Children's Social Worker Child Protection Court

The role

• We are looking for experienced Social Workers to help us on our improvement journey. Come and join us on our Restorative Journey of Improvement to gain the best for children and families in Herefordshire.
• Working within the Child Protection Court Team you will thrive bringing your knowledge and experience to these face-paced teams. You will work closely with colleagues from multiple professions to ensure that the voice of the child is always heard.
• You will be fully qualified (DipSW, CQSW, CSS or equivalent), with a minimum of 2 years experience in statutory social care. Confident in managing a complex caseload, with strong report and experience of taking the stand and giving oral evidence you will be dedicated to improving the lives of children and families within Herefordshire.

Job Description

Senior Practitioner CP Court

Main purpose of the role

The main role of the job is to contribute to the safeguarding and support for children and their families who are in need of services. It includes contributing to the management and professional supervision of a team of social workers and ensuring effective use of all delegated resources.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage a caseload of complex cases to ensure resources are utilised effectively.

• Maintain continual professional development in social work practice.

• Use professional skills and experience to provide supervision and practice management to team members to ensure compliance with national and departmental policies, procedures and quality standards.

• Support team members to further their professional knowledge and development to improve the overall quality of practice.

• Attend court, where appropriate, to assist the team in ensuring that key professional input and expertise is provided to high profile and sensitive cases.

• Budget oversight

• Role model best practice

• Performance management of staff

• Liaise regularly with peer colleagues throughout the Directorate to ensure social work staff deliver existing and new practices consistently and to a high standard across the Directorate.

• To carry a workload which predominantly consists of highly complex cases.

• To undertake specialist roles within the team or area as required.

• To develop and keep up to date with specialist areas of knowledge and practice as required, and to make this knowledge/expertise available to the team, area or division as appropriate.
• To participate in the recruitment and selection of staff as appropriate.

• To contribute to the professional development of team members, by undertaking particular responsibilities with regard to less experienced staff and by advising other staff on particular areas of case management
• To represent the division and/or the department on non-case-related issues.
• To assist in the investigation of complaints within the Departmental Representation and Complaints Procedure.
• Plan, implement and evaluate the outcomes of social work interventions with children and young people
• Develop effective working partnerships with those with parental responsibility, carers and significant others in the life of the child or young person.
• Fulfil responsibilities in accordance with the statutory and relevant Directorate, procedures and guidance.

• Provide leadership and performance management to secure the following outcomes, to:

• Ensure safeguarding standards are agreed, understood, implemented and monitored throughout;
• Ensure that assessments are completed within the statutory timescales and are of a high analytical quality;

• Ensure there is equity of access and opportunity to be healthy, safe and to learn and achieve for all children open to the team;

• Contribute to operational development of the service that supports the whole system approach to integrated practice;

• Promote the voice of the child and ensure all children and young peoples plans are robust, SMART and are in a language that the children and their families will understand;

• Ensure recording practices are safe and secure and routinely monitored;

• Ensure that planning of service and team development takes account of assessed need and results of regulatory inspections, where relevant;

• Work in partnership with other agencies;

• Ensure children, young people and their families are routinely involved in evaluating and developing services to meet their needs;

• Comply with relevant legislation and guidance to ensure delivery of services that are high performing against national standards to include working to timescales identified in the PLO;

• Effectively manage performance issues and review the process through appropriate departmental policy and procedures;

• Contribute to the induction of all new staff in consultation with managers and the workforce support officer.

Person Specification

Qualifications and Training

• A recognised social work qualification and registered as a social worker with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

• Evidence of continual professional development e.g. Post Qualifiying Award or portfolio of CPD evidence.

Experience & Knowledge

• Substantial diverse experience working with children and families.

• Experience of supervising or mentoring others.

• Experience of managing duty systems and team building work.

• Providing consultation, mentoring and developing qualified staff/Social Work Assistants or equivalent.

• Up to date and working knowledge of relevant legislation.

• Working knowledge of procedures relating to Looked After Children, Children in Need and Children in Need of Protection.

• Expertise and understanding of child development and attachment theory.

• Good understanding of relevant Government policy.

Skills and Abilities

• Ability to work within an Equal Opportunities, non-discriminatory framework.

• Ability to undertake high quality assessments of need and risk assessments.

• Ability to assess effectively the performance and development needs of social work staff.

• Support the development of appropriate training.

• Act as a mentor and demonstrate teaching skills.

• Effective negotiating and interpersonal skills.

• Contribute to research and monitoring of agency functioning and effectiveness.

• Identify, attain and maintain high levels of practice.

• Ability to work to HCPC code of conduct.

• Work flexibly and in an innovative way.

Other Factors

• Ability to travel freely in and out of the county

• Willingness to work flexible hours to meet the needs of the service.

• An enhanced DBS is required.