Team Manager – Family Safeguarding - Ref: CH07721

£45,859 - £51,315 per annum                                                

Team Managers in the Family Safeguarding Teams receive a retention payment on reaching 2 years in post.

Equality Statement

We want our staff and management teams to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve in Walsall, and in Children’s Social Care we are committed to promoting equality and anti-discriminatory practice.

We welcome applications from people of all cultures, races, ethnicities and religions, of different genders, ages, sexual orientations, disabled applicants, and recognise unique perspectives and contributions.

Working for Walsall Children’s Social Care

Walsall is a great place to practice Social Work. We strive to provide the best services and outcomes for our children, young people and families, and this has just been recognised by Ofsted who have graded us as GOOD!

Ofsted told us that: ‘There is a strong corporate commitment and investment in children’s services from the chief executive, lead member and other members to implement Walsall Council’s priorities for children. As a result, there is tangible progress and benefits for children, their families and the workforce. There has been a significant reduction in social work caseloads so social workers can spend more time with children and their families. Workforce stability is good and results in fewer changes of social workers for children’.

To achieve this we try to keep a resolute focus on workloads. Our current workload average is 13.3% per full-time Social Worker.

We have introduced Family Safeguarding Model, where Social Workers work alongside specialist adult practitioners with the aim of keeping children safe in their families through providing timely help, protection and support. The model has been in place for over a year and we are really starting to see the difference, with Ofsted reporting that they saw exceptional practice from social workers, which helps children’s experience improve and supports families to make positive improvements in their lives.  As a result of this, our numbers of children supported by a child protection plan have reduced by half and children entering care have reduced by 30%. This is just one of a number of new and innovative approaches we are implementing to do things differently.

We have significantly improved our workforce stability, and we would like you to join our increasingly settled, permanent staff group. Our staff tell us things are improving, in our 2021 Health Check Survey 93% of staff said they feel positive about working for Walsall. Feedback was that this was especially because we have a small community feeling here in Walsall, and staff feel part of a team and supported by their managers and Senior Managers.

For our Social Workers to be able to support children and young people and keep them safe, they need feel safe and supported. We have just launched a new Workforce and Wellbeing Strategy to put wellbeing at the heart of everything we do. As part of this we are trialling clinical supervision for our Social Workers and Team Mangers in partnership with The Child Psychology Service, as part of an enhanced wellbeing programme for all staff.

We offer flexible working, with a hybrid approach of home working and office based working to maintain our team support and culture.

We also have a comprehensive career development offer: from our ASYE programme – considered an example of good practice, to our Core Offer for all Social Workers, Practice Educator and Team Manager Programmes. As practitioners gain experience, they are also able to access specialist training: for example in our Practice Leads with Centre for Expertise in Child Sexual Abuse, Achieving Best Evidence training, and Restorative Practice coaching.

Our staff are our biggest resources and we want to invest in them! We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including retention payments for Social Workers in key frontline practice roles in Duty and Assessment, and Family Safeguarding Teams. These start at 10% of annual salary after 2 years working for us, increasing to 12% after 4, and 14% after 6 years.

Family Safeguarding

Walsall Children’s Social Care has recently launched the Family Safeguarding Model with support from the ‘Strengthening Families, Protecting Children Programme’ and investment from the Department for Education. This has involved creating Family Safeguarding Teams that include Social Workers, and Specialist Practitioners to support parents experiencing domestic abuse, mental health problems or drug and alcohol misuse. In addition, we offer a tailored programme of support and intervention, with all work being centred on Motivational Interviewing skills and more effective case recording through the workbook. All staff will receive training in the model and support in its implementation. We are now 2 months since going live, and so there is still time to join us at the start of our journey.

We are proud to be aiming high, and focusing on doing the things right to achieve the right outcomes for children, families and communities in Walsall. We hope that you will join us on this journey.

Please note that we want our staff and management teams to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve, and welcome and will invest in the development of applicants who are Black, Asian or from minority ethnic groups.

For further information please contact Jade Read Group Manager at Jade.Read@walsall.gov.uk

Walsall Council takes seriously the responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the children and young people entrusted to our care and it is our expectation that all staff will share this commitment. Completion of an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is a requirement for working with children and young people.

Note: Applicants appointed to posts that require an enhanced DBS clearance must declare any periods of time that they have lived, studied or worked abroad and be prepared to provide an Overseas Criminal Records Certificate (OCRC) or a Statement of Good Conduct (SOGC) relating to anytime they were overseas.

The post holder must have a social work qualification or equivalent and must be registered with Social Work England.

View Job Description & Employee Specification

This post is covered by the Government’s Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers.  The postholder will be required to communicate verbally with customers and provide advice and/or information in accurate spoken English.

Closing Date: 13^th February 2022

Interview Date: 21^st February 2022