Family Help Senior Practitioner

"I like the environment at Walsall, everyone is friendly and approachable. I like that I cover a diverse locality, I enjoy working with people from various different backgrounds I also like that I have good management, senior management and a very supportive team" (Annual health check)

Walsall is implementing the Families First Programme, based on the National Children's Social Care Review and Stable Homes Built on Love. To do this we are creating a combined, multi-agency locality Family Help Service, building on the strengths of Family Safeguarding model.

About the Job

As senior practitioner you are at the heart of practice development offering mentoring, coaching, support and practice expertise to your team. This will allow you to inspire others within their careers and practice with families

Our Offer

To provide the right conditions for you, we are committed to manageable workloads aiming for an average of 12 children, high support from managers, essential paperwork only, enabling technologies, and all social workers will receive training in Systemic Family Practice.

Wellbeing is at the heart of our work. We offer specialised clinical supervision, a 9-day fortnight to support work/life balance, flexible working and specialist employee assistance and therapeutic support when it is needed. We know we need to make social work a career people want to stay in.

In this role you will be supported to identify your specialisms and areas of interest, and access to training to develop your expertise in these areas. This forms a part of our ongoing commitment to your development, with opportunities to progress into, Consultant Social Worker, Lead Child Protection Practitioner or Team manager roles.

We are committed to anti-discrimination and equality and to developing a workforce that reflects the communities we service.

Salary Scale £ 46464- 51515 (+10% Retention Payments after 2 years, increasing at 4 and 6 years), As a practitioner, as you gain experience you'll be able to access specialist training, for example:

• becoming a practice lead with the Centre for Expertise in Child Sexual Abuse


• completing Achieving Best Evidence training


• ongoing Restorative Practice coaching


We also have a comprehensive career development offer. This includes:

• our ASYE programme - considered an example of good practice


• our core offer for all social workers, practice educator and team manager programmes


Clinical supervision

We have introduced access to clinical supervision for social workers and social work teams. This helps to:

• promote wellbeing for social workers


• enhance practice


• lead to a healthier and supported workforce


We would like to share with you:

• how we are developing this new model


• the responses we have had


• how practitioners are utilising this support to date
  
  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.


We have been graded as GOOD by Ofsted - read the full inspection report.

Family safeguarding

We have introduced the Family Safeguarding Model, where social workers work alongside specialist adult practitioners. We aim to keep children safe in their families through providing timely help, protection and support.

The model has been in place for over a year, and Ofsted have reported that they saw exceptional practice from social workers. This helps children's experience improve, and supports families to make positive improvements in their lives. As a result:

• our numbers of children supported by a child protection plan have reduced by half


• children entering care have reduced by 30%


This is just one of the new and innovative approaches we are implementing to do things differently.

Equality statement

We want our staff and management teams to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve in Walsall. We are committed to promoting equality and anti-discriminatory practice., There are lots of exciting ways to progress your career in Walsall. We are looking for newly qualified and experienced social workers to join our children and families social work teams. We want you to share your expertise and knowledge and make a difference for the children of Walsall. In return, we will offer you support, recognition and a commitment to help you learn and grow.