Main Purpose of the job:
To report directly to the Team Manager and to have a key role in supporting staffing, resources, chairing team meetings, reviewing pathway plans and supporting the Team Manager in making key decisions to promote care leavers’ life chances.
To drive forward improvement across the government’s Care Leavers’ Strategy 2016 - “Keep On Caring: Supporting Young People from Care to Independence,” with care leavers via 5 key outcome areas that a Local Authority should seek to achieve for all young people leaving care, they should:
To mentor and support Personal Advisers to ensure the service provided is effective and delivers positive outcomes for Lewisham care leavers.
To actively contribute to their development and expertise in working with Care Leavers.
To assist in ensuring care leavers in Lewisham are prepared and ready for adulthood and living independently at a pace that is right for them.
To work closely with Team Managers and to ensure the service meets the requirements set through legislation and statutory guidance and any local or national protocols for all eligible, relevant and former relevant care leavers.
Summary of Responsibilities and Personal Duties:
1. To promote the best interests of Lewisham Care Leavers in all areas of their development and their aspiration for their lives.
2. To provide a rapid and flexible response to supporting any care leaver who may experience crisis which may include the need to carry out work outside of usual working hours.
3. To mentor and support Personal Advisers working in the leaving care service, to access the necessary resources to support all care leavers to achieve their full potential.
4. To contribute to the corporate parenting ethos by encouraging and advocating for resources and support for care leavers.
5. To collaborate with and develop effective partnership working in a positive, constructive and respectful way taking into account the differing roles and responsibilities needed to improve care leavers’ life chances.
6. To support the Team Manager and Group Manager with the overall service and staff performance, quality assurance processes, resources and budgets in collaboration with key stakeholders.
7. To comply with all statutory guidance and local or national protocols.
8. To hold a caseload of the most complex care leavers and take a lead role in the coordination and development of service specific activities/projects, to support good outcomes for Care Leavers and the work of the Leaving Care Service
9. To provide a needs assessment and a pathway plan, a clear plan of work activity through ongoing support to equip care leavers to develop the skills necessary to live independently at a time that is right for them. To provide a clear focus on the outcomes to be achieved, and the standards to be met.
To provide advice and guidance and direction on complex cases and promote the active participation of care leaver and all key stakeholders in service delivery.
To chair formal and informal meetings, to make recommendations and decisions (as agreed by team manager) about cases.
12. To represent the service at appropriate multi-agency meetings where required.
13. To support the development of the service to monitor, track, review or design systems to ensure plans are developed to keep young people safe.
14. To give additional support to audit the quality of case work, pathway planning and to ensure that work done complies with agreed standards.
15.Ensure that all recording on LCS (and on other manual and computer-based recording systems required by the service) is complete and accurate.
16. To hold a reduced caseload of the most complex care leavers and take a lead role in the coordination and development of service specific activities/projects, to support good outcomes for Care Leavers and the work of the Leaving Care Service; as required by the needs of the service
17 .In conjunction with the Team Managers and Group Manager, ensure that staff are able to form and maintain professional relationships and boundaries with young people in accordance with the codes of conduct of Lewisham Council.
18. To ensure that Lewisham’s Leaving Care Service fulfil performance expectations; (as informed by the Team Managers and Group Manager) and these are met within required timescales in respect of case work activity in the service.
19. Participate in team meetings, and other management meetings and working groups as required.
20. Attend meetings and co-work on cases with PAs where necessary, and particularly in the absence of the allocated worker
21. Identify any child protection/Safeguarding concerns to the Team managers or Group manager, liaise with CP advisors and ensure that an appropriate response is made in line with policy and procedures; as agreed with a Leaving Care manager.
22. Oversee cases in the Virtual Tray to ensure that annual In Touch are carried out on all Care Leavers 21+ and proactively make attempts to contact young people, and ensure attempts are routinely recorded on the Children’s Social Care system.
23. Contribute to the co-ordination and development of the service's group-work and events programme to improve transition planning and readiness for adulthood. To participate in running support groups and events for Lewisham Care Leavers.
24. Contribute to the management of the leaving care service duty; to oversee this and to arrange duty cover to cover any periods of absence.
