Social Worker - Assessment Service

Social Worker - Assessment Service

Location:

Cable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, Dudley

Salary: £39,152 - £46,142 per annum plus £7,000 per annum Market Forces Supplement

Reference: DUDLEY/TP/697/4640

Grade: 9 and Grade 10 posts available

Our developing Family Help service aims to provide targeted support and help to families so that children and families can thrive and more families are able to stay together. We recognise that providing the right type of support at the right time for families is key to working effectively and that lasting relationships with professionals is central to working alongside families and their networks.

Working alongside families using our Restorative Model of practice, we use family led-decision making strategies and Motivational Interviewing skills to help families access creative and targeted support packages that will help to develop meaningful and lasting change for families. This includes increased capacity to manage complex parenting challenges and reducing risks within family networks and across our community. .

Our Family Help service is delivered through the ‘Family Safeguarding model’ which delivers a whole family approach to support. Social workers and Family Help practitioners will co-ordinate the support offered to families drawing on the knowledge and skillset of experienced Child Practitioners;
Drug and Alcohol practitioners’ Probation Officers;
Domestic Abuse Workers, and Mental Health Practitioners. The Family Safeguarding programme is used to inform our direct work with families and our model of supervision is reflective group supervision involving those practitioners involved in supporting a family.

Our ambition is for more families to receive the support that they need from within their local community through our model of early support. However, we recognise that some worries about children and families arise quickly and can be significant for children, particularly child protection concerns. Our Family Help service therefore includes an assessment service which uses our single assessment process and statutory child protection procedures, to work alongside families in assessing their needs and identifying the right plan of support for them.

Referrals come directly to the team from our integrated children’s front door and link in closely with our Family Help and locality partners. We are currently developing our (Multi-Agency Child Protection Team (MACPT) and in time, the Assessment Team will work closed with MACPT to assess and plan for our children requiring child protection intervention.