Directorate for People
Role Description
Post: Senior Practitioner Salary/Grade: GR5
Division: Children’s Social Care Section: Edge of Care Service
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1. Job Purpose
1.1 As a Senior Practitioner – to deputise for the Team Manager providing professional supervision to other members of Team, deputising for the Team Manager and chairing family meetings and reviews.
1.2 To provide a professional social work service in a multi-disciplinary family support service to children/ young people at risk of accommodation, their families and carers. Providing day to day leadership and direction to Team members and co-ordinating service delivery.
2. Duties & Responsibilities
2.1 Working as a member of a team, to deliver a needs led, professional social work service to children, young persons and their families/carers, complying with legislative requirements and in accordance with best practice.
2.2 To support the Team Manager in ensuring that children and young people are not placed at unacceptable levels of risk.
2.3 To contribute to the out of hours service and the health and safety cover for the Edge of Care service.
2.4 Undertake casework including contribution to assessments and the provision of social work interventions, ensuring that appropriate case records and reports are rigorously maintained.
2.5 Takes a ‘joined up’ approach to ensuring the effectiveness of the Team’s work and service performance, actively promoting/encouraging effective partnership working with service users and other teams/agencies/organisations at all times.
2.6 To convene meetings at point of referral and at point of review to identify unmet need and shape service delivery.
2.7 Participate in and contribute to training and development activities including research and evaluation.
2.8 Participate in the regular collection, collation and reporting of appropriate performance management information which meets the needs of the Service and the Department and its service users.
2.9 To provide and participate in performance focussed supervision sessions (and be proactive in identifying professional/personal development needs.
2.10 Contribute to all aspects of the work of the Targeted Family Support Service.
2.11 Actively seeks to support the work of the Team Manager by undertaking any other duties commensurate with the post or the needs of the service as necessary.
3. Supervision Received
Supervising Officer Job Title
Team Manager (Edge of Care), separate arrangements for clinical supervision
Level of Supervision
Left to work within established guidelines subject to scrutiny by supervisor.
.
Supervision Given (excludes those who are indirectly supervised i.e. through others)
Post Title / Grade / No. of Posts / Level of SupervisionEdge of Care Support Worker / GR4 / 3 – 4 / Left to work within established guidelines subject to scrutiny by supervisor
Special Conditions
· The post holder will be expected to work outside of office hours as part of their scheduled working week, this is reflected by a 7.5% allowance in the salary. This is a new service but at present this is likely to be an average of two night per week (up to 9 pm) and one week-end on –call every two weeks. The post holder will be involved in the design of this service.
· This job description applies to all Senior Social Worker posts within family support and Edge of Care. The specific targets, tasks and priorities may vary between individual teams and post holders. Posts are generic and post holders can expect to be asked to cover vacancies in any team, be transferred between teams or undertake casework arising within teams other than the one to which they are formally assigned.
· This vacancy is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act
· A Disclosure and Barring Service check will be undertaken
Birmingham City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment
Observance of the City Council’s Equal Opportunities Policy will be required.
Directorate for People
Person Specification
Job Title: Senior Practitioner Grade: GR5
Division: Children’s Social Care Section: Edge of Care Team
Method of Assessment (M.O.A.) A.F. = Application Form; I = Interview; T. - Test or Exercise; C. – Certificate; P. – Presentation.
Essential Criteria / Method of AssessmentEducation/Qualification (N.B. Full regard must be paid to overseas qualification
· CQSW, DipSW or Equivalent social work qualification
· Registration with the Health Care Profession Council. / AF & C
AF & C
Experience (Relevant work and other experience)
· Substantial experience of working with Children and Families service users (e.g. two years or more).
· Experience of assessing situations and recording results.
· Experience of involvement in child protection matters.
· Experience of dealing with agencies (e.g. voluntary sector) and developing working relationships.
· Experience of writing court or similarly formal reports.
· Experience of working with people from ethnic minority backgrounds. / AF/I
AF/I/T
AF/I
AF/I
AF/I/T
AF/I
Competencies/Capabilities
Social Work Specific Knowledge & Skills
· Understanding of key roles of Social Worker and different methods of professional social work practice.
· Understanding of legislation applying to Children and Families work.
· Understanding of assessment and care management theory and practice
· Able to manage caseloads, including complex cases, and offer consultation
· Able to empathise with situation of people experiencing social disadvantage and cope with consequential pressures
Communication
· Ability to make formal presentations
Team Work
· Ability to work in team setting and in partnership with other professionals/agencies
· Able to work with other agencies and forge positive working relationships.
Supervision
· Understanding of the practise and purpose of supervision
· Able to offer professional supervision that is supportive of the individual and performance focussed
· Prepared to apply and work within procedures, policies and practices laid down by BCC
Record Keeping
· Basic level of IT literacy
Valuing Diversity
· Awareness of needs of people in multi-cultural society.
· Understanding of disadvantage and social deprivation.
· Able to demonstrate personal commitment to equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice.
· Prepared to work flexibly, to meet the needs of both the service and service users.
Training
Evidence of post qualification CPD / I/P
I/T
I
I
I
I/P
I
I
I
I
I
I & T
AF/I
I
I
I
I
AF/I
Birmingham City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment
All staff are expected to understand and be committed to Equal Opportunities in employment and service delivery.