Health minister Jacqui Smith is set to launch the practice learning
task force for social work training next week ahead of the
publication of the Victoria Climbie Report.
The job of the task force, which will be run for two years by
training body Topss, is to find suitable practice placements for
students undertaking the social work degree from next
September.
It will look for training opportunities in the police, criminal
justice system, housing departments and schools and colleges, as
well as traditional social care settings.
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The task force consists of a small group of social work
professionals, based in nine regional centres, and headed by former
Association of Directors of Social Services president Mike
Leadbetter.
"Enhancing the number, quality and range of practice learning
opportunities benefits everyone - the social workers, the
organisations that take them on and, most importantly, the people
they are there to serve," Leadbetter said.
