Mumsnet Talk

Some time ago, I think I heard about a proposal to pay people to retrain from being in non social-work jobs to work in the field of Child Protection.

Has this materialised into practice does anyone know?

People doing a SW degree get a bursary as well as student loans, is this what you mean?

No, there was a proposal to fast-track and pay people as they did the qualification. It was a career-switch thing, encouraging older people to bring their skills from other careers into the field of child protection.

Take a look at community care website which is a social work website. If you post in their forum someone on there will advise you.

I am doing a social work degree and never heard of it. To be honest the government recommendation for working in child protection is no longer then 2 years so not sure how that would work once you burnout (and you will burnout- hence the high turnover of staff)- would you then be able to go into other fields?

Just to let you know, with the sw degree I get a 4.5k bursary a year and a 4k grant, so am supported quite well this way. I know someone who used their bursary to pay their tuition fees but mine goes towards the mortgage.

And I do not believe its right to fast track people through the degree- you need to learn and refine your practice and I don't think anyone on my course would have been ready last year to go into practice (am now in 3rd year). I would be very concerned about fast tracking, especially to go into a field such as child protection.

That's a fair point. I found some information. It's this (from a BBC site):

'A number of initiatives have already been announced to boost standards and morale in social work.

This included a graduate level entry scheme, called Step Up to Social Work, which offers them £15,000 to retrain as children's social workers, gaining a master's in social work, alongside intensive hands-on experience'

Ah ok, I am doing a BA, don't know much about the masters. I do know in my area they offer a 'golden handshake' to newly qualified social workers as an incentive to work in childrens services, so you get 2k when you start and a healthy starting salary and rising, tied in for 2 years and get a lump sum after also.

In BA you have 100 day placements so would presume the 'intensive hands on experience' would be the same sort of thing.

Another point to remember is that the masters is probably quite hard to get on to so I imagine those doing it will have either a related degree or relevant experience so the one years training may be sufficient.

at fluffys LA. here you can be on NQSW pay for years unless you apply and get a different job. Starting is about £24k. No bonuses no increments.

Oh really? I am in Kent, on the golden handshake scheme you start at 26k and it rises to 31k I believe? Not sure over what time period that is. That's to work in children's services though, can be anywhere in that area. I went to a job fair in London recently that had a few councils across the country there offering you 6k to relocate and work there.

Think it's 24k, 27k, 30k then asst manager, manager. Each grade needs you to apply and interview against others.