Drive to get more men into social work

Currently the child protection workforce is predominantly female, with only 14 per cent of roles taken up by men, whilst more than half of the children in care and those subject to child protection plans are boys.

Birmingham City Council - which has 15.5 per cent of male social workers in children's services - is supporting the campaign.

Councillor Brigid Jones, cabinet member for children, families and schools, said: "As Ofsted confirmed earlier this year, we are now making steady progress in improving services for children, which reflects a tremendous amount of work done by a huge number of people. Frontline will help provide high quality development for aspiring social workers and leaders who want to make a difference to those in need in the city."

Frontline runs the largest social work training programme in the country. Today it is opening applications for 352 graduates and career changers to start the programme in 2018. In addition, over 280 individuals who began the programme in July are starting in child protection teams today.

Frontline has a track-record of attracting more men into the profession, and up to 24% of its participants in previous cohorts have been male, ten percent higher than the national figure. It is launching this campaign today to encourage more men to become social workers, as the scale of challenge to make the profession more representative is so large. Though Frontline has had some success, there remains much to do the change the perception of social work. Interested candidates can apply at www.thefrontline.org.uk

Josh MacAlister, Frontline’s chief executive: ‘For the half a million children who rely on social workers it’s crucial that they receive support from the very best professionals. Social workers can act as role models for thousands of children and young people when they are in their most difficult moments. That is why it is so important that the social work workforce reflects the communities it serves. With boys making up over half of those in care, and with such low numbers of men in the profession I encourage male graduates and career changers to apply to Frontline and make a difference to those most in need.’

For more information, please contact:

Aurora Horwood at aurora.horwood@thefrontline.org.uk (020 7167 2629) or Mark Potter at mark.potter@thefrontline.org.uk

Note to editors:

About Frontline

At least half a million children in England don’t have a safe or stable home. These children’s families face some of the worst life chances, but we know that great social work has the power to change this.

That’s why Frontline, an independent charity, was set up in 2013. We recruit and develop outstanding individuals to be social workers and leaders to transform the lives of the most vulnerable children and their families.