach little about methodology and those entering social work training are often lacking the basic training to do this complex job well."
Giving evidence on looked-after children to the Commons select committee for children, schools and families, he said: "Practitioners need high intellectual ability, good people skills and a good tool box of interventions if they're going to practice it well. We believe the situation probably has got worse over the past couple of decades."
Goodman attacked the government for responding to dropping social work standards with more red tape. He told the committee that over the years extra layers of bureaucracy had been added to children's social care in an attempt to compensate. "The system then becomes risk averse and strangles good social work practices," he said.
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