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Comment on Social Work England report

Commenting on the findings in Social Work in England: emerging themes in relation to practice educators Rachael Wardell, Chair of the ADCS Workforce Development Policy Committee said:

“Social workers have provided vital support to children and families throughout the pandemic in challenging circumstances. We recognise that this will have been a particularly difficult time for social work students and social workers entering the profession for the first time, particularly early on in the pandemic, when they will not have benefitted from the same opportunities and valuable learning experiences that they would have had before, such as face-to-face teaching and support from colleagues. As the report notes, at the height of the pandemic practice educators were re-deployed to alleviate pressures on the frontline which will have had an impact on social work students. Local authorities have adapted to meet the needs of students by working in different ways.

“It’s no secret that local authorities up and down the country are struggling to recruit and retain the social workers they need to support a growing number of children and families coming to our attention. One of the ways government could support us to meet the needs of children and families is by developing a national recruitment and retention campaign to encourage more people into the profession, and to want to stay. ADCS is committed to working with the Department for Education to find other ways to support recruitment and retention of child and family social workers. There are many routes into the social work profession, including fast-track programmes and undergraduate courses, at a time when we need more social workers, I hope the pandemic does not deter people from choosing social work as a profession. Whether you’re a social work student, a new social worker, or you’ve been doing the job for many years local authorities are committed to meeting your support needs so that good social work with children and families can flourish.”

ENDS



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