Job Details
Service Group: Children, Young People and Families
Pay rate: £27.67 an hour, Full time
Division/Team: Children’s Social Care
Responsible to: Team Manager
Salary Grade: Grade 7
Location: Children and Family Support Centre/Children and Young People in Care Service or any other suitable location within the City of Wolverhampton
Job Purpose and Role
- To provide a high quality and effective social work service to respond to the needs of children and their families in a timely manner and within statutory guidelines.
- To assess need, plan and deliver focused intervention to safeguard children and promote positive outcomes.
- To undertake varied and complex casework, across early intervention and statutory levels.
- To work collaboratively with colleagues within the Social Work Unit, Children and Family Support Centre and partner agencies in order to promote the best outcomes for children and families.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
Casework
- To provide a clear, accurate and holistic assessment of a child and his/her family’s needs in line with statutory guidance.
- To understand the context of child development, parenting capacity and family and environmental factors in which to establish the needs of an individual child.
- To assess and balance risk and protective factors within a child protection framework.
- To provide written and verbal reports which are concise, informative and based on analysis of complex evidence.
- To provide focused and purposeful social work interventions with explicit aims and objectives about desired outcomes within the context of managing risk to children.
- To participate in the duty rota across Children and Family Support Areas/Social Work Units.
- To use research findings and statutory guidance to inform social work practice.
- To develop and manage Child in Need Plans, Child Protection Plans and Children and Young People in Care Plans for all children who require them in line with Statutory guidance and policies and procedures.
- To assess and utilise cash limited budgets in order to commission services and assistance from other sources.
- To build a professional relationship with children and their families and to use that relationship to safeguard children and promote positive outcomes.
- To respond in a timely manner to all contacts from children and their families.
- To deal promptly and sensitively to complaints from service users within the framework of the Council’s Complaints Procedure.
- To provide guidance and direction to family support workers and administrative officer regarding case work.
- To maintain an up to date working knowledge of legislation, statutory frameworks and codes of practice relevant to the department in order to ensure that statutory responsibilities are undertaken for children. These duties to include visiting children, arranging reviews, reporting to the court, delivering within timescales and meeting any other national and local performance targets.
- To ensure that case files are well organised, up to date and provide concise and accurate information about a child’s circumstances and plans.
- To comply with statutory guidelines for joint working, including the DfEs Working Together, the Children Act 2004 and the Wolverhampton Child Protection Procedures.
Integrated Working
- To work collaboratively with colleagues within the Social Work Unit and Children and Family Support Centre to provide early intervention and promotion of effective parenting.
- To develop effective working relationships with partner agencies at all times, where appropriate taking on the role of link worker for specific agencies.
- To assist colleagues in carrying out statutory requirements and other work as required.
- To offer support, guidance and consultation to Children and Family Support Centre colleagues and partner agencies both in relation to statutory work and early intervention assessments.
- To work closely with Children and Family Support Centre colleagues in both casework and other activities, including delivery of group work with higher tier cases.
Other Duties
- To act in accordance with the Council’s Constitution and other Codes of Conduct.
- To participate in staff development, appraisal and training as appropriate, including continuous professional development.
- To comply with the Council’s agreed policies and procedures including but not limited to Health and Safety, and Equal Opportunities Policies, the Data Protection Act, Freedom of Information Act, Financial Management Regulations and other relevant Council and Government Regulations, Directives and City wide priorities.
- To undertake any other tasks, duties and responsibilities as directed and appropriate to the grade and role of the post subject to any reasonable adjustments under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 as incorporated into the Equality Act 2010.
- To participate in the wider development of the service and contribute to service improvement as required.
- City of Wolverhampton Council is committed to Corporate Parenting.
“Corporate Parenting is the collective responsibility of the Council to provide the best possible care and protection for children who are looked after.”
Personnel Specification
- To provide a high quality and effective social work service to respond to the needs of children and their families in a timely manner and within statutory guidelines.
- To assess need, plan and deliver focused intervention to safeguard children and promote positive outcomes.
- To undertake varied and complex casework, across early intervention and statutory levels.
- To work collaboratively with colleagues within the Social Work Unit, Children and Family Support Centre and partner agencies in order to promote the best outcomes for children and families.
If you think this job role is for you, please send your CV to rebeccabentum@carringtonblakerecruitment.com
