childcare-50years

9
provision of children's services is a human industry. With adults in
such positions of authority and power over children the Department
has approached the issue of developing and maintaining a high
quality workforce from 3 different but complementary perspectives -
regulation of the workforce, workforce planning and consistency of
practice.
New arrangements were introduced in 2001 to regulate the social
care workforce. The NISCC is responsible for developing a register of
staff and for promoting and regulating the education and training
arrangements for people who wish to work in social care. Over the
next few years specific groups of staff will be gradually incorporated
onto the register. It is planned that staff in social care services,
particularly child care services will not be permitted to practise
without appropriate qualifications, training and registration with the
Council.
Alongside the introduction of regulation of the workforce, the
Department has continued to secure training for the entire social care
workforce under the PSS Training Strategy. Attention is also being
paid to workforce planning of the social services with the intention
of producing a human resources strategy in 2003. This should outline
the way forward in planning both numbers of staff required and the
education and training arrangements in the near future.
Education and training was also reviewed in the late 1990s and a
major reform of social work education began in Northern Ireland in
October 2001, as described in detail in the previous chapter. The
incentive is to ensure a level of professional social work skill
commensurate with modern demands of quality and consistency of
practice. Accordingly the Department has welcomed the
establishment of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) in
England and Wales. This new body has been created by the United
Kingdom Government as an independent 'not for profit' organisation
to review and determine what works best in social work and social
care practice. It is required to disseminate best practice guidelines
and thereby make an important contribution to improving the
quality and consistency of both practice and provision. Rather than
create a similar body in Northern Ireland the Department proposes to
50 YEARS OF CHILD CARE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
193