Next year could be a big one for social work. It will bring challenges but, with confidence and leadership, the profession will continue to grow and develop. There is the chance of a step change in how we provide sustainable, high-quality support to the most vulnerable children and families. And with that change can come both greater respect and a central role in meeting some of the most critical challenges facing public services.
Social workers work within any social context. No matter how fraught a family’s life or how harsh a person’s social circumstances, it is up to them to find a way to help. It is a hugely complex job that takes a great deal of skill. When done well, it can transform lives and be inspirational. As a profession, though, we do need to continue to develop.
When I came into post just over 12 months ago, I had two priorities: to refocus national social work policy on what matters most, practice skill and the practice system. By doing this, we have the best chance of supporting families and protecting children. The Department for Education now has two large-scale programmes focusing on these two areas. Firstly, 2015 will see the development of the new national assessment and accreditation system for approved child and family practitioners, practice supervision and practice leadership. Critically, this will lead to a system of kite marking practice authority and expertise which has been successfully applied to working with the most at-risk children and families. This could also begin to be the key vehicle for continuous professional development accreditation so that the importance of practice depth over a career is also recognised.
Secondly, 2015 will also see 26 local authorities start to roll out their whole system change programmes for child and family social work funded by the £100m Innovation Programme led by the education department. Building evidence-based practice frameworks, new methods for assessment and recording, new outcome measures, testing multi-disciplinary small practice units and methods for supervision and reflective practice will all be subject to rigorous evaluation. We must build a much stronger evidence base about the optimum system conditions for effective child and family social work practice. These programmes will roll out across the frontline throughout 2015.
With the growing strength of the principal social workers national network, as well as contributions from all social workers, we have a fantastic chance to revitalise the profession and the work we do. We have strong political attention in this area, and we must capitalise on that. Next year will see my mind’s eye turn towards a stronger focus on the checks and balances in the system. Ministers have already announced opportunities for innovative Local Children’s Safeguarding Boards to redesign how they operate and, in addition, an invitation to explore new ways of undertaking serious case reviews.
These mechanisms generate a lot of intelligence as do inspections, research, data and other evidence about practice. We need to be able to bring this all together to get a focused understanding of not just what is going wrong but how to change it, and not just what is going right but how to scale that up throughout the practice system. We still have too many rules which tie up resource and practitioner time in activities I am not sure demonstrate their worth. In times of increasing financial pressure, we must be completely confident that everything that we do is worth doing.
Social work offers society a lot. The work we do needs to be fully recognised and fully respected. As Jo Cleary, the chair of The College of Social Work said recntly at their regional event in Leeds, 2014 has seen social work move from a hidden profession to one which ministers prioritise as their theme of choice for key speeches. We need to work together to build on this acknowledgment of our positive contribution to public service. 2015 will be a very busy, exciting time for social work.
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