Social Worker - Children's Services

Posted 23rd Jan, 2024

Location

Islington

Salary/rate

£40,005 – £48,063

Hours

Full-time

Working arrangements

Blended

Contract type

Permanent

Closing date

4th Feb, 2024

This role has expired, view all current social work jobs in London

About the role

Job overview

Are you interested in professional development opportunities and the ability to practice to the best of your ability within a supportive, innovative Outstanding Local Authority? If so, Islington is looking to recruit enthusiastic and talented social workers to our Children in Need Service and our Disabled Children’s Team. As well as child in need and child protection work our Disabled Children’s Team work across the full range of statutory work including looked after children and permanency.

Main duties of the job

As a Children in Need Social Worker you will bring experience of assessing risk and making plans to safeguard children. Additionally, you will be responsible for progressing plans for sustainable change with families, and stepping up to care proceedings or stepping down to targeted services where necessary. In the Disabled children’s Team you will also be responsible for care planning for looked after children.

You will be accustomed to employing social work principles such as dignity, respect, empathy, and strength based collaborative approaches to service delivery.

As a Children and Family Social Worker you will bring experience of assessing risk and making plans to safeguard and care for children. Additionally, you will be responsible for progressing plans for sustainable change with families, stepping up to care proceedings or stepping down to targeted services where necessary, ensuring plans for all children are in place that provide for their safety, stability and permanency.

You will be accustomed to employing social work principles such as dignity, respect, empathy, and strength based collaborative approaches to service delivery.

You will understand the impact of Trauma on children and their families and implications for their ongoing needs

Motivational interviewing (MI) skills are the cornerstone of social work practice in the Children Services in Islington. To help us select the best candidates, Islington have developed a two-stage interview process. The first stage is a role play that provides an opportunity to test out applicants MI compatibility. Candidates are not required to have advanced MI skills, rather we are seeking to identify those who have the capacity to learn and develop these skills with the advanced training and feedback. Further details will be provided to all candidates who are shortlisted and offered an interview.

The benefits of this post include:

Retention bonus, Zone 1-2 Travel Card
Protected case load,
Specially designed core training package,
Professional development opportunities,
Regular reflective supervision, practice evaluation,
Local Government Pension Scheme and generous holidays,
Flexible working arrangements,
An experienced management team,
And a great working location in Islington.

This recruitment is for qualified social workers only, we will be recruiting shortly for those looking to embark on their Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) in the next round of recruitment.

For an informal discussion about the role please contact: Marc Mathison | Children in Need Team Manager | Email: Marc.Mathison@islington.gov.uk

Closing date: Sunday 4th February 2024 at 23:59
Proposed motivational and technical interview date: Wednesday 14th February 2024

Working for your organisation

Islington was rated as Outstanding by Ofsted in March 2020. Ofsted reported: “Children in Islington benefit from services that have gone from strength to strength. Senior leaders and members of the council demonstrate an unwavering commitment to improving and enriching the lives of children and their families. This is evidenced by the significant and sustained investment in children’s services, and by the wide range of highly successful initiatives that are having a positive impact on children and their families, whatever their level of need. Highly skilled and experienced staff listen carefully to children to understand their needs and ensure that plans are effective”.

What is Motivational Practice?
Motivational Practice is Islington’s Practice Model. There are core elements that underpin the practice framework that provide a set of skills around how to communicate in a helpful way with families that leads to a plan for change. Empathy underpins any form of effective work with people and motivational practice aims to build effective working relationships with families being able to identify their own reasons for change.

What Islington Will Offer You

Protected caseloads and reduced bureaucracy will allow more intensive work with families, more frequent visits and the opportunity to build transformative relationships and undertake more direct work,
A specially designed core training package to deliver goal-based interventions, use evidenced based tools, develop reflective and thoughtful risk assessment, and to measure progress,
Availability of an intensive multi-disciplinary service to enhance social work intervention where the concerns for the child are high risk,
Social workers will receive regular reflective supervision and practice development opportunities to enhance their own professional effectiveness

About you

As a Child and Family Social Worker you will be responsible for working to keep children in need of help and protection or in public care safe. You will work directly with the child or young person and their family or carer to build a working relationship that facilitates meaningful and sustainable change whilst maintaining the focus on risk. You will share and exercise the organisational practice ethos which places Motivational Social Work and trauma-informed practice at the heart of working with families. You will show a strong commitment and an ability to use evidence-based approaches throughout your practice.

