subject: Independent review for Children and Families Social Work [print this page] Independent review for Children and Families Social Work
Education Secretary Michael Gove has formally written to a leading reader in social policy at the London School of Economics, Professor Eileen Munro, for a review of children's social work.
Munro's review follows years of dissatisfaction with the current system which promotes bureaucracy over necessary qualitative work such as building relationships with families in need of help. After the shocking Baby P case in 2007, Professor Munro published an article in The Independent criticising the changes in measures aimed at preventing a repeat of the Climb case in 2000. She writes:
"what we have now are organisations centred on feeding the Government's ever-growing appetite for hard data at the expense of the complex and subtle information social workers actually need to form a realistic assessment of child welfare"
Since these cases there has been a substantial fall in social care recruitment. In a poll conducted by the General Social Care Council 97% of the participants agreed that the case of Baby P and other recent high profile cases have damaged the public's view of social work.
Children and families social workers have been hit the hardest. The sensitive nature of their work means that these qualified social workers already have an emotionally demanding role. The current measures contradict the work that truly needs doing. Part of the government's new plan is to immediately scrap the National Safeguarding Unit, which is another honey trap of bureaucracy preventing qualified social workers from conducting crucial work.
This is a positive sign that progressive action is being taken to fundamentally alter a system which has been failing social workers and the vulnerable members of the public who require their help.
Munro's first report will be published at the end of September, followed by an interim report in January 2011. The final report will be submitted to government in April 2011.
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