Job title:Practice Supervisor / Directorate: People Directorate, Children’s Services
Post number: / Division: Children’s Services (RMT/Case Management / Adoption & Fostering)
Grade:Grade 10 / 11 / Section/team:
RMT/Case Management/Adoption & Fostering
Overall purpose of job:
To lead and supervise a team of qualified social workerswhich includes responding to referrals, assessments, front line child in need, child protection, children in care, children subject to court proceedings and adoption and fostering work. To provide reflective case work supervision and be responsible for quality assurance of Social Work practice, decisions and delegated functions, including providing a process for supporting social workers to identify needs and desired outcomes for the children and families/carers. This will involve working autonomously in line with delegated responsibilities.
To provide an advanced level of professional Social Work expertise to the team in respect of a range of Social Work interventions, methods, theories and research.
Post holders will be expected to be flexible in undertaking the duties and responsibilities attached to their post and may be asked to perform other duties, which reasonably correspond to the general character of the post and are commensurate with its level of responsibility.
Main responsibilities:
  1. Manage the day to day provision of services to children and families/carers ensuring efficient workload allocation. To be responsible for the supervision and management of a team of Social Workers: including work allocation, quality assurance, reflective casework supervision, coaching, mentoring and employee development.
  1. To provide an advanced level of professional Social Work expertise to the team in respect of Social Work interventions, methods, research and theories. Make high level decisions on complex cases appropriate and within delegations.
  1. Ensures implementation and understanding of departmental policies, procedures and legislation in relation to the staff performance and user group. Undertakes regular case file audits within and across teams.
  1. Deputise for other Managers and peers in any other team when reasonably requested to do so.
  1. Recruit, maintain and deploy a safe and competent staff team through effective recruitment, supervision, staff development and training, in accordance with North Lincolnshire policies.
  1. Liaise with colleagues from other Children’s Services, health colleagues and other agencies to meet the needs of children and families.
  1. The postholder will be required to undertake ‘on call’ decision making duties as and when required, for which appropriate supplements will be paid.
  1. To engage with children families and other stakeholders in order to ascertain wishes and aspirations of the children and families and engage with those people in developments to meet these aspirations.
  1. Undertake complaint investigation and disciplinary matters.
  1. Provide professional support, advice, guidance coaching and mentoring to workers relating to case issues and to staff’s professional and personal development.
  1. To convene, plan and lead strategy discussions in line with Working Together Statutory Guidance
*As appropriate and as required within role
Knowledge, skill and experience:
  1. HCPC Registered, Qualified Social Worker
  2. Demonstrates an advanced professional knowledge of legislation procedure and guidance related to child protection, children in need, children in care, fostering and adoption.
  3. Demonstrates commitment to their own and other team member’s continuous professional development. Having proven ability in managing change motivating and developing staff
  4. Advanced knowledge of a range of professional Social Work interventions and methods, assessment tools and relevant research and theories.
  5. Experience of multiagency working and the ability to develop partnership working. Representing all strands of the social work service, as required, at multi agency meetings, in a professional manner.
  6. Extensive experience of working in a social care setting which has included direct work with service users, and experience of supervising other workers. With the ability to ensure effective staff development, enabling other workers to develop their professionalism and expertise by the use of effective supervision, mentoring, coaching, co-working and constructive feedback.
  7. Detailed knowledge of child protection and child development and the ability to contribute effectively to complex decisions affecting the safety, wellbeing and quality of life of children and young people managing complex case issues including complex child protection enquiries, fostering, adoption and private and public law proceedings.
  8. Able to use ICT systems, including keyboard skills. Accurate and timely record keeping, service monitoring and communications.
  9. Demonstrates motivation and an understanding of the requirements of the councils leadership and management competency development framework
  10. Able to create systems for the effective collation and monitoring of service, staff and budgetary information and to produce reports for senior management
  11. Highly developed influencing and negotiating skills
  12. Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage own and team’s workload effectively.
  13. Excellent verbal, written, communication and presentation skills including the ability to explain complex information clearly and accurately including writing complex reports
To progress to Grade 11, it would be expected that Practice Supervisors would:
  1. Demonstrate an advanced knowledge and skills in child protection, child exploitation, safeguarding, complex fostering and adoption work.
  1. Experience in managing CSE, developing training strategies, plans and programmes.
  1. Demonstrate that they are able to offer specialist guidance and support to managers and practitioners within Children Services on complex casework issues that often involve a child’s immediate safety.
  1. A high degree of specialist knowledge of child development, fostering, adoption, abuse and exploitation, in all its forms, causes and complications for children.
