Main Purpose of Post:
Social Workers are one group of staff within the social care sector. It is principally through Social Workers that Local Authorities meet their statutory obligations under Child and Family Legislation, Mental Health Law and the NHS and Community Care Act and others.
The overall purpose of the Social Work role within Children’s Services is to assess, risk assess and provide a service to children and their families, where possible maintaining children in their families. In situations where risk cannot be managed, to develop plans which keep children safe and able to achieve their full potential. In doing this, the Social Worker must adhere to the relevant legislation and regulation, as well as Powys County Council Policies and Procedures.
Principal Responsibilities:
To provide a social work service to individual children and young people with a view to keeping them safe and enabling them to achieve to their fullest potential within a setting that provides legal permanence.
To work as part of a team, undertaking tasks on a duty rotational basis, and providing cover for absent colleagues.
To foster and maintain good working relationships with colleagues and partners that enable the team to work effectively.
To identify risk issues in relation to the circumstances of individual children, and to ensure that there is safeguarding in place in order to minimise risk.
• Ensure that the needs of individuals and their carers are assessed holistically, packages of care negotiated, monitored and reviewed.
• Risks to individuals and others are assessed and balanced in a way that promotes independence of service users and their carers.
- Decisions about allocating scarce resources are made.
- Equal opportunity and respect for diversity and difference is promoted.
- Social inclusion of isolated and vulnerable people is promoted.
- Abuse of vulnerable adults and children is investigated.
- Collaboration and multi-disciplinary working with other agencies is strengthened.
- Accountability for their actions through effective, accurate recording of decisions.
TASKS, FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
• Enabling access to Social Services
- Engaging in a structured discussion with those making initial enquiry of the service and evaluating any information given.
- Giving information, advice and/ or signposting to other services.
- Applying service threshold criteria to make a judgement on whether a referral is appropriate.
- Evaluating urgency of response required to a referral and ensure that issues that may constitute significant risk of harm are immediately escalated to the Team Manager.
- Prioritising referrals.
- Making initial enquiries e.g. other agencies, contacts.
- Accurately and fully recording referral information in accordance with departmental procedures.
- Ensuring the timely transfer of referral information in accordance with departmental procedures and time scales.
- Safeguarding the welfare of a vulnerable person at immediate risk of harm.
• Assessment of need
- Evaluating the nature of possible needs based on referral information and previous records.
- Making enquiries e.g. interagency contact.
- Safeguarding the welfare of a vulnerable person at risk of harm.
- Making arrangements for an appointment and/ or visit for assessment in a timely way
- Engaging in direct work with service user and carer/s to carry out an assessment.
- Develop sound relationships with service users that enables the understanding of their views and their full involvement in the development of plans.
- Ensure that significant risk issues that cannot immediately be managed by the implementation of a plan are escalated to the Team Manager for further consideration.
- Undertake investigations under s47 of Children Act 1989 (Wales) and to put in place plans in order to manage the outcome of those investigations
- In working with service users and carers, Social Workers seek to enhance their problem solving capacities in a way that support maximum independence and choice.
- Agreeing the range of needs with service users and carer/s.
- Considering with service users and carers options to best meet agreed needs and assist in making informed decisions.
- Adopting a creative and holistic approach whilst exploring options.
- Seeking to maximise the financial and material resources available to service users from all possible sources.
- Recording unmet need.
- Collating the findings of the assessment and completing assessment documentation in accordance with statutory guidance, legislation and departmental procedures and timescales.
- Preparing court and other specialist reports in the required format.
- Ensuring the case file recording is completed in accordance with departmental policy and procedures.
- Convening and/or attending interagency meetings/ liaison e,g, case conferences.