25. To identify any training needs to the Team manager and Group manager, and support staff development.
26. To develop specific areas of work, i.e. pathway planning, transition planning, financial prudence, greater oversight of the overarching themes for 16-25 year olds. To contribute towards service improvement and evaluate learning to develop the service priorities.
27. To undertake other duties commensurate to the grade of the post.
Internal Contacts: These include maintain contact as necessary with colleagues and managers within the Children’s & Young People’s Division, Adult’s Care Services Division, Resources Division, and Strategy and Performance Division.
External Contacts: This will include Other Directorates within the Council, other Local Authorities, and other agencies, such as the police, probation, health services, and members of the public.
To carry out the duties of the post with due regard to the Council’s Dignity at Work Policy and core values.
All employees are required to participate in the Performance Evaluation Scheme (PES) and to undertake appropriate training and development identified to enhance their work.
All employees are required to comply with the Council's Health & Safety policies and procedures at all times, taking due care for themselves, colleagues and members of the public.
Assist in carrying out the Council's environmental policy within the day to day activities of the post. Undertake other duties, commensurate with the grade, as may reasonably be required.
Consideration will be given to making reasonable adjustments for a disabled post holder Lewisham Borough Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment.
THIS JOB DESCRIPTION MAY NEED TO BE AMENDED BY THE DIRECTORATE TO MEET THE CHANGING NEEDS OF THE SERVICE.
Equality & Diversity
Awareness of and a commitment to Equality of Access and Opportunity in a diverse community
Understanding of how equality and diversity relates to this post.
To be able to demonstrate an understanding of how equalities and diversity can be promoted within a children’s social work setting.
Knowledge
In depth knowledge about care leavers’ needs and Government priorities in relation to this client group.
Thorough knowledge of best practice, structures, protocols and an awareness of assessment methods for young people.
A thorough understanding of The Children Act 1989, The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000, The Children and Social Work Act 2017, relevant service legislation and procedures to be familiar with the national context and drivers in developing and improving the service offer to care leavers.
Good understanding of the needs of looked after young people and care leavers, including those from black and minority ethnic communities and other disadvantaged groups.
To evidence demonstrable knowledge and understanding of adolescent behaviour and development.
Skills and ability
Assessment and Planning - Ability to make sound technical decisions and judgements on degree of risk and safety planning for young people presenting with additional or complex needs.
Analysis - To evaluate learning to develop the service priorities.
Inspirational leadership – to support, coach, motivate and direct Personal Advisors through effective practice and proactive mentoring; to implement and lead on change.
Decision making – to analyse information and form hypothesis in work and safety planning.
Develop specific areas of work to include impact outcomes i.e. pathway planning, transition planning, high quality decision making, financial prudence.
Problem solving – identify causes, make objective and informed judgements with sufficient emotional resilience.
Self-Management – take ownership of issues, taking a professional and disciplined approach to case management, risk management and service users.
Ability to implement and lead on change .
High degree of literacy and report writing skills.
Use of financial resources in a cost effective and efficient manner by means of proactive budget management whilst maintaining a quality service.
Excellent communication skills.
To possess sound organisational and time-management skills.
Experience
Relevant experience either as a Personal Adviser or significant experience of working with care leavers.
Experience of maintaining and using recording and monitoring systems and being compliant with data protection laws.
General Education
To have good general education with good standard of literacy and numeracy.
Personal Qualities
To be enlightened, flexible and open to new ways of doing things and most of all you will care and want to make a difference.
To be able to work under pressure and to deadlines.
To have the ability to motivate a staff team and develop their knowledge, skills and expertise.
To be able to develop and maintain productive relationships both within and outside the service.
To be able to work unsocial hours, including some evenings and weekends as required by the needs of the service.
To have the ability to work in an unsupervised setting e.g. away from the office.
To be committed to excellent customer care. Circumstances
To be able to undertake visits both within and outside the borough.
A willingness to travel where care leavers reside near and at a distance
Welcome to Lewisham – a vibrant and culturally diverse borough that is bursting with fantastic things to see and do. As a truly international borough with over 170 languages spoken in our homes and businesses, a thriving cultural scene, and a treasure trove of indie shops, bustling markets and more, it’s a great place to start and build a career.
