Fostering and adoption training guide launched

The College of Social Work hopes the document will bring consistency to fostering and adoption training

A framework designed to help standardise the training of fostering and adoption social workers has been released by the College of Social Work.

The Curriculum Framework for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) on Planning and Supporting Permanence seeks to help local authorities and universities align and update their training.

The framework’s creation was prompted by concerns that the content and quality of fostering and adoption training was too variable.

College chief executive Annie Hudson said: “This CPD curriculum guide is designed to bring more consistency to fostering and adoption training across England, so that social workers can be confident that they are receiving high quality and relevant training that will improve standards of practice.”

The document highlights the need for social workers to understand more recent developments in fostering and adoption including how to support special guardians and the implications of neuroscience on assessments and care planning.

It also suggests that fostering and adoption social workers should learn how to support safe use of social media and the internet by children.

Children and families minister Edward Timpson said the guide would be “an invaluable tool” that would inform Martin Narey’s review of social work training.

The framework was put together by University of East Anglia social work professor Gillian Schofield and John Simmonds of fostering and adoption charity BAAF.

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