Edge of Care Team Manager

 

Edge of Care Team Manager – Family Help

Brighter Futures for Children

Full time, permanent post

Salary: £54,971- £58,788 (depending on experience)

 

About us

Brighter Futures for Children is a not-for-profit company, owned by, but independent of, Reading Borough Council. Although we are independent, we are very much part of the Reading Family. Our people enjoy all of benefits as other Council employees including membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme and continuous service.

 

We work closely with partners in the local community and key organisations including Reading Borough Council, policy, public health and voluntary groups. We are responsible for the delivery of children’s social care, early help & prevention, education services (including SEND). This also includes fostering and adoption, the Youth Offending Service and traded services with schools.

 

Our main aim is to protect and enhance the lives of the children of Reading. We help families find long-term solutions to ensure children lead happy, healthy and successful lives.

About the role

This is a new post within an established service designed to support the development of our edge of care offer. The role will develop in line with our increased understanding of what works locally and informed by emerging evidence-informed practice supporting our wish to respond flexibly and further strengthen our model of delivery. The post holder will manage Key Workers who work with children of all age groups and families where there are identified risks in relation to family breakdown or where there is a need to support families where children are being reunified following a period in care.

 

The post holder will develop positive relationships and deliver effective supervision / case management to ensure workers provide evidence-informed interventions with families including trauma-informed, systemic, restorative, and motivational practice to support young people and their families in achieving positive outcomes and in addressing issues in order to mitigate the risks associated with extra familial harm and increase safety.

 

Role Responsibilities:

• Lead the edge of care team in the development and delivery of bespoke support packages and effective evidence-informed interventions that recognise the lived experience of the individuals and families and seek to address underlying issues and current concerns and build on strengths in order to achieve positive outcomes.

 

• Lead on the development of a Team Around the Worker multi-disciplinary approach to supporting young people and families on the edge of care that is able to flexibly respond to emerging needs, themes and trends.

 

• Work closely with Children’s Social Care and Youth Justice teams to ensure identification of young people and families who are eligible for edge of care services are appropriately identified and that processes are in place to enable them to identify access to swift support.

 

• Work closely with the Service Manager and collaboratively with partners to further develop the edge of care model and establish how relevant services and agencies will interlink and align.

 

• Liaise with services and agencies across voluntary, community and statutory sectors to establish a clear pathway to support for vulnerable young people on the edge of care.

 

• Model and embed trauma-informed, restorative and motivational practice in approaches to management, supervision and delivery.

 

• Lead on implementing and embedding agreed frameworks eg. NSPCC Reunification Framework and new ways of working with families on the edge of the care.

 

• Support the identification, analysis and delivery of new ways of working with young people and families on the edge of care, based on evidence-informed practice.

 

• Lead on quality assurance and performance management of the team, including ensuring that impact and outcomes are demonstrated, and performance issues are addressed.

 

• Identify any gaps in support/interventions and work creatively to address these, including commissioning where appropriate.

 

• Implement a range of regular quality assurance processes, including audits, case reviews and observations with feedback collated and used to improve the effectiveness of practice.

 

• Oversee allocation of workloads.

 

• Lead on recruitment, induction, training and personal development, absence management, retention, grievance/discipline/capability, succession planning & workforce planning of direct employees within the team.

 

• Ensure that service level agreements and information sharing protocols are developed, reviewed and kept up-to-date for all services contributing to the multi-disciplinary team. Liaise and work collaboratively with managers within partner agencies to resolve any issues swiftly, and to develop quality and capacity within the service.

 

• Provide support flexibly in response to young people’s and families’ needs including early mornings, evenings and occasional weekends where needed and appropriate managed within a flexible 37-hour week.

 

• Undertake or ensure that professional supervision of staff appraisals and staff development activities are in place to a high standard.

 

• Ensure reports on performance and information is in line with national and local requirements where needed.

 

• Contribute to and participate in analysis and use of service performance data to improve the effectiveness and impact of service delivery.

