Fewer than half of journalists surveyed by Community Care know that social workers must have a degree in order to practise.

Our poll of journalists in England found that 47% believed the minimum required qualification was a degree, while nearly a quarter said an NVQ was needed. Ten per cent said A-levels and a further 10% opted for GCSEs. One person believed no qualifications were required.

The findings also revealed journalists are confused by the distinction between social work and social care, with 68% of respondents saying “care worker” was a social work post. In addition, 18% believed foster carers were working in a social work post and 7% said nursery workers were employed in social work.

The 10-question survey, which was completed by 30 journalists from national to local media, including three specialist social care writers, found 20% believed social workers were better than they were 15 years ago while 13% said they were worse.

About 70% said they would approach the British Association for Social Workers for a social work perspective on a story, while two-thirds said they would contact the local authority concerned. One-third said they would contact the NSPCC.

The survey was conducted as part of Community Care’s Stand Up Now for Social Work campaign to raise the public standing of the profession, including through more balanced and accurate media coverage.

Improve media skills

The campaign is also calling for councils to improve their media skills to ensure they are more responsive to the press and enhance opportunities for positive coverage.

The survey follows widespread concerns by social work leaders about media coverage of the profession. In an online survey conducted earlier this year, the Social Work Task Force found that 88% of respondents agreed that “the social work profession was undervalued, poorly understood and under continuous media attack”.

In its latest report, the taskforce proposed the creation of a national college of social work to give the profession a stronger voice in the media, and issued a proposed description of social work to aid public understanding (www.communitycare.co.uk/whatissocialwork).

Taskforce chair Moira Gibb said: “It is very interesting to see that the results of this survey back up the evidence that the Social Work Task Force has gathered so far – that there is a real lack of understanding around what social workers do. We hope that this description will start to aid understanding – both by journalists and, in turn, by the public.”

Ignorant of social work

The findings did not surprise BASW chief executive Hilton Dawson. “We know that even the supposedly better quality print and broadcast media are ignorant of social work from the way they use outdated words such as social services and child protection or at-risk registers so I’m sorry to say that your findings don’t come as any surprise at all,” he said.

“Much of my profound irritation with the media stems from being asked often to fill in with a comment on a poorly researched piece to support a story which has already been written and in any case misses the point.”

He said BASW was about to appoint its first public relations manager to build relationships with the media and “offer real stories” about social work.

“Hopefully, we will be able to engage better with those who are prepared to hear,” Dawson added.

“Social workers need to speak out”

Guardian journalist Debbie Andalo, who has written about social work for 10 years, said she often struggled for comments from frontline local authority social workers but those in the voluntary and independent sectors were more forthcoming.

She recently edited a social work supplement and was unable to find a single social worker employed by a council to comment. Instead she interviewed social workers elsewhere, including from an independent fostering agency.

“I understand the nervousness, especially after cases like Baby P, but the more frontline social workers talk about their jobs the more understanding there will be of the challenges they face,” Andalo said.

“It would help if there were more social workers who would speak on the record about what their job involves. They have to take some responsibility for that – perhaps be a bit more courageous.”

The survey said…

● Who do you go to for a social work perspective on a story?

“Normally wouldn’t because it is notoriously difficult to get a social work perspective on a story.”

● Who can you complain to about the conduct of a social worker?

“Their boss, local health trust, police, MI5.”

Source:  CommunityCare

Around a third of councils in England have already seen higher demand for mental health and children’s services, according to an Audit Commission report today on the impact of the recession, but most expect further increases.

In addition, three in 10 councils that responded to the public spending watchdog reported higher demand for services for older people, with another half anticipating increases. And 44% anticipated higher demand for homelessness services, on top of the 47% of councils already experiencing it.

Sensible approach

The Audit Commission said most councils had taken “sensible, low-risk steps to support vulnerable households”, while some “more ambitious” authorities, often with experience of widespread deprivation, had “coherent action plans” and the capability and resources to manage risks.

However, other authorities were “investing in recession responses without the backing of a sound, well-informed plan”, and many should be “doing more to prepare for the expected social, financial and economic development challenges ahead”.

