Role: Duty, Advice and support worker

 

Team: Staffordshire Children’s Advice & Support

 

Location: Lindum house, stone

 

Salary:  Grade 6

 

Working Pattern: 37 Hours per week | Full time | Flexible working – happy to discuss options

 

Our team

 

We’re a great bunch here in Staffordshire Children’s Advice and Support Service and we’re looking for Duty, Advice and support Worker to come and work with us to make our team even better! 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.

 

Staffordshire Children’s Advice and Support team 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

 

Staffordshire Children’s Advice & Support Service works in partnership with colleagues in the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) to make timely decisions regarding referrals made by the public or by professionals to Children's Social Care. The aim of Staffordshire advice and support service 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 17 Consultant Social Workers, who are then 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, helping the Consultant Social Workers to build a more complete picture of the family’s needs in a timely way. This in turn ensures timely and necessary actions will improve the outcomes for vulnerable children.

 

As a team we embrace restorative practice and try and empower families, we are a reflective team with constructive, challenging discussions embedded in our culture, this is also encouraged through regular supervision and training

 

As an 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.

 

 

 

Our role

 

As an Advice and Support Worker in our service you’ll be responsible for:

 

- supporting social workers to understand children’s lived experience and to determine the level of support families require

 

- working collaboratively with MASH partners to gather information and determine risks and protective factors

 

- guiding/advising 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

 

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.

 

About you

 

You’ll:

 

- have an understanding of the needs of children

 

- understanding of computer systems

 

- have good communication skills

 

Our benefits

 

 

 

Our people are central to everything we do and so we’ll make sure you’re well supported and given the opportunity to develop and progress.

 

 

 

We’ve created a supportive working environment here at Staffordshire County Council because we recognise the benefits of enabling our employees to achieve their full potential whilst enjoying a healthy work-life balance. We’ve achieved this by offering more flexible working practices and supplying the tools and equipment to enable more smart and agile working.

 

And here’s just some of the benefits we have here at Staffordshire:

 

 

 

• Generous holiday entitlement from 24 up to 33 days (plus 2 extra statutory days and bank holidays) depending on job role and length of service The option to buy up to an additional 2 weeks annual leave A range of flexible working options, depending on your job role, which includes agile working, flexible retirement

• Family Friendly Policies - maternity, adoption, paternity and parental leave An excellent local government pension scheme

 

 

• Volunteering Scheme Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring Access to health and wellbeing support (including Occupational Health, Physiotherapy and Counselling Services) Eye care vouchers Car lease scheme / cycle & car loan scheme / employee car share scheme Bus and rail travel discounts

So, how do I apply?

 

Just click on the ‘Apply’ button. If you do have technical issues please contact recruitment@staffordshire.gov.uk and the team will help you.

 

Closing Date: Friday 1^st July  2022

 

For more information about the role, an informal discussion or should you have any requirements to assist you in applying for this role please contact team manager Debbie Giles at :  

 

Debbie.giles@staffordshire.gov.uk

 

Our recruitment process

 

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.

 

How will we store your details?

 

By submitting your application form, you are giving your consent to the processing of your personal data in the ways described Here

 

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, we offer a guaranteed interview to anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.