Responsibilities

1) Manage the specific set of tasks relating to statutory case responsibility for children in need of help and protection and in public care, with the support of an appropriately qualified supervisor:

a) Build a working relationship with the child, family or carers to decide the best way to keep children and young people safe and bring about change ensuring that child protection is always prioritised. Observe and talk to child in their environment to help understand their physical and emotional world.

b) Identify and analyse risks and protective factors and potential impact on the child and parental capacity. Consider how impact of traumatic experiences affect the current everyday functioning and long-term development and dynamics. Set out the most relevant options for resolving the difficulties facing each child.

c) Work intensively with the child, their families and carer using evidenced-based skills- based approaches in direct work helping them to identify goals and bring about meaningful and sustainable change.

d) Review and scrutinise regularly whether the help provided is making a difference to reduce risk and adjust the plan accordingly.

e) Report risk through the line management structure, where relevant. Use supervision reflectively to discuss, debate and test hypotheses about what is happening in examining your cases. Explore not only the presenting issues but the underlying causes of risks and needs. Invest in shaping your supervision to improve your case practice and help you develop your competence and confidence as a practitioner and within your role. Engage in continuous self-evaluation of case practice through self-reflection and consultation and explore your limitations.

f) Use case recording to extend your understanding of the case and inform analysis and decision-making. Show accountability for the help being provided by producing written case notes and reports, which are well argued, focused and jargon free. Present a clear analysis and a sound rationale for actions as well as any conclusions reached, so that all parties are well informed.

g) Maintain effective working relationships with peers, managers and leaders both within the profession, throughout multi-agency partnerships and public bodies, including the family courts.

Skills

Essential criteria

Abuse & neglect in children Demonstrate the ability to assess the impact of cumulative trauma and be clear about concerns namely: sexual, physical, emotional abuse, neglect, CSE, gangs and radicalization as well as the impart of parental issues on children.
Assessments Demonstrate ability to collaboratively carry out multi-agency, in-depth and ongoing assessments of social need and risk to children with particular emphasis on capacity for change, leading to effective planning to address the impart of trauma, where the voice of the child or young person is heard, considered and clearly recorded.
Analysis, decision making, planning and review Evidence of being able to identify thresholds within the continuum of risks and needs. Ability to make clear recommendations about how to enable change to address risk and need based on evidence and professional judgement. Collaborate with the child, family or carers to set out clear goals about what needs to change and when. Evidence of drawing the relevant people into the plan, including family’s own support network, ensuring plans are purposeful and support children to reach their potential.
Role of supervision Demonstrated ability to make effective use of reflective and discussion opportunities to enhance your professional practice. Awareness of your own emotional response to the work and the ability to identify strategies to ensure a high quality of service.
Commitment to challenging inequality. Explain how your values and behaviors will support you in working in alignment LBI’s commitment to challenge inequality and fairer for all policies.

Experience

Essential criteria

Relationship and effective direct work Demonstrate evidence of building purposeful relationships balancing empathy and authority. You will show experience of direct work, working with the impact of trauma and ensuring safeguarding is always prioritised.
Communication (oral)& (written) Demonstrate evidence of communicating and listening with children and families/carers considering diversity and the need to tailor communication style to engage and motivate people to participate in support services. Produce written case notes and reports that are well argued, focused with sound analysis and rational for actions.
Demonstrate ability to engage children in their environment, understand the world in which they live and the quality of their key relationships; to recognise signs that the child may not be meeting developmental milestones, has been harmed or is at risk of harm; to utilise research and evidenced-based approaches to actively inform casework. Consider the impact of SEND on children, young people and their families.
Adult mental ill health, substance misuse, domestic abuse, physical ill health and disability Demonstrate the ability to act upon (e.g., consultation and referral to other services) adult mental ill health, substance misuse, domestic abuse, physical ill health and disability to mitigate risk to children and improve individual and family functioning.

Qualifications

Essential criteria

Social Work qualification. Must be actively registered with Social Work England. Must maintain SWE registration.
Good understanding of relevant legislation, regulation, safeguarding practices and research on what works to improve outcomes for children and families
Demonstrate skills aligned with the Motivational Practice framework (role play interview).

About Islington

Islington is one of the most vibrant areas of London, with a diverse population, a unique cultural identity and a wealth of open spaces, theatres, museums, cinemas, and galleries.

Our Children’s Social Care services have been rated by OFSTED as Outstanding and praises an “unwavering commitment to improving and enriching the lives of children and their families”

A snapshot of what we offer our social workers:

Up to 31 days leave per year, increasing to 36 days after five years of local government service
A range of flexible working arrangements to maintain a healthy work-life balance, as well as a 35-hour working week
Learning and development opportunities to maximise your potential
Competitive pay and a commitment to paying all staff the London Living Wage at minimum
Excellent local government pension scheme
Cycle to Work scheme and discounted gym memberships
Local discounts from restaurants, shops, health and beauty therapists, and more!
Lead authority for Step Up to Social Work
Social Work training through Social Work Apprenticeship Degree
Highly valued Assessed and Supported Year in Education through Islington ASYE Academy.
Access to Management and Coaching Apprenticeships
Pathways Program for first time and experienced managers
Opportunities to train as a Practice Educator

For more information and a discussion about working for London Borough of Islington, contact our Principal Social Worker Wynand McDonald, Principal Child and Family Social Worker at Wynand.mcdonald@islington.gov.uk.

This role has expired, view all current social work jobs in London

Social Worker - Children's Services

Find out more about working in Islington