Senior Social Worker (SSW)

Job Description

Job title: Senior Social Worker (SSW)
Job Category: Social Care Qualified
Location: One Avenue Road, Aston, Birmingham, West Midlands, B6 4DU, Birmingham Children’s Trust
Hours per week 36.50
Salary: £22.50 per hour
2 days in the office minimum weekly.
Job description
Senior Social Work Lead Practitioner
We are seeking an experienced and motivated Senior Social Work Lead Practitioner to provide leadership, guidance and practice expertise within Birmingham Children’s Trust. The post plays a key role in supporting high-quality social work practice, safeguarding children, driving positive outcomes for families, and embedding a culture of continuous improvement.
The successful candidate will provide lead on complex family work, champion best practice, and work collaboratively with partner agencies to ensure children receive timely and effective support. You will be a confident decision-maker with strong assessment, planning and intervention skills, committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for children, young people and their families. Experience working with children subject to child in need plans is essential.
The role is based in the Hodge Hill District, East of the City. The team is well established.

Key Responsibilities
• To act as the lead professional for children and their families in need of help and support.
• Work with families, taking a whole family approach to practice, to undertake needs-led assessments and create multi-agency support plans, leading the delivery of this.
• Lead on the delivery of multi-agency plans including providing evidence-based support to families.
• Establish a ‘Team Around the Family’ (TAF), bringing in relevant agencies and individuals to ensure services are ‘joined up’ in their approach to supporting vulnerable children and families. Facilitate multi-agency Early Help and Child in Need meetings to implement and review Family Help plans.
• Act as the Lead Practitioner for children with a range of help and support needs, ensuring appropriate escalation to the Practice Supervisor and/or Team Manager where necessary.
• Prepare and present assessments and reports to conferences, courts and panels in accordance with statutory procedures and practices as required.
• Contribute to meetings chaired by colleagues where required such as Strategy Meetings, Child Protection Conferences, Care Planning meetings and Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC).
• Engage the multi-agency child protection team (MACPT) where there are concerns about likely or actual significant harm. Where there is likely or actual significant harm, maintain coordinated support for the family and deliver the child protection plan, working alongside the LCPP and MACPT
• Build positive relationships with children and young people and promote their education, development, safety, health, and wellbeing. Build a relationship with the family and, wherever possible, remain their main point of contact for as long as they require support.
• Offer Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) to support families to find their own solutions.
• Ensure that children’s views, wishes and feelings are heard and inform their assessments and plans.
• Use trauma-informed relationship-based skills and demonstrate purposeful engagement with children and families.
• Collect, analyse, and accurately record all relevant information using the social care IT system in accordance with statutory and organisational requirements and take appropriate actions to safeguard children and promote their welfare.
• Ensure all case recording is of a high standard and up to date.
• Develop multi-agency partnerships with key agencies to support children and families with identified needs to make positive changes.
• Adhere to legislation, policy and organisational procedures to ensure a timely response to the needs of children and their families.
• Create a sustainability plan with the family, so they can refer back to the challenges they have overcome, their strengths and next steps when moving on from Family Help.
• Take responsibility for own professional development and reflective practice in line with professional development targets agreed in supervision and service practice standards.
• Attend and contribute to regular supervision, team meetings, appraisal reviews, training sessions and practice workshops as required.
• Promote equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion within the service.
• Keep up to date with changes to relevant legislation, policies, procedures and guidance. Meet the requirements for Family Help set out in Working Together and the National Framework
• Support the Practice Supervisor and/or Team Manager by undertaking any other duties commensurate with the job or needs of the service.