  1. Experience of managing social work services in relation to making enquiries under S47 and S17 Children Act 1989 and PLO.
  1. Previous experience of chairing complex meetings which include child protection meetings and supervising social workers on child protection matters.
  1. A detailed, in depth high level knowledge of relevant legislation, regulations and guidance, as it pertains to safeguarding children; child protection; fostering; adoption and CSE.
  1. Experience of organising, facilitating and delivering presentations and training on safeguarding, child exploitation and child protection policies and processes.
  1. In depth knowledge of developing child protection procedures which will influence the strategic approach the service may take with such issues.
  1. Management of statistical information to a high standard.
  1. Demonstrate enhanced coaching and management skills
  1. Model and use critical reflective skills in management, practice or organisational supervision settings to enhance your own, others and the organisation’s strategic outcomes
*As appropriate and as required within role
Creativity and innovation:
  1. The post holder will be required to apply creativity and innovation to develop ways to ensure children are protected from harm and meet the needs of children and families.
  2. The post holder will continuously review, develop and improve systems, processes and services in support of the service’s pursuit of excellence.
  3. To lead on new projects and manage existing projects to creatively develop services
  4. To develop user focused procedures and practices, actively encouraging children and their families to assist in the development of services
  5. To work in partnerships to develop and implement policies and local/national service drivers, which may impact on how we deliver services
  6. To advise on complex case issues and manages complex cases
  7. To seek alternatives to unresolved practice issues through innovative problem solving
  8. Promotes and encourages innovative solutions to develop child centred support safeguarding solutions, including the analysis and management of risk
  9. Identifies a range of opportunities to develop staff team, introducing best practice initiatives
  10. To contribute and participate in service planning, review practices and amend as appropriate
  11. To deliver presentations and training materials to a diverse audience especially legislative changes, local priorities etc
  12. Will need to be creative in allocating work to staff and managing cover for absences, periods of exceptional pressure.
To progress to Grade 11, it would be expected that Practice Supervisors would:
  1. To creatively respondto highly complex child protection, child exploitation and safeguarding concerns whilst maintaining a central focus on the child.
  2. To lead creatively to the continuous improvement of services including recommending proposals for development and negotiations with external agencies within delegated responsibilities amending operational practice as required

Contacts and Relationships:
Due to the high level of risk involved in child protection, CSE and safeguarding work, such contacts can involve complex issues associated with safeguarding and protecting children.
Multi Agency:
Will be required to use sensitivity, tact and challenge when dealing with a range of issues as presented by various groups. Daily
Promotes the public image of North Lincolnshire Council with all agencies, staff and families. Daily
Maintain, develop and promote good working relationships with social and health care agencies, statutory, voluntary and independent, sector; which at times can involve contentious issues and require a high level of challenge and negotiation. Daily
Utilisation of advanced communication skills, motivating, persuasive, fact finding and evaluation. Daily
Promotes the work of the service seeking to influence other partners in order to deliver collaborative and innovative services and support. Daily
Maintains contact with appropriate local and regional groups, visiting other agencies to learn from best practice, ensuring local developments are made and priorities identified. Monthly
Involvement with the LSCB for the implementation of policy (including negotiating with police, health, legal and other multi-disciplinary teams and organisations). To ensure policy is correctly followed and all investigations are fully carried out, reports compiled etc. Weekly
Children’s Service:
Lead on multidisciplinary working within the service, setting objectives, reviewing practices and ensuring any issues are addressed
Work with Service Managers, Practice Supervisors and Senior Social Workers offering advice, support and guidance
Families and Children: Will be required to use sensitivity, tact and challenge when dealing with a range of issues as presented by service users and their carers. Promotes the public image of North Lincolnshire Council with all service users and families. Daily
Works with service users and families to obtain information to ensure their needs are central to future service planning. Daily
Other Local Authority Employees:Contact with Human Resource staff for exchange of information and support on all staff issues of a contentious and difficult nature. Monthly
Management Team:
Refer to senior managers for guidance on specific tasks or on particular complex issues. Weekly
Works with Service Managers and Team Leaders and Social Workers, offering advice support and guidance on a range of matters including child protection, CSE and safeguarding issues.Daily
Police/Courts:
Supporting children, young people and their families through these systems. Weekly
Custodial Institutions:
Occasional visiting of young people, providing on-going support and contributing for plans for release. Monthly
Decision making:
  1. Responsible for the day-to-day management of the team and the deployment of resources in order to meet demand within delegated authority.
