Children's Workforce Development
We know that not everyone who works with children and young people works in a school, nursery, local authority or health service. A vast array of staff and volunteers across a wide variety of organisations work closely with children and young people and many of these organisations are part of the Voluntary and Community Sector.
VCS organisations that interact with children and young people range from service providers that work with vulnerable young people who are homeless or who have suffered abuse, to grassroots sports organisations and youth clubs that put on acitivities for local children. Whatever your organisation's interaction with children and young people, you are still part of the children's workforce. And whilst not every member of staff or volunteer needs the same level of knowledge or training when it comes to working with young people, it's still very important that people in your organisation understand their responsibilities and have the support they need to fulfil their role effectively.
You can click here to find out more about children's workforce development in Doncaster. Detailed below is some more information about an integrated approach to workforce development through the One Children's Workforce Framework.
The One Children's Workforce Framework
The one children’s workforce framework was developed to provide a simple vision of what an integrated workforce looks like. It aims to help everyone work better together to get the best result for children and young people. You can find out more about the framework and children's workforce development by visiting the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) website.
The framework has eight strands:
Shared identity, purpose and vision. This is about everyone in Doncaster working towards the same end and feeling part of one workforce, focused on improving the lives of children and young people. A good guide to what a positive outcome would look like is that everyone in Doncaster who works with children and young people sees themselves as part of one workforce and shares a common purpose and vision of success about improving children and young people’s lives.
Common values & language. This is about everyone sharing the same belief in helping to improve the lives of children and young people. It is also about using plain English and cutting out jargon to ensure that everyone understands what is going on whilst still acknowledging that specialist language has a time and place.
Behaviours focused on positive outcomes for children and young people. Everyone who is part of the children and young people’s workforce should behave as part of a team around the child and young person. The aim is for everyone to share a common ambition – to want the best possible future for children and young people and be ambitious about achieving this.
Integrated working practices. Integrated working practices is about having the right tools, processes and culture to allow everybody to work in an integrated way.
High quality, appropriately trained workforce. Having the right people with the right skills feeling confident, prepared and working well together. Having positive leadership and a clear direction – the staff or volunteers are high quality and well trained. And importantly, every member of the team recognises the value of every other team member’s input.
Complementary roles focused around children and young people. This is all about working well together – different jobs, organisations and professions working well together towards one goal to get the best result for children and young people.
Capacity to deliver & keep children safe. This is about having enough people in the right place at the right time to deliver your service. It also means having enough staff to keep children and young people safe.
Outcome focus. This is about everything being done for a reason – better lives for children and young people and their families. That every child and young person has the right to be healthy, to stay safe, to enjoy life and achieve, to make a positive contribution and to achieve economic well‐being.
Children's Workforce Development in Doncaster
Doncaster Council has recently published its Children's Workforce Development Strategy and there is a local workforce development board which is overseeing children's workforce development in Doncaster. You can click here to find out more about children's workforce development in Doncaster, including the support available to your organisation.
