Second Steps Planning ProjectIn December 2008 following the case of Baby P,

54% of people said their view of local councils had got worse in light of the recent cases of child abuse.

The recent cases of child abuse have caused reputational damage to local authorities.

The Laming Review and LGA Research (2009) identified workforce issues

1. Three out of five councils are experiencing difficulties in recruiting children’s social workers.

2. Two out of five councils are reporting difficulties in retaining the staff they have and the same number thinks recruitment of child social workers will get even harder over the next six months.

3. It is more difficult to recruit and retain social workers than any other occupational group in local government

The Local Government Association

Respect, recruit and retain children’s social workers

(March 2009)

First part of the campaign is to attract back 5,000 recently retired children’s child social

workers

Assignment brief

To propose a strategic communication campaign designed to ‘Respect, Recruit Retain’ children’s

social workers at a local level.

Recommendations should include and demonstrate:

•understanding of the national and local context affecting the respect, recruitment and retention of children’s social workers

•identification of the issues to be addressed in respecting, recruiting and retaining children’s social workers, nationally and locally

• reflection on relevant cultural factors and key drivers and barriers for change

•appreciation of your local authority’s existing initiatives and how these can be used

 

Recommendations should include and demonstrate

•Key objectives, aims and messages

• a cohesive campaign of activities designed to measurably increase the respect, recruitment and retention of children’s social workers

•a timetable reflecting planning, implementation and evaluation of the proposed campaign

•areas of expenditure required in implementing the proposed campaign, with indicative costs

•evaluation techniques to be used in assessing the campaign’s impact.