Responsibilities and Tasks:
Managing Referrals
· To evaluate internal referrals and determine whether cases meet the LBTH thresholds for Children’s Social Care (CSC) referral
· To ensure where children meet the threshold for referral to Children’s Social Care, referrals are appropriate and timely and where appropriate consent from parent(s) is agreed.
· To support CSC and Police in S47 investigations.
· Where cases do not meet LBTH thresholds, to make recommendations on appropriate intervention/support for individual pupils and families, liaising with and referring to external agencies when appropriate
· To support staff who have identified children who need to be referred to Children’s Social Care
· To refer cases to the Channel programme where there is a radicalization concern as required.
· To support staff who have identified children who need to be referred to the Channel programme.
· To refer to the local authority designated officer (LADO) for child protection concerns (all cases which concern a staff member)
· To refer (in discussion with the Headteacher/principal) to Disclosure and Barring Service (cases where a person is dismissed or left due to risk/harm to a child) and/or Police (cases where a crime may have been committed).
· To ensure the headteacher or principal is kept updated on issues particularly S47 Child Protection Enquiries and the impact on the child and their families.
· Act as a source of support, advice and expertise to staff on matters of safety and safeguarding and when deciding whether to make a referral by liaising with relevant agencies.
· To ensure the Leadership Team and all staff have a clear understanding of consent and information sharing within a child protection context.
Training
· To ensure that all staff have undertaken the necessary safeguarding and child protection training within the statutory / LA recommended time frames
· Ensure own training is undertaken in the correct time frame and that own knowledge is kept up to date via appropriate sources.
· Obtain access to resources and attend any relevant or refresher training courses
· Link with the local LSCB to make sure staff are aware of training opportunities and have an awareness of relevant LBTH LSCB policies and procedures.
· To take responsibility and be accountable for the practice of others, mentoring newly qualified social workers, and supervising the work of junior staff.
Case Work
· To evaluate individual cases and determine the most appropriate actions to follow on a case-by-case basis.
· To manage complex (muti-need/multi-agency) cases, liaising appropriately with other professionals, including those at a more senior level.
· To continually assess levels of risk to children and families.
· To use own expert opinion and knowledge to support decision-making process and the work of others.
· To chair a range of meetings and offer expert support to Local Authority case conferences.
· To produce high quality assessments and reports for a range of functions, including presentation at external, senior-level, mult-agency meetings.
· To play a key-role in ‘planning’ meetings, contributing views on service provision, and supporting capacity building with individuals and families.
· Understand the assessment process for providing early help and intervention, for example through locally agreed common and shared assessment processes such as early help assessments
· Have a working knowledge of how local authorities conduct initial and review case conferences and core groups and be able to attend and contribute to these effectively when required to do so
· Ensure each member of staff has access to and understands the school’s or college’s child protection policy and procedures, especially new and part time staff
· Be alert to the specific needs of children in need including those children with special educational needs and young carers
· Be able to keep detailed, accurate, secure written records of concerns and referrals
· Encourage a culture of listening to children and taking account of their wishes and feelings, among all staff, in any measures the school or college may put in place to protect them
· Undertake direct work with those children and families identified as vulnerable and seek to address the concerns and issues affecting them.
· Undertake preventative work with children and families through to solution focused targeted intervention with hard to engage families.
· To advocate on behalf of children and families.
· Liaise with school staff / external agencies
· Conduct home visits
· Participate in strategy discussions and interagency meetings and to support other staff to do so.
· Undertake direct casework with identified vulnerable children and families as appropriate. Some examples of this work would include –
· Children whose parents have difficulties providing positive parenting.
· Direct family mediation work.
· Children facing family dysfunction.
· Children whose progress is being affected by a homelessness or serious housing problem.
· Children whose progress is being affected by extreme poverty.
· Children experiencing bereavement, loss, separation or other family disruption.
· Young carers
· Children whose progress is being affected by alcohol and/or substance abuse problems in the family.
· Children whose progress is being affected by mental health concerns in the family.
· Children from families where there are domestic violence concerns.
· Children with a parent in prison.
· Children at risk of sexual exploitation.
· Children at risk of self-harm.
· Work as the lead professional where appropriate
· Organise and facilitate thematic workshops with parents on safer parenting and reasonable chastisement and other need based areas.
· Organise and facilitate group work with identified groups of vulnerable children on anger management and personal safety and other need based areas.
· To maintain an overview of the social needs of all pupils registered at the school (c. 700 pupils), managing all open and identified cases.
Policy
· The designated safeguarding lead should ensure the school’s policies are up to date, known, understood and used appropriately
· Ensure the school’s child protection policy is reviewed annually and the procedures and implementation are updated and reviewed regularly, and work with governing body regarding this
· Ensure the child protection policy is available publicly and parents are aware of the fact that referrals about suspected abuse or neglect may be made and the role of the school or college in this
Administration
· Where children leave the school or college ensure their child protection file is copied for any new school or college as soon as possible but transferred separately from the main pupil file
· Manage school on-line Safeguard Software system, keeping detailed chronologies up to date
· Initiate and lead on the completion of assessments using the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) where there is concern about possible domestic violence, emotional abuse and neglect.
· Convene pre and post statutory Team around the Child (TAC) meetings. Such other duties, within the competence of the post holder, which may be required, reasonably from time to time.
Part-time hours: 35 per week
Application deadline: 15/12/2020
Expected start date: 01/02/2021
Job Types: Part-time, Permanent
Salary: £30,000.00-£36,000.00 per year
Benefits:Sick pay
Schedule: Monday to Friday
COVID-19 considerations: We are following all government guidance for schools. Meetings are generally held electronically. Social Distancing and enhanced cleaning regimes are in place
Experience:social work: 1 year (Preferred)
Education: Bachelor’s (Preferred)
Work remotely:Yes, occasionally
