Childrens Senior Social Worker 5 yrs +

Job Category : Social Care & Health Qualified

Location : Laurence House, Lewisham Council

Hours Per Week : 35.00

Start Date : Immediate Start

Start Time : 09:00

End Time : 17:00

Hybrid Working

Use of a Rota currently

Good Access to transport links , Catford Bridge Station is 3 min walk. Pre booked Parking available.

In Lewisham Children’s Social Care, we know what good social work looks like and we are passionate about creating the right conditions and culture for good practice to thrive.

Families are respected and supported to stay together, whenever there is safety.

Families will tell us they understand why we are involved.

Children will tell us their social worker has made a difference to their lives.

Children who are in our care know we care, and we won’t give up on them.

Young people who have been in our care feel confident about their future.

We have taken a whole system approach to improving our services to children and young people in our borough using ‘Signs of Safety’ as our practice model. Ofsted recognised the progress we have made noting that:

• Staff talk positively about their manageable caseloads, regular supervision, team meetings and access to a range of training, including the social work model of practice.

• Senior leaders demonstrate a clear focus on hearing the voices of children to develop and improve services.

• Leaders know the service well. They have a clear understanding of areas for development that are being appropriately addressed.

We are making progress but need passionate, creative and energetic social workers, managers and leaders to get us where we want to be. Could this be you?

Key Skills

– An ability to work in a fast -paced environment and prioritise.

– Daily allocation of MASH referrals, screening using the SOS Framework (discussions with the referrer, parents, and young person. Consideration for MASH Enquiries to inform Threshold.

– An ability to show good multi agency working.

– A good understanding of threshold

– An ability to use Tools to inform decision making.

– An ability to demonstrate knowledge and skills with complex and diverse range of needs.

– An ability to make decisions in a timely manner.

– Safety Planning

1. To work as part of a multi agency team, ensuring integration and seamless delivery of services to service users and their carers.

2. Ensure risk management and adult safeguarding is effectively embedded within practice and responded to appropriately. Be aware of any potential children’s safeguarding concerns and liaise as appropriate with Children’s Social Care Services taking into account children’s safeguarding procedure.

3. In personal professional practice (and that of supervised staff) promote an ethos of helping people help themselves or one another through initiatives to facilitate and support increased individual and community capacity. This includes utilising own resources, promoting social inclusion and community networks, reciprocal support and sustainable caring roles, through taking a strength based approach to assessment.

4. Maintain a strong focus on improved outcomes around independence and personalisation, including the promotion of enablement and linking the service user to community based support services that enhance personal wellbeing.

5. Promote the principles of self directed support and outcome based support planning, enabling service users and their carers to make choices about how their Personal Budget is managed and the services purchased to meet agreed outcomes.

Skills

Able to supervise the professional casework of a number of staff , to record supervision, management overview and offer feedback and advice

Able to chair meetings and case conferences

IT skills across a range of systems and tools e.g. social care client database, e-mail, internet based programmes, word processing, financial database.

Excellent writing skills in order to record casework and prepare complex reports

Has good communication skills and is able to relate well to service users, families and other professionals.

Experience

Previous post qualification experience of working as a social worker, in particular work with adult service users.

Experience of working with service users who have complex needs that require frequent interventions to support their changing needs.

Significant experience working in the area of adult safeguarding and managing significant risk

Experience working with service users who are “difficult to reach” who have been socially excluded.

Experience working with service users and their families where there is an extensive breadth/depth of need and economic deprivation.

Experience of chairing meetings and handling interpersonal conflict

Experience of working with service users and advocates where the service user does not have mental capacity.

General Education

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF QUALIFICATIONS ARE AN ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENT ORIGINAL CERTIFICATES ONLY WILL BE ACCEPTED, THESE WILL BE VERIFIED AT START OF APPOINTMENT.

Qualified and Registered Social Worker