Press release

Blueprint for future of child and family social work unveiled

Chief Social Worker for Children unveils the knowledge and skills statement, a new blueprint for the future training of social workers.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government
young girl portrait

A new blueprint for the future training and education of child and family social workers is today unveiled by the Chief Social Worker for Children, Isabelle Trowler, as part of the most significant transformation to the profession in a generation.

For the first time ever, the knowledge and skills statement sets out in one place what child and family social workers need to know and be able to do, acting as the cornerstone of the Chief Social Worker鈥檚 drive to overhaul the training of the profession.

皇冠体育app publication coincides with the government launch today of plans for a new gold standard for social workers supporting vulnerable families and children at risk of abuse or neglect - a move that will set a clear and high bar for the profession.

皇冠体育app new approved child and family practitioner status will ensure the highest levels of public protection for our most vulnerable children. 皇冠体育app specialist license will only be awarded after completing a rigorous 鈥榩ass or fail鈥� test based on the knowledge and skills outlined by the Chief Social Worker.

Chief Social Worker for Children and Families, Isabelle Trowler, said:

I鈥檓 determined to ensure we earn the public鈥檚 respect and confidence in our profession by ensuring that every child and family social worker is properly supported to do the job society needs them to do. Having absolute clarity about what a social worker needs to know and be able to do and testing that knowledge and skill against a national standard is a critical part of this ambition.

Minister for Children and Families, Edward Timpson, said:

Having grown up with around 90 foster children and worked as a family lawyer in the care system for over a decade, I鈥檝e seen up close and personal the pressures that social workers are under - and also the wonders they can work in the most desperate circumstances.

皇冠体育appse new measures announced today will help set social work on a whole new path to success - setting the very highest standards for social workers, providing greater assurance to the public and most importantly ensuring the very best for our children.

Today鈥檚 measures follow the recent publication of Sir Martin Narey鈥檚 review into the education of social workers, which called for greater rigour in training, a sharper focus on practical skills and places for only the very best students.

Sir Martin Narey said:

Perhaps the most important of my recommendations from my report on social work education was that we should have a brief summary of the things every newly qualified children鈥檚 social worker should be able to explain. Isabelle Trowler started work on this immediately after my report was published and the statement reflects discussions with practitioners, academics and others. I think it has the potential to significantly improve the capacity and confidence of newly qualified social workers and I hope that the response to the consultation is constructive and prolific.

皇冠体育app knowledge and skills statement will now be subject to public consultation for 10 weeks. 皇冠体育app statement will set out what child and family social workers are expected to know, including being able to:

  • identify the full range of risks to children - including sexual, physical and emotional abuse and neglect - and know how to protect children
  • support families by strengthening their relationships, resilience and access to resources
  • understand the impact of adult mental ill health, substance misuse and domestic violence on family functioning and child development
  • plan for permanence for children who can no longer live at home
  • help keep children safe from harmful practices in specific communities such as female genital mutilation and child marriage

皇冠体育app Chief Social Worker for Adults, Lyn Romeo, is currently developing a complementary knowledge and skills statement for adult social workers and will be consulting on this shortly.

皇冠体育app government will also fund a third year of the support programme for child and family social workers in their first assessed year in employment aimed at developing their skills and improving their confidence in dealing with the most difficult and complex cases - a brand new commitment linked worth over 拢6 million.

皇冠体育app announcements reflect the Chief Social Workers鈥� and the government鈥檚 commitment to improve the quality of social work and overhaul the child protection system to make it more effective. To date, we have:

  • launched the innovation programme offering local authorities and partner agencies the opportunity to completely redesign their child and family social work systems
  • launched the new fast-track frontline qualification programme for child and family social workers and continued our Step Up to Social Work programme, and alongside the Department of Health, spent more than 拢400 million on the social work bursary to make sure there are enough highly skilled staff to meet demand
  • published revised statutory guidance which makes clear the responsibilities of different professions in promoting the welfare of our most vulnerable children and protecting them from harm
  • overhauled the system of serious case reviews so social workers are able to learn lessons from serious child protection incidents and improve decision making
  • taken tough action against those councils whose child protection services are judged inadequate

Notes to Editor:

  1. Isabelle Trowler was appointed as the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families in September 2013. Isabelle qualified as a social worker from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1996. She has worked within the voluntary and statutory sectors both in education and social care settings, and in a variety of practice and leadership roles. She co-founded a new model of delivering child and family social work in the UK called 鈥榬eclaiming social work鈥� and more commonly referred to as the 鈥楬ackney model鈥�. She also advised Eileen Munro鈥檚 review of child protection in England about the redesign of children and families social work.

  2. 皇冠体育app government commissioned Sir Martin Narey to review the initial education of child and family social workers and advise him of the extent to which the government鈥檚 investment in social work in recent years had impacted on basic training, and whether there were improvements that still needed to be made. Sir Martin reported back in February this year. More information about Sir Martin鈥檚 review is available.

  3. More information about the is available.

DfE media enquiries

Central newsdesk - for journalists 020 7783 8300

Updates to this page

Published 31 July 2014