The Association of Directors of Social Services is to be dissolved, perhaps as soon as next year, with the creation of separate organisations for children’s and adults’ services.
The ADSS, the Confederation of Children’s Services Managers and the Association of Directors of Education and Children’s Services (Adecs) will combine to form an association to represent children’s services directors.
David Hawker, interim chair of Adecs, said he expected the new organisation to be created by the end of 2006.
This would leave an adult services body, which the ADSS said could go beyond social care “to take on the breadth of the well-being agenda”.
Hawker said the children’s services organisation would devote equal attention to education and social care and that it could also establish links with health professionals working in the field.
“We would want to talk to the NHS Confederation about managers in the health service having some sort of link with the organisation,” he said. “At the moment there aren’t many senior managers in the health services in children’s services but I expect that [number] to grow.”
The Local Government Association welcomed the move as a “sensible development”.
But Ian Johnston, director of the British Association of Social Workers, said he did not envisage BASW following the ADSS in splitting along adult-children lines. “There’s a common set of values that join our members whatever their specialism,” he said.
ADSS president Julie Jones and Confed vice-president Dr Robert Garnett said the organisations were having “exploratory talks which have as their clear objective the creation of a new organisation”.
The three bodies said they had recognised the “compelling need” for directors of children’s services to speak collectively on behalf of children’s services staff for some time.
The new association could cover managers as well as directors, mirroring structures in Confed, which represents education managers.
The ADSS said there would be a close connection between children’s and adult bodies.
Association to fold as directors plan separate adults and children groups
December 14, 2005 in Social care leaders
More from Community Care
Related articles:
Featured jobs
Workforce Insights
- Working with perpetrators of domestic abuse: training social workers to have challenging conversations
- Extending support: the importance of reflective supervision beyond the ASYE
- ‘It’s hopeful work’: social work in an adults’ mental health team
- Podcast: supporting adults with learning disabilities and autism post-pandemic
- ‘There aren’t many roles where you get to take a child on holiday’: the benefits of residential care work
- Workforce Insights – showcasing a selection of the sector’s top recruiters
Community Care Inform
Latest stories
Regulator calls for consistency of support for NQSWs as DfE develops children’s early career framework
Leadership training programme launched for PSWs, AMHP leads and principal OTs in adults’ services
Kent ‘extremely close to capacity’ to care for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children
Frisbee Crockery: a girl’s journey from abusive home to safety in care
Comments are closed.