Social work in Lewisham is changing and we have set out our vision and values for how we practice. In Lewisham Children’s Social Care (CSC), we know what good social work looks like and we are passionate about creating the right conditions and culture for good practice to thrive.
Our social workers benefit from working in small, supportive teams with caseloads on average between 15-20 children. Our ‘Signs of Safety’ practice framework means we are committed to working in a relationship-based way with children and families, focussing on strengths in the family network to effect change. A positive learning culture which promotes opportunities for reflection and relationship-based practice is important to us. We are committed to developing our practice using reflective practice spaces such as case mapping, thinking spaces and group supervision.
Our permanent and stable senior management team are visible and approachable. Our dedicated PSW and workforce team supports professional development across the service so that you will;
be supported through our comprehensive learning and development offer, which includes subscriptions to ‘Research in Practice’ and ‘Making Research Count’.
receive regular supervision and appraisal.
have 1-1 practice development coaching as a case holding practitioner, and professional development coaching as a manager.
have access to regular ‘Signs of Safety’ training and the opportunity to become a practice leader through attending our bespoke practice leader course.
have access to external leadership development opportunities such as Pathways and the Black and Asian Leadership Initiative (BALI).
have a clearly defined career progression pathway with opportunities for professional development at all levels.
We have a strong working relationship with Goldsmiths, University of London as part of the South East London Teaching Partnership so our practitioners have the opportunity to teach on social work courses as teaching consultants. We host ‘Step Up’, ‘Frontline’ and traditional route students and social workers have the opportunity to become practice educators.
Core CSC Staff Benefits include:
We have been awarded the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard – a benchmark for high employment standards. We are also one of the first London Councils to be accredited a London Living Wage employer and are a Disability Confident employer as well as a Timewise accredited Flex positive employer. We offer a 35-hour working week, and:
The opportunity to work in a thriving, diverse and developing inner London borough with a stable management team, manageable caseloads and a workforce group committed to promoting your development and emotional wellbeing
Generous salary for social workers at all levels
Generous holiday entitlement - starting at 27 days a year (plus public holidays) rising to 32 and 35 days after 5- and 10-years’ continued service.
Oyster card access for travelling in and around London for work and we are exploring initiatives, including Zip cars
Flexible working policies and a variety of hybrid, and flexible working options – we know how important this is to you
Smarter Working with new modern technology and training to support this
Career average pension scheme
Family friendly policies including maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, and special leave for emergencies.
Variety of support schemes including key worker housing, tax-free childcare scheme, access to Civil Service Sports Club which offers financial discounts and savings on days out and entertainment. KAARP activities and entertainment discounts. We offer a shop local discount scheme, volunteering leave, long service awards, membership of the Crownsavers Credit Union and access to Payroll Giving.
Health and Wellbeing support includes a staff support hub and 24/7 employee assistance programme which incorporates mental health support, counselling services and access to the PAM Assist health and wellbeing app.
We have signed the Menopause Pledge and offer gender specific and gender-neutral health and wellbeing support with access to financial advice. We offer discounted gym and leisure centre membership including free lunch time swimming; interest free loans for season tickets, nursery childcare, and bikes, a “try before you buy” bike scheme and cycle training, smoking cessation, free eye tests and money towards glasses.
Active Employee Groups including the Black and Multicultural Forum, Anti-racist Network Group, LGBTQ+ Forum, Disabled Staff Forum, Climate Emergency Staff Forum, Trade Union Memberships, and a staff-led Change Network
Staff tell us they feel valued and enjoy working in Lewisham and are well supported by their managers with regular reflective supervision and good access to training.
“Lewisham has so much to offer any social worker. I feel supported, respected and valued every step of the way”
Lewisham Social Worker
If you have any questions about applying for this role, or if you are interested in having an informal discussion about working with us, please contact our Recruitment and Retention Manager, Angela Main at angela.main@lewisham.gov.uk or Sara Taylor, our Principal Social Worker: sara.taylor@lewisham.gov.uk