Building a workforce that works for all children sets out our aspirations for a strong and functioning children’s workforce that can deliver a country that works for all children. ADCS welcomes the government’s continued commitment to raising the quality and profile of the social work profession, however, there has been a lack of focus on the ‘wider children’s workforce’, such as youth workers, health visitors, school support staff and others, who also make a real difference to the lives of children and families.
The paper calls for the government to appoint a workforce lead to oversee a coherent workforce strategy for the whole children’s workforce, a central repository of learning and development resources available for all members of the children’s workforce and for the government to provide a leadership development offer for aspirant and serving directors of children’s services, including a greater focus on training black, Asian and minority ethnic leaders for the future.