SACSSP Report to Portfolio Committee for Social Development

1. BRIEFING REPORT: SOUTH AFRICAN COUNCIL FOR SOCIAL SERVICE PROFESSIONS (SACSSP) TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT President- Ms. Marilyn Setlalentoa

2. INTRODUCTION Topics to be discussed: • Introduction • Objectives and Role of the Council • Role and Functions of Professional Boards • Transformation Agenda of the Council • Activities of the Council • CEO’S/REGISTRARS OFFICE • EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT • POLICY AND ADVOCACY • PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT • Partnering with the Department of Social Development and other social service partners • Challenges • Conclusion

3. INTRODUCTION • The Council is indeed very grateful for the recognition given the social work profession in the budget speech of Minister Trevor Manuel, as this is the oldest profession of the social service professions. As psycho-social problems in our country increase, so is the demand for more social service professionals, especially social workers that are in the coal face of services to vulnerable groups. • The Council noted with concern a decrease in the number of newly qualified social workers and others leaving the country. Some of the reasons expressed are:

4. INTRODUCTION (Conti… • Salaries for government are still not attractive, in spite of recent increases in the salaries and improvement in opportunities for a career path for the profession • NGOs are paying far less than government • Working conditions are notconducive • The challenge however is for all social services professions and stakeholders to work together towards ensuring the achievement of ”social cohesion and human solidarity”.

5. INTRODUCTION (Conti… • The mere fact that Minister Trevor Manuel repeated the statement made by the former President Nelson Mandela that “people’s lives hold equal value”. The 2007 budget placed the people of South Africa therefore in the centre. The challenge however, is for all social services stakeholders to work together towards ensuring the achievement of ”social cohesion and human solidarity”. • By its nature social development is concerned about bringing people together. Because human life has equal worth, Government is building the social work profession to contribute in assisting people in achieving social and economic development. • The Department of Social Development is at the centre to reach vulnerable group and the need for more social service professionals is well addressed in the budget speech.

6. INTRODUCTION (Conti… • As poverty remains still one of the challenges in our country, social security and social welfare services are of paramount importance to improve the social functioning of our people. • Involving communities in developmental programmes would reduce dependency on the state and would contribute to economic growth because the approach will provide job opportunities. • Social service professionals should be trained in a way that would contribute economic development of our people, hence the critical role Continued Professional Development (CPD) would play. • Multi-disciplinary approach of is critical in the rendering of holistic services to communities.

7. OBJECTIVES AND ROLE OF THE COUNCIL In terms of the Act the Council’s comprehensive role can be summarised as follows: • Council is the determining, guiding and regulating body in South Africa. Council therefore fulfils this role by setting the standards for education and training of practitioners and by taking policy resolutions as guidelines for the practice of social service professions under its auspices. • Council is the protector of the interests of the clients. This role is executed by Council, leading the social service practitioners, in maintaining the ethical standards of practice (by giving guidance and by taking disciplinary action when necessary, in terms of the Act). • Council also promotes the interests of those who are registered with it, for instance, practitioners may obtain advice from the Council regarding the handling of situations in their practise.

8. Role and functions of Professional Boards The role and functions of the professional boards are as follows: • Establish registers for the practitioners under their auspices • Establish the criteria for their registration • Determine the acts or omissions which shall constitute unprofessional conduct • Formulate the code of ethics to be followed in the practising of the profession concerned.

9. Transformation Agenda of Council The Council appointed a Transformation Committee to attend to transformation matters including the ff: • Restructuring of the structure of the Council to address equity and operations to promote efficiency and responsiveness to the sector • Demarcation of the fields of services i.e. Professionalisation vs Specialisation • Review of the Social Service Professions Act, 110 of 1978, jointly with the Department

10. STATISTICS OF REGISTERED PERSONS

11. STRATEGIC PLAN • In presenting the strategic plan for the 2007/08 financial year, we outline our intention to streamline social service professions, to promote efficiency, prevent duplication and to maximize service delivery in respect of social development as well as positively contribute to “social interventions of joint efforts among all South Africans to improve social cohesion” as mentioned by President Mbeki in his State of the Nation Address. • The Social Service Professions Act, 110, 1978 is the guide to ensure true collaboration. • VISION AND MISSION • A professional Council striving for social justice through guiding, enabling, and empowering the social service professions to promote and enhance developmental social welfare in the interests of their various social service client groups. • Serving the interest of social service professionals • Education and training • Ethical conduct and • Professional service STRATEGIC PLAN SACSSP • SACSSP employees to excel • Client centricity • Foresight and Visionary thinking • Positive attitude/optimism • Trustworthiness • Respect for the individual • Understanding as well as buying into the strategic vision/ mandate of the Council

12. PROGRAMMES AND PRIORITIES 2007/08 PPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT CEO’S/REGISTRARS OFFICE • Create awareness amongst the public about the code of conduct expected from social service professionals • Educate communities about their rights and recourse if social service professionals violate these rights • Educate social service stakeholders about ethics and the role Council play in ensuring adherence to these ethics by social service professionals • Research into Trends pertaining to Disciplinary • Compile a compendium of previous cases for social work students to use during training • Policy development to govern the relationship between Council and Boards • Processing of Regulations • Professionalizing other occupational groups • Financial sustainability of the Council and the Professional Boards • Expansion of registers of the social service professions

13. PROGRAMMES AND PRIORITIES 2007/08 (Conti… EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT POLICY AND ADVOCACY • Continuing Professional Development(CPD) • Determine more specialised fields in Social Work • Learnership in Social Auxiliary Work (SAW), Child and Youth Care (CYC) etc • Develop minimum standards for the education and training of social auxiliary workers and social workers • Finalise and publish the regulations for registration of child and youth care workers • Compliance with norms and standards for IHL • Enhance image profession • Development and implementation of Communication strategy • Constituency consultation • Management of media

14. PARTNERSHIPS WITH VARIUOS SOCIAL SERVICES STAKEHOLDERS

15. Future partnering projects • Joint strategy for mitigating impact of HIV/AIDS on professionals • Accelerating education and training of more social workers and social auxiliary workers • Continuous professional development (reorientation of social service professionals e.g. on customer care)

16. Future partnering projects (cont.) • Establishment of more specialities in social work, in line with the recruitment and retention strategy for social workers • Registration of new professions e.g. development practitioners • Provincial visits to employers of social workers, to assess compliance with norms and standards • A conference for the sector where the unified professional association for social workers will be launched

17. CHALLENGES • To enhance the image of the social service professions, through marketing and continued professional development • To provide guidelines to the various occupational groups in terms of scope of practice, standards for education and training and the code of ethics • To create awareness amongst civil society about the code of ethics of social service professionals

18. CHALLENGES (cont.) • To professionalize various unregulated groups of occupations that render inferior services to vulnerable groups • To ensure financial sustainability of all professional boards • To clarify the roles and responsibilities of the Council versus the Professional Boards in relation to the Council’s role as the juristic person and the accounting institution • Registration of child and Youth care workers – Acceleration of the consultation process to enable the finalisation of the regulations and database to be able to register them

19. CONCLUSION • Council sincerely appreciates this opportunity to present to the Portfolio Committee on issues of common interest that are meant to improve the sector and challenges faced by our country

20. THANK YOU