Senior Practitioner - Assessment & Intervention (A&I), South Essex

Senior Practitioner - Assessment & Intervention (A&I), South Essex

Permanent, Full Time*

£45,217 to £54,395 per annum

Location: Basildon

Working Style: Community-based worker

*Essex County Council understand how important flexibility and wellbeing is
for our colleagues working across children's Social Care and that we need
to think differently. We have therefore developed a nine-day working
fortnight for full time frontline Social Workers within Children’s
services. If you would like more information on this, please

follow this link

Here in Essex, we continue to raise the bar about practice and our
investment in our workforce is second to none. It’s an exciting time to
join us. Not only have we been named Outstanding by Ofsted, we are delighted
and at the same time humbled to have been crowned

Social Work Employer of the Year

for the second time in the last three years!

Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can
develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity and
compassion; promoting development and wellbeing of children, young people
and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together
with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective
social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers and enable
children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.

Please take a look at our ‘No Magic’ Children & Families video

here

You can read about one of our Social Workers career journey and why she's
focused to continue to deliver for the Council via our blog at

https://www.workingforessex.com/blog/why-i-stay-shannon-jones

Assessment & Intervention (A&I)

The A&I teams are the gateway for children, young people, parents and
carers, and other agencies to gain access to our Children & Families
services. The A&I team is there to undertake incoming assessment and
short-term intervention work with families.

Job Purpose

Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can
develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity and
compassion; promoting development and wellbeing of children, young people
and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together
with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective
social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers and enable
children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.

The Senior Practitioner manages a complex caseload and provides expert
supervision and coaching for colleagues, to achieve positive change for
children, young people and families. The role deputises for the Team
Manager, leading the team and management of duty services.

The role requires an experienced social work practitioner, able to manage
higher levels of risk, mentor and advise staff, manage performance and
deliver improvements. Building strong working relationships with key
partners and stakeholders is essential

Accountabilities

• 
  Responsible for providing a source of expert advice and
  professional supervision for social workers and contributing to
  the development of practice standards.
  


• 
  Accountable for assessment of complex social care needs and
  development of support for vulnerable people, children and
  families.
  


• 
  Accountable for working within the statutory legal framework,
  policy and guidance and determining when the threshold for
  statutory intervention has been reached.
  


• 
  Responsible for managing a complex caseload, maintaining accurate
  and timely data, reports and presentations as required.
  


• 
  Participates in a range of case conferences, court attendance,
  meetings and statutory reviews, pro-actively taking the lead when
  a social care perspective is required.
  


• 
  Accountable for conducting assessments and plan responses to
  safeguard and promote a child’s welfare including appropriate
  intervention as determined by need.
  


• 
  Builds strong effective working relationships across the Council,
  with partners and members of voluntary agencies to help people get
  the best start in life and age well.
  


• 
  Delivers a high level of expertise in particular areas of practice
  and leads on those areas, contributing to the development.
  


• 
  Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined
  annually within the performance management framework.
  

The Experience You Will Bring

• 
  A recognised social work qualification i.e. Diploma, degree or
  Masters in social work, CQSW, CSS or equivalent, with current
  registration with Social Work England as a registered social
  worker.
  


• 
  Evidence of continuing professional development, aligned to any
  relevant Professional Competency/Capability frameworks or
  Knowledge and Skills Statements.
  


• 
  Significant experience of social work, demonstrating a
  comprehensive and up to date understanding of all relevant
  legislation, regulation and guidance.
  


• 
  Experience of mentoring both Social Work students and newly
  qualified and experienced Social Work staff, being a subject
  matter expert in professional social work practice.
  


• 
  Experience of chairing meetings involving clients, family members
  and/or carers and other multi-agency professionals.
  


• 
  Developing strong relationships with partners, other agencies and
  the local community to achieve joint objectives and offer a
  supportive framework for children, young people and families.
  


• 
  In depth understanding of delivery of value for money
  interventions balanced against need.
  


• 
  Proven track record of clear decision making in order to highlight
  and limit the potential risks associated with intervention.
  

In turn, we can offer you a highly competitive package that includes access
to our desirable pension scheme, life assurance (of three times your
salary), generous annual leave – plus the option to buy additional holiday.
Optional benefits such as tax-free savings on childcare and discounted
health and dental care are also available, and we will encourage you to
develop your skills with ongoing training opportunities.

Crucially, we know that there is more to life than work. We are a motivated
and enthusiastic team – but we want you to find an exceptional work/life
balance. As such, you will be encouraged to make the most of our commitment
to flexible working arrangements, including the chance to work from home.

So, if you want a better quality of life – complemented by a high degree of
job satisfaction – then we would be delighted to welcome you to our
friendly and inclusive team.

To read more about us please visit

Children & Families

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area
including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting
service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency.
Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of
the role through other means is essential.

Why Essex? Essex County Council has a location to be proud
of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames
Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts
of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its
newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of
Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It
means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read
more about us.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re
committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under
our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job.
Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments
during the process.

We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet
the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

What you should do next

If you are interested in finding out more about this role, we would love to
hear from you. Please apply via the Working for Essex website.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role
require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update
service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates
are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of
your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be
responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on
the DBS update service please go to

https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the
welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees
and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities,
blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council,
please join
The
Essex Talent Community.

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email
resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

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