Social work training reform starts to pay off

For the past 10 years, Anya Brooks worked in a range of early years settings and gained a raft of qualifications including a BA in early years, BA (Hons) in childhood and youth, and a post-16 teaching qualification.

She was considering doing a masters in early years education when she heard about Step Up to Social Work, a government-funded programme designed to encourage highly qualified people with experience of working with children and families to switch to a career in social work. Brooks is now assigned to Suffolk County Council and is doing an 18-month masters in social work through Manchester Metropolitan University. She gets a bursary totalling £22,000, plus course fees and books. "I had thought about social work previously but there was no easy way in that didn't involve doing another degree," she says.

"I feel strongly that we don't always listen to children or represent them well enough in these situations and that with my passion and knowledge I can help."

Lessons learned

Step Up to Social Work is part of a social work reform programme led by the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC). Created following high-profile tragedies such as the death of Peter Connelly, the reform programme also includes a graduate recruitment scheme to lure top-class graduates without a social care background into the profession and a Return to Social Work course to entice back former social workers (see boxout overleaf). Those starting jobs have also benefited from the Newly Qualified Social Worker (NQSW) programme, while an Advanced Social Work Professional status (ASWP) has been created to help keep experienced staff on the frontline.

By April 2012, the CWDC will have spent more than £100m on social work improvement since 2008. But is the investment making a difference? "One strength is we're coming at it from many different angles," says Sue Brook, CWDC's national manager for social work.

"So we've looked at everything from the first stage of becoming a social worker to supporting managers."

The NQSW programme is the longest-running. An evaluation of the first year identified teething problems, including newly qualified staff complaining of burdensome caseloads, lack of supervision and lack of time for reflection and training. "We've learned lessons as we've gone along," says Brook, who says the programme changed in response to feedback, aided by new national guidance.

The graduate recruitment scheme proved so popular that it was extended and Return to Social Work has encouraged people to think about rejoining the profession and "make a more informed choice", says Brook.

Meanwhile, Step Up was highlighted as an important development in Eileen Munro's review of child protection, which stressed the need for employers and higher education institutions to work together.

Brook admits ASWP has suffered amid uncertainty about CWDC's future but says it is now on track with 60 local authorities at various stages of introducing the role. Overall, she's positive: "We have engaged with all relevant stakeholders in developing these programmes. They work because we listened."

Others feel success is mixed. Jane Lindsay, deputy head of the school of social work at Kingston University and St George's University of London, says: "NQSW is an extremely good programme. It recognises newly qualified staff need structured support in their first year and that it's not fair to expect someone who has done 200 days on placement to just go in and start a full social work job."

Another welcome step is the follow-on Early Professional Development programme, launched in September 2009 to support and develop social workers in their second and third years.

However, Lindsay has serious concerns about the Return to Social Work programme: "There's a lot of competition with both BA and MA students finding it a struggle to find work, so it seems odd for CWDC to encourage people to return to the profession. My worry is we're giving them false expectations of being able to get into employment."

She believes that the scheme ought to be targeted at areas with shortages that can't be filled by graduates.

Step Up is interesting but "extremely costly", says Lindsay. Getting employers involved in training is crucial "but there may be more cost-effective ways of doing it".

Lindsay says that entry criteria to courses is already quite high. Once people start work, they need good supervision, management and defined career pathways.

No shortage of workers

Fran Fuller, the UK chair of BASW – The College of Social Work and programme leader of the social work degree at the University of Derby, says there is no shortage of people wanting to become social workers. "For the past two to three years we've had 250 to 300 applicants for 50 places," she says. "I can't foresee a shortage of social workers unless our prayers are answered and there is a huge influx of funding and thousands of new jobs.

"With regard to the calibre of students, it's really difficult to gauge. It's not simply about A-level grades. For the degree and MA, we're looking for those able to work with some of the most vulnerable people in the country so it's about their skills, experience and ability to relate to and empathise with others."