The Audit Commission also pointed to the financial impact of the recession on councils themselves, a fact highlighted by the Local Government Association (LGA) earlier this week in a report that claimed councils had lost £4bn of income in the past two years.

Frontline services a priority

However, an LGA spokesperson said frontline services would remain a priority for councils during the recession, allowing for local circumstances.

Although some were making redundancies among “backroom” staff to cut costs, many continued to “actively recruit” social workers to fill vacancies, she added.

LGA vice-chair Sir Jeremy Beecham said the Audit Commission had “recognised the huge efforts that councils have made to help people and businesses through tough times”.

Councils ‘recognise long-term impact of recession’

“Town halls recognise that the impact of the recession will continue long after the economy returns to growth and will continue to act decisively to ensure that people in difficulty will get the support they need,” he added.

The Audit Commission also criticised national government-backed schemes to tackle the impact of the recession. “Too few” of the programmes “harness local knowledge to maximise their impact”, it said, while many had “complex or restricted eligibility, or bureaucratic application processes”.

Source: CommunityCare

The Conservative Party has confirmed that “lots of social workers” have applied to stand as Tory candidates in the next election, but has been unable to give details of how many.

In an interview with The Guardian this week, party chair Eric Pickles said lots of practitioners, along with doctors and community nurses, had applied to be candidates after Tory leader David Cameron decided to reopen  its candidates’ list in May to bring fresh blood into the party.

A party spokesperson said that what Pickles had said about social worker applicants was “true”, but he could not confirm how many had applied, adding: “We’re not going to give a running commentary on people who have applied to be candidates or go into individual cases.”

Pickles said that the party had had 4,000 applicants – 70% of whom did not have a conventional political background. He predicted 20-30 of these “new people” would become candidates at the next election, due by 3 June 2010.

Labour social workers

Although a number of current and recent Labour MPs have had a background in social work, including current British Association of Social Workers chief executive Hilton Dawson and Cabinet Office minister Tessa Jowell, this has not been true of the Conservatives.

In 2005 social worker Evett McAnuff became the first black woman to contest a seat for the Tories who was considered to have a realistic chance of winning. She stood for Lewisham West at the general election and came third behind Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Doctor to stand

Pickles hailed the election this week of a politically inexperienced local doctor to become the Tory candidate for the Totnes constituency in Devon through the country’s first ever “open primary”, in which all local electors are entitled to vote.

He said: “I hope Totnes represents a new type of politics, which rejects negative campaigning, and sees openness as a way to restore confidence in public life.”

Source: CommunityCare

The TUC said the job guarantee, which gives employers subsidies for taking on an unemployed person for at least six months, was a “far better way to tackle long-term unemployment” than the ‘work for your benefits’ alternative also proposed by the government.

This programme, included in the Welfare Reform Bill, would force people to do compulsory work experience for as little as £2 per hour, which would “do nothing to improve the job prospects for older workers”, according to the TUC.

It said a guarantee that every unemployed person still on jobseeker’s allowance after two years would be offered a job paying at least the minimum wage would “offer real hope for older unemployed people”.

Poor prospects

A TUC report, based on findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, said every year of unemployment for an older man increased their chances of never working again by almost 25%. In addition, almost half of all unemployed people aged over 50 had been out of work for more than a year.

The TUC said the government had “rightly prioritised” youth unemployment, given that the unemployment rate for 18- to 24-year-olds was 17.3%, compared with 4.3% for those aged over 50.

Unemployment causes poverty and isolation

However, it pointed to a Social Exclusion Unit survey that showed unemployment among older people often leads to poverty and isolation, andthat tackling unemployment among people over 50 but under retirement age should be a target.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “In previous recessions people complained about the injustice of working women keeping men out of jobs. Sadly today, people are saying similar things about older workers causing youth unemployment.

“The idea of forcing older workers out of the labour market is morally offensive and would cause economic chaos. The UK would instantly lose vital skills and experience and young people would not necessarily be in a position to take up their jobs.”

Intensive support needed

The Age and Employment Network (TAEN) said the government should provide “intensive back-into-work assistance” to older unemployed workers within three months of the date they signed on as unemployed, rather than the current six months.

