Job Title: Qualified Social Workers – Family Safeguarding and Initial Response Services
Location: Walsall
Salary: £33,448 – £38,506 per annum plus relocation package of up to 25% of starting Salary (conditions apply)
Job Type: Full Time, Permanent
Closing Date: 3rd January 2021
The Role:
The Children’s Social Care branch has recently launched the Family Safeguarding Model with support from the ‘Strengthening Families, Protecting Children Programme’ and investment from the Department for Education. This has involved creating Family Safeguarding Teams that include Social Workers, and Specialist Practitioners to support parents experiencing domestic abuse, mental health problems or drug and alcohol misuse. This approach is about:
- Safeguarding children, where possible by working with and supporting their parents and family
- Providing a response, needs led service to children and families
- Shared group case supervision and co-working within the Family Safeguarding Team, and close, supportive relationships with partners
- The use of tailored parenting support and programmes.
- A shared ethos and approach based on Motivational Interviewing Skills
- A more effective approach to recording based on the use of a whole family workbook and modular programme of work with families
- All staff will receive training in the model and support in its implementation. They’re now 2 months in since going live, and so there is still time to join from the start of the journey.
The purpose of Family Safeguarding is to help provide the conditions for doing Child and Family Social Work in a safe, supported way that enables great practice, which is what they’re working towards in Walsall. Family Safeguarding is a part of the wider transformation journey. Our ‘Walsall Right 4 Children’ transformation programme encompasses all Children’s Social Care, Education, Early Help and their partner agencies to make sure that the right children and young people receive the right help at the right time.
This year, they’ve remodelled the services to move into a locality way of working to enable Social Workers to be part of the communities they serve and build stronger links with partners and communities. They also have created a bespoke adolescent service ‘Turning Point’ and launched a Family Drug and Alcohol Court with partners in the region.
What they can offer:
By choosing to join them you will receive a package of benefits and support. These include:
- A generous annual leave entitlement offering a minimum 27 days leave per year plus 9 concessionary days and in addition to a flexible working scheme that allows up to a further 12 days leave per year
- Access to an award winning pension scheme
- All staff receive training in Restorative Practice and Motivational Interviewing, as well as other key methods and tools to support family-led decision-making and relationship-based social work.
- They’re committed to a staff wellbeing programme to recognise and support staff, recognising that to keep children safe and support families, social workers need to feel safe and supported
- They have a career pathway that moves from an ASYE programme recognised as a national example of good practice, to a Core Training offer for all Social Workers, to new Practice Supervisor Pathway and Team Manager Programme to support more experienced Social Workers in their development.
- This is part of a focused approach to staff development in their Annual Performance Conversations, and opportunities for individual continuing professional development activities linked to specialisms and interests, as well as the Practice Educator PEPs Level 1 and 2.
- They hold regular celebration events, service and practice development days, and staff engagement forums. They want to hear from you and improve and grow based on what you tell them!
- You will have your own direct work toolkit and access to a range of direct work resources and tools in your locality area
- They have a genuine commitment to equality of opportunity for all staff – they aim to employ a representative workforce that reflects the communities they serve
Please click on the APPLY button to complete your application at the council’s careers page.
This post is covered by the Government’s Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers. The post holder will be required to communicate verbally with customers and provide advice and/or information in accurate spoken English.
The Council takes seriously the responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the children and young people entrusted to their care and it is their expectation that all staff will share this commitment. They will ensure continuous development and improvement of robust recruitment processes and procedures that promote a culture of safeguarding amongst the workforce. Completion of an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is a requirement for working with children and young people.
