by Andrew Mickel
by Emma Maier
The GSCC's latest decision highlights an important issue about where accountability lies for child protection actions taken by multi-agency teams. In doing so, it sets a precendent that could have implications for the conduct hearings of the social workers involved in the Baby P case.
By Bronagh Miskelly
Even the most pig-headed amongst us eventually learn from our mistakes. We learn that ploughing on with a set of actions that repeatedly end in problems is a bad idea. Not so in Whitehall - or so it would seem from the latest ContactPoint fiasco.
by Emma Maier
This week's report from the ombudsmen for local government and the health service shines a light onto services for people with learning disabilities. It concludes that failures in six cases directly caused suffering and a death.
by Bronagh Miskelly
Probably the most important resource for any successful organisation is its staff, but a skilled workforce does not appear spontaneously fully-formed. It requires investment just as much, if not more so, than a computer system.
by Daniel Lombard
Community Care launched Stand Up Now for Social Work after witnessing the relentless vilification by the media in recent months, which damaged not only the sector's morale but its overall public image.
In times like this it may be tempting for social work departments to adopt a siege mentality, to cast journalists as the enemy and refuse to engage with the media.
But we agree with Ed Balls, who said in a recent interview with this magazine, in which he also endorsed our campaign, that now is the time for the profession to stand up for itself.
By Clare Jerrom
I think it's great that the government are looking into different ways to boost the numbers of social workers needed to ensure departments have fewer vacancies and run more smoothly. Children's secretary Ed Balls and the Local Government Association have both recently launched initiatives targeting both retired children's social workers and qualified, experienced social workers who have left council toles in a bid to get them to return to work and fill recruitment gaps.
By Emma Maier
I kid you not. The Sun is apparently launching a radio station. What does this mean for social workers, who are, as we well know, the paper's favourite cannon fodder?
By Amy Taylor
By Keith Sellick
by Emma Maier
Social work students should be able to specialise in children's services after their first year of study, Lord Laming has said. He is concerned that graduates without child protection or local authority experience can take on a full caseload. Instead, social workers must be prepared for the realities of working with children and families, he says.
by Bronagh Miskelly
by Adam McCulloch
by Emma Maier
Having spent a good portion of yesterday afternoon reading the recommendations from Lord Laming's report, I wondered if there was a quick way to get an overview of what he said. So I used a useful online tool to run an analysis of the most used words in the report.
by Adam McCulloch
by Bronagh MiskellyDisappointment for some, a realistic appraisal for others - Lord Laming's report, The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report will have had a mixed reaction.
By Emma MaierAs part of Community Care's Stand Up Now for Social Work campaign -which is calling for more suport for social workers from the media, government and employers - we have been keeping an eye close eye on how the media reports social work issues.
In the coming weeks we'll be highlighting the best and worse examples. First on my hit list is yet another article in The Sun.
By Emma MaierYou have told Community Care that you have had enough of inaccurate, misleading and hostile media coverage of social work - and we agree. We've launched the Stand Up Now for Social Work campaign to fight back and show the public what a huge difference social workers make to society.
By Maria Ahmed, Deputy News Editor
Was Ed Balls acting under media pressure when he removed Sharon Shoesmith from her post following Baby P?
As part of her legal challenge to Balls' decision, Shoesmith claims that he was.
By Mithran SamuelLike pensions and climate change, the future funding of adult social care is an issue ripe for resolution through party political consensus.
After all, no government is going to be able to escape the profound implications of the increased lifespan of disabled people and a rapidly ageing population, and all three of the main parties recognise that this is a big problem.
However, today's debate on the issue between Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat representatives, hosted by the Local Government Association, indicates that inter-party harmony on this subject seems as far away as ever.
By Maria Ahmed, Deputy News Editor
Lord Laming's review of child protection ordered after Baby P appears to have been leaked to the News of the World ahead of its official publication on Thursday.
Whether or not the content reported by the paper is accurate (one authoritative source has suggested to Community Care the NoW story is based on speculation) it raises the question of the motivation behind the story. A clue could lie in the way the main political parties have used the tabloids for point-scoring over Baby P. Was the "leak" placed by the Tories in yet another attempt to attack Labour's record on child protection since Victoria Climbie?
After Ed Balls called for social work to require a masters level qualification to improve its status, Sunday Times columnist Daisy Goodwin has joined the debate with a call to draw more men into the profession.
The Social Work blog covers the challenges facing Britain’s 2m-strong social care workforce: everything from pay and working conditions to stress and the latest social work conduct cases. It is written by workforce editor Kirsty McGregor and senior journalist Vern Pitt. |
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| Email: | Kirsty McGregor |
