December 2009 Archives

 by Daniel Lombard

A children's social worker employed by Manchester Council is due in court next month over charges of drug offences allegedly committed at a party organised by the local police.

Niamh Duignan, 28, of Fallowfield, Manchester, faces charges of possessing a class A drug and two counts of offering to supply class A drugs. She and a colleague, an agency social worker who was sacked, were arrested after the gathering in May.

 by Daniel Lombard

Kent Council has recruited 29 social workers from Boston, Massachusetts to fill vacancies in its children's services, starting in February.

A social worker is facing misconduct charges after he allegedly followed a colleague into her hotel room and kissed her against her will while they were on a residential social work course.

He is also accused of attempting to gain access to another woman's hotel room on the same night.

The General Social Care Council's barrister said the social worker had been described by a colleague as having a "tendency to make sexual innuendoes", according to the Daily Telegraph. He denies all the charges.

Community Care will bring you details of the verdict when the case concludes on Thursday.

A social worker has emerged as one of the front runners in the race to become the next Labour parliamentary candidate for Wavertree, Liverpool.

It reminded us in the Community Care office that, back in August, the Tories said "lots of social workers" had applied to stand as candidates in the next election.

Are we going to see a sudden surge of social worker MPs in 2010?

Only 48% of health and social care employers are happy for staff to take time off for a Christmas party this year - and that's as long as they don't have to pay for it.

Yet three quarters (74%) of managers say a positive approach to Christmas is "good for staff morale", according to a survey by the Chartered Management Institute.

The Children's Workforce Development Council has created a new online children's centre on the DirectgovKids website for children, which aims to inform five to 11-year-olds about social workers and foster carers.

It tells children: "There are lots of people whose job it is to help children. ... Some adults work with a child for a short time, supporting them and their families in specific ways."

Service user involvement in social work training in England remains "patchy" despite it being a requirement of the degree, according to a study by the Social Care Institute for Excellence.

SCIE wrote to 1,300 service users and their organisations and emailed 300 service user-controlled organisations to ask if they were involved in social work education and training.

 by Daniel Lombard

Adult social care providers in England can apply for a share of £12m to improve their IT facilities and internet access for the benefit of staff and service users.

The Social Care Institute for Excellence will distribute the Department of Health's Get Connected grant over the next two years to enable providers to access information and communication more effectively.

Goldie added a bit of celebrity glamour to the launch of the Social Work Task Force report in London yesterday.

The actor and musician, who was recently involved in government's Help Give Them a Voice campaign to highlight the positive impact social workers can have on the lives of children and vulnerable adults, gave his full backing to the taskforce's recommendations.