Standards for Employers of Social Workers in England

PROTOCOL FOR THE ENGAGEMENT OF AGENCY BASED

SOCIAL WORKERS IN ENGLAND

1. To achieve the best possible outcomes for children, adults and families ensure thatemployment agencies have an understanding of what constitutes good social work practice, and promote this amongst the social workers they engage. In particular, facilitate employment agencies to:

• monitor the effectiveness of their placements
• meet the career needs of social workers employed by them
• work with professional associations and the College of Social Workto allow all social workers to be engaged in the work of the College
• receive feedback on the performance of their placement from clients and pass this on to the employee with a particular focus on good social work practice
• seek feedback and record information from both clients and candidates to enable some measurement of the effectiveness and value of the Social Workers they supply
• agree with clients that a reference is created as part of a placements exit procedure
• agree with clients what quality assurance or reference information will continue to be held by the client
• agree to the production of and request reference against an agreed format – see appendix 1
• co-operate with the investigations into gaps in employment history
• co-operate in establishing consistency accurately and sufficient quality of references

2.Contribute to workforce planning systems to make sure that the right number of social workers, with the right level of skills and experience, are available to meet current and future service demands.

All managed service providers should be able to contribute to workforce planning arrangements in order to meet the needs of local service users now and in the future:

• agree to the provisionof data on the number and pay rates (within pay bands) of social workers in a commonly agreed local or regional format

agree to discuss with employers locally and regionally the adoptions of broad bands within which to remunerate and charge for social worker placements

to provide clients & intermediary organisation with monthly management information collated from candidate feedback

3.Support the management of workload, case allocation and supervision in order to protect service users and practitioners.

Workload management and case allocation processes whilst primarily the responsibility of the client organization employment agencies do have a role in monitoring and providing feedback from their placement. Equally, although supervision is the responsibility of the client, each agency has a role in ensuring this happens and monitoring its effectiveness. Managed service providers should facilitate:

• discussions on work allocation and workload with clients at the beginning of a placement
• reviews of workload with their placements
• discussions on workload matters and reviews of each placement on completion
• putting a system in place which generates relevant information to be used as part of regular reporting and feeds into supply and demand models, and the social work accountability framework

the promotion of continuous learning and knowledge sharing

that supervision takes place regularly and consistently by the client for each placement

the monitoring of feedback from the supervision process

requesting hiring managers to commit to regular and meaningful supervision for social work locums

that supervision is delivered and recorded in line with the local authorities internal standards & procedures and no less frequently than a permanent worker

that supervision records form the basis of a reference upon the completion of an assignment

thatsupervision will include discussion on caseload volume and complexity

4.Managed service providers will create framework to make sure that social workers can do their jobs safely and ensure that the practical tools and resources they need to practice effectively are available on placement.

Ensure that agencies make employee welfare services available for all social workers. Clarify for each placement how the client will:

• Make suitable space available

• foster a culture of openness and equality
• have in place effective systems for reporting and responding to concerns
• ensure that the risks of violence, harassment and bullying are assessed, minimised and prevented
• provide social workers with appropriate practical tools to perform their role
• as part of their regular communication with their Social Work locums, Recruitment Consultancies will enquire as to the Temporary Workers welfare and record and communicate, where appropriate, this information to the Client intermediary organisation

1. Ensure that agencies provide opportunities for continuing professional development, as well as access to research and practice guidance.

It is essential for social workers to be able to build a robust and up to date knowledge base through ongoing continuing professional development (CPD) and access to research, evidence and best practice guidance.

For agency based social workers this is a shared responsibility with the agency providing support for continuous professional development and clients will provide information on how work and roles need to be adapted locally.

Managed service providers will facilitate agencies to clarify with clients:

where possible provide time, resources and support for CPD

have fair and transparent systems to enable social workers to develop their professional skills and knowledge throughout their careers through an entitlement to formal and informal CPD

provide appropriate support to social workers to progress through the national career structure

have effective induction systems and put in place tailored support programmes for social workers in their first year in practice, including protected development time, a managed workload, tailored supervision and personal development plans

support their social workers to make decisions and pursue actions that are informed by robust and rigorous evidence so that service users can have confidence in the service they receive

enable social workers to work with others engaged in research and practice development activities in universities, professional bodies, and the College of Social Work to develop the evidence base for good practice

ensure that practice educators are able to contribute to the learning, support, supervision and assessment of students on qualifying and CPD programmes.

where possible, locum social workers will be informed of training opportunities within the client organisation

recruitment consultancies will endeavour to provide relevant training information to the temporary worker to support their continued professional development

recruitment consultancies will inform their clients of vacant places on their own courses and encourage permanent worker participation whenever possible

who will support social workers in maintaining their professional registration andaccountability as well as their competence, credibility, and currency

who will support staff in continuing to meet the requirements of the regulator

Appendix 1

Reference Fields

Subject Details

Name Free Text

NI Number Fixed Fields

DOB FF Fixed Fields

Social Worker Registration Number Fixed Fields

Employed From Fixed Fields

Employed ToFixed Fields

Position Held Free Text

Location Free Text

Referees Name Free Text

Referee's professional relationship to Subject Free Text

Brief Job Role Description Free Text

Standard of work Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Poor

Timekeeping Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Poor

Attendance Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Poor

Reliability Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Poor

Applicable skills Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Poor

Interaction with Colleagues & other professionals Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Poor

Interaction with Clients Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Poor

Areas for commendation Free Text

Areas for Improvement Free Text

Has Subject been subject to disciplinary proceedings Yes/No

If Yes Current/Expired

Reason for leaving Free Text

Would you consider re-employing the Subject Yes/No

Are you satisfied the subject is suitable to work with Children or

Vulnerable People Yes/No/Not applicable to role

Comments Free Text

Management of workloadFree Text

Ability to make effective judgements Free Text

Created on 6/28/2012 10:02:00 AM