Key capabilities in child care and protection

Key Capabilities

Throughout this document the term 'child protection' is used in its broadest sense. Different practitioners may have different definitions of what the term child protection represents. Therefore, this should be taken to mean child protection in the context of child care and meeting children's needs, rather than solely the investigative interviewing process.

The purpose of Key Capabilities is to ensure that all social workers at the point of qualifying are aware of their roles and responsibilities in respect of children and young people. They are also to ensure that qualifying social workers are able to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and understanding in relation to child care and protection. Meeting all the Key Capabilities does not qualify emerging social workers to undertake child protection investigations. This is rightly the domain of post qualifying, continuing professional development, the responsibility being shared by employers and qualified workers. Rather, should they need to engage with a child in the course of their practice, meeting the Key Capabilities should ensure that they are prepared with the skills to do so.

The Key Capabilities are designed for all students. This is based on the assumption that although all qualified practitioners may not be involved in child protection investigative interviews and will not be based within children and families teams, they will all have a generic responsibility towards children and are accountable for their individual actions. All students emerging from universities should have core knowledge, understanding and skills in relation to child care and protection that they can draw on whether they work in adult mental health, criminal justice or other settings. As the title of the Child Protection Audit notes - "It's Everyone's Job to Make Sure I'm Alright" (2002).

Ensuring that students emerge with appropriate skills, knowledge and understanding in relation to child care and protection does not mean that employers' responsibilities for their continuing professional development are reduced. The Scottish Social Services Council ( SSSC) Codes of Practice state that employers must provide "induction, training and development opportunities to help social service workers do their jobs effectively and prepare for new and changing roles and responsibilities" (2003, 3.1). In order to develop confident and competent social workers, employers have a responsibility to build on the skills, knowledge and understanding developed prior to qualifying, by providing appropriate supervision and ongoing training opportunities. For example, communicating with children is a complex area that will require further development for some practitioners post-graduation.

Qualified social workers have a responsibility to identify continuing professional development needs, eg newly qualified social workers are required to complete 24 days (144 hours) of Post Registration Training and Learning ( PRTL) within 12 months of registration. At least 5 days (30 hours) must focus on working effectively with colleagues and other professionals to identify, assess and manage risk to vulnerable people ( SSSC, 2003). In evidencing that they have met the Key Capabilities, students will be starting to take some of the responsibility for their own learning needs, a process which will continue after qualification.

The KCs encourage critical thinking amongst students. Reder and Duncan state that a key aim of training is to "arm practitioners with knowledge, skills and the capacity to think" (2004). It is these principles that underpin all the Key Capabilities but have particular relevance to Professional Competence and Confidence.

The Key Capabilities will define learning outcomes and competencies in relation to child care and protection. The KCs have been mapped with SiSWE and SCQ Frameworks. Account has also been taken of the SSSC Codes of Practice (2003), SE Framework for Standards and Children's Charter (2004), DFES Common Core of Knowledge and Skills for the Children's Workforce (England 2005) and the DoH Requirements for Social Work Training (2002).

Recommendations on approaches to assessment of Key Capabilities and how they can be embedded in practice learning have been made within this document.

Running through all Key Capabilities is an expectation that students will be asked to demonstrate anti oppressive/anti discriminatory practice both in academic and practice learning settings. It is expected that a student's practice will embody the SSSC Codes of Practice which states that they should "promote equal opportunities" and "respect diversity and different cultures and values" (2003, 1.5,1.6). This is set out in the Standards and Audit for Practice Learning Opportunities: A Quality Process (2006). Similarly, it is expected that Higher Education Institutions ( HEIs) and Local Authority/Voluntary agencies offering practice learning opportunities will be working within current legislative frameworks to promote equal opportunities for students.

In addition, there is also an expectation that students will access
up-to-date research and literature at all stages of their academic career as this should always underpin practice. The use of relevant research and the links students make between theory and practice is an area students would, within the SiSWE, be assessed on by tutors and practice teachers.

The skills of an emerging social work practitioner will change over the course of their training, therefore the way skills are taught and assessed will be incremental and correlate with the relevant stage of learning in accordance with SCQF levels.

Throughout the text core documents and theories have been identified for students to draw from. These documents will change over time to reflect new research, new literature, and unfortunately new Inquiry Reports. As such, the Bibliography which is appended is not set in stone, and it is the responsibility of universities and students to ensure that they remain responsive to change.