SIX months after a watchdog report revealed that frequent staff changes were “negatively impacting” children in care, it has emerged that almost half of social workers currently employed in children’s services are temporary agency workers.
Out of the 86 social workers, 35 are locums.
These agency staff are covering 44 vacancies within the department – nine of which remain unfilled.
The figures were revealed by the Health Minister in response to a written question lodged by Deputy Max Andrews.
Deputy Tom Binet said: “In Adult Social Care, there is one locum senior social worker, covering a vacancy in safeguarding whilst recruitment takes place.
“In Mental Health, there is one locum social worker who finishes in the next couple of weeks.
“There are no locum or agency staff in Community Care.
“In Children’s Social Care, there are 35 social workers employed via agencies.”
It comes just six months after a report by Jersey’s care watchdog found that frequent changes in social workers and managers were “negatively impacting” children in care.
The Jersey Care Commission outlined recruitment and retention issues in the Children’s Social Care Service and Fostering Services in its most recent inspection report.
The inspection revealed that, while the service has made progress since previous assessments and is generally well-managed, “too many changes of workers and managers” are creating instability in the workforce and affecting the quality of support provided to children and foster families.
The report said: “A high staff turnover within the adoption and Fostering Service has created instability.
“The reliance on a high proportion of agency staff, who can leave at short notice, has placed the service at risk of unfinished assessments and inconsistent support for both prospective and existing foster carers and adopters.”
Children’s Minister Richard Vibert previously explained that the “nature of the work” makes it difficult to recruit social workers in Jersey.
Data from December 2023 revealed that children in care for two years or more had an average of 1.8 social workers in the previous 12 months, and 2.5 social workers in the previous 24 months.
However, the minister clarified that changes in social workers are not solely due to staff turnover but can also result from responding to a child’s needs or transfers between services.
As of December 2023, 477 children were being supported by a social worker in Jersey.
