Social Work Training Program to Target Top UK Grauduates

By Georgianna Reilly, LMSW
SJS Staff Writer

Michael Grove, the UK’s Secretary of State for Education, has his eye on improving the field of social work in the United Kingdom. In an effort to encourage new graduates to join the profession, improve its status and the profession as a whole,  Secretary Grove is endorsing plans for a new charity called Frontline which will work on bringing in new top graduates into the field, and strengthening the field in general. Based off of a similar program for teachers, the thought is that:

“”By providing a shorter and more focused training programme, just as TeachFirst does with its recruits, one of the biggest barriers to entry for gifted graduates contemplating social work has been cleared. That is why I intend, on receipt of a proper business plan in the next few months, to support Frontline’s establishment and get it up and running as soon as possible.”

TeachFirst was a success of a program, bringing many young graduates into the field of teaching and improving many poor school districts across the UK. Grove goes on to discuss that “It had been suggested that now the same needed to be done for social workers, he said. “They too need support to improve their practice. That is why the College of Social Work has been set up and we are planning to establish the office of chief social worker. More requires to be done, both in improving initial training and enhancing leadership, but the recognition is there among ministers and social workers that we need to work harder to improve how the profession operates.”

It is great to see a government supporting it’s Frontline workers!