What's involved with this role: Interim CHAD Consultant Social Worker - Childrens Services Job Ref: Stoke 5248798 Pay Rate: £30.50 per hour PAYE Hours per week: 37 Monday – Friday, 8.30am to 5pm Role Length: This opening assignment is for 2-3 months City: Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire Enhanced DBS disclosure required for this role The role of the Consultant Social Worker is that of a professional Social Work Practitioner, with the ability to authorise and give case direction in regard to the overall delivery of Children’s Statutory services within the council. The successful candidate will provide professional expertise at a number of levels including complex areas of direct service delivery and it is seen as part of the management team providing assistance to CHAD Team Managers. Key Responsibilities: Listen, discuss and negotiate with partners, ascertain their concerns and agree a pathway for the child to ensure their needs are met, making safe decisions at the earliest opportunity. Chair Strategy Discussions, attend MARAC, MAPPA and other meetings, with internal and external partners effectively to ensure professional agreement and the right outcome for the child and their family. Take on or develop a specialist role in specific areas of practice for the Team or Operational Division (e.g. Child Sexual Exploitation, Child Criminal Exploitation, Missing Children, Female Genital Mutilation, Domestic Abuse etc). Ensure practice is compliant with relevant legislation, national and local policies, procedures and guidance. Contribute to the development of procedures and policies as required. Take the lead on behalf of the children’s directorate to ensure that teams understand any issues that may have arisen out of the council /national lessons learned from serious case review/audits in order to improve practice and outcomes for children, young people and their families. Actively be a positive role model, promote and maintain high standards of professional social work practice to embed consistent good practice across the team. Actively mentor and provide professional guidance and development to support of Newly Qualified (NQSW) and Assessed and Supported Year of Employment (ASYE) Social Workers, support to students undertaking a placement in the team as well as mentoring and supporting others such as social workers and admin staff. Lead on ensuring clear, concise, and accurate recording of work is undertaken, and good electronic and paper file management (where necessary) is maintained across the team. Lead on and provide advice, guidance and coaching to partner agencies and other Children’s Services Teams. Immediately report to the Team Manager or Service Manager where issues require escalation, or the case is likely to become subject to press or public interest. Provide information to children and their families through liaison with internal and external agencies to enable service users to access relevant services, and to encourage their participation. Collect and report the views of children, parents, team members and multi-agency partners to contribute to improving practice and procedure. Be responsible for the allocation of funds under section 17 budget in response to crisis situations. NB: Please feel free to apply to us direct via jobstclrec.com by quoting the job reference and job title exactly. To help speed up the process of uploading your CV to the client we would suggest that you send us your CV in Word format (or equivalent) if possible, rather than as a PDF. If you are successful in securing this role, please note that for the entire duration of this contract, regardless of extension you will be working this role at the PAYE rate that has been advertised. For absolute clarity, we only work on a PAYE basis, rather than entertaining umbrella pay terms, we do not offer Ltd/umbrella or outside IR35 rates. If you wish to understand PAYE vs Umbrella more, please let us know and we can send you some additional information for clarity. Due to the number of CVs being sent to us under current market conditions, we cannot, unfortunately, respond to all applications. If, therefore, you have not heard from us within 3 days please make a working assumption that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. We will, however, be very happy to receive future applications from you for other roles. Please quote the Job Title & Vacancy Reference No. in your application, or we will be unable to match your CV to the role being applied for. Other “Essential Requirements” – Please check to ensure that your CV addresses the following items: Unless the DBS requirement stated above is for a Basic Disclosure, your DBS must be either through us or be accompanied by a subscription to the DBS updating service. Qualification: Diploma in Social Work / Certificate of Qualification in Social Work. Post qualifying Award/ Practice Educator/ Further Evidence on continuous professional development. Registered with Social Work England. Experience: Minimum of 12 months recent experience in a similar role, or context and ideally within a public sector organisation. ASYE at least 3 years’ experience plus additional supervisory/practice development role/contributing to learning of others. Substantial post qualifying experience as a Qualified Social Worker. Experience of delivering complex assessment and plans in regard to Child in Need, Child Protection and those in Care. Experience of delivering complex court proceedings in a variety of court settings. Experience of working with a number of partner agencies and families in regard to delivering a holistic, effective intervention to children and families. Knowledge: Comprehensive knowledge of all relevant statutory legislation, policy and procedures in regard to the delivery of a Childrens Social Work and support. Knowledge of permanency and planning as set out in ‘Working Together 2018’. Knowledge of Child Protection procedures as set out in ‘Working Together 2018’. Knowledge of Early Help & Protection. Knowledge of Child Sexual abuse. Skills & Abilities: Highly developed communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing. Highly developed interpersonal skills with proven influencing and negotiating skills. Ability to set targets and work within deadlines set. Excellent Assessment skills. Ability to be a team player within the context of service operational structure as well as ability to work on own initiative. Ability to chair and co-ordinate meetings effectively. Strong IT skills including Microsoft packages or equivalent (e.g. G Suite). S Please note that clients invariably ask us to strip out contact details from CVs before we submit them for consideration. This is always quicker and easier to do if you send your CV to us in Word format, rather than as a PDF please