Research

Understanding the children's social care workforce research

In 2009, we commissioned Action for Children and the University of Salford to undertake research to clarify the nature of the children's social care workforce and find out:

• What the core skills and knowledge in social care should be.
• How graduates are currently being used.
• What graduates might be able to do in children's social care in the future.

The research looked at updating current workforce data, and identifying the key roles and the roles of graduates within the care workforce. It included desk research, an online questionnaire and a series of consultation events.

The research is now complete and the results could have a major impact on the way we develop a professional framework for the sector.

View the executive summary for the research.

View the full report

Ann Harrison, National Manager for Social Care, said:

“The research identified that a more useful approach for social care professional development is to focus on where a child comes into contact with a professional, rather than on specific roles.”

The research identified three groups of children social care workers support. The first was children living away from home, including those in foster and residential care.

The second group focused on those working with children in a school or day care setting, such as early years professionals and teachers. The final group concentrated on those working with children in the community or at the child’s home, for example social work assistants and youth workers.  

Ann added:

“This approach will have a major influence on how we progress the social care professional framework and moves the emphasis away from a large number of individual learning routes to a more simplified model.

“The framework should empower employers and learners to make informed decisions about the most appropriate training that best suits their needs by providing relevant and timely information”