Social Worker -Children-vulnerable children

Location South Gloucestershire
Salary £36.00 - £38.50 per hour
Discipline

Transitions to Independence (Care Leavers / Leaving Care) Team Senior Social Worker per regional MoU  (Limited Co, reduced accordingly if PAYE). As we a hybrid working, the successful applicant should be capable and willing to work from Badminton Road (BS37 5AF) Previous experience within Care Leavers or Looked After Children is essential, previous experience should be in depth, good placement durations and infrequent changes to roles. Experience supervising non-qualified staff would be beneficial

About the role
Working in a team in either Access and Response Team, Social Care Long Term, or Corporate Parenting, under the guidance of the Team Manager the post holder will hold a child care case-load where complex and sensitive issues are at stake, will lead and supervise a small team, and will deputise for the Team Manager when required, with support and guidance from other Team Managers. It is expected that this will usually be for a maximum of four weeks at any one time.
Working in a multi-agency context, the post holder will ensure vulnerable children and young people are identified, protected and supported to achieve positive outcomes through the provision of well planned, integrated and coordinated services.
The post holder will promote effective partnerships with those providing preventative and/or specialist services in the public, private, community and voluntary sectors as well as with children young people and their families to achieve the best possible outcomes.
The post holder may also be involved in the recruitment and development of staff and this may include volunteers/partners/foster carers etc.
The post holder may also undertake the role of Practice Educator in terms of assessing, developing and mentoring student and newly qualified Social Workers (usually one to two per year).
The post holder will use a significant degree of professional expertise, together with knowledge of the extensive statutory framework that governs the duties and processes and timescales in relation to this area of work.
• Under the guidance of the Team Manager, the post holder will also take a lead role in developing professional practice in the team.
EITHER
Postholders will focus on mentoring less experienced social workers to ensure an understanding of good and outstanding practice
OR
Take a lead in a specialist area of work or service development. e.g. in relation to court proceedings, looked after children, child sexual exploitation, children affected by domestic abuse, , young people leaving care, young people who are missing, children whose parents suffer mental ill health, children whose parents have learning disabilities, children whose parents have drug and alcohol problems, mental capacity assessments with more of a focus on:
• Practice development in relation to our practice model and the development of colleagues.
• To lead group learning and development sessions, with both social care and partner agency colleagues
• Contributing and delivering workshops
• Making links with universities to maintain up to date knowledge which will promote evidence based practice and inform relevant research
Physical Effort and Working Environment (other than in a normal office environment)
Regular requirement to visit a range of settings which will include visits to service users homes.
About the team
The post holder will work in the Social Care section and will work in one of the following areas:
• Access and Response - Managing initial preventative and social care contacts for the Integrated Children’s Service – Screening and assessment including Child Protection investigations.
• Social Care Long Term - in one of four locality teams (two north and two south) covering Child Protection and Children in Need.
• Corporate Parenting – in one of three teams:
• Looked After Children - Manages all children in care work and care leaver cases.
• Fostering and Adoption - Recruitment, assessment and support of foster carers and adopters; assisting in family finding and matching of children and young people who need to be cared for outside of their family of origin.
• Transition to Independence Service – Supporting children who are leaving care and other vulnerable young people.
The post holder will directly line manage a small number of non-professionally qualified social work staff (such as Social Work Assistants). The post-holder will deputise for the Team Manager in the Team Manager’s absence with support and guidance from other Team Managers. It is expected that this will usually be for a maximum of four weeks at any one time.
About the wider section/function
This post sits within Integrated Children’s Services, which is divided into:
• Preventative Services – Providing early intervention and preventative services; Children's Centres, Parenting & Family Support, Youth services, Common Assessment Framework (CAF), Troubled Families.
• Access and Response - Managing initial preventative and social care contacts for the Integrated Children’s Service – Screening and assessment including Child Protection investigations.
• Social Care Long Term – Covering Child Protection and Children in Need.
• Corporate Parenting – Comprising; Fostering & Adoption, Looked After Children and Transition to Independence.
Promoting working in partnership with colleagues from Integrated Children’s Services and other agencies/partners is essential to ensure that multi-agency packages of support are provided to children and families and to ensure better outcomes for them.
Problem solving and decision making examples
The senior social worker will have specific responsibility for statutory decision making alongside and in the absence of the Team Manager, relating to the service area for which they are responsible. S/he will support the Team Manager to ensure the delivery of high quality, effective services, including;
• Contributing to decision-making to ensure the efficient management and deployment of resources
• Managing staff and team performance, identifying areas of concern and working with relevant managers to develop solutions and actions to ensure under-performance is improved.