Devon is a county packed with attractions. But it's not as easy as youmight think to lure people to work in this beautiful part of South WestEngland. "Everyone thinks that because we're a rural authority in theSouth West it should be easy to get people to work here. But it's not,"reveals Anne Whiteley, Devon County Council's director of children'sservices. "Both the housing market and cost of living make it quitedifficult to attract staff."
Like other councils across the country, Devon has had a shortage ofchildren's social workers. Over the years, it's lost experienced staffto initiatives like Connexions, Sure Start and Cafcass. So it's made areal effort to boost recruitment and retention rates for such posts."Our approach has been to grow our own," admits Whiteley, "and we'vesupported this through overseas recruitment."
Register Now to Continue Reading
Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:
What's Included
-
Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month
-
Email newsletter providing advice and guidance across the sector
Already have an account? Sign in here
