Adult Social Care Practice Framework

Supporting practitioners to develop strengths-based practice requires more than skills training for particular activities or techniques, but being part of an organisation that values, promotes and enables strengths-based principles.

We are supporting our practitioners with a clear focus on our practice conditions:

• commitment to achievable and effective caseload levels
• clearly defined practitioner and team leader standards
• effective supervision and support, developing peer, group and reflective supervision models in support of the Post Qualifying Standards for Social Work Practice Supervisors in Adult Social Care
• a refreshed and continually reviewed learning and development offer with an emphasis on current practice issues
• providing access to learning and knowledge resources such as Research in Practice for Adults, Care Knowledge and Social Work Connect dedicated practitioner roles supporting practice education and newly qualified social workers
• established practice forums and organisational health check arrangements
• use of practice quality assurance frameworks to ensure we remain focused on practice quality
• active engagement with universities through Social Work Teaching Partnerships and involvement in fast-track social work schemes
• commitment to the National Standards for Employers of Social Workers and the Professional Standards for Occupational Therapy practice
• an annual practice week with children’s services in which we welcome a range of leading academics and speakers to Coventry to share their expertise
• commitment to pre and post qualifying development, including the use of degree-level apprenticeship schemes for social work and occupational therapy

As well as supporting staff in their current role we also want to develop staff to reach their potential. For some people this will mean fulfilling an ambition to progress into more senior practice or management roles but for all it means continuous development to improve and develop better practice skills with adults and their carers.

We are providing training in relation to the tools and approaches used in our practice framework and we have introduced a management and leadership training programme.

There are structured opportunities for career progression in place. We support social workers with post qualifying training to become Practice Educators, Best Interest Assessors, Approved Mental Health Professionals and Sensory Specialists supporting people identified as being deafblind.

We are committed to supporting Degree Level Apprenticeships which enable our unregistered staff to become Social Workers or Occupational Therapists.

The implementation of this framework will be monitored by our Practice Development Forum and the Adult Social Care Management Team.