Every Child Matters: Change for Children Building a world-class workforce for children and young people David N Jones Children’s Services Improvement Adviser [Policy]

Every Child Matters: Change for Children Programme Green Paper and Next Steps proposed whole system reform of children’s services with the child at the centre. Vision: I Improved outcomes for children and young people Focus on opportunities for all and narrowing gaps Support for parents, carers and families Shift to prevention, early identification and intervention Integrated and personalised services

Children’s workforce strategy A world-class children’s workforce that: is competent and confident; people aspire to be part of and want to remain in – where they can develop their skills and build satisfying and rewarding careers; and parents, carers, children and young people trust and respect. Comprehensive – the whole children’s workforce Crucial to delivery of outcomes for children and young people Consultative – propositions for debate Shared approach – national and local action A `living’ strategy – with a Government response to the consultation later this year

The Challenges Recruiting more people into the children’s workforce Developing and retaining more people within the children’s workforce Strengthening inter-agency and multi-disciplinary working and workforce re-modelling Promoting stronger leadership, management and supervision Why have a workforce strategy? Because: the capacity and quality of people who plan, manage and deliver front-line services is critical to achieving better outcomes we need to ensure that people working with children and young people have the knowledge, skills and competence they need we want professionals and practitioners from different sectors to have coherent career pathways that allow them to progress within and across different sectors we want professionals and practitioners from different sectors to work better together in multi-disciplinary teams we want professionals and practitioners from different sectors to share an increasingly common language and understanding we want to professionals and practitioners from different sectors to focus on early identification and prevention and strengthen protection for vulnerable children and young people.

Responses Widespread support for the vision and ambition, with some suggestion the we need to enhance the focus on safeguarding; Endorsement of the overall policy direction and the need for mutually supportive national and local actions, with a clear call for on-going Government leadership and drive; Stress on the importance of improving front-line practice and call for better identification and sharing of emerging child-focussed multi-agency practice; Some fairly significant anxieties about the impact differences in pay, terms and conditions are having on recruitment, retention and the creation of multi-agency solutions.

Partnership Principles Vision shared Value grounded Task focused Self confident – own role and contribution Receptive – ask, listen, learn Respectful – re-evaluate & change User centred – consult and reflect

Releasing the potential of People need People Releasing the potential of people working in social services David N Jones

Good Relationships Consistency and Fairness Acceptance and Respect Integrity and Honesty Reliability and Trustworthiness Empathy and Understanding

A R C E Source: Joint Reviews

Next steps: two principles Service reform first Help the rest up to the standard of the best

Core propositions An integrated qualifications framework Early Years: professionals; graduate leadership of full day-care settings; and develop wider early years workforce Options for Excellence: improve quality of social work practice; increase supply of qualified social workers; and develop wider social care workforce Championing Children: shared set of skills, knowledge and behaviours for those leading multi-agency settings

Core propositions 2 Strengthening multi-agency working: Lead Professional role; and improved common processes like IS and CAF Local workforce strategies to support delivery of CYYPs Children’s Workforce Development Council and Children’s Workforce Network Partnership to explore big workforce issues that could inhibit service reform, such as pay and conditions

Collaboration Within and between children’s trusts on: Service reform: sharing and learning from best practice; joint development / commissioning of new roles and services; protocols to maintain standards for children and families moving between services. Workforce reform: planning and recruitment; training, development and relationship with LSC, FE and HE; exchanges, secondments and career development; pay and conditions? Involvement of children and young people. Strategic partnerships with private and voluntary sectors.

One thought… How might it work – or not work – in the future? School nurses With children’s trusts and commissioning a patient-led NHS and schools as independent institutions Who plans? Who pays? Who employs? Who supervises?