Senior Social Worker- Space for Change

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Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to our vibrant and culturally diverse communities!

We have a rich history of welcoming people from all over the world and are proud to be recognised as the UK’s first Borough of Sanctuary, for our work in championing the rights of refugees and migrants.

It\’s an exciting time to join us – Lewisham is a wave Pathfinder authority and is leading the way on national reforms to social work practice through the Families First for Children programme.

INTRODUCTION

An exciting opportunity is available as a Parenting Assessor in the newly formed Space For Change team – who offer parents a package of support alongside a detailed, evidence-based and reflective analysis of their capacity to safely care for their children. Our assessments normally take place under the auspices of the Public Law Outline (PLO) or Care Proceedings.

The Space for Change team is based within our Multi-Agency Child Protection Intervention Service who are at the heart of supporting families in Lewisham. The service is based within the Family Help and Care division and works closely with allocated social work teams to provide intervention to families that keep children living safely at home.

It’s an exciting time to join Lewisham as we are at the forefront of social work reform as a Wave Families First for Children Pathfinder Local Authority. The Multi-Agency Child Protection Intervention Service is at the heart of delivering key interventions that keep children safe. The post holder will be part of a Local Authority taking a lead role in supporting other Local Authorities to embed the reforms as part of the wider DfE national roll out.

What’s the role?

You will be an experienced social worker with experience of completing complex and holistic assessments. You will have a good understanding of the threshold of significant harm and experience working within the child protection context including neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and extra-familial harm.

You will be keen to be part of a service modelling best practice and come with a willingness to learn and enhance your skills in parenting assessments. All Parenting Assessors in Space For Change will receive specialist training in utilising the Parent Assess Framework for parents with learning disabilities as well as training in completing Domestic Violence Risk and Vulnerability assessments.

About You

You will have experience in:

• A minimum of two years of post-qualifying Social Work practice and experience of managing a frontline safeguarding caseload
• Working with parents who have complex needs where there is a risk of significant harm to their children
• Completing parenting assessments – or other assessments of parents regarding the safety and well-being of children for use in the Family Proceedings Court.
• Using the Signs of Safety practice framework to structure your assessments and interventions with families.
• Completing family network meetings to achieve the safety and well-being of children.
• Giving evidence in the Family Proceedings Court.

What’s in it for you?

Our Vision – What Good Children’s Social Work Looks Like in Lewisham

In Lewisham Children’s Social Care, we know what good social work looks like and we are passionate about creating the right conditions and culture for good practice to thrive.

• Families are respected and supported to stay together, whenever there is safety.
• Families will tell us they understand why we are involved.
• Children will tell us their social worker has made a difference to their lives.
• Children who are in our care know we care, and we won’t give up on them.
• Young people who have been in our care feel confident about their future.

We have taken a whole system approach to improving our services to children and young people in our borough using Signs of Safety as our practice model. Ofsted recognised the progress we have made noting that:

• Staff talk positively about their manageable caseloads, regular supervision, team meetings and access to a range of training, including the social work model of practice.
• Senior leaders demonstrate a clear focus on hearing the voices of children to develop and improve services.
• Leaders know the service well. They have a clear understanding of areas for development that are being appropriately addressed.

In January , Ofsted\’s report lauds significant improvements in our children\’s services. Praised areas include strong leadership, high-quality support for families and children, and positive outcomes across all criteria.

• The Executive Director for Children and Young People and his team are credited for driving these improvements, with particular focus on enhancing workforce stability, early help services, and partnerships with stakeholders.
• Noteworthy practices include creative life-story work and culturally sensitive social work approaches, crucial in a diverse borough like Lewisham.
• The Council\’s anti-racist practice network and safe space platform also garnered praise for supporting staff from black and global majority backgrounds.
• Overall, the report highlights a commendable commitment to improving outcomes for vulnerable children and young people in Lewisham.

Why choose Lewisham?

“Lewisham has so much to offer any social worker. I feel supported, respected and valued every step of the way”(Social Worker).

Our social workers benefit from working in small, supportive teams with caseloads on average between – children. Our Signs of Safety family-led 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 workforce team supports professional development across the service so that you will;

• be supported through our comprehensive learning and development offer, which includes subscription to ‘Research in Practice’.
• receive regular supervision and appraisal.
• have – practice development coaching as a case holder, and professional development coaching as a manager.
• have access to regular Signs of Safety training
• have access to external leadership development opportunities such as the Black and Asian Leadership Initiative (BALI).
• have a clearly defined career progression pathway with opportunities for professional development at all levels.
• opportunities to become a practice educator and work with students and newly qualified social workers.

What we’re looking for

If you want to work in a thriving borough and our social work vision connects with your professional values, then we are interested in hearing from you. We are looking for people to join our team who:

• value the importance of communication and seeking feedback
• can inspire and motivate those they work with, manage and lead
• are committed to developing their skills and expertise to deliver an excellent service
• are professionally curious and value thinking slowly and calmly in a balanced way
• work inclusively, collaboratively with others recognising their strengths
• take responsibility and make a positive contribution by focusing on solutions
• are transparent, are appreciative in enquiry, reflect and learn.

In return, we’ll offer excellent development opportunities, the opportunity to make a real difference to our local community plus a range of benefits including:

• Generous leave entitlement
• Local Government Pension scheme
• Flexible working and family friendly policies
• Season ticket and bicycle loans
• A range of staff discounts including local subsidised gym memberships
• Supportive staff networks

Location

The job is primarily based in Meliot Contact and Assessment Centre SE JQ. There are numerous bus routes that stop right by the office.

We operate a hybrid approach where you will be required to work both in the office and from home on a regular basis.

Creating an Inclusive Lewisham

A core value of Lewisham Council is to \’draw on the diversity of our communities to create a more inclusive Lewisham\’. We believe that freedom from discrimination and equality of opportunity are fundamental rights, and that each person should be valued regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, gender re-assignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, or age. Social inclusion lies at the heart of everything we do as a Council in our roles as an employer, a provider of services and a community leader.

Diversity

Lewisham Council is a Disability Confident employer. We welcome and encourage job applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process. We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at

The Council has a dedicated employment support service, , which offers Lewisham residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you want to join Lewisham Works, please email and an advisor will be in touch with you.

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