A shift is needed from care to activation, in which new solution arrangements or innovations in 'care thinking' are central. Care and welfare will merge into what Witte calls 'welfare care'. The question is: what competences do social professionals need to have in order to create a more perspective-oriented and activating welfare system? There is a growing need for enterprising, talent-driven, social professionals who, regardless of their generalist or specialist educational background, must be able to act primarily as connectors – wickerworker/integralist – in complex situations.
Lectorate Youth at Risk
A challenge we face is in training young people for the labour market. The number of students who leave school early without a starting qualification is still a cause for concern and therefore a social threat. Innovative social professionals are needed to help these young people. However, the care and welfare sectors are still organised in a fragmented way and do not sufficiently complement each other. This reduces the decisiveness and problem-solving capacity of social professionals to offer at-risk young people prospects.
