Job Introduction
We’re a great bunch here in Staffordshire Children’s Advice and Support (SCAS) and we’re looking for Duty Advice and support Worker to add to our amazing team! We work together well, sharing best practice and our knowledge and experience to continually improve the way we do things. We also deal with some issues you might not in other areas, such as forced marriage and child exploitation and so joining our team will give you a complete view of all subjects that social work touches on.
SCAS is a county-wide telephone and email contact and referral service for all children who reside in Staffordshire from pre-birth to 18 years of age who do not currently have a Social Worker or Family practitioner. Our service is focused and responsive to the needs of the County’s vulnerable children and their families and will require you to have knowledge of child development, safeguarding and able to understand the importance of process and procedures
SCAS works in partnership with colleagues in the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) to make timely decisions regarding referrals made to Children's Social Care. Our aim is to identify the needs of children at the earliest possible point and respond with the most effective, joined up actions. The aim of the MASH/ First Response is to make the right decisions for the right families at the right time
The team is made up of 18 Consultant Social Workers, supported by 6 Duty Advice and support workers
The role of the Duty Advice and support workers is to support the Social Workers with researching and identifying the best level of support required for families, using your communication skills to offer support and advice to enquiries made to the team. A key aspect of this is the ability to compile intelligence from a wider range of sources – this helps the Consultant Social Workers to build a more complete picture of the family’s needs in a timely way. This ensures timely and necessary actions to improve the outcomes for vulnerable children.
As a team we embrace restorative practice and try and empower families, we are a supportive team with reflective discussions embedded in our culture, which is also encouraged through regular supervision and training
As a Duty Advice and Support Worker, you have short term involvement with families, however we are a fast paced team as we want to ensure families are supported as quickly as possible, you have to have the ability to work well under pressure due to tight timescales, however it is rewarding job in a supportive and can do environment.
Main Responsibility
As a Duty Advice and Support Worker in our service you’ll be responsible for:
- supporting Social Workers to understand children’s lived experience and determine what level of support families require
- work collaboratively with MASH partners to gather information to help determine level of support
- to guide and advise professionals and agencies how best to support families
You’ll also:
- Coach and mentor less experienced colleagues to make sure we are developing the team as much as possible
The Ideal Candidate
How we work
As part of our transformation, we have embedded a new, restorative practice model which our current staff feel is proving to be very effective. Restorative approaches are widely accepted as being a highly successful way of achieving better outcomes for our children, young people and their families.
What you’ll bring
You’ll have:
- an understanding of the needs of children
- an understanding of computer systems
- Good communication skills
- The ability to work as part of a team
- experience of working under pressure and in a busy environment
For more information about this vacancy, please contact Rhi Dale, Team Manager, on rhiannon.dale@staffordshire.gov.uk
About Staffordshire County Council
We are no ordinary county council:
Our Values:
The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.
Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:
We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.
We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.
Our benefits:
We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.
In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire
Our recruitment process:
As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities
As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.
As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.