Its own survey of job seekers aged over 50, published in July, found that 72% felt employers saw them as “too old”, while 48% were seen as “too experienced or over-qualified”.

Source: CommunityCare

Liverpool-based charity Personal Service Society, which launches one of the practices under contract from Liverpool Council in the autumn, will also offer high street vouchers and gym memberships to staff and reward children for their achievements.

Social work services will be outsourced for groups of 100-200 looked-after children in each of the six pilot areas. Kent Council has chosen young people’s charity Catch22 as its provider, while Hillingdon, Sandwell, Staffordshire and Blackburn with Darwen councils are recruiting groups of registered social workers to run the practices.

Funded from savings

PSS commercial director Paul Clitheroe said bonuses for staff could be funded from savings on placements in children’s homes.

“Research shows that those who have a stake in an organisation are more loyal and less likely to leave,” he said. “This is because they feel they don’t have to leave to improve their pay and conditions.”

PSS is recruiting a team of 12 professionals including seven social workers – with a caseload of about 17 each – two family support workers and a counsellor.

A consultant social worker will oversee spending, supervision, case allocation and professional development, with equivalent status to a partner in a GP surgery.

Building partnerships

A practice manager will be responsible for day-to-day business and building partnerships with other agencies, with support from a receptionist.

In Kent, Catch22 will take over the cases of between 100 and 200 young people aged 16 and above. Experienced social workers will lead the multi-agency practice, which will also comprise professionals from mental health, Connexions, and housing.

Joyce Moseley, chief executive of Catch22, said: “We welcome the opportunity to pilot this scheme, which will be all about giving frontline workers more freedom to make decisions with the young people in their care.”

The government will make a decision about whether to implement social work practices nationwide in 2013.

Source: CommunityCare

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has launched a consultation, which could extend compulsory registration, which currently applies only to social workers and social work students, to a further 23,000 social care workers.

‘Inequity between registered and unregistered’

“Without compulsion to register, full take up by social care workers will not be achieved within an acceptable timeframe. The current position creates an inequity between those who are registered and those who are not,” said the consultation paper.

The proposal sets out a timetable for when the remaining groups of social care workers need to be registered with the Northern Ireland Social Care Council, starting with residential child care staff and managers of day centres by July 2010.

This would be followed a year later by domiciliary managers and residential care workers, social work assistants, drivers, rehabiliation officers, residential family centre workers and personal advisers and, finally, domiciliary care workers by July 2013.

Offence not to register

After these dates it will be an offence to work while not being registered.

There will be a grace period of a maximum of six months for new entrants or returners to the workforce to allow them to start work while they achieve registration, as long as they apply as soon as possible after being employed.

The consultation is also seeking views on extending the length of registration for certain categories of social care worker to allow sufficient time to achieve the NISCC’s post-registration and learning requirements. Currently social workers are required to renew their registration every three years. The consultation closes on 26 October.

England, Scotland and Wales

In England, the General Social Care Council requires social workers and social work students to register with it but the register is not open to any other group even on a voluntary basis. It was announced earlier this year that the register would open to domiciliary care staff next year on a voluntary basis.

In Wales registration with the Care Council for Wales is compulsory for social workers, social work students and social care managers, along with residential child care managers and workers.

Source: CommunityCare

The University of Leeds study received responses from 63 local authorities on how they had spent the grant between 2005 and 2007.

It showed that the fund had enabled local authorities to develop a range of carer support services, such as home-based breaks and young carers projects.

Social workers inspired

In particular, the establishment of small discretionary payments that could be made to carers on a one-off basis was “inspiring social workers to act more creatively”, said the report. The grant is worth £240m in 2009-10 and is paid to councils as part of the general area-based grant.

However, councils shared concerns that the services were still only touching the “tip of the iceberg” in meeting carers’ needs and that getting the right kind of information to carers continued to be a challenge.

The report recommends that the grant is used to increase the capacity to identify carers not in touch with services or eligible for support and to improve joined-up working between different council departments and partnerships between primary care trusts and other health bodies.

