Jennifer Rogers says there have been strong improvements in that time, with the city's social workers delivering high quality social work practice and a high number of audited files rated either “good” or “outstanding” this year.
The Principal Social Worker has overseen a successful programme of learning and development for social workers with 90% reporting high levels of satisfaction with progression and training opportunities available compared to 70% the previous year. The social work degree apprenticeship has also been formalised as a career pathway and more apprentices have started this autumn than in previous years.
She has also worked with social workers to create a modern brand for social work recruitment to position Wolverhampton as a social work employer of choice, with local practitioners featuring in promotional materials and videos with the strapline ‘be the social worker you want to be’ on the local social work recruitment website.
The report shows that the council has been proactively supporting the recruitment and retention of social workers across Adults and Children's Services and turnover is below the national average, with the majority of social workers saying they plan to stay with the council in the next 12 months.
A stable workforce allows the council to embed good practice and provide children, families and adults with consistent workers and a number of actions have supported this during 2022 to 2023 including the reimbursement of professional fees for social workers, the introduction of the Blue Light Discount card for all social care practitioners and new progression opportunities.
The annual report will be presented to members of the council’s Cabinet when they meet tomorrow.
Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, Cabinet Member for Adults and Wellbeing, said: "One of the key roles of the Principal Social Worker is to support the continual improvement of social work practice, and this annual report highlights the actions that are being taken to ensure that it is of an increasingly high quality here in Wolverhampton.”
Councillor Chris Burden, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, added: "Our social workers do an incredible job in often very trying circumstances and, as a council, we will do all we can to support them in their role so that they are able to continue offering an excellent service to our city’s children and their families, adults with care and support needs and carers.”
For more information about social care jobs available with the City of Wolverhampton Council, please visit Be the Social Worker you want to be.
