'Rushed' social work training plans raise 'workforce shortage' fears

The government has outlined plans to boost social work training, unveiling further details of an accreditation scheme for children's social workers and the creation of a new body to oversee the profession.

Announcing the plans last month, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said all child and family social workers will have to be assessed against the children and families knowledge and skills statements by 2020 at the latest.

Meanwhile, she said the new social work organisation will ensure only high-quality training courses are approved, and support the development of a "world-class social work profession".

It will be tasked with raising the quality of social work education, training and practice in both children's and adults' social work.

It will also set standards for training course content and oversee the rollout of a new assessment and accreditation system for children and family social workers.

Over time, it will replace the Health & Care Professions Council as the regulatory body for social work.

Sector reactions

Taken together, the reforms create a whole new landscape for social work education, but will they succeed in raising quality and standards in the profession as hoped for by the government? And are the measures the right ones to deliver lasting change?

A social worker involved with the development of the accreditation system, who does not wish to be named, told CYP Now that there will be four parts to it - employer endorsement; an online multiple choice knowledge test; a simulated activity test, in which candidates are gradually given more information about a case and are asked questions along the way; and a role-play exercise using actors where practice is observed.

She says she has mixed feelings about the system. "I like the idea of being recognised as a professional and being able to evidence professional practice throughout a social work career," she says.

"I also like the fact that it is more an assessment of professional practice - not a test of knowledge. Besides the knowledge and skills test, the other three elements are observation of practice - you can't trick practice."

She also says the system will enhance the standing of social work. "We are not recognised as a profession," she explains. "Social work staff in court situations are often secondary to so-called experts, such as paediatricians and child psychiatrists.

"The proposed accreditation system is really good for the profession. We are striving towards being recognised."

However, she adds that as with any new initiative, there are "anxieties" that need to be addressed with the profession.

"This is being developed by the DfE, instructed by the DfE and rolled out by the DfE," she says.

"I understand there has been a great deal of consultation with the chief social workers, but I still feel as a professional that I am being 'done to', particularly with the announcement from Nicky Morgan that by 2020 everybody will be assessed.

"That is less than four years away and we are talking about a workforce of 27,000 social workers in statutory posts. It feels slightly rushed - there should be an analysis of the proof of concept phase."

At a British Association of Social Workers event held last month to discuss the future of social work education, some delegates predicted that the new system could potentially create a "workforce crisis".

The fear is that if accreditation is mandatory, social workers who fail the tests will be unable to practice, meaning there will be fewer social workers available.

Two-tier workforce

Some delegates at the event predicted this could create a two-tier workforce, with accredited social workers being supported by "para-professionals" who have not passed the test and so could only assist on more basic work.

Rachael Wardell, chair of the workforce development policy committee at the Association of Directors of Children's Services, says that although attempts to drive high-quality social work practice "can only be a good thing", there are concerns about exactly how the system will work.

She says: "There are already challenges around recruitment and retention - getting the right people into roles, helping them develop their skills in the job, and keeping them there. It is untested as to whether the accreditation system will assist in those areas."

She adds that while there could be some advantages to accreditation being mandatory - such as establishing consistent standards and expectations across the workforce - those who do not pass "won't be able to stay in the workforce".

"If you make it mandatory for everyone over a tight timescale, you run the risk of creating shortages," she warns. "We have shortages without the accreditation framework and problems with escalating rates of pay in permanent and agency staff. Simple market forces mean that if the workforce shrinks further, it would end up costing us more."

She also warns there is a risk that the safety of children could be compromised. The number of children in local authority care rose from 65,510 in 2011 to 69,540 in 2015.

Rising demand

Wardell says this rising demand is not going to stop simply because there are fewer social workers.

"If you have a shortage of social workers who are allowed to practice, you potentially end up overloading social workers," she says. "That could be mitigated by making it mandatory over a longer timescale."

She says it could be feasible to introduce a mandatory system along the same lines as efforts to boost standards among children's home staff.

Under residential care standards that came into force last year, new staff must complete necessary qualifications within two years of beginning their employment, with staff already in employment granted a period of grace.

There is "logic" to a staggered introduction, Wardell says, because it would help the workforce gradually adapt to the new system.

"To a certain extent, established social workers have demonstrated their skills and resilience within the system by the fact they are still working," she says. "Being required to undergo accreditation when they are already performing to the required standard could be the final straw for some - we could be at risk of losing people."

It is unclear how many people would fall short of achieving accreditation, but if the pass rate for lawyers doing the bar exam between 2007 and 2011 (79 per cent passed) is indicative, the overall workforce could potentially shrink by more than 5,000 people. This could derail the government's attempts to boost numbers entering the profession.

To that end, it has announced that the Frontline training programme - dubbed Teach First for social workers - will be expanded across the country, and a further cohort will be trained as part of the government's Step Up To Social Work scheme.

Training graduates

Through this, the government says it hopes 3,000 of the best graduates will be trained as social workers over the next five years. But, depending on accreditation pass rates, this may well come up short against the requirements.

Roy Perry, chair of the Local Government Association's children and young people board, describes the scheme as a step forward in helping to tackle the rising demand in children's social care.

"Frontline will bring in people with fresh ideas who can make a really positive difference to the sector, as well as helping to ease pressures, reduce caseloads and ensure more children are safer," he says.

"While this new scheme concentrates solely on recruitment, we must never lose sight of the problem that councils are facing in ensuring our highly respected social workers remain in post.

"Retention can be a real issue in some areas, with councils doing all they can to encourage those who have left to return."

Ensuring the new system is introduced without destabilising the existing children's social work workforce, and in so doing leaving vulnerable children without the support they need, will be a key challenge for government over the coming years.

IN NUMBERS

27,000 - Number of social workers who would need to take the new skills test by 2020

1,000 - Number of social workers trialling the test in two councils

21% - Possible fail rate for new test if other professional groups are indicative

GUIDE TO SOCIAL WORK TRAINING REFORMS

• The national accreditation scheme is currently being trialled. A pilot was launched in December with 1,000 social workers and 250 practice supervisors in 24 authorities. It ends in early February.
• There will be three levels of accredited status - approved child and family practitioner, practice supervisor, and practice leader.
• As it stands, there will be four parts to the accreditation process - each of which must be passed to move onto the next.
• After a worker has received endorsement from their employer, they will take an online multiple choice knowledge test. Then there will be a simulated activity test - in which candidates are gradually given more information about a case and are asked questions along the way. The final element is role play, using actors, where practice is observed.
• It is not yet clear who will mark it, who will pay for it, what will happen to those who do not pass, and what the likely pass rate will be.
• When Education Secretary Nicky Morgan announced government plans for social work education last month, she said all children's social workers would be assessed against the children and families knowledge and skills statement test by 2020. This was despite previous pledges to consult over whether the system should be mandatory or voluntary.
• But chief social worker Isabelle Trowler has suggested that a final decision is yet to be made, saying that while the government's "ambition" is for the assessment to be "rolled out", the introduction of a mandatory system would require legislation or statutory guidance.
• She said a consultation would be launched in the next few weeks on the government's proposed new accreditation and regulation scheme for social workers.