News Insight: Call for education welfare rethink

Peter did well at primary school, but when he moved to secondary school, attendance became an issue. He was using cannabis excessively and his mental health deteriorated. His mother had long-term issues with drug addiction and poor mental health, but Peter was off the radar of social services. After a troubled spell living with his father, who also had mental health problems, he ended up homeless.

Peter is just one example of the young people that education welfare officers support. Far from simply dealing with poor school attendance, they are often first to identify when a family is experiencing deeper problems.

With this in mind, the National Association of Social Workers in Education (NASWE) is calling for urgent investment in the profession at government level - and workers at local level - in spite of the spending squeeze, with the launch of a policy paper: Early Intervention - A New Potential for Education Welfare.

Huge potential

NASWE general secretary Jacqui Newvell believes there is "immense" untapped potential in education welfare. While social care thresholds for children in need are fairly high, education welfare officers can intervene when families are experiencing much lower level problems.

"School attendance is a very good barometer of family wellbeing," says Newvell. "When things are going wrong at home, often the effects will first be noticed in deteriorating attendance, lateness and changes in behaviour."

She is concerned that local authorities are cutting back on education welfare provision simply because they do not understand the service's full potential. Councils are prioritising school attendance and enforcement, she says, without nurturing the early intervention side of the education welfare officer role.

"Even though local authority duties in relation to attendance are statutory, the education welfare service itself isn't," she says. "It is therefore vulnerable to cuts."

John Chowcat, general secretary of the children's services union Aspect, is convinced that education welfare is vital to stem the huge numbers of children and young people entering the care system. His union and the Association for Education Welfare Management are supporting NASWE's campaign to rejuvenate the service.

"Early intervention is even more significant when budgets are constrained because it saves you money further down the line," he says.

Chowcat also believes too much emphasis has been placed on education welfare officers' statutory duty to enforce school attendance, rather than their "lower-level social services" functions. "The capacity of the service to spot family problems early needs to be recognised, developed and funded properly," he says. "It has been a neglected area central government now needs to look at."

But Chowcat admits changes are needed before the early intervention role of education welfare professionals can be fully exploited.

Regulatory framework

At the moment, there are no nationally agreed qualification requirements for education welfare officers. Some are qualified social workers, others come from a range of children's services backgrounds. Chowcat wants government to introduce a regulatory framework and proper professional development.

Newvell says: "Without a regulatory body there is no incentive for local authorities to ensure their education welfare officers are practising at an appropriate and consistent standard, or for those already outstanding practitioners to be able to develop their expertise further."

"A regulatory body would have huge benefits to the service's reputation, and ensure vulnerable children and families are supported by a qualified and skilled workforce."

Peter's story could easily have ended unhappily, but the involvement of one professional when his truancy first surfaced stopped his life from spiralling out of control.

That professional was an education welfare officer. She referred him to social services and housing, negotiated contact with his family, and organised tuition sessions and psychiatric care. With her support he moved onto further education and training, and now lives independently. Peter recently told her that without her help, he would probably be dead.

RECOMMENDATIONS: AN EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICE

NASWE wants government to rethink education welfare services. It is calling for a review of the role that education welfare services play in modern children's services, since the last review of the profession was conducted by the Local Government Training Board in 1974.

This review would:

• Shed light on the complexity of the education welfare officer role, including its contribution to education, safeguarding, school improvement, childcare, breaking cycles of deprivation and preventing youth offending
• Identify the best way to integrate the education welfare officer role into the broader field of early intervention services
• Outline successful service delivery models that make the best use of education welfare officers' specialist skills