Social Work Strategy 2012-22
DHSSPS Minister Edwin Poots launched the first ever Northern Ireland Social Work Strategyi on 16 April 2012. Key recommendations of the Strategy include:
- Development of a regional social work out-of-hours service;
- Introduction of extended/flexible hours;
- Strengthening integrated and partnership approaches in practice; and
- Improving employer supports for front line staff.
The strategy also sets out a framework for practice to support the delivery of the vision for social work which has a focus on prevention and early intervention as well as on protection and safeguarding.
Copies of the Strategy, summary document and DHSSPS news release are available from the download section below.
Background to the development of the Strategy: NISCC was commissioned by the DHSSPS (NI) in 2008 to lead an exciting project to review the roles and tasks unique to social work. This review was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to identify the unique role, value and contribution of social work in Northern Ireland today. It aimed to articulate the full range of what social workers do and importantly, the difference they make in people’s lives through their work and interventions.
The breadth and diversity of what social work has to offer mades this review a complex task. Social work cannot be defined as a specific skill or a specific body of knowledge. Rather it is an eclectic range of different skills and expertise. This diversity, this ability to be flexible, to be responsive, to be person-centred is what makes social work unique and valuable. Similar projects to review the roles and task unique to social work have been carried out in England (Roles and Tasks of Social Work) and Scotland (21st Century Scotland.)
NISCC consulted widely on the roles and tasks of social work. An interim report 'People Work not just Paperwork', which summarised feedback from the consultations was published in 2009. The DHSSPS have taken the recommendations from the consultations and in Autumn 2010 they issued a draft 10 Year Strategy for Social Work for consultation. NISCC Supported Registrants, service users and carers to take part in the consultation.