Fuller argues that the academic community was criticised unfairly in the wake of the Baby P tragedy, saying that courses alone cannot prepare students for frontline social work. "It might be okay if people were going into experienced teams but that's not happening so much because experienced social workers are leaving the profession," she says.

Schemes such as the NQSW have been "very helpful" according to Fuller, but she questions whether money has gone where it is most needed. "I was cynical about the idea of putting significant funding into these areas at a time when frontline social workers were in crisis," she says. "What social workers want most is time to do their job and that means money has to be put in – there is no way round that."

Changes to tuition fees and uncertainty over NHS bursaries mean student numbers may waver. There's not only a shortage of jobs but a shortage of quality placements for students.

A BASW survey published in February found that four in 10 students were disappointed by their placements.

More than half said placement opportunities were limited and about a third did not secure a placement in a statutory setting. Meanwhile, the profession is in flux with the transfer of regulation from the General Social Care Council to the Health Professions Councils, the creation of a new set of basic standards and the ongoing work of the Social Work Reform Board including revamping courses. Much hope is pinned on plans for a new assessed and supported year in employment for all graduates, which is being developed jointly by the CWDC and Skills for Care. The CWDC itself is to stop receiving government funding, with its social work programmes transferring to the Department for Education by next April.

Legacy of the programmes

CWDC's Brook hopes its work will provide a foundation for further initiatives. "I hope there is a legacy that's used to shape future work," she says. "I'm not going to be precious about particular programmes but I hope the work carries on in some form because it's important."

However, she is keen to point out that social work is part of a much wider children's workforce.

"Child protection and work to support children and families has to be done together," she says.

Social work trainee Anya Brooks believes that the programme of reform has helped to attract skilled people like herself who might not have previously considered switching to a career in social work. "I am enjoying it," she says. "But it is very intensive and you have to be motivated."

CWDC SOCIAL WORK REFORM PROGRAMMES

The following programmes have been created over the past three years to improve the calibre of social workers who work with children and families entering the profession and help retain experienced staff on the frontline.

Graduate Recruitment Scheme

This launched in September 2008 with the aim of bringing high-calibre graduates without a background in social care into the profession. Candidates, recruited and supported by local authorities, complete a masters in social work over two years while receiving a bursary. Councils get £15,000 a year for each candidate. In the first year, there were 109 candidates, with 222 in the second and final year. The second group is due to finish the course in January 2010. An evaluation report is on its way.

Newly Qualified Social Worker Programme

This is a 12-month support package, including a comprehensive induction and professional development plan with 10 per cent of NQSWs' time ringfenced for training and development. The CWDC provides £4,000 for each NQSW plus an average of £15,000 per employer to support the development of supervisors. In 2010/11, 152 employers were involved and 2,186 candidates registered. An evaluation of the first year of the programme by a consortium involving the University of Bristol, University of Salford and King's College London was published in August last year, with a full report due in spring 2012.

Step Up to Social Work

Employers train their own candidates to masters degree level, working with accredited higher education providers. Candidates must have at least a 2:1 degree and experience of working with children and families. Last year, 2,000 people applied, 185 started courses and 172 are due to finish in March 2012. An evaluation report is due in July 2012. Applications for a second cohort are open from 1 to 29 August, with 3,900 already registering interest. For more information, email stepuptosocialwork@cwdc.org.uk.

Return to Social Work

More than 440 candidates embarked on this refresher course for former social workers offered by 42 councils and featuring updates on theory and practice, and advice on finding jobs in children and families settings. They complete the course in August this year with an evaluation report due imminently. The CWDC will be funding more Return to Social Work courses in 2011/12.

Advanced Social Work Professional Status

This new role is designed to provide another step on the career ladder for experienced social workers working with children and families. Candidates' knowledge, leadership skills and teamwork are independently assessed against a set of national standards. Sixty councils are at different stages of implementing the scheme.