News

Well before the publication of the children's Green Paper Every Child Matters in September 2003, there had been murmurings that the government wanted to develop a generic children's worker whose skills would be transferable across different settings, writes Derren Hayes.

While stopping short of specifically calling for this, Every Child Matters laid out plans for a more flexible children's workforce: one where there was more co-ordination between different professionals.

The Children's Workforce Development Council, a new employer-led body set up to lead reform in the children's workforce, has to turn this into reality. Representing workers in early years, educational welfare, Connexions, foster care and social care, the CWDC assesses whether qualifications in these areas meet national occupational standards.

The fractured nature of the children's workforce has made reforming employment regulations a difficult task. Defining it is not easy because there are so many routes into it - through education, social care, child care, youth work and the health service, all of which require different skills and training.

"Even the professional languages they use are different," says Liz Morrey, CWDC development director. "We need to be better at talking to each other. Silo working is one of the key criticisms of the sector."

Morrey says there will be more need for children's staff to work collaboratively as multi-agency teams become more prevalent. This will lead to the development of core skills common to all children's workers, greater recognition by employers of different qualifications and more joint training.

The CWDC, which along with Topss England and the care councils of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is to be one of the five constituent parts of the new sector skills council for care and development, will judge its work against improving outcomes for children.

"The test [of its success] will be whether children and their families say the workforce is better equipped to meet their needs," says Morrey.

Social care employers and voluntary groups have given a cautious welcome to the CWDC. "I have reservations about diluting too much out of the social work role," says Felicity Collier, chief executive of Baaf Adoption and Fostering. "While there will be common skills we need to ensure social workers have the skills and competence to do key things like assessments - we can't expect everyone in the workforce to have these skills." W ell before the publication of the children's Green Paper Every Child Matters in September 2003, there had been murmurings that the government wanted to develop a generic children's worker whose skills would be transferable across different settings, writes Derren Hayes.

While stopping short of specifically calling for this, Every Child Matters laid out plans for a more flexible children's workforce: one where there was more co-ordination between different professionals.

The Children's Workforce Development Council, a new employer-led body set up to lead reform in the children's workforce, has to turn this into reality. Representing workers in early years, educational welfare, Connexions, foster care and social care, the CWDC assesses whether qualifications in these areas meet national occupational standards.

The fractured nature of the children's workforce has made reforming employment regulations a difficult task. Defining it is not easy because there are so many routes into it - through education, social care, child care, youth work and the health service, all of which require different skills and training.

"Even the professional languages they use are different," says Liz Morrey, CWDC development director. "We need to be better at talking to each other. Silo working is one of the key criticisms of the sector."

Morrey says there will be more need for children's staff to work collaboratively as multi-agency teams become more prevalent. This will lead to the development of core skills common to all children's workers, greater recognition by employers of different qualifications and more joint training.

The CWDC, which along with Topss England and the care councils of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is to be one of the five constituent parts of the new sector skills council for care and development, will judge its work against improving outcomes for children.

"The test [of its success] will be whether children and their families say the workforce is better equipped to meet their needs," says Morrey.

Social care employers and voluntary groups have given a cautious welcome to the CWDC. "I have reservations about diluting too much out of the social work role," says Felicity Collier, chief executive of Baaf Adoption and Fostering. "While there will be common skills we need to ensure social workers have the skills and competence to do key things like assessments - we can't expect everyone in the workforce to have these skills." W ell before the publication of the children's Green Paper Every Child Matters in September 2003, there had been murmurings that the government wanted to develop a generic children's worker whose skills would be transferable across different settings, writes Derren Hayes.

While stopping short of specifically calling for this, Every Child Matters laid out plans for a more flexible children's workforce: one where there was more co-ordination between different professionals.

The Children's Workforce Development Council, a new employer-led body set up to lead reform in the children's workforce, has to turn this into reality. Representing workers in early years, educational welfare, Connexions, foster care and social care, the CWDC assesses whether qualifications in these areas meet national occupational standards.

The fractured nature of the children's workforce has made reforming employment regulations a difficult task. Defining it is not easy because there are so many routes into it - through education, social care, child care, youth work and the health service, all of which require different skills and training.

"Even the professional languages they use are different," says Liz Morrey, CWDC development director. "We need to be better at talking to each other. Silo working is one of the key criticisms of the sector."

Morrey says there will be more need for children's staff to work collaboratively as multi-agency teams become more prevalent. This will lead to the development of core skills common to all children's workers, greater recognition by employers of different qualifications and more joint training.

The CWDC, which along with Topss England and the care councils of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is to be one of the five constituent parts of the new sector skills council for care and development, will judge its work against improving outcomes for children.

"The test [of its success] will be whether children and their families say the workforce is better equipped to meet their needs," says Morrey.

Social care employers and voluntary groups have given a cautious welcome to the CWDC. "I have reservations about diluting too much out of the social work role," says Felicity Collier, chief executive of Baaf Adoption and Fostering. "While there will be common skills we need to ensure social workers have the skills and competence to do key things like assessments - we can't expect everyone in the workforce to have these skills."

Children's workforce Development council

Responsibilities?  Approve any qualifications put forward by employers - this is currently the remit of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

Where, when and how many?  With its headquarters in Leeds and a satellite office in London, it will employ around 40 staff when it goes live in April. It will have a board of 20.

Governance?  It currently has a shadow board chaired by National Children's Bureau chief executive Paul Ennals. A consultation on how to recruit a new board of 20 is currently under way.