With the year-end coming up, Skills for Care share some of the learning and development programmes for social care teams this year. They also discuss funding opportunities teams can make use of to access these. This post continues a series of contributions Skills for Care has shared over the last year with GE Insights, here are the links to their pieces of content on the website:

Attracting Generation Z to Start Careers in Care
Using Apprenticeships to Support Recruitment and Retention in Social Care

Training and Development Programmes

Forefront programme

The Forefront programme is for people working in direct caregiving roles, who want to take the first steps towards becoming leaders.

This is an online programme which allows flexibility around completion. It’s made up of two digital modules which look at how to manage challenges working in social care and how to improve diversity and inclusion in organisations.

The programme covers topics including leadership and management; equality, diversity, and inclusion; personal branding; communication skills, and career progression.

Find out more about Forefront.

Moving Up

Skills for Care’s popular Moving Up programme supports leaders from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds to take the next step in their careers.

It’s specifically tailored to tackle barriers which people from diverse backgrounds may face, covering topics including confidence, personal branding, and networking.

The programme includes a mix of self-learning modules and live online sessions and offers the chance to network with others in similar positions.

The programme has been fully booked in previous years, and dates for this year’s cohorts will be released soon.

Find out more about Moving Up.

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism

This training aims to provide the workforce with the right skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate and informed care to autistic people and people with learning disabilities.

It’s been co-produced, trialled with over 8,300 health and care staff and independently evaluated. It comes in two tiers so all staff working across all Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered services can receive the right level of training.

An eLearning package is the first part of The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training, which is now available.

Keep an eye on the Skills for Care and Health Education England websites for updates.

Find out more about the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training.

Sexual and personal relationships guide

New guidance produced in collaboration with Skills for Care and Supported Loving will support care workers in helping the people they support manage their personal and sexual relationships.

This topic has not always been openly discussed and is something the workforce can lack the confidence and skills to address without adequate training and resources.

The new training package provides basic knowledge and skills for frontline workers which addresses the importance of relationships, and the sexuality needs of people who draw on care and support.

More details will be available about this on the Skills for Care website in the coming weeks.

Workforce Development Fund

The Workforce Development Fund (WDF) is now open for applications for 2023. This funding is provided to the social care workforce by the Government and can cover some of the costs for a wide range of training programmes and qualifications.

You can claim up to £2,000 per learner per funding year, and you can claim funding for the same learner in multiple funding years, to support their ongoing personal development and career progression.

Training options could include managerial training, support with Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections, or qualifications in autism, dementia care, end of life care and more.

The funding can cover the direct cost of the training as well as associated costs, such as employees’ salaries whilst they’re undertaking training and venue costs for training.

See the qualifications, learning programmes and digital learning modules that can be covered.

You must apply for the funding by 28 February 2023, with claims due by 31 May.

Find out more about WDF and apply.

Apprenticeship funding

Apprenticeships allow you to develop your current staff on-the-job and help them to develop into new or more senior roles, through a mix of working and studying.

Funding is available from the Government to contribute towards the costs of apprenticeships for your staff.

How much is funded and how you access the funding will vary depending on whether you’re a levy paying organisation (this is all UK employers with an annual payroll of over £3million.)

Find out more about the apprenticeship funding available for different organisations and how to apply.

Find more support on learning and development with Skills for Care’s #KeepLearning spotlight.

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Training is an integral part of any social care team to ensure skills and support of patients are continually improved. Skills for Care discuss some of the training schemes social care teams can access this year and funding opportunities available to cover the costs of these development programmes.

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