CAREER DEVELOPMENT.

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Ann Harrison, development manager for social care, Children's Workforce Development Council

A future where a child or young person deals with just one lead professional within a multiprofessional team is set to become reality through the Children's Workforce Development Council.

Set up last April, the council is improving the lives of children, young people and families by providing training, qualifications, support and advice.

Part of our remit is to create the Integrated Qualifications Framework. This will bring together qualifications for people working with children and young people and provide clear career pathways while retaining specialisms and professional identities.

The framework will create a more mobile workforce and new career options. It will help people see where their qualifications fit and understand how they can develop their career across, as well as upwards, in the children and young people's sector.

This will mean change for the workforce. New roles and ways of working will emerge. Some of the key elements will be:

• The development of the lead professional who will champion cases in a multi-professional team setting. This will help us improve services through a delivery targeted to individual needs.

• The creation of a service where children and young people with multiple and complex needs can share in the decisions around their own care.

• Common assessments will ensure intervention is earlier and more effective. Routine information sharing will strengthen this process.

• By encouraging multi-professional working and offering the right training, support and advice, some of the new roles will emerge naturally.

The council will work closely with front-line staff in developing the framework to ensure our approach is safe and effective in practice. We are learning from examples of best practice in the children's trust pathfinders. We are investigating how we can create a structure that enables practitioners to work across services and professions, depending on local needs.

Creating a world-class workforce will mean change. This is a real opportunity to put children, young people and families at the heart of such an important service.

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