Councillors have approved the latest annual report from North Lanarkshire’s chief social worker.
Alison Gordon presented her report to North Lanarkshire Council’s adult care and social work committee, where it was unanimously approved. It will also go before the education, children and families committee in the near future.
The report gives insight into recent activity by the service, which employs around 2000 people and helps to support around 30,000 people at any given time. Its main role is in providing various forms of protection for the vulnerable in society but the service also works with various partner organisations in fighting against poverty.
It emphasises the importance of ongoing partnership with other organisations in the wider community, while also noting that demand for social work support has risen continually and is now beyond pre-pandemic levels.
Much of the care provided through social work is delivered within the home, and there is also a growing emphasis on managing transitional phases in people’s lives, for example ensuring children do not face a “cliff edge” as they reach adulthood. Progress in this area can be seen in the growing numbers of young people receiving continued care and voluntary care via justice services.
Last year, a joint inspection of services for children at risk of harm rated them “very good”, highlighting the effective leadership and the relational and trauma informed approaches taken by staff.
The service continues to face staffing pressures, especially with regard to areas such as home support, mental health officers and admin support. The report details various initiatives intended to help with this, including job re-evaluations for social workers and occupational therapists, and these have led to a reduction in vacancies.
The service has also further developed its use of digital technologies as well as including people with care experience in planning its future policies.
Looking ahead, the report foresees challenges as some temporary sources of funding are due to expire, but also opportunities to bring improvements to areas such as the early provision of support.
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