The Honourable Brian Warr, Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development, and Jerry Earle, President of NAPE, today announced the establishment of a Joint Committee in response to the January 2020 NAPE Social Work Survey.
Through this Joint Committee, representatives from the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development and NAPE will work together to address issues identified by social workers, including such matters as safety, stress and workload.
NAPE officials met with Minister Warr and his executive on October 21, 2020, and it was agreed that these issues require immediate attention; therefore, the committee would commence directly. The first meeting of the Joint Committee is anticipated to be held this week.
If social workers would like to have more information on this work or wish to share information with committee members, they can reach out to:
- Kelly Roche, NAPE Servicing Representative – kroche@nape.ca
- Andy Parsons, NAPE Servicing Representative – aparsons@nape.ca
Quotes
“Ensuring the safety and health of our social workers is paramount. The work of our social workers is incredibly valuable and rewarding, but also challenging and complex. I hear the concerns of the department’s social workers, as well as acknowledge the challenges with recruitment, especially in rural and remote areas, and the impact this can have on the workloads of social workers. Efforts to date have brought some success, but have not resulted in resolution of all these challenges. We look forward to working with NAPE to quickly identify and implement solutions.”
Honourable Brian Warr
Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development
“We welcome the minister’s commitment to work with our union and our front line social worker members to address the multitude of concerns, obstacles, and issues this highly-skilled and dedicated group of workers have. Social workers give so much of themselves to contribute to a better life for others. This work takes a tremendous emotional and physical toll. They are struggling, and they need help. We are hopeful that this commitment and process will lead to positive change, not only for them but for those in their care and our province as a whole.”
Jerry Earle
President of NAPE
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Media contacts
Michelle Hunt-Grouchy
Children, Seniors and Social Development
709-729-5148, 682-6593
michellehuntgrouchy@gov.nl.ca
Keith Dunne
NAPE
709-631-9737
kdunne@nape.ca