Posted By

Tags

Mandatory registration of Social workers coming

Anne Tolley

Wellington, June 10, 2017

Introduction of mandatory registration for social workers will increase their skills and professionalism so they can better support New Zealanders.

Social workers play a crucial role in supporting our most vulnerable New Zealanders. They are increasingly dealing with children, young people, adults and families with complex high needs.

Promoting proficiency

Mandatory registration will help to ensure that all social workers are well equipped to deal with our most vulnerable New Zealanders, and that they focus more on intervening early and reducing preventable harm.

As a result of mandatory registration, all social workers will have to meet the appropriate standards and undertake on-going professional development as part of renewing their annual practising certificate.

It will also mean that all social workers are accountable for their practice.

There will be processes in place to address any concerns about social work practice and any social workers who have their registration cancelled will not be able to practice again.

A majority of social workers (almost 6300), are registered.

Bill in Parliament

It is estimated that about 2000 social workers are unregistered – of this group, it is expected that nearly 60% (1200) should be able to register using their qualifications, and another 300 should be able to register using their work experience.

Legislation is expected to be introduced before Parliament rises in August.

It will restrict the use of the term social worker to those who have proved they have the required qualifications, skills and experience.

There will also be changes to simplify the current registration processes.

Modest cost

The costs of these changes are expected to be modest, and more registrations will mean that the cost per social worker will decrease.

Most of the changes will be implemented within two years to ensure a smooth transition. This will make it easier for social workers who work for smaller NGOs, and in range of settings including health and education.

This shift in professionalism supports the changes underway by the new Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki. There are a number of initiatives to streamline processes to enable social workers to spend more time with young people.

We want to ensure that social workers have more direct contact with children and young people. The Ministry will be recruiting an extra 42 social workers as a result.

Streamlined Reporting

Reporting processes are being streamlined, and a set of tools and training is being developed to support social workers to more efficiently produce reports for the Family Court.

A new mobile app for social workers has been developed to help reduce duplication of information. New finance and HR processes for site managers will also enable social workers to make quicker decisions for children and young people.

Anne Tolley is Minister of Social Development and Minister for Children in New Zealand.

Share this story

Related Stories

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Indian Newslink

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement