Torbay Council’s in house Children’s Services Learning Academy is working with South Devon College to support its Community Care workers to complete the Level 4 apprenticeship in ‘Working with Children, Young People and Families’. The Level 4 apprenticeship course will help learners to recognise and assess the complex needs of children, young people, and families and support qualified staff to deliver any specific interventions or referrals.
The course is part of the Council’s ‘grow your own’ initiative, to boost the social work workforce via a number of routes. Once this 2-year course is completed, participants will be able to apply for a social work degree. The course seeks to equip learners with an understanding of the importance of early intervention and safeguarding work and key knowledge to help them manage risk across the spectrum of needs for children, young people, and families. It builds on previous work Torbay council have pioneered as part of their ‘grow your own initiative’, which includes a ‘Step Up’ progamme which enables graduates from professions such as teaching to fast track their social work qualification, as well as wider work the council have undertaken in collaboration with local universities.