The Caseload A regional breakdown of the number of children helped by children’s social workers in 2010 7,952 in North Yorkshire 23,251 in South Yorkshire 29,941 in West Yorkshire 13,356 in the Humber area
and more than 100 job-related questions have been submitted online to the campaign’s children’s social work ‘champions’ drawn from social work teams across Yorkshire. Alison O’Sullivan, Kirklees Council’s director
for children and young people’s services who is leading the project, says: ‘Already in the fi rst six months of this two-year campaign, local authorities across Yorkshire are reporting increased interest in children’s social work roles. The new website is acting as a valuable central source of knowledge for those thinking about children’s social work as a career in Yorkshire and Humber, and through the use of video interviews and a blog the website is giving a voice to children’s social workers allowing them to talk about the challenges and complexities of the job.’ Children’s social work has had a diffi cult ride in the media in recent years with the demonising of the profession a ‘must-have’ angle among some elements of the press. But the 15-council venture has set about countering some of this negative publicity. ‘The website is backed by media coverage
POLICY
PRACTICE
together to improve conditions for staff , giving them leadership skills, training and support for newly qualifi ed graduates and the sharing of best practice.
Another of the 15, Rotherham Council,
is particularly impressed by the time saved by the pooling of resources. Joyce Thacker, director of children and young people’s services, says: ‘We had previously done some work on raising the profi le of children’s social work but our experience was that this was a time-consuming resource to maintain and acted as an example of where local authorities were competing with one another in unhelpful ways. ‘The campaign and the website represent
Children’s social workers
make a real and lasting difference for some of our most vulnerable families and young people
a collective call to action across Yorkshire and Humber and have enabled all local authorities to benefi t from their pooled resources. At Rotherham, we have noticed an increase in the number of job-related enquiries since the campaign launched.’ The next stage of the campaign will
continue to raise awareness about the vital work carried out by children’s social workers but will support a wider programme of work to help retain staff , including enhancing skills and expertise in the region. Local authorities in other parts of the
country will surely be looking on and asking themselves whether the Children’s Social Work Matters template is one they can adapt. SWM
generated by the campaign which is helping to address some of misconceptions about the profession with a wider audience,’ Alison says. ‘Children’s social workers make a real and lasting diff erence for some of our most vulnerable families and young people. This campaign is giving them a chance to explain in their own words about the valuable work they do.’ As well as the website and media coverage, the campaign is encouraging councils to work
The 15 Councils West Yorkshire Bradford Calderdale Kirklees Wakefi eld Leeds