24
October 2023
Think Ahead contract extended to bolster mental health social work workforce
Applications are open for Think Ahead’s programme to train to be a mental health social worker.
The Department of Health and Social Care has extended Think Ahead’s contract to recruit and train 320 mental health social workers by 2027. The funding will be used to recruit 160 graduate trainees in 2024 and again in 2025.
Think Ahead is a national programme which attracts thousands of people every year to a career in social work, supporting the national mental health workforce. Think Ahead trainees combine academic learning with direct on-the-job experience, making a difference to people’s lives and to workforce pressures right from the very start.
Philippa Mariani, Chief Executive:
“We are delighted by this opportunity to continue bolstering the workforce: finding, training and supporting compassionate and dedicated trainees who can help change the lives of the people they support”.
The contract extension includes an ambitious target to recruit and train more men as mental health social workers (30% of each yearly cohort); this is against a wider social work context in which men are underrepresented in the workforce (around 18%).
This sits alongside ambitious targets to increase the number of trainees from Black, Asian, and ethnically diverse backgrounds, and ensure cohorts represent the communities they serve. In addition, Think Ahead is committed to ensuring long-term retention of trainees, giving them the support and skills to be part of the mental health and social work sectors for years to come.
The announcement comes as part of national efforts to recruit and train mental health practitioners to meet the growing mental health needs of people across the country. The new social work trainees will be placed in mental health teams, including learning disability and autism teams within NHS and local authority settings across England. The accelerated nature of the programme means each trainee will be fully qualified as a social worker in one year, and in the second year of the supported programme they will extend their understanding and professional impact with a Master’s degree in social work practice.
Philippa Mariani, Chief Executive, Think Ahead, said:
“Investment in the workforce is vital. Without it we cannot hope to give people the mental health support they need and deserve. We are proud to have already trained around 1,000 social workers, who are making such a valuable difference to people’s lives from the very start of their career. We are delighted by this opportunity to continue bolstering the workforce: finding, training and supporting compassionate and dedicated trainees who can help change the lives of the people they support”.
Lyn Romeo, Chief Social Worker in the Department of Health and Social Care, said:
“I am delighted that the Think Ahead programme will continue and expand to enable more people to qualify as social workers working with people, their families, and communities to support and enable them to have the best possible lives. We know that mental ill health affects people across the life course and that social workers working with people in many areas will be providing support in relation to their mental health often alongside other multiple needs. It is essential we invest in and develop social work capacity and capability to provide the right support at the right time for those we are here to serve”.
Applications to train as a mental health social worker with Think Ahead in 2024 opened on the 17 October 2023.
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