CYP Now - CWDC Update: The future matters for social work

With 79.9m allocated for social work, we will be focusing on supporting employers to make the changes they need to improve their services, says Jane Haywood, chief executive, CWDC.

Local authorities are making some tough frontline decisions. We want to support them in this role, and make sure we build on what we know works, so we can continue to make a difference to children and young people's lives.

Our remit and budget have now been agreed for this year. We will continue to deliver a substantial social work programme in 2011/12 as part of our continued drive to support employers with workforce reform.

With £79.9m allocated for social work, we will be focusing on supporting employers to make the changes they need to improve their services. We will be helping them to find workable and sustainable solutions to the challenges they face. The £43m allocated to local authorities via the Social Work Improvement Fund (SWIF), will give local authorities the flexibility to use the funding where it is needed most, with additional support being provided through SWIF advisers.

High-calibre candidates

Attracting high-calibre people to the profession is important to ensure that children, young people and families have the best support possible. We recognise that changing social work is a long-term commitment and we remain focused on providing social workers with the support, time and resources to change children and families' lives for the better. Both our "Step Up to Social Work" and "Return to Social Work" programmes are doing just that (www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/social-work/programme).

We are also working hard to support local authorities to share information on social work practice as well as information on how to implement new ways of working. This includes practical support to social workers in their first years of practice through the development of projects such as Newly Qualified Social Worker (NQSW) and Early Professional Development. NQSW supports social workers in their first year of employment by allowing them reduced caseloads and regular supervision meetings. EPD follows on from the NQSW programme by providing a framework that helps social workers to operate with greater confidence and autonomy (www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/social-work/ nqsw-epd).

There is still much to do, but we have a solid foundation on which we can build. So far, our social work programme has helped employers become more confident in the abilities and commitment of social workers working with children, young people and families. We have helped the social work profession to attract high quality candidates with the abilities and experience to meet the demands of the job and we continue to do so. We have also addressed some of the key retention issues faced by the sector by supporting social workers throughout their career.

We are sure that we can continue to work with employers to improve results for children, young people and families. We believe we are more than capable of meeting the challenges that the coming year will bring.

Our key achievements

95 per cent of local authorities across England use newly qualified social worker (NQSW) and early professional development (EPD) programmes.
More than 5,000 social workers are supported by NQSW and 2,000 have progressed onto EPD to support their second and third year of employment.
57,000 people registered their interest in social work through a "be the difference" campaign, leading to a 41 per cent increase in applicants for social work university courses.
All local authorities received or are committed to peer support visits to help them improve services and utilise the £23m that was distributed to local authorities in 2010/11 to enable them to develop local solutions to social work challenges in their area.
29 local authority senior social work staff act as peer support advisers and enable authorities to share learning and implement change.
86 local authorities are involved in developing packages of support for more than 500 managers of frontline social work teams.
More than 200 senior managers are taking part in a social work peer support programme to work together to tackle difficult workforce issues and share learning.
More than 170 high-calibre graduates are working towards a masters in social work through our Step up to Social Work employment-based training programme.

FURTHER INFORMATION