by political editor Paul Francis

Kent County Council is turning to America and Europe to recruit social workers and fill vacancies for key frontline jobs.

The council has recently offered positions in its social services department to 19 American social workers following a recruitment drive in Boston in September.

It is now considering recruiting English-speaking social workers from Germany.

Many authorities have been struggling to fill vacancies in the wake of the Baby P scandal, which badly damaged the profession’s reputation and led to worsening staff shortages.

A national campaign backed by celebrities was recently launched to boost recruitment but despite that, KCC - in common with many authorities - is continuing to face difficulties appointing staff.

The 'Baby P’ scandal has also led to an increase in the number of referrals to social services departments as a result of heightened concerns over children at risk. That in turn has placed additional pressure on child protection teams.

Cathy Yates, head of children’s services at KCC, said September’s visit to recruit from America was the continuation of an initiative that began two years ago.

“The background to it is a national drop in recruitment of qualified and experienced social workers, which is not unique to Kent. We recruited through an American agency two years ago. There is a national shortage of qualified social workers and many authorities are looking to recruit in countries where there is an over supply,” she said.

The authority was careful to ensure that those it recruited from abroad were provided with suitable training and induction programmes before they began their jobs.

The council was now considering a similar initiative involving recruitment from Europe.

Earlier this year, KCC had around 100 unfilled vacancies but it has now invested £1.2million into a drive to recruit staff to new posts.

A report published in February highlighted how in some parts of the county vacancy rates among social services staff were as high as one in four and that on average, about one in five posts was unfilled.