Consultant Social Worker

Job Title:                         Consultant Social Worker

Post Number:               209595                                                          Grade:  PO5

Directorate:                   Children’s and Adults’ Services

Service:                           Safeguarding and Support East

Reports to:                     Team Manager

PURPOSE OF ROLE:

·       To ensure good outcomes for children and young people in need or at risk through the delivery of timely, high quality social work services.

·       To provide effective day to day management and support to Frontline participant trainee Social Workers including the provision of reflective clinical supervision, direction, and guidance.

To be a visible member of the Management Team and to contribute to the strategic policy and procedural developments within their Team, Service, and the Specialist Services Division.

·       To support the Team Manager in ensuring the highest professional standards of practice are evidenced through rigorous quality assurance processes.

·       Responsible for the day-to-day management of 4 Apprenticeship/Frontline participant trainee social workers.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Corporate:

1.             To work effectively as part of the Council’s Safeguarding & Specialist management team delivering corporate objectives through the work of the department.

2.             To act, at all times, in line with the professional standards of conduct and performance as defined by the L.B. Hounslow Code of Conduct and the HCPC.

Functional:

1.      To accept responsibility and manage efficiently and effectively allocated caseloads held by Apprentices/Frontline participant trainee social work staff, ensuring positive outcomes for children because of good social work practice that can be evidenced at all times.

2.      To accurately appraise staff performance against agreed standards of practice and produce individual learning and development action plans for team members within your supervision group.

3.      To ensure Services the effective deployment, monitoring and management of delegated budgets and services are delivered within those budgets whenever possible.

4.      To ensure that the service works within the Department's priorities and decisions about allocation of resources have due regard to the Departments eligibility criteria.

5.      To ensure that children and families receive a high standard of service from Frontline participant trainee Social Workers and that Safeguarding procedures are consistently applied to children and young people.

6.      To support and guide Apprentice/Frontline participant trainee social work staff through legal processes as required, to ensure the highest standards of practice are achieved and timely permanence decisions are made.

7.      To ensure all services meet key and measurable objectives, delivered to the highest achievable professional standards and within an equalities framework and operated within clear and up to date operational policies and requirements of statutory regulations and Government guidance.

8.      To ensure own and teams’ professional knowledge is updated and that new legislation, policy and practice guidance is understood and implemented by the team.

9.      To fully participate in the Departmental Quality Assurance process.

These are the values that drive us:

Lead with heart

We’re here for the people of Hounslow. We work together with them and for them with  care and compassion, with patience and in partnership. We put ourselves in other’s shoes, remembering that every person is different, and every interaction is a real moment in their lives. We always feel first.

Do new

We need to do things differently if we’re going to help Hounslow people thrive in the future. Hard work is important but it’s not enough on its own. We need to challenge ourselves to break new ground, invent new approaches, try new ideas keep moving forward and keep improving. That means being ready to stop doing things we’ve done before. It means taking on risk and backing each other when we take a leap.

Pass on the power

The world keeps on changing and we need to change with it. We won’t be able to adapt fast enough to the future needs of our residents if we stick to old fashioned command and control. We need to hand over responsibility and give people more power to make decisions and take action themselves. It’s about being transparent and straightforward. It’s about providing tools and support. But most of all, it’s about being ready to trust each other to do the right thing.

Harness the mix

We work together, across disciplines and roles. We talk lots, share our insights, our skills and experience. We’re not interested in siloes or defensiveness. We’re always open to different approaches, we’re flexible and ready to adapt. We break down the barriers between our parts and people to unlock the problem-solving power of our amazing mix of minds.

Be a rock

There’s lots to do and people need us. It’s up to us to take the initiative. To take responsibility. To stand up and be counted. Everyday. It’s about being super focused, effective and efficient. It’s about allocating our resources smartly and with good rationale – using data to help guide our decisions. But most of all, it’s about having the strength and determination to keep on going through thick and thin.