Swap Foster Care - Supervising Social Worker

TITLE: SUPERVISING SOCIAL WORKER

Reports to: REGISTERED MANAGER/DEPUTY

BASED AT: SWAP FOSTER CARE PREMISES, EXTERNAL LOCATIONS AS NECESSARY.

PURPOSE: TO RECRUIT, ASSESS, TRAIN, SUPPORT AND SUPERVISE FOSTER PARENTS ENSURING

COMPLIANCE WITH STATUTORY AND POLICY REQUIREMENTS, TO DELIVER FOSTER CARE SERVICES

FOR VULNERABLE LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN THAT IS BOTH SAFE AND CONSISTNT WITH THEIR

WELFARE NEEDS.

SAFEGUARDING: Please note this post requires an Enhanced DBS [Disclosure and Barring Service]

check and your certificate must be either clear or, have been risk-assessed as adequate for

employment; those with ‘Specified’ offences will be refused employment and where subsequent

status checking identifies such offences may be subject to summary dismissal.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES/DUTIES/ACCOUNTABILITY:

UNDERTAKE RECRUITMENT ACTIVITY & TASKS TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL FOSTER PARENTS
ASSESS (UP TO 2X PROSPECTIVE FOSTER PARENT HOUSEHOLDS) AT ANY ONE TIME USING BAAF [BRITISH ASSOCIATION OF ADOPTION & FOSTERING] COMPETENCY BASED ASSESSMENT APPROACH AND TOOLS OR, SUCH OTHER TOOLS AND APPROACHES AS MAY BE IDENTIFIED BY THE AGENCY
TRAIN PROSPECTIVE AND APPROVED FOSTER PARENTS AND OTHERS (I.E. STUDENTS CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE IN PLACEMENT, OTHER MEMBERS OF FOSTERING HOUSEHOLDS)
ATTEND SWAP FOSTER CARE FOSTERING PANEL ON SATURDAYS (GENERALLY BI-MONTHLY – MAX 8x P/A
SUPERVISE FOSTER PARENTS: ENSURE REGULAR SUPERVISON IS HELD INCLUDING
UNANNOUNCED VISITS AS REQUIRED OF FOSTER HOUSEHOLDS ALLOCATED (We have ‘Protected Caseloads’ of 10-15 Foster Households)
ATTEND MEETINGS (I.E: Placement Planning, LACR, PEPs, Disruption, Team, Foster Parents & others as necessary) AND CONTRIBUTE AS NECESSARY MAINTAIN A GOOD STANDARD OF ELECTRONIC AND WRITTEN RECORDS
SAFEGUARDING
HEALTH & SAFETY – CONDUCTING HEALTH & SAFETY & RISK ASSESSMENTS
ENSURE ALL WORK IS IN LINE WITH STATUTORY PROVISIONS AND AGENCY POLICIES
CONTRIBUTING TO THE AGENCY ‘OUT OF HOURS’ (DUTY) SERVICE (ON AVERAGE ONE WEEK EVERY MONTH)
MAINTAINS OWN CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD) LOG

SKILLS (ESSENTIAL):

COMMUNICATION (WRITTEN, VERBAL & I.T.).
ORGANISATIONAL (PLANNING, PRIORITISING, RE-PRIORITISING, MEETING DEADLINES)
ASSESSMENT (TOOLS, MODELS, ANALYTICAL)
VALUES: ADP/AOP (STRATEGIES)
KNOWLEDGE (RELEVANT LEGISLATION, RELEVANT STANDARDS, RELEVANT GOOD PRACTICE, RELEVANT RESEARCH, SOCIAL WORK MODELS/PRACTICE)
ABLE TO WORK AS PART OF A TEAM SKILLS (DESIRABLE)
PUNCTUALITY (TIME-KEEPING)
PRACTICE EDUCATION
LEADERSHIP
MANAGEMENT (STAFF/STUDENTS/FOSTER PARENTS/OTHERS)
COUNSELLING
HOLISTIC THERAPIES (I.E. HYPNOTHERAPY; TFT; TRAINING OTHERS (I.E. NVQ).
ABLE TO WORK ON OWN INITIATIVE WITHIN STATUTORY AND AGENCY POLICY
MAKE SOUND INFORMED CLEAR JUDGEMENTS
ABILITY TO WORK UNDER PRESSURE
USE SUPERVISION EFFECTIVELY

QUALIFICATION/S (ESSENTIAL):

