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
We are seeking an experienced and skilled Independent Reviewing Officer to join our Fostering and Kinship Service. This pivotal role is focused on promoting high-quality practice, robust care planning, and positive outcomes for children looked after, particularly those placed in foster care.
You will bring independence, professional curiosity and confidence to support and challenge practice across the Fostering and Kinship Service.
The Fostering Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) will play a key role in ensuring high-quality, safe and effective fostering provision for Lewisham’s looked after children and young people. The postholder will provide independent oversight, professional challenge and quality assurance through the foster carer annual review process, contributing to continuous improvement across the fostering service.
Specifically, the role will:
1. Ensure the Council meets its statutory duties and follows good practice guidance in relation to the monitoring, review and development of Lewisham’s registered foster carers through robust and timely foster carer annual reviews.
2. Promote the safety, welfare and best outcomes of Lewisham’s looked after children by ensuring they are cared for in safe, nurturing and well-regulated foster homes that deliver high-quality care and demonstrate positive outcomes.
3. Ensure that foster carers are actively involved in and central to their annual review, enabling their voices to be heard and their feedback to meaningfully inform service development and improvement.
4. Contribute to the strategic and operational development of Lewisham’s Fostering Service, using learning from reviews, quality assurance activity and professional oversight to drive best practice.
5. Work collaboratively as part of the wider Independent Reviewing Service to support strategic planning, quality assurance and improved outcomes for looked after children and care leavers.
We are looking for a senior, confident social work professional who:
6. Has substantial experience of working with looked after children and fostering practice.
7. Can independently chair statutory looked after children reviews or fostering annual reviews and ensure care plans and support for carers is progressed effectively.
8. Provide authoritative advice and constructive professional challenge to practitioners and managers.
9. Demonstrates a strong commitment to children’s rights, participation and permanence planning.
10. Is skilled in identifying risk, escalating concerns and driving improvement in practice
Key Responsibilities
To chair foster carer annual reviews in accordance with the Children Act, Fostering Regulations, Care Act and the Fostering Services National Minimum Standards.
To provide high quality written review reports which are clear, concise and follow an agreed format.
Agree and implement an action plan with the social workers and foster carers and make recommendations to the agency decision maker regarding the carer(s) suitability to foster.
To ensure that children and young people are safeguarded and that foster carers operate in line with statutory requirements and adhere to child protection processes.
To develop positive relationships with social work managers and social work teams in order to promote and implement the review process.
To develop positive relationships with the Leaving Care service in relation to foster carers offering Staying Put in order to promote and implement the review process.
To contribute to the Fostering Panel Business meetings and any IRO partnership work on issues linked to the foster carer reviewing process.
To maintain accurate and timely data on all aspects of the reviewing process and provide written reports as required.