Independent Reviewing Officer/Child Protection Chair
Trafford Council
Trafford Borough Council | 1st Floor | Trafford Town Hall | Talbot Road, Stretford | M32 0TH
Salary Grade – Band 10
Working Pattern – Full Time
Working hours – 36.25
Contract type – Permanent
Closing date – 22 April 2024
Interview date – proposed as 30 April 2024
Here in Trafford Children’s Services our vision is that our teams are offering the right help at the right time, and that at all levels our interventions make life better for children and families. We are ambitious for our children and for our practitioners - and our core value is ‘would this be good enough for my child’?
We want to have practitioners and managers who are confident and brave in their practice and are supported by strong leaders at all levels. As a relatively small local authority, we pride ourselves on our friendly teams, manageable caseloads, creative approach and colleagues who support each other. We were pleased to see this recognised in the Ofsted report that followed our ILACS inspection in late 2022, which highlighted that “social workers in Trafford are overwhelmingly positive about both the local authority and the support they receive.”
In Trafford our approach is strengths-based, using relational and restorative practice. Our recent Ofsted report referred to our "relational model of social work practice, which is well regarded by the wider workforce, has been successfully implemented.”
We believe that a culture and environment in which our managers and social workers can thrive is an essential element of improving outcomes for children and families. To support this, we have invested in a 3-year programme with relational specialists Strengthening Practice to provide ongoing training and enhance our social workers’ and Managers, including IROs/CP Chairs personal development. Our Ofsted report recognised this, noting a “cultural shift (that) has been underpinned by a strong training offer to support social workers to develop the skills they need to provide a better service to children”.
The Safeguarding & Review Service plays an integral part in our improvement journey across Children’s Services and the IROs/CP Chairs act as leaders in practce in supporting and challenging practice to ensure our children receive the best practice that enables them to achieve good outcomes.
About the Role
As an IRO/CP Chair you will be responsible for the Chairing of Initial and Review Child Protection Conferences and Cared for Children Reviews. We have made a distinction between the two and these vacant posts will be to Chair Initial and Review Child Protection Conferences, although you may be required to Chair some Cared for Children Reviews where it is felt in the best interest of the child/young person to provide continuity. You will be required to ensure we meet our statutory requirements in respect to the timeliness of Child Protection Conferences and monitor plans via mid-point reviews to ensure that the plans agreed are progressing and making a difference to the child/young person and that they are appropriately safeguarded. You will act as a leader in practice providing support and challenge to all partners, and where appropriate raising informal challenges/dispute resolutions to ensure children and young people are receiving quality services that reduce risk and enable children and young people to remain within their family where it is safe to do so. You will share good practice and offer direction to partners to enable continuous improvement in practice.
· Extensive post qualifying experience of working with children and families, including children looked after by the Local Authority and children at risk of significant harm
· At least 5 years’ experience of working in Children’s Services, with 2 years at Level 3
· Experience of management of risk and partnership working
· Understanding of Strength-based relational practice
· Understanding of quality assurance and how this support practice improvement
· Experience of using solution focused approaches in practice
· Experience in team leadership and performance management
(Additional Information)
You may need to work outside of normal hours from time to time, including weekends and should be willing to travel within and outside of the Trafford area as required
About the benefits
You will be welcomed into a friendly environment where your personal and professional development will be encouraged. You will have the opportunity to work and grow in a people-centred and values-based organisation that promotes a positive permission culture. Your opinions matter so you will have the opportunity to shape how we do things here at Trafford.
Trafford recognises the importance of staff wellbeing and offers a number of initiatives for staff including mindfulness, mental health first aiders, running & walking groups and health and wellbeing events.
Our great benefits include:
Pension
Home Technology Scheme
Car Lease Scheme
Cycle to Work scheme
Simply Healthcare
Employee Discount Scheme - 'Perks at Work'
To learn more about Trafford as a place to live and work, please visit:
https://greater.jobs/content/10496/welcome-to-trafford
The Council needs to hold and process information about employees, workers and other individuals as appropriate, for various reasons. With the General Data Protection Regulations coming into force we have in place a new privacy notice for staff, contractors, volunteers, trainees, those on work experience and job applicants.
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