Fantastic opportunity to make a real difference to Children and Families lives! Aim is to work with families to ensure where possible children stay out of the care system!
Job overview
It is an exciting time to join Dudley Children’s Services following a directorate-wide redesign and the implementation of Family Safeguarding.
The post holder will be part of a multi-disciplinary team within Dudley Local Authority who work with the parents of children open to social care. As a model of practice, Family Safeguarding aims to keep more children safely at home with their families, in line with the vision of the Children Act 1989. Family Safeguarding is a whole family approach to working with children and families that supports parents to create sustained change for themselves and for their family.
This tried and tested model was first launched in Dudley in July 2023.
Family Safeguarding takes a multi-disciplinary approach to working with families including Children and Families Social Workers and Family Support Practitioners, working alongside Adult Specialist Workers to provide help and support in relation to issues associated with parental domestic abuse, substance misuse and mental ill-health. Family Safeguarding teams work with children aged pre-birth to 12 where the issues relate to abuse and neglect of the children by their families.
Local authorities that adopt Family Safeguarding support their workforce to become skilled at creating change in families, rather than experts in operating processes. They provide the help and support that families need to improve the health and development of their children at the earliest opportunity to effect positive change.
Family Safeguarding is built on core foundations of social work practice with shared values across the partnership workforce including:
1. Supporting the development of stable relationships
2. Having a shared model across agencies
3. A focus on strengths and balance with need
4. Promoting purposeful interactions
In the event that children continue to suffer significant harm, despite our efforts to support the needs identified, we will consider any further steps necessary including making an application to courts if required, as we wholly endorse the Children Act 1989’s clear focus on the paramountcy of the child’s welfare.
The post holder will work as part of a social work team, along with other adult practitioners for Domestic Abuse and Substance Misuse. You will act as a point of consultation for any new referrals made to social care and be involved in assessing needs of parents within a family. You will hold individual cases and work directly with parents and as part of a team supporting the family to bring about sustained changes that will improve their ability to keep their children safe at home.
You will provide direct support to adults with mild to moderate mental health problems, carrying out individual assessment and treatment, integrating a broad range of mental health approaches. You may be asked to facilitate and co-facilitate groups as agreed within the service.
There is a requirement to plan and organise case management, appropriate interventions and liaise with appropriate healthcare staff, including referrers, carers and family members collaboratively with the team.
You will come together as a multi-disciplinary team on a monthly basis for Group Supervision, this will allow you to reflect, analyse, and develop plans, and you will specifically provide progress updates in respect of the adult client you will be working with.
Post holders will work closely with the Clinical Psychologist to contribute to the service approaches and interventions in a service wide manner.
Team members will actively participate in and support the development of new ways of working which will strengthen and support the co-ordination of a whole systems approach for response to identified client need. Members will also be involved in service evaluation, audit and research initiatives.
The model requires the use of Motivational Interviewing to harness motivation to change and make it easier to access help. By using motivational practice to enable many more parents to accept help, Family Safeguarding provides specially designed individual and group work programs to change abusive behaviours, improve parental mental health and reduce harmful substance misuse. There will be an expectation that group work is facilitated and undertaken with those parents who are assessed as appropriate participants.
The post holder will be employed by Dudley Local Authority but will have an honorary contract with Black Country NHS Foundation Trust. This will enable access to health IT systems and patient data, as well as access to professional resources, toolkits and ongoing CPD for the clinical elements of the role.
The role will report to a Clinical Psychologist who will provide clinical supervision. The psychologist will also be employed by Dudley local Authority and have an honorary NHS contract.
Purpose of the Job
1. The post-holder will work as part of a co-located multi-disciplinary team of children’s social workers, domestic abuse and substance misuse specialists to safeguard and reduce risks to children, based in Children’s Services. They will be responsible for individual and group work with parents whose behaviour puts their families at risk of harm. They will be responsible for the clinical and operational day to day service delivery ensuring that people who experience domestic violence and abuse or (those who perpetrate it), abuse substances, and have a mental health condition are provided with evidence-based treatment and interventions as part of the whole multi-disciplinary support plan.
2. Interventions may include talking therapies, psychological therapy (for example, trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy), medication and support, in accordance with national guidelines.
3. To undertake comprehensive assessments and reviews, ensuring people are screened against the social care eligibility criteria in line with the Care Act 2014 and are assessed using the self-directed support Needs Outcome Assessment (NOA) process.
4. To undertake such reviews as part of an integrated assessment of people’s health and social care needs.
5. Ensure any treatment programme includes an on-going assessment of the risk of child abuse or further domestic violence and abuse, in conjunction with other team members.
6. To offer direct support and advice to service users and their carers, through information and advice and ensure that those who do not meet social care eligibility criteria are appropriately signposted and supported.
Clinical Accountabilities
1. To assess the suitability of mental health interventions for adults with a range of common mental health conditions
2. To assess and deliver evidence based approaches to individuals presenting with complex mental health problems
3. To provide individual assessment and treatment, integrating a broad range of mental health approaches
4. To facilitate and co-facilitate groups as agreed within the service
5. To form part of the multi-agency team within group supervision for those adults receiving intervention.
6. To offer counselling to adults with mild to moderate mental health problems who can present as distressed individuals with difficult and varied circumstances ranging from bereavement, loss and other life events, including those with personality disorder traits and issues of emotional self-regulation as agreed with the clinical lead
7. To attend clinical and group supervision
8. To manage own caseload, prioritising referrals as appropriate.
9. To contribute to court reports under supervision of the clinical lead as required
PERSON SPEC
Essential Criteria:
* Professional registration - eg RMN, OT, Counsellor, Social Worker, AHP
* Experienced Mental Health Professional
* Experience in dealing with troubled families
* Full driving licence
* Clean DBS
Desirable Criteria
* Knowledge, or experience of Motivational Interviewing
* Knowledge of care system/lived experience
* Passionate about children and families and wanting to make a real difference
Job Types: Full-time, Fixed term contract
Contract length: 18 months
Pay: £37,338.00-£44,962.00 per year
Benefits:
* Additional leave
* Bereavement leave
* Canteen
* Childcare
* Company car
* Company events
* Company pension
* Cycle to work scheme
* Discounted or free food
* Employee discount
* Employee mentoring programme
* Enhanced maternity leave
* Enhanced paternity leave
* Free flu jabs
* Free or subsidised travel
* Free parking
* Health & wellbeing programme
* On-site parking
* Referral programme
* Relocation assistance
* Sabbatical
* Sick pay
* Store discount
* Transport links
Schedule:
* Day shift
* Flexitime
* Monday to Friday
Ability to commute/relocate:
* Dudley, West Midlands: reliably commute or be willing to relocate with an employer-provided relocation package (preferred)
Experience:
* Working with families: 1 year (preferred)
* Working with children: 1 year (preferred)
Licence/Certification:
* Professional Registration eg Nurse, OT, Social Worker (required)
* Driving Licence (required)
* Knowledge of care system and court system (desirable) (preferred)
* Knowledge of motivational interviewing (desirable) (preferred)
Work authorisation:
* United Kingdom (required)
Willingness to travel:
* 25% (preferred)
Work Location: In person
Reference ID: sjp/fsmhp
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