 

• Authorise and manage expenditures within prescribed delegated budget; contribute to resource planning for area of responsibility; monitor and evaluate contracts supporting packages of support or service delivery as required.

 

• Develop and implement operational guidance for the service.

 

• Participate in and Chair any relevant meetings/ panels and ensure those chaired by other staff within your team are effective.

 

• Model leadership competencies and behaviours that continuously develop staff and services.

 

• Take personal responsibility for identifying and meeting your own development and training needs.

 

• Undertake any other duties that are deemed appropriate to the nature, level and grade of the post, as may be required.

 

• Advise your line manager of any significant incident, event or identified trend, in order to ensure effective and timely management and resolution.

 

• Undertake delegated duties on behalf of Service Managers, as required.

 

• Contribute to development of strategy/services/policies as requested; ensuring service delivery is within relevant legislation and regulation.
• Demonstrate openness to own learning and development and openness to sharing skills and experience with others. This includes a commitment to training, embedding evidenced-informed practice and new ways of working with young people and families.

 

• Demonstrate a commitment to inclusive practice & confidence to embed anti discriminatory practice into daily work.

 

• Ensure practice is in accordance with legislation and Reading Borough Council/Brighter Futures for Children’s policies and procedures with particular reference to Health & Safety, Child Protection, and safeguarding children.

 

• To take reasonable care of your own health and safety and co-operate with management, so far is necessary, to enable compliance with the company’s health and safety rules and legislative requirements

 

• To undertake such personal training as may be deemed necessary to meet the duties and responsibilities of the post

 

• Brighter Futures for Children is a dynamic organisation which recognises the need to respond flexibly to changing demands and circumstances. While this job description provides a summary of functions and responsibilities of the post, this may need to be adapted or adjusted to meet changing circumstances.  Such changes would be commensurate with the grading of the post.

 

Essential Qualifications:

• DipSW or equivalent Social Work qualification plus continued Registration with Social Work England
• Management experience in a children’s services setting with evidence of continued professional development.
• Knowledge and understanding of the complexity and contexts of vulnerabilities and risks that young people experience and the complex needs of families where children are on the edge of care.

 

Essential knowledge, skills and experience:

• Substantial experience and direct management experience within a children’s services setting with families requiring intensive support.
• Experience of effective risk assessment and risk management in case work, including using professional supervision as required.
• Effective use of quality performance management systems covering quality assurance as well as impact and effectiveness of services.
• Experience of effectively and productively chairing complex meetings.
• Experience of building and maintaining effective partnerships with other agencies and schools to improve the outcomes for children and families.
• Experience and knowledge of the legal and social care policy framework.

Please include relevant information within the application form referencing qualifications gained.

 

For more information about the role, please read the job description and person specification.

Our offer

We offer a supportive environment to grow and develop your career with the opportunity to put your ideas across. Innovation and ambition are strongly encouraged, and you’ll get a great feel for that working in our friendly and collaborative environment.

 

A competitive salary alongside a range of benefits including:

• Local Government Pension Scheme with generous employer contribution
• Incremental holidays starting with 26 days plus public holidays (rising to 33 after 10 years’ service)
• Discounted Childcare (on site nursery)
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Season train ticket loans.
• Salary Sacrifice Car Lease Scheme
• A range of local shopping discounts

 

Inclusion and Diversity

We want Brighter Futures for Children to be a great place to work and to ensure that our children, young people and families are represented in leadership roles and positions of power. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking.

We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and those of Other Ethnicities, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our children, young people and families so that equalities and justice remains at the heart of everything we do.

 

Asking for Adjustments

Brighter Futures for Children is committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and as accessible as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments or changes for disabled people, neurodiverse people or people with long-term health conditions.

If you would like us to do anything differently during the application, interview or assessment process, including providing information in an alternative format, please let us know.

 

Closing date: 13 December 2024

Interview date: To be confirmed.

We look forward to hearing from you!