Care at home and housing support consultation

The SSSC is consulting on the parts of the Register and qualification requirements for registration of workers in care at home services and consultation on the function descriptors for workers in housing support services.

Update: there is now an FAQ page for this consultation.

This consultation closed on 26 August 2011.

Introduction

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) is responsible for promoting high standards of conduct and practice among social service workers and high standards in their training.  One of its main responsibilities is to establish registers of key groups of social service workers.

Registration of Social Service Workers

The Scottish Government sets down which key groups of workers should be registered and the Council consults with the workforce to determine which parts of the Register should be established for each category of worker and the qualification requirements that should be set for each part of the Register.

Registration of Managers within Care at Home Services

The Council undertook a consultation from November 2009 to January 2010 about registration of managers in Care at Home services. The consultation and subsequent qualifications criteria were informed by the developing alignment between Care at Home and Housing Support services which, increasingly, are provided and managed jointly.

The proposal was that the same functional descriptors and qualifications' requirements set for managers of housing support services should also apply to managers of care at home services.   Following this consultation aligned functional descriptors were agreed and the registration of managers in each service began in January 2011.

Registration of Workers within Care at Home services

Scottish Ministers confirmed to the SSSC in March 2011 that registration of supervisors of housing support workers should commence in 2014 and that required registration of these workers would come into force in 2017; and that registration of support workers should commence in 2017 with required registration coming into force in 2020.

Scottish Ministers also confirmed that the scope of registration should be extended to include care at home workers and they should be registered alongside housing support workers

The announcement of the SSSC Register opening for supervisors and support workers in care at home and housing support services.

Functional Descriptors for Care at Home Workers

It is recognised that people who work in care at home services do so in a wide range of settings and have varying job titles. The SSSC's approach to agreeing categories of the Register for workers is to focus on the functions they undertake rather than their job titles.  The SSSC has already agreed that the parts for housing support workers should be a part for supervisors and a part for workers.  Given the merging of Housing Support and Care at Home services it is proposed that the same parts are opened for Care at Home workers.

The proposed functional descriptors are:

• Supervisors in Care at Home services: "A Supervisor is employed in providing and supervising the provision of direct care and support to a person within a care at home service 
• Workers: "A Worker is employed in providing direct care and support to a person within a care at home service".

The same principle applies in this consultation as did in the consultation of managers; namely that given the close relationship between the work undertaken in Care at Home and Housing Support services, there should be consistency in the functional descriptors used for workers in both services. Therefore, this consultation also seeks comments on the proposal to alter the existing descriptors for housing support supervisors and workers to align them with the proposed descriptors for Care at Home supervisors and workers.

Therefore it is proposed that the functional descriptor for Housing Support supervisors which is currently: 

• "Supervisors are defined as housing support workers who have responsibility for the supervision of other workers".

is amended to:

• "A Supervisor is employed in providing and supervising the provision of direct care and support to a person within a housing support service".

The current functional descriptor of a worker in Housing Support is:

• "Housing support workers are defined as workers who are employed in the provision of a housing support service as defined by section 2(27) of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001. Workers deliver general advice, assistance, counselling and support to enable clients and tenants to move into and/or remain in their homes"

It is proposed that this is amended to:

• "A Worker is employed in providing direct care and support to a person within a housing support service.

Qualifications and Fitness to Practise

The SSSC will take account, in its consultation, all the functions that workers and supervisors in care at home services carry out to ensure that the needs of people who use services and their family carers, are met effectively and consistently.

Principles

The Council uses the following criteria and principles to determine the qualifications that are acceptable for the purposes of registration with the SSSC:

The criteria are that any award:

• incorporates assessment against occupational standards or is based on the assessment of work–based competence
• is  designed to match a particular function or range of functions within the social services, or meets registration criteria set by a nationally recognised regulatory body
• is subject to a recognised and regulated form of external verification or assessment.

The key principles are that any award must:

• integrate observed, assessed practice and learning
• be recognised within a national qualifications framework
• recognise the importance of underpinning knowledge and a value base that is consistent with the Code of Practice of Social Service Workers.

It is proposed that the qualification requirements for Care at Home supervisors and workers are aligned with those previously set for Housing Support workers.  The proposed qualification requirements are set out for comment in the attached response sheet.  

Summary

The consultation aims to:

1. Identify and agree on a functional description of the role of Worker in a Care at Home Service
2. Identify and agree on a functional description of the role of Supervisor in a Care at Home Service
3. Identify and set the qualification requirements for registration of Workers and Supervisors within a Care at Home Service
4. Agree a revised functional descriptor for supervisors of a housing support service and workers in a housing support service that is better aligned with the proposals for Care at Home workers.