Children Social Work Team Manager Looked after and Disabilities Knowsley

Children Social Work Team Manager Team: Looked after and Disabilities Location: Knowsley Rate: £40.24

CLA and CP/CWD and care leavers require dedicated time to develop good practice for Social Workers in line with the practice standards and outside of the role of a Team Manager who is completing the QA work, supervisions and day to day oversight such as legal meetings, court, strategy requirements. Therefore the 2 additional capacity workers based in the office at least 4 times per week will allow for quality practice to be focused at a service level with practitioners.

This will sit under the current PMG1 Group Service Manager Temp role that we already have in place whilst CfC HOS is being recruited too. The 2x ATMs will form part of the Social Work Development (Enrichment/ Improvement/ Enhancement) Hub.

The role will be built on the foundations from Ofsted on what Outstanding looks like in which they reflect:

Put simply, outstanding does not mean 'perfect’. Nor does it mean that there aren’t areas for improvement, or there will not be a serious case review/learning review.

Identifying areas for improvement does not in itself preclude a Local Authority from an outstanding grade if it has taken swift, appropriate action to address them. Indeed, we see this as evidence of effective leadership, knowing yourself and responding appropriately.

We want to support Local Authorities to be confident in being transparent about where things could have been done better, so that they can take the right action to improve practice in future. There will always be significant risks when making decisions about child protection. Our focus is on how well these risks to children are managed.

Equally, we did not and do not expect each and every family to receive the same level of intervention. Proportionality is key, as the ILACS evaluation now sets out. It is not possible, or indeed appropriate, that every family gets an intensive response.

The 2 ATMs will be experts in what GOOD looks like, they’ll have a proven track record in guiding staff through transformations, whilst streamlining processes, and fostering an innovative culture. They’ll ensure high standards of practice across our Children Social Care teams, with policies and procedures being following and practice standards being implemented.

They will have experience in:

• leadership and management skills to motivate a team of social workers.
• the ability to analyse complex information and make informed decisions
• the ability to understand trends from research and apply them to practice improvements
• change management skills to ensure successful implementation of new initiatives
• the ability to stay up to date with best practice and new developmentsWhat they’ll do:
• engage in quality assurance initiatives and implement new policies to improve outcomes for children and families.
• track the impact of initiatives to ensure continuous improvement.
• carry out audits and reviews of policies and procedures to quality gaps whilst implementing development initiatives for social workers based on learning from audits.
• stay up to date with evolving regulations and the outcomes of local and national safeguarding reviews.
• provide support to ensure staff understand and follow new policies and processes including use of group supervision.
• work with team managers to prepare for inspections and develop learning from them
• Experienced in implementing quality assurance and improvement plans.

Based on Ofsted Guidelines the remit of their role will be:-

• Support with a focus on getting basic social work practice right• Guide practitioners in achieving consistent understanding and application of thresholds - essential for making good decisions.• Ensure that staff feel that they have a well-supported, confident and knowledgeable management team who understand the quality and impact of practice• Improve caseloads to a manageable caseloads with a stable, knowledgeable and committed workforce• Develop a strong learning culture and a strong focus on practice• Ensure that Knowsley has a child-centred system with robust arrangements and processes• Develop a workforce that has a focus on achieving sustained improvements in the lives of children and their families