‘Void in information’

Imelda Redmond, chief executive of Carers UK - which instigated the study – said she was “pleased that local authorities had been explicit about how they are spending money on support for carers”.

She added: “But there is still a void in information as to exactly what proportion of that money comes from the grant since the ring-fence was removed.”

“What’s also missing is research into what impact this support is having on carers, this should be the next step for a study,” she added.

Source: CommunityCare

The major mental health problems suffered by young adults from vulnerable backgrounds, particularly those in custody, have been highlighted by a wide-ranging study of data from Young People in Focus.

The Young adults today study was launched to mark a change of name for the charity formerly known as the Trust for the Study of Adolescence.

High suicide rates for young adult offenders

It found young adults in custody were eight to 10 times more likely than young adults in the general population to commit suicide. Young adult offenders were also three times more likely than the general population to have a mental health problem.

And for all of those aged 15-24, suicide was the second most common cause of death after road traffic accidents.

The report, which drew on a wide range of data including official government statistics, also estimated that more than a third of girls will self harm at some point in their lives.

Disproportionate rates of unemployment and health problems

Kevin Lowe, co-director of Young People in Focus, said young adults made up a “disproportionate number of those behind bars, those unemployed and those suffering from mental and physical health problems”.

The Young Adults Today report will contribute to the work of the Transition to Adulthood Alliance, which was set up by the Barrow Cadbury Trust and aims to improve the way young people are treated in the criminal justice system.

Lowe said Young People in Focus would continue the activities it carried out under its former name, particularly developing practical resources for professionals.

In October, it will pilot an accredited training programme for people working with young people in supported housing, with a view to rolling it out from February 2010.

Source: CommunityCare

Unison said it could take legal action to protect staff formerly employed at Orchard Lodge, which closed last Friday evening (31 July) after 45 workers had occupied the building in protest at being given less than two hours’ notice of their redundancy.

The closure of Orchard Lodge, which provided beds for 24 young male offenders, came after the Youth Justice Board (YJB) decided to terminate its contract with the home from July.

Insolvency warning

Unison fears the home’s 70 staff, including social workers, will not receive full redundancy payments – and other entitlements including holiday pay – if Orchard Lodge’s parent company, London Secure Services, is declared insolvent.

London Secure Services is a separate limited company from other Glen Care Group businesses, but has common directors.

In its last filed accounts, for the year to 31 July 2007, London Secure Services reported a pre-tax loss of £1.24m, which included an interest charge of more than £840,000.

£12m loan

In October 2005, London Secure Services took out an £11.84m loan to fund its purchase of Orchard Lodge, which took place in March 2006.

If London Secure Services is declared insolvent, Orchard Lodge staff would have to claim payments from the National Insurance Fund, through the Insolvency Service’s Redundancy Payments Office.

Through this scheme, redundancy payments are based on maximum pay of £350 a week, and up to 20 years of continuous service, which would mean some staff would receive less money than they would be entitled to get directly from the company.

Claim and counter-claim

Unison regional organiser Daniel Peppiatt claimed that Orchard Lodge staff were employed under contract by Glen Care Group and should receive their entitlements in full.

But this was denied by London Secure Services director Gordon Phillips, who said Glen Care Group, of which he is also chairman, was the generic name for the overall business, but not a registered limited company in its own right.

“All the employees are paid by London Secure Services Limited,” he said.

Phillips said Orchard Lodge staff were notified of the closure at short notice because the company had run out of funds and would have been trading illegally if it had continued to operate.

Judicial review against YJB tendering process

Glen Care, with support from the Howard League for Penal Reform, has taken the YJB to judicial review, arguing that its tendering process was “flawed”.

A judgment on the judicial review is expected within 10 weeks, and Glen Care has also applied to the High Court for compensation from the YJB, which Phillips said would be put towards staff redundancy payments.

Secure children’s homes are said to offer more intensive and care-oriented support to young people than they would receive at secure training centres or young offender institutions.

However, Orchard Lodge was one of four secure homes to lose their contracts with the YJB when it decided in March to cut the number of beds it commissions from 219 to 191.

Source: CommunityCare