ABSTRACT
From the previous chapters it will be clear that services for children and families are in the process of fundamental change. In addition to impacting on the way government, local authorities and services are organised and function this change has brought a substantial level of change to the workforce. Many of the targets set out in policies, such as the government’s response to the workforce consultation exercise (HM Government, 2006a); confirm that the pace of this change will continue.Although it is not possible to be certain the exact path this will take the next decade, it can be said with a high degree of certainty that the children’s workforce will look substantially different by 2015.When the idea of integrated working is discussed it may initially seem that although there will be some change for practitioners, the majority will fall to service organisation and service providers (particularly managers). Historically this was often the case, but current and proposed changes are likely to have the most significant impact on the workforce – practitioners who deliver services on a day-to-day basis.This will provide both challenges and opportunities to practitioners across the whole workforce. The main areas of change for the workforce are around capacity, modernisation and skills development.This chapter explores some of these proposed changes and critically discusses the potential benefits and challenges that will come from this change programme for practitioners.As part of the discussion, this chapter raises the question: if the aim is to develop a world-class workforce for the child and family sector, do current structures and organisation of services have the potential to achieve this ambition?
