Social Work Round Up 2016

Social Work Round Up 2016

After a rollercoaster of a year, we understand that the last 12 months may be remembered for some of the wrong reasons.  So we thought we would take a look back at some of the positive Social Work stories to come out of 2016:

Jo Brand’s Social Work Sitcom

The six part series produced by Channel 4, documents the ups and downs of a group of social workers. Jo Brand who co-wrote the sitcom was aiming to counter the dominant negative portrayal of social workers and give a real insight into the job role. The airing of the sitcom was a great thing to happen for social work as it gives an insight into some true-to-life cases that the writers of the shows wanted to be “topical, fair and representative of the realities of the sector”. 

Come Back to Social Work Training Scheme Launched

The training scheme was introduced to provide Social Workers who have been out of practice for 2-5 years the training they need to return to the profession. This is a great opportunity for those who took a break from social work; the chance to get back into practice as well as giving them the confidence boost they need to re-enter the ever changing profession. 

Social Work Regulator

Introduction of the New Social Work Regulator is another positive news story from 2016. For a long period of time Social Work has been regulated by the HCPC, however many believed that such a specialised profession needs its own regulator with the resources and expertise to stand up for the rights of Social Workers. Plans for the new regulator are set to be implemented in September 2018.

Stand up for Social Work campaign

Prominent blogger ‘The Social Work Tutor’ has this year launched the ‘Stand up for Social Work’ campaign, which aims to “show the true account of Social Work from those on the frontline of practice all over the world.” This is a chance for Social Workers to share their experiences in a new way, and Liquid Personnel are delighted to be official sponsors of the campaign. 

New Year Honours List Recognises Social Care Professionals

The New Year started off on a positive note, with social care professionals being recognised for the hard work that they do by the New Year Honours List. Among the names recognised by the Honours List were social work academic Professor Julie Selwyn, Director of the Hadley Centre for Adoption and Foster Care studies at Bristol University. As well as Sandra Keene, former director of adult services at Leeds City Council and Dr Adrienne Cooper, former director of adults services at Sutton council. 

 Mental Health Fast Track Scheme

Think Ahead, the training scheme that fast tracks graduates into mental health social work was extended for an extra two years by the Department of Health, as well as having an additional £10.6m added to its funds. Care minister Alistair Burt said: “Mental health social work is highly skilled, complex work – and this is a great initiative to attract the brightest and best into the profession.”

Social Care Projects Received £200m

The Department for Education announced that they were injecting £200m worth of funding into the development of new approaches to children’s social care over the next 4 years. The DfE intends to focus the funding into ‘rethinking’ how children’s social care is delivered and also to improve looked-after children’s transition to adulthood. 

We hope that 2017 brings with it some more great news for the sector. We’ll be starting the year on a positive note, with the announcement of our Social Work Writing competition winners in January - so be sure to keep an eye out! 

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