Job Details

Qualified Social Worker - Children and Families Services

Description

JOB PURPOSE

To help looked after children and young people leaving care achieve good outcomes in their health, education, family and social relationships, emotional and behavioural development, and self-care.

Assessment of their needs, Pathway Planning, co-ordinating the arrangements necessary to achieve good child care outcomes, ensuring that young people achieve independence.

The post works with those young people who are or have been 'looked after' or in care.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

1. Act as the Personal Adviser to young people under the terms of the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and Connexions, ensuring that co-ordination of services are achieved.

2. To continually assess and review the needs of young people.

3. To determine the developmental outcomes that we should be seeking to achieve for the children and young people (e.g. in respect of their health, education, self-care, relationships).

4. To develop, manage, co-ordinate and review Pathway Plans that will result in the assessed needs being met and the outcomes being achieved.

5. To ensure that assessments and Pathway Plans take full account of the whole child in accordance with the developmental dimensions of Assessment and Action Records.

6. As part of holistic child care assessments, to investigate and assess potential and actual harm to looked after children and to take appropriate action (including legal action) to ensure their safety.

7. Where necessary ensure that looked after children and young people have up-to-date and comprehensively completed Essential Information Records (Parts 1 and 2), Placement Plans (Parts 1 and 2), Care Plans, Review forms, and Assessment and Action Records - completed within the required time-scales.

8. To ensure that completed copies of key documents (e.g. Care Plans, Review forms, Pathway Plans) are received by young people, the looked after children, their parents and carers.

9. To ensure statutory visits, reviews and medicals for looked after children are completed within legal time-scales.

10. To manage cases through any necessary court proceedings.

11. To prepare reports for, and contribute to, court hearings, multi-agency case conferences and meetings, including child protection conferences, strategy meetings, statutory child care reviews and the Adoption and Fostering Panel.

12. To ensure all assessments, plans and reviews are informed by the views of the children and young people concerned, of their families and key people in their lives, and of relevant colleagues in other agencies.

13. To ensure all assessments and Pathway Plans are informed by latest findings from research.

14. To ensure all written work (reports, letters, memos etc.) presents information and ideas clearly, logically and accurately.

15. To maintain accurate and up-to-date written information and case records on young people being worked with.

16. To ensure computerised information systems on young people are kept up-to-date and contain accurate information.

17. To ensure that statutory requirements and regulations, and Departmental procedures and policy, are complied with.

18. To help, at an appropriate level, the Council to achieve its strategic objectives.

19. To help, at an appropriate level, the Council to achieve the performance targets for children and young people laid down by central Government, including those contained in Quality Protects.

20. To contribute, at an appropriate level, to service development and help the Children and Families Service to achieve the objectives within its Business Plan.


MUST HAVE A SOCIAL WORKER QUALIFICATION AND AT LEAST 2 YEARS EXPERIENCE.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR PROFESSIONAL AND QUALIFIED SOCIAL WORKERS ONLY.