Areas of employment

Adoption is one option available where a child is unable to be brought up in his or her birth family. It aims to provide a loving family life for the child, who becomes a member of the adoptive family through the legal process of adoption. Adoption agencies provide support to the people involved in this process:

• to children and young people going through the adoption process
• to children, young people and adults who have been adopted
• to birth families
• to adoptive parents and prospective adoptive parents

Workers in adoption agencies can be professionals in a number of fields including social work, counselling, occupational therapy, clinical psychology and management. They usually also undertake additional learning and training in the field of adoption.

Click here to find out more about specialist learning in adoption from BAAF (British Association of Adoption and Fostering)

Click here for a printable version of this information.

These care homes provide accommodation with care and support to children and young people who are assessed as in need of this service on a short or long term basis. Where required, there may also be the provision of nursing care. Workers in such care homes must be very sensitive to the needs of children and young people, be good communicators and possess huge amounts of empathy and patience for children and young people who have sometimes experienced abuse, neglect or trauma. At the very least their circumstances will have been difficult for one reason or another, or for many reasons.

Care homes for children and young people also include respite care homes. These homes usually cater for children and young people with disability, providing short periods of care and support as a break for them and their families.

Once in employment, workers in these services are required to register with the Scottish Social Services Council in one of the following categories:

• Residential child care worker
• Supervisor
• Manager

Click here to find out more about the learning opportunities available from the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care (SIRCC)

Click here for a printable version of this information.

Foster care and family placement services have a wide range of provision in the statutory local authority and independent sectors. They may provide long term placements or short breaks for children and young people when their family is unable to provide care. The services include

• recruiting, selecting, approving, training and supporting foster carers
• matching children and young people with foster carers
• supporting and monitoring foster carers

Social workers are generally employed to carry out these tasks. Foster carers come from a wide variety of backgrounds and need to be people who are able to take children and young people into their homes as family members for the time that they are with them. They need to be genuine, warm and loving people willing to make a personal emotional investment in the children and young people they look after. They also need to be prepared to learn about what foster care involves and some of the professional knowledge and skills of care practice. Foster carers are increasingly taking the opportunity to undertake SVQs and other qualifications as the professionalism of their role is recognised.

Click here for a printable version of this information.

Click here to find out about becoming a foster carer

School care accommodation services are provided to ensure that children and young people can attend school. They provide accommodation, for example, in the school or outside the school in a hostel. The settings include:

• school hostels
• residential special schools
• independent boarding schools

Once in employment, workers in these services are required to register with the Scottish Social Services Council in one of the following categories:

• school hostel workers and workers in residential special schools (practitioner level)
• school hostel workers and workers in residential special schools who have supervisory responsibilities
• managers of school hostels and managers of residential special schools
• house staff in independent boarding schools (practitioner level)
• managers of independent boarding schools

Click here for a printable version of this information.

SSSC has developed a separate web-resource to provide information on early education and child care. This can be accessed at:

http://workforcesolutions.sssc.uk.com/EYpathways/