Children’s social work safe staffing supply and workforce demands analysis: a case study from Northern Ireland

The matter of ensuring adequate staffing levels in children’s social work services has become increasingly prominent due to challenges related to retention and staff well-being and exacerbated by limited governmental budgetary investment. Various operational tools and policy guidelines in the UK regulate staffing across different sectors of health and social care. However, frameworks for safe staffing in social work are less developed. This study was based on qualitative and quantitative methodologies and specifically targeted Gateway and Family Intervention child protection teams in Northern Ireland, given the significant caseloads and staffing shortages within these specific team structures. The analysis unveiled systemic issues demanding systemic solutions. Frontline social workers and managers were often contending with overwhelming worker-to-caseload ratios, extensive waitlists and vacancies within teams. This analysis also assisted in defining safe staffing in social work, including service-user safety, and staff well-being and retention. These findings serve as a foundation for evidence-based strategic planning, informing the development and enactment of safer and effective social work policies and legislation in the forthcoming years.