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”