UNISON Scotland’s Social Work Issues Group is to survey all our members in children and families social work to find out what they need to allow them to fully implement ‘The Promise’ made by the Scottish Government to all children and young people in care and care leavers.
SWIG member Kate Ramsden said: “UNISON has long recognised that our social work members are key to the proper implementation of the Promise.
“The way that care is delivered for our children depends on a workforce that has not only the knowledge and skills, but also the time and the professional support to deliver practice based on developing relationships with children and young people.
“We know that cuts to council services over the past decade have left many social work services woefully under resourced to meet the laudable aims of the Promise, with overworked staff and a lack of resources to meet the needs of children and their families.
“We want to find out what our members need to ensure that they can practice in a way that delivers for our looked after children.
“This is not about tweaking procedures and processes. If the Promise is really to deliver in the way that care experienced children and adults have asked for, this is about taking a long hard look at what 10 years of austerity has done to our social work services and to repair that damage so that our members can provide the kind of service they all want to provide with the time and resources that they need.”
If you are a children and families social worker or support worker please watch out for the survey which will be sent out in August.