Prioritise retention of children’s social workers
Derren Hayes
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Latest Department for Education workforce figures show the number of vacant social worker posts across children’s services departments in England rose by seven per cent in 2021 to a five-year high – accounting for one in six positions.
Amid a shortage of permanent staff most local authorities will turn to the agency market. Yet, while the number of agency staff grew by three per cent last year, it is still half the rate of growth in vacant posts. The workforce squeeze is so severe that some directors of children’s services are reporting the only way to access agency staff is to employ entire teams at great expense.
To compound this worrying picture, the number of children’s social workers leaving their post rose 16 per cent last year. Meanwhile, a survey by the British Association of Social Workers found just a quarter of practitioners plan to stay in post for the next three years.
Taken together, it reflects a volatile workforce market fuelled by two years of pandemic pressures, increasingly complex caseloads and an aging workforce. Steve Crocker, the new president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, says the pressures in the system show little sign of abating and that boosting the workforce is a high priority.
Successive governments have focused on growing the number of practitioners coming through graduate schemes. This has been successful, increasing the workforce by around 15 per cent. Yet, this current workforce shortage cannot be solved by recruitment alone. More emphasis needs to be placed on retaining practitioners so that the average career of a frontline children’s social worker spans decades instead of a few years.
It needs flexible, high-support workplace practices that prioritise practitioners’ wellbeing and help them cope with the stresses of the job – recent research for the Care Review highlighted how improving mental health support is the best way employers can improve social worker retention. It also requires a career progression that recognises and rewards accumulated experience and skills without necessarily taking staff away from working directly with children and families.
Retention should be a central part of a new national workforce strategy, which is urgently needed and should be a recommendation of the Care Review when it reports soon. Only a stable and motivated workforce will deliver the better outcomes for vulnerable children we all want to see.
Derren Hayes is editor of Children & Young People Now
derren.hayes@markallengroup.com