Child Protection Conference Chair (Grade 8)

Provide expertise and strong management to drive performance and to commission and/or deliver the Council’s priorities and meet service targets, as a member of the Council’s Senior Management Group. Provide clarity, management and motivation in delivering the New Operating Model, the County Plan and other Council transformation programmes as required. Ensure the effective understanding and operation of any specific statutory or regulatory duty contained within the role. Advise Members and Directors in respect of operational planning and commissioning, policy matters and service delivery issues and engage with partners in the promotion, communication and delivery of services. Accountabilities Determine or support the determination of the strategic direction of SC and partners agencies in relation to their specialist expertise. Undertake representational and communication duties on behalf of the Council and partners both to promote and protect the Council’s interests in matters concerning their specialist areas. Advise SC on their obligations and duties arising from the statutory/regulatory framework covering their specialist subject. Shape and/or recommend Council policy concerning their specialist areas of activity. Create, monitor and review frameworks of performance measures and quality standards to be applied in the delivery of services in their area of expertise. Commission and/or act as the Council’s Lead Client in relation to services in their specialist areas. Drive and operate partnership and co-operative working with other agencies/bodies to ensure the effective commissioning and/or delivery of services in their specialist areas. Manage major programmes within their area of expertise or where their specialism is predominant. Deliver major projects and resolve complex casework where required by the Director. Specify and mentor the Continuous Professional Development of other professionals in their field. As part of the Management Team be responsible for the leadership of the delivery of a high quality service, to the children we assess, protect and look after, within our Corporate Parent role, with the aim of ensuring the best outcomes for children and young people. Where the postholder is also acting as the LADO this would extend to all organisations who come into contact with children. Where the postholder is an Independent Safeguarding and Reviewing Officer (ISRO) provide effective challenge to staff and managers to ensure plans for children are both safe and effective. Manage a small caseload of the most complex issues identifying and providing opportunities within these cases for other staff to gain experience. Deliver positive outcomes in these cases and use them to drive improved practice across the service. Independent Safeguarding and Reviewing Officers (ISRO’s) will hold responsibility for the statutory reviewing of children looked after (IRO Handbook 2012), and chairing of child protection conferences (Working Together 2013). Ensure that the relevant Operations Manager/Strategic Manager/Service Manager is kept fully informed of critical case work issues in which you are engaged and gain commitment to the potential/preferred resolutions. Engage with parents/carers and children and young people to ensure they are active participants in planning and reviewing services for their family and that their feedback is consistently requested and proactively used in local and county service planning. Provide reflective formal supervision, appraisal, informal casework consultation and full management oversight for a number Social work staff, as agreed by the Operations or Strategic Manager, to ensure high quality assessment, planning and placement outcomes for children with specialist/complex needs. As an Independent Safeguarding and Reviewing Officer provide challenge and scrutiny of planning through reflective casework consultation to operational teams to support effective decision making. Identify, promote and drive good practice by taking a lead role in case file and specific issue audits and engage with the Operations/Strategic Manager to ensure children are safeguarded and planning and assessment is clear, in pertinent, well-evidenced and timely records. Build and sustain strong working relationships with other agencies, such as health, education, voluntary groups, CAFCASS and the police, in order that organisations can work together effectively to deliver the best services for children and their families. Chair meetings with parents/carers, children/young people and professionals (e.g. Public Law Outline, Care Diversion, Complex Safety meetings, and for ISRO’s Children Looked After reviews and Child Protection conferences) and ensure that an accurate record of the outcomes and decisions are child focussed and distributed promptly. Track their decisions and ensure they are acted on. Engage with other Principal Social workers and allied professionals to identify examples of good practice and areas for development, reporting issues and proposed resolutions/improvements to Operations and Strategic Managers on a quarterly basis. Be responsible for driving and delivering these improvements, identifying and challenging/addressing blocks and negotiating and agreeing options to proceed. Undertake a tracking process for children with a plan for adoption and taking action to ensure there is no delay in progressing plans. For ISRO’s to engage with others at both a regional and nanational level for the reasons stated above. Represent the Team/Operations Manager as agreed and whenever necessary. Ensure that every child allocated to you and those you supervise has an up to date, and outcome focussed plan that clearly states the necessary actions, the responsible professional(s) and agreed timescales for completion. As an ISRO ensure that every child allocated to you has an up to date and outcome focussed care or protection plan which sates clearly the actions, responsible professionals and timescales for completion. Ensure that all referrals are responded to in a prompt and timely manner and that children most in need are prioritised and responded to accordingly. As an ISRO this is in a quality assurance capacity. Ensure that every child allocated to you and those you supervise, is visited and monitored in accordance with best practice standards and statutory and procedural requirements. Authorise casework assessments, plans and reports as required by the Operations Manager, ensuring that they are high quality, reflect the views of children and their parents/carers and provide clear and evidenced analysis and planning. As an ISRO review and audit assessments plan and reports as part of the quality assurance role ensuring that they are high quality, reflect the views of children and their parents/carers and provide clear and evidenced analysis and planning. Escalate concerns about quality of practice within the service/other organisations directly to the corporate Strategic Manager/Principal Social Worker office holder/Operations Director and DCS where issues related to quality of service have failed to be addressed locally. As an ISRO escalate concerns using informal and formal dispute resolution process. If undertaking the LADO role to full-fill the statutory duties of the Local Authority Designated Officer. Identify the need for and commission/deliver appropriate training and support to external and internal services/agencies. Provide high quality training on relevant legislation, practice and policy to staff and to other agencies on behalf of the department as required. Design and deliver Best Practice learning materials and events.