  1. Responsible for ensuring that all stakeholders have appropriate information, including that, which will influence safeguarding and partnership arrangements.
  1. Recommends changes to the Head of Service on policy and implementation matters on areas which affect service provision and which impact on the public, the council and other organisations.
  1. Responsible for ensuring policies and procedures are adhered to by team members and takes appropriate action in respect of non-compliance and where practice requires improvement.
  1. Responsible for complex case management and decisions, which may affect service provision and impact upon clients, families, and services.
  1. Clear understanding of thresholds for Early Help, Child in Need and Child protection and Court proceedings.
  1. Act as decision maker with the police, health and education where strategy discussions are required in line with Working Together statutory guidance. To determine the required actions with Social workers and partner agencies and ensure these are carried out in required timescales.
  1. Responsible for ensuring the team receives all appropriate information and training to enable them to work within relevant policies, procedures and legislation
  1. Within legislation, guidelines and procedures will be expected to make decisions on the allocation of services within delegated responsibilities.
To progress to Grade 11, it would be expected that Practice Supervisors would:
  1. Make decisions in relation to the training plan, providers and procurement resulting in an effective annual training strategy.
  1. Monitor, analyse and evaluate child protection data, making proposals and decisions based on more effective safeguarding arrangements. These decisions have a major impact on the whole service area with particular significance to the safety of children and corporate risk management.
  1. Contributes to the development of local child protection best practice guidance for all Specialist Services staff that corresponds with LSCB procedures, submitting to the LSCB for decisions as required. This guidance will feed in to other service areas such as Education and Prevention & Commissioning.
  1. Make recommendations on the information systems for the child protection, case management and safeguarding services.
  1. Identify solutions for resource and policy gaps regarding safeguarding and child protection performance data and appropriate solutions to overcome these.
  1. Make decisions with managers on howto tackle weak safeguarding practice and workers to continually improve and monitor safeguarding effectiveness.
  1. Identify areas in which advice on performance management in safeguarding children and young people is needed and provide it.
  1. Take responsibility for monitoring and evaluating policy and practice and the impact of this on the service.
  2. Take a whole systems approach and understand the connectivity and interrelations between the service areas in order to evaluate impact and make recommendations for service improvement and outcomes.
  3. Be able to apply knowledge to hypothesise and make complex in complex strategic situations.

Responsibility for resources:
Responsible for personal communication equipment (laptop, mobile phone) to the value of £450
Budget management up to £50
WORK ENVIRONMENT
Work demands:
  1. To lead and supervise a team of qualified social workers to ensure children within North Lincolnshire are protected from the harmful effects of abuse and neglect.
  2. The post holder will be required to set priorities and meet deadlines, internal and external, that are open to change and frequent interruption due to needs of service users, families and managerial demands.
  3. The nature of work dictates a constantly changing environment with a degree of unpredictability.
  4. Requirement to ensure deadlines are met by the team as a whole and that conflicting demands and pressures are prioritised
  5. Responds to safeguarding investigations as required, urgent referrals and assessments
  6. Meeting deadlines determined by other departments e.g. cabinet reports, financial deadlines and project work, attending meetings on a daily weekly basis
  7. Flexibility to work as service required i.e. out of hours meetings, consultations etc
  8. Developing, maintaining and managing effective partnerships for the benefit of service users and carers
  9. Is available to meet the needs of the users including out of hours on call decision making including emergencies and management of complex cases
  10. Managing a diverse workforce with conflicting demands and pressures to prioritise the implementation of the projects and operational practices of the service, whilst responding to service issues on a daily basis
To progress to Grade 11, it would be expected that Practice Supervisors would:
  1. Work to meet the high risk and complexity demands providing advice and guidance to managers and professionals involved in safeguarding children work, these can frequently change and have conflicting priorities
  2. The post involves responding to deadlines, managing conflicting priorities and responding to urgent requests for advice and guidance on complex safeguarding children and SSM
  3. Working to provide information for announced and unannounced inspections in relation to safeguarding
  4. Provision of managing deadlines for safeguarding information related to performance
  5. Oversee the production of the training plan
  6. Will be required to respond at short notice to emergency situations

Physical demands:
The job involves the usual physical demands encountered in an office-based environment
Working conditions:
The post is primarily office-based
Work context:
The post is highly demanding, with an expectation of flexibility in the hours worked by the post holder and an assumption that work will have a high degree of priority for the post holder, often beyond the normal working week. The post holder will also be involved from time to time in dealing with aggressive people who are dissatisfied with the council's response to