Raising the threshold : towards the professionalisation of residential child caregivers

Abstract

This paper focuses on an essential lacuna in the social welfare provisions that address the wellbeing of children taken into care by the State. It draws attention to one aspect of out-of-home child residential care: the status and role of ‘care workers’. It highlights the importance of introducing statutory measures and resources to ensure that the frontline child care workforce is afforded the professional status that this essential role merits. The criticism of the social welfare problem outlined below is not directed at the level of individuals who are working in out-of-home child care. It is situated in the wider context in which they carry out their work. The currently proposed Child Protection (Alternative Care) Bill (CPA) is intended, inter alia, “to provide for appropriate alternative care and protection for children deprived of parental care or at the risk of being so” (Art 1 (2)). It invites reflection on the current position regarding what the Bill refers to as child ‘residential care’. The 2018 Social Care Standards Authority Act provides for ‘the regulation of social welfare provided to individuals by public or private entities…” (Art 1 (1)). These are timely and welcome pieces of legislation. However, more needs to be done.