01/08/2016
4 Biggest Social Work Stories You Might Have Missed Last Week (01/08/16)...
Experts are worrying about the government's plans to let local authorities exempt themselves from children's social care legislation, and a Knowledge and Skills Statement concerning social work with older people is set for release. Read on for more...
4. Large Amount of Social Care Complaints Upheld by Ombudsman
Roughly two-thirds of complaints to the Local Government Ombudsman concerning councils' child protection and adult care were upheld during 2015-16, according to the LGO's annual review.
The ombudsman provides independent reviews of local authority decision-making after internal complaints processes have been exhausted, and investigated total of seventy percent of complaints concerning adult care planning, and 68 percent dealing with child protection.
An average of 51 percent of total complaints were upheld - including 58 percent of adult social care complaints and 53 percent in education and children's services - of the 2,584 submitted.
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3. Social Work Skills Statement for Older People Set to Be Released
The Department of Health is set to release a Knowledge and Skills Statement for social workers working with older people, according to the Chief Social Worker for Adults.
Lyn Romeo announced that an older people's knowledge and skills statement will be released alongside a continuing professional development framework at an as-yet unspecified date.
The move is part of both the government and Romeo's plans to develop a formalised post-qualifying career path for adult social workers looking to specialise their practice, and follows previously formalised roles such as Approved Mental Health Professionals and Mental Health Assessors.
2. DfE Provide Further Funding to Support LGBT Adopters
The Department for Education is providing funding to give lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people extra support if they wish to adopt a child.
New Family Social - the only LGBT adoption and fostering charity in the UK - has been given £100,000 in order to help improve assessment, matching and support processes for LGBT people who are looking to adopt.
The charity works with adoption agencies across England to raise awareness of matching approved LGBT adopters with children and looks to combat any unconscious bias agencies may have against them.
1. Adoption System Could Be Damaged By Exemption Clause, Say Experts
Government plans to enable councils to exempt themselves from children's social care legislation may damage the adoption system, according to experts.
Experts from The Adolescent and Children's Trust and CoramBAAF have both argued that new provisions under the Children and Social Work Bill s may lead to duplication of work and disruption of robust scrutiny processes.
The Government hopes exemptions will allow for new ways of working within children's services so better, innovative solutions may be found to improve current service delivery models.
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