CQSW/DIPSW/BA/MA(HONS)/SW (OR EQUIVALENCE ASSESSED AS COMPARABLE BY THE AGENCY AND/OR UK GOVERNMENTAL BODIES)
FULL UK (CLEAR*) DRIVING LICENCE
[ANY CONVICTIONS CAUTIONS POINTS DISQUALIFICATIONS WILL BE RISK ASSESSED]
Registered with and maintains THEIR registration currently with the Social Work England or ITS successor where relevant.
Overseas applicants: Right to work. QUALIFICATIONS (DESIRABLE): · SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE EDUCATION · MANAGEMENT QUALIFICATION · COUNSELLING · OTHER 1ST/DEGREE/MASTERS QUALIFICATION IN A RELATED SUBJECT (I.E. PSYCHOLOGY, EARLY YEARS EDUCATION ETC.). · TRAINING QUALIFICATION (i.e. TRAINER SKILLS G&G 7300/OTHER. · NVQ ASSESSOR. · NNEB/EQUIVALENT. · HEALTH & SAFTEY CERTIFICATE · FIRST AID TRAINING

EXPERIENCE/S (ESSENTIAL):

EXPERIENCE (DESIRABLE):

PERSONAL SKILLS:

IDEALLY THE APPLICANT WILL BE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE A SOUND UNDERSTANDING OF CHILD CARE WORK AS A QUALIFIED/EXPERIENCED PRACTITIONER AND HAVE GOOD ORGANSIATIONAL SKILLS.
YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BUILD EFFECTIVE WORKING RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR STAFF TEAM, FOSTER PARENTS AND PROFESSIONAL COLLEAGUES WITHIN AND EXTERNAL TO THE AGENCY.
A GOOD ‘COMPLETER-FINISHER’ YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ADOPT A ‘TASK-CENTRED’ APPROACH TO YOUR WORK ENSURING CLEAR OBJECTVES AND DEADLINES ARE MET WITHIN TIMESCALES - AT TIMES UNDER PRESSURE.
MOTIVATING AND LEADING OTHERS, (PARTICUALRLY FOSTER PARENTS) OFTEN THROUGH CHALLENGES, YOU WILL USE EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO SUSTAIN AND MAINTAIN FOSTER PLACEMENTS OF LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN.
YOU WILL BE A GOOD ROLE MODEL AND AMBASSADOR FOR THE AGENCY WITH EXTERNAL PARTNERS AND STATUTORY AGENCIES SUCH AS OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education).
YOU WILL IDEALLY HAVE A SOUND UNDERSTANDING OF CHILDCARE LAW AND ITS APPLICATION PREFERABLY IN A FOSTERING SETTING AND BE ABLE TO WORK TO PROCEDURAL GUIDELINES EFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY WHILST MAINTAINING QUALITY OF THE SERVICES YOU DELIVER.

REMUNERATION:

FREQUENCY – MONTHLY

RATE:

L1/QSW/SSW (NEWLY- QUALIFIED)>£30,950.00
L2/SQW/S-SSW/SENIOR £ £32,000.00 - £33,950.00.
L3/QSW/S-SSW/SENIOR PRACTITIONER PRACTICE EDUCATOR - £35,500.00 - £39,000.00
All salaries are negotiable after offer subject to market rationalisation against current salaries.

Leave: Starting at 27 and rising to 30 days Annual Leave P/A (Pro-rata) in line with length of service.

Hours: 37 (09.00 – 17.00 Mon-Thurs; Fri: 16.30).

Days: Mon-Fri (some occasional weekend and out of hours working). i.e. Foster Panels.

Paid Sick Leave: 5 x days per annum. Additional 5 x days if COVID positive related.

Overtime: authorised hours worked over those agreed are claimed as TOIL (Time-off-in-lieu) where authorised and taken as agreed & authorised.

Pension: Swap Foster Care operates an employer/employee statutory pension scheme through the People’s Pension Provider with equitable contributions.

TRAINING/CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

STAFF ARE ENCOURAGED AND SUPPORTED TO MAINTAIN THEIR CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS THROUGH:

PARTICIPATION IN ON-SITE AND OFF-SITE TRAINING ON 1:1 AND IN GROUPS (I.E. FCSGM – FOSTER CARE SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS) & TRAINING - GENERALLY MONTHLY.
REGULAR MONTHLY FORMAL SUPERVISION.
READING – FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (ARTICLES, MAGAZINES, BOOKS, RESEARCH).
RESEARCH – KEEPING UP TO DATE WITH NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND IDEAS.
FORMAL RELEVANT EXTERNAL TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES (UP TO 5 X DAYS PER ANNUM).
COMPETENCY BASED ASSESSMENT TRAINING PROVIDED WHERE REQUIRED.

KIRSTI DE SMET - REGISTERED MANAGER (RM)

LORRAINE WALKER - RESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUAL (RI)

Published: 13th July 2023

Yes

It's good, but

No - here's why:

Anything further to add? If you have a question about a service, you need to contact them directly or via the switchboard.