Welcome to the September issue of the Voluntary Sector Social Services Workforce Unit's e-bulletin.
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Our bulletins will keep you up to date with the latest voluntary sector social services workforce development issues. If you have a workforce development event or initiative you would like to publicise please let us know and we will include it in future editions.
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Lisa Pattoni
Information and Communications Officer
lisa.pattoni@ccpscotland.org
Content
The next Workforce Development Network Events will focus on the Continuous Learning Framework and will be held on:
Please keep a note of this in your diary. More information and a programme will be released soon.
The Autumn events focused on different funding streams, the reserved functions of the social worker consultation and an update regarding H1N1 ('swine flu') vaccination programme. You can read or download the presentations from the Workforce Unit website.
22nd September, 1.30pm-4.00pm,
Dumfries
In partnership with the Housing Support Enabling Unit, the Workforce Unit is pleased to present an event for providers of housing support which will provide an opportunity for providers of housing support to:
Read a full programme for this event. To book your space, please contact Liz Pettigrew.
The Workforce Unit is pleased to announce the development of its new and improved website. The website will be re-launched on 16th September with a vibrant new look, new content and significant layout updates to provide visitors with interesting and informative information at their fingertips.
The new website has a dedicated sharing practice section focusing on areas such as continuous professional development and induction. We also have created an advocacy section that will provide you with more information about how the Workforce Unit is promoting your views with a variety of voluntary sector leaders.
We have also created an enquiries area where you can get to the bottom of any of the queries that have been troubling you. With a click of a button your query will be sent to our team who will quickly get back to you with the information you need. You can also sign up to our RSS news feeds to ensure that you don’t miss out on the latest updates.
We want our new website to be everything you want it to be, and are always interested in hearing from our stakeholders, so please visit us at www.ccpscotland.org/workforceunit from the 16th September and let us know what you think.
Thank you to our stakeholders who completed our information and services survey last month. We were very pleased with the results of the survey, which indicated an overwhelmingly positive view of our information products and range of services.
82% of respondents noted that Workforce Unit information products were one of the main sources of information for becoming better informed about key workforce developments in the sector. From the results of the survey, there appears to be little need to change much of the format or frequency of our products. The changes made to the format of the e-bulletins last year had a very positive response. Only one respondent felt that the frequency of the information should be changed.
There was not one clear information topic that respondents felt was most useful, which probably relates to the diverse readership of our products. Respondents did however indicate some gaps in information provision; most notably: information regarding HR issues, Care at Home Services and specific information for providers of childcare services. The Workforce Unit will endeavour to ensure that there is more information regarding these topics in subsequent information products.
We are always happy to hear your views regarding any of the information we produce. If you have any further comments, please do not hesitate to contact us.
There are two new awards in Scotland now available for Supervisors in Care Homes, Care at Home, Housing Support and Day Care Services; both which are designed to meet the SSSC registration requirements for Supervisors. There will be a series of information sessions to inform prospective candidates and managers of services about the awards. They will be held on:
For more information or to book a place please contact Julie La Piazza at julie@scotvq.com or at 0845 26 000 27.
Widening Participation in Social Work Education- Taking Stock and Looking Forward
30th September 2009, 9.30am – 3.30pm, University of the West of Scotland, Hamilton Campus
This partnership event is aimed at people who have an interest in and commitment to developing and widening participation in social work education in Scotland. By the end of the day it is hoped that we will have:
To reserve a place and receive the programme and directions to the venue, please complete the booking form and email to r11-shsw@open.ac.uk putting “Stakeholder Event” in the subject line.
Think, Explore, Influence.
City of Edinburgh City Chambers, 22 September
Learning Link Scotland will be hosting a national event in Edinburgh to launch "Get Smart". During this event you will be able to help shape national policy and take part in practical sessions for professional development. You will be able take part in practice development sessions on e.g. SCQF, SROI, National Outcomes and have the opportunity to learn more on CLD Standards Council and shape national policy for professional development for the workforce.
There is an administration fee of £20 for members/£40 for non-members. Lunch included. To register your interest email your name, organisation, email address and telephone number to Stephanie Haig.
The 'Festival of Ideas' is being run by Glasgow Social Care Providers Forum from September until November 2009 and aims to generate awareness, aid change management, reinforce key policy messages, promote provider readiness, manage transition, exchange learning, practices and solutions, explore implications and opportunities of the self directed support and the wider personalisation agenda.
This will involve providers, Commissioners, Care Managers, professionals and thinkers delivering expert workshops and learning sessions to increase knowledge, share practice and methods which will aid the growth and development of self directed support.
If you are keen to get involved and want to come along to one of the events, please keep your eye on the GSCPF website for dates, further information and details of how to become a member.
Launch: Inverness Leadership Community.
21st September 2009, Inverness
Changing Lives needs leadership from every level, and every sector of Social Services, including front-line staff, service users and carers. Do you want to talk to other interested folk about what works and what doesn’t? Do you have ideas on how we can make things better for service users? Then this event is for you!
Click here for information on the Inverness community launch and how to book.
18th September or 22nd September
Denny Town House, 9.15am- 4.00pm
The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007, was implemented to help identify "adults at risk", to provide support to them when they need it, and to provide the means to protect them from harm. This event is suitable for supervisors and main grade staff and will aid better understanding of:
Please click here for more information and a booking form.
The Scottish Government has published the results from the 'Service Commissioning and Procurement Survey' which was designed to find out more about the views, attitudes and experiences of procurement and commissioning staff working in Local Authorities, particularly in relation to issues affecting the third sector. The survey found that:
However, six in ten respondents felt that commissioning and procurement could be improved to allow the third sector to compete more equally. A range of possible ways to achieve this were highlighted, including:
Interestingly, a considerable number of respondents said that their local authority did not often actively liaise with other bodies to ensure continuity of quality and cost, with some respondents being unsure that their authorities were delivering quality contracts or providing a value for money service. These findings are similar to the views presented by Annie Gunner Logan, CCPS Director, at the Local Government and Communities Committee regarding home care services for the elderly in June.
Read the transcript from the Local Government and Communities meeting.
Read the Service Commissioning and Procurement Survey
Skills for Care is launching the Newly Qualified Social Workers framework for adult services in partnership with the Department of Health and key stakeholders. This framework identifies the development needs of newly qualified social workers and outlines their support requirements for their first year in practice.
The framework is made up of a range of user-friendly tools and resources which are based on best practice to support NQSWs and their managers. It includes a resource pack and action learning programme. Download the NQSW resource pack.
The Pupil Inclusion Network (PINS) is for practitioners and managers in the voluntary sector who work with young people who are excluded, disaffected or disengaged from school. It is committed to engaging the voluntary sector in Curriculum for Excellence and currently has a membership of 800+, including a large number of CLD projects/organisations.
Find out more or register at www.pinscotland.org/index.html.
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) have recently updated their Career Development Loan offer, increasing the benefits and making it more accessible for applicants. Now called a Professional and Career Development Loan, it could help pay for learning that will improve skills for work, such as:
Click here for more information
Life in the Community: An action research project promoting citizenship for people with high support needsdescribes in great detail what has, and what has not contributed to the successful provision of community-based day activities for people with high support needs. The report also provides a range of useful resources for further reading and information.
As a response to ‘Having a Good Day?’ (SCIE, 2007), this project set out to work with partners to help people with high support needs and their families find active and positive roles in their local communities. The findings from the project found that person centred techniques and approaches led to more choice and control of people at the centre of the process, greater involvement of family and greater job satisfaction amongst support staff. The main barriers to change included lack of understanding regarding the demand for community connecting services, lack of access to individualised funding, and access to safe reliable transport.
A recent comparative survey across sectors, "Employee outlook: Job seeking in a recession", shows that employees working within the charity/voluntary sector are most satisfied with their jobs (+60), while those working in the private (+46) and public (+45) sectors are fairly equally satisfied. Job satisfaction was also cited as the main reason why voluntary sector employees are not planning to seek another job.
Voluntary sector employees say they have the most amount of control over the way they do their job and were most likely to agree that their organisation and manager provide support to help them manage their work-life balance. However, non-profit sector workers are most likely to say their workload is too much (37%), followed by public sector employees (36%) and private sector employees (25%). Within these three main sectors, employees working in education (38%) and health and social care (33%) are most likely to report excessive workloads in their jobs.
The full report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development is available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/5E62DFC0-0E65-445F-A628-1614A740543D/0/outlook_job_seeking_recession.pdf
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