Contact Supervisor

To provide a high quality, child focused and safe contact service for children and their families / carers.

To set up and provide supervised contact between children and families/ carers maintaining records of interactions, child protection concerns and health and safety issues.

To promote, encourage and enable parents in practising safe and effective parenting skills and to support families in maintaining, or developing their quality of their contact. Where appropriate, to help families to develop independent contact within the community.

To provide a range of support in contact to children in need of protection or support and their carers, ensuring a provision of services that protect, support, and enable children to maximise their potential and to enhance their identity.

To ensure that plans for children and their families consist of clear goals and are being effectively implemented in accordance with standards and protocols. To ensure that individual outcomes identified are achieved.

To assist children and families /carers in the completion of life story work.

To participate in the development of new initiatives and work within the centre in partnership with the management team.

To ensure the environment where you are working is a safe, warm, containing, and accepting one.

Key Duties/Accountabilities:

To hold responsibility for a number of referred contacts.

Ability to work independently, take appropriate action where necessary and to consult/seek advice where appropriate.

To participate in the planning and provision of contact to a range of children/young people and their families/ carers, ensuring that the intervention is appropriate to the identified need, the goals are clear, outcomes identified, and that the service is provided within the timeframes agreed.

At all times to take into account the views of children, young people and their carers and to facilitate their participation in the work.

To work in partnership with the referrer and other services to ensure all identified needs are met within a multi-disciplinary and holistic context.

To be responsible for inputting data and using IT with computer-based system. To maintain client records in keeping with departmental policies.

To prepare and present reports and records as may be required, and to represent the centre's views and present reports at meetings and conferences relating to your work and observations of the child and family.

To work with other practitioners within the team in assisting them with the assessment of children, young people and their families. To contribute contact observations where necessary to the completion of court-ordered assessments in conjunction with family centre social workers.

To maintain accurate and comprehensive notes and records of all work undertaken with children and their families and complete required statistics on a regular basis.

To contribute to monitoring and evaluation of service delivery. Also to contribute to reviewing and improving existing service delivery.

To provide an ethical and culturally sensitive service ensuring that anti discriminatory practice and equality of opportunity is promoted in all aspects of the service.

To contribute to and participate in regular supervision and performance development in accordance with LBTH procedures.

To keep up to date with current issues, research and good practice models concerning work with children, young people and their families.

To assist parents / carers in the planning of their child's contact.

To assist users and carers to play a full part by providing advice, support and guidance and by arranging where necessary access to translation, interpretation and advocacy services.

To ensure the welfare of all children who are users of the service, keeping them safe from significant harm. This will include initiating child protection procedures where necessary.

To be willing to work flexible hours, this may involve evening and weekend work, according to the needs of the service.

To participate in training and staff development activities as appropriate.

Experience of working with children in need of support and protection.

Experience of undertaking contact work.

Experience of direct work with children.

Knowledge of relevant childcare practice, legislation and research.

Knowledge of child protection, indicators, issues, and procedures.

Essential Qualifications Required:

NVQ3 in Child Care or Play Work, NNEB, or equivalent.

Additional information to note:

This post is part time, 20 hours per week (2:00PM-6:00PM).

Able to work out of usual office hours if required and to participate in office cover arrangements.

A CRB enhanced disclosure that is satisfactory to us will be a condition of your appointment