Care services minister Phil Hope has announced a £4m package to
support newly qualified social workers in council adult services at
today's World Social Work Day conference in London.
Under the scheme, councils are being invited to apply for £1000
to support each graduate they employ in adult services during their
first year, plus £1000 for their supervisor for that year.
Hope said: "We think this is an important step in improving the
quality of training newly qualified social workers receive."
A toolkit of resources has been produced to help smooth the
transition for newly qualified practitioners moving into the adult
social care workforce. The pack includes a personal development
planning tool, outcome statements, a toolkit to support induction
and tools to record and evaluate continuous professional
Applications by end of March
Adult social work departments are invited to apply to
Skills for
Care by completing a statement of intent by 31 March 2009.
The programme follows the establishment last autumn of a
three-year pilot scheme to enhance support for children's
social workers in their first year of practice, which is being
tested by 85 employers.
Last week, children's secretary Ed Balls accepted a
recommendation from
Lord Laming, in his review of child
protection, for all children's practitioners to receive
enhanced supervision and support in their first year.
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