Review finds social workers do not have enough time with children and families
Tue 10 Jun 2014
A qualitative review of Child, Youth and Family (CYF) social worker caseload, casework and workload management has found social workers do not ...
A qualitative review of Child, Youth and Family (CYF) social worker caseload, casework and workload management has found social workers do not have enough time to spend with children and families.
The report, Workload and Casework Review: Qualitative Review of Social Worker Caseload, Casework and Workload Management was commissioned by CYF Chief Executive Brendan Boyle and conducted by the Office of the Chief Social Worker in partnership with the New Zealand Public Service Association.
The review sought to evaluate key areas for improvement in response to concerns about the impact of volume of cases on practice quality. The review used a range of sources of infomation including: initial scoping and consultation with key stakeholders; a literature review of social work workload, casework and systems; analysis of policy, procedure and legislation on practice behaviour; a review of organisational performance data; in-depth interviews with frontline staff and management; and three online staff surveys.
In a media statement, Chief Executive Brendan Boyle said the "review looks at the work social workers do, how they do it, and explores what needs to change so they have the space and time to do their best work for children and young people." He said "Put simply, we've found that some of our social workers have too much on their plates, and this has gotten in the way of the most important part of their work - spending time with children and families."
The review found "effective leadership, support systems and processes alongside manageable workloads make a significant difference to a social worker’s ability to deliver high quality practice." Key findings and recommendations from the review are briefly outlined below:
- Quality professional engagement with children, young people and their families needs to be prioritised more;
- Social workers require more capacity and ability to build effective culturally responsive relationships;
- Caseloads of social workers need to be reviewed and administration and desk time reduced;
- CYF's role and core business needs to be clarified;
- CYF data and information systems need to be modernised to better project workload and resource needs;
- Performance targets need to be balanced with measures of outcome and quality;
- A single Ministry-wide action plan is required to drive the necessary change;
- A re-design of CYF's operating model will be required to support the action plan;
- CYF needs to consider its work within the wider context of vulnerable children.
The review also highlighted the "limited or inconsistent social work practice based on cultural needs." The review recommended establishing policies, procedures and systems to support staff in working in a culturally responsive way with mokopuna Māori, whānau, hapū and iwi. This included the time and expertise required for culturally responsive practice, strengthening and seeking new partnerships with iwi, Māori service providers and communities, and including culturally responsive governance arrangements within frameworks.
Chief Executive of Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers, Lucy Sandford-Reed supported the findings saying "professionals were having to reprioritise their work because of a shift by the sector focusing on delivering on quantity and not quality."
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett welcomed the report saying "[the report] means we can have a really honest view about where we're at, where we're going and what we need to do next."
Media
Call for better cultural assessments, Radio New Zealand, 04.06.2014
CYF and Ngati Kahungunu sign MOU, Radio New Zealand, 30.05.2014
Report: Admin over children at CYF, Stuff, 27.05.2014
Image: Folder by Cliker.com. Licence: Public Domain
Image: Clker.com