In her annual report, Jennifer Rogers says there has been steady improvements over the past year with the city's social workers delivering high quality social work practice and adherence to statutory duties throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and an increase in the number of audited case files rated either Good or Outstanding.
The Principal Social Worker has overseen a successful transition of learning and training opportunities from face to face to virtual platforms and played a key role in supporting social workers' emotional wellbeing while also ensuring their safety as they carried out their critical frontline role during the pandemic.
A peer challenge found good evidence that 'strengths based' conversations in Adult Services are ensuring that social workers are able to build professional relationships with people they work with and vulnerable individuals and their families at the heart of discussions about their care and support.
The report also shows that Wolverhampton is bucking the national trend in the recruitment and retention of children’s social workers, with only a small number of vacancies and an increasing number of social workers saying they plan to stay with the council. A stable workforce allows the council to embed good practice and provide children, families and adults with consistent workers.
Councillor Linda Leach, Cabinet Member for Adult Services, 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.
"As a council we are constantly striving to improve practice across the city and it's pleasing to read that, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, social workers have been able to drive up standards still further over the past 12 months."
Councillor Beverley Momenabadi, 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. I would like to thank them all for their efforts for our city’s most vulnerable adults, children and their families.”
For more information about social care jobs available with the City of Wolverhampton Council, please visit A Career in Social Work.
