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THE WORKFORCE ACCORDING TO CHILDREN:children’s views on what they want their workforce to be like
Dr Roger Morgan OBE
Children’s Rights Director for England
Children England / CWDC March 2009
Brief provenance …
Statutory independent post – hosted by Ofsted
Children’s Rights Director statutory consultations
Children in care or receiving social care services
Children living away from home – in care or otherwise
Representative invitations
Researching children’s own views
Worforce issues always key – staff always key
Fieldwork and residential staff
Reports all published on www.rights4me.org
Top messages
Children’s workers need to be the right sort of people
Workers need to be accessible
Workers need to be able to pull levers
Ten Top Criteria
Fair Powerful Knowledgeable Understanding Even tempered Accessible Trustworthy Checked Approachable Fun
Key issues for entire workforce
Treat each child as an individual
Don’t believe adults over children
Take what a child says as seriously as what an adult says
Don’t let your private life affect your child care
Ask and listen to children’s views and feelings
Be better at confidentiality – “people can hear through doors”
Keep children informed
Social Workers - 1
Children in care give theirs a median rating of 8 out of 10 Need to carry out promises … and not be overruled by admin or budget committees Need to reduce frequent changes Children would like some choice of social worker Should visit placements monthly …with additional visits when problems or when requested Listen to the child first, rather than the adults Is the child happy? Speak to the child alone … and out of possible hearing Keep in touch by phone and text
Social Workers - 2 Be directly accessible – not via messages or duty systems Don’t drop contact for out of authority placements Most important decision is placement … choice of two, check settling in, have a backup Social workers come 6th most likely to contact over a problem … after friends, parents, foster carers, police and teachers Must be better at consulting on and keeping to care plans Must be better at keeping informed of changes and progress Make sure each child gets what the law says they should Only know what you need to know about the child Give both personal and practical help Don’t decide for me by your targets Make exceptions for my safety and happiness
Top five training issues for fieldworkers
Knowledge of young people’s issues
Children’s rights
Issues and concerns for those living away from home
Education issues
Leaving care issues
Children on social workers
“my social worker is great. She knows lots about children with disabilities like me”
“it takes ages for a social worker to help”
“talk to the young person to get it right first time”
“you get to know one then they leave”
“my social worker doesn’t bother with me - and I don’t like her”
More from children on social workers
“their managers stop them doing things as well as they could”
“social workers are like young people – you have your good and bad ones”
“ring me and tell me what’s going on”
“they would not only listen to what we want but act on it and make sure that things we are unhappy with change”
A social worker should be for “support, advice, friend, someone I can trust, someone I know really cares about me, not just a number or a client who they really don’t care about, someone who has life experience with teenagers, not just someone who just read the textbook”
Do risk assessments,
But be proportional and reasonable …
“balance fun and risks”
“if one kid falls off a horse, no other kids can go on a horse”
Foster carers Give information about family (race, religion, other
children)
‘House rules’ (eg can I eat food from the fridge?)
Choice please – at least two
Most treated much as carers’ own children
Give care, support, safety, opportunities, family life, help education, help independence, individual attention
Being expert at specific needs
Help with being bullied for being fostered
Most likely to go to foster carers with personal problems
Clarifying the future
Be friendly, kind, cheerful, fun, caring, easy to talk to
Need to be able to make decisions – SLEEPOVERS !
Liking matters
Children’s home staff - good points
34
29
24
11
10
8
Kind and caring
Listen to you and help with problems
Funny, happy and easy to get along with
Supportive, understanding and
encouraging
Keep you safe and well
Take you out
Children’s home staff - bad points
18
16
11
11
10
Nothing
Sometimes they are in a bad mood
Sometimes they are too strict / controlling
Some staff aren't nice
They give us sanctions / enforce rules
Residential special school staff Generally very positive
Negatives are punishing and shouting
44
30
28
18
They listen and understand
They are nice, friendly
Caring and look after me
They are fun
Secure unit staff
sense of humour, laid back, friendly, joins in activities with young people, is on the side of the young people, a good listener, not aggressive or bossy, talks calmly, doesn’t shout
Don’t have moods
Give support as well as control
Be good at dealing with safety and bullying
Don’t have favourites
Don’t wind young people up
Help for the future, rather than judge for the past
Don’t keep reminding you’re missing things on the outside
Residential FE college staff – good points
69
49
17
14
13
12
Friendly / approachable
Helpful / supportive
Available 24/7
They care for you andhelp you feel safe
Treat you like anadult/they are fair
Can have a laugh withthem
Residential FE college staff – bad points
34
26
24
18
15
13
Too strict / treatstudents like children
Moody
Supervise too closely
Difficult to contact
Can be unapproachable
Don't give enoughsupport / help
“I live in a three star authorityBut I’ve got a crap social
worker”