1. 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]

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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

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

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

9. A R C E
Source: Joint Reviews

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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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?