CSW – Senior Social Worker – Child & Family Help
Job Description
Job Category : Social Care & Health Qualified (Kingston & Richmond)
Location : Guildhall Complex, Achieving for Children
Hours Per Week : 36.00
Start Date : Immediate Start
Start Time : 09:00
End Time : 17:15
Salary: £29.70
About the service
The Child and Family Help (C&FH) Team forms part of the Social Care and Early Help Directorate. The team is focused on supporting children, young people and families who need targeted early help as well as more specialist interventions, including work with children in need. Working with a range of agencies and partners, the aim of the service is to help prevent an escalation of more serious concerns and referrals into Child Protection services.
Reporting to the C&FH Team Manager, the C&FH Advanced Practitioner will be social work qualified and will supervise otherwise qualified C&FH Practitioners in the C&FH team to work with children and families in either Richmond or Kingston boroughs within both the early help and statutory frameworks. They will be based in one of our main offices, youth centres or family hubs.
About the role
The C&FH Advanced Social Worker will support, coach and share expertise with C&FH Practitioners (who are otherwise qualified) to deliver high-quality interventions aligned with AfC’s assessment, planning and intervention framework. The Advanced Social Worker will jointly conduct comprehensive whole family assessments alongside the C&FH Practitioners, maintain clear professional boundaries, establish realistic goals with families, and meticulously record all interventions. Emphasis is placed on prioritising the well-being of children and young people in decision-making and interventions.
The C&FH Advanced Social Worker has overall responsibility for the children in need that are jointly worked, ensuring children are safeguarded. The C&FH Advanced Social Worker will also support the C&FH Practitioners to coordinate and identify multi-agency partnerships (team around the child) to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people. All assessments and interventions will be recorded on case management systems. The post holder will respond to significant events in a timely and proportionate manner, escalating to management appropriately. Should the matter step-up, the Advanced Social Worker will lead on the s47 investigation to support a robust response and smooth transition when required.
In all roles across AfC the post holders will be expected to develop and lead a culture of partnership and innovation, so that services are child focussed, flexible and adaptable. The whole organisation should learn from mistakes, good practice, share knowledge and challenge existing practice to enable growth in our delivery.
About you: our role specification
Qualifications
Educated to a degree level with a relevant professional qualification in social work.
Postgraduate qualification in a relevant field i.e. social work, leadership and management.
Active Social Work England registration and proven evidence of continuing professional development
Skills and experience
Significant social work practice and experience of working with children in a safeguarding environment.
Experience of supervising case work in an early intervention and social work environment
Strong experience of positively engaging with vulnerable and high risk children, young people and families and of developing and implementing effective interventions in order to achieve sustainable outcomes.
Strong experience of working within an integrated working environment, with a range of multi-agency providers in the context of the team around the child/family.
Experience of effective recording, monitoring, evaluation and quality assurance of interventions within case work practice using a wide range of tools and Management Information Systems.
Strong awareness of risk management and safeguarding in the context of social care and early help work including statutory legislation, policy, guidance, thresholds and procedures
Strong experience of using IT to communicate, manage data and present ideas to inform others.
Ability to oversee and drive early help and social care strategy, establishing strong partnerships with local organisations, and co-producing solutions to challenges across a diverse set of stakeholders.
Knowledge of equality and a desire to work with others to promote diversity and to challenge anti discriminatory actions or practice
Skills and experience
● Strong experience working with children, young people and families with early presenting needs in
regard to neglect and family dysfunction and/or where there are special education needs
● Knowledge of relevant inspection frameworks and legislation, including the PanLondon threshold
document to ensure clear communication of the threshold of need
● An effective inquisitive, persistent and non-judgemental approach when working with vulnerable
families and the ability to translate this to support others development.
● Experience of delivering targeted parenting programs that support parents understanding and
confidence in regard to autism, ADHD, challenging behaviour, parental separation or transition
● Ability to support the team in undertaking whole family assessments using the Signs of Safety and
Wellbeing framework and tools and approaches that are based on evidence
● Able to support students and less experienced workers with developing their skills and confidence,
sharing best practice examples and offering shadowing opportunities
● Experienced in leading professional development discussions and sharing expertise
● Excellent communication skills and a strong ability to motivate and influence others.
● Experience of providing high quality assessments and interventions to Early Help families in line with
needs of the service
● Significant experience of acting as the Lead Professional for a family, co-ordinating, sharing
information, with the family and across the team around the family (TAF) with regular reviews
● Experience of working with multi-agency partners and the voluntary sector to provide
community/locality led early help
Personal attributes
A passion for Achieving for Children’s vision, mission and values (trust, value. respect) to support children and young people to live safe, happy, healthy and successful lives.
Able to use a range of digital hardware and software to support your work effectively i.e. Google
Strong organisational abilities including: time management, creative-thinking, problem-solving and multitasking.
Able to work flexibly and independently with limited management oversight, prioritising own workloads to meet demands.
Personal determination, drive, energy and ambition to achieve challenging objectives, celebrate success and deliver excellent outcomes for children using a strength based approach.
Commitment to resource-sharing and collaborative working within Achieving for Children and across organisational boundaries in the best interests of children and families.
Good communication and interpersonal skills that are open, honest, persuasive and pragmatic, including excellent negotiation and influencing skills.
Ability to demonstrate an understanding of how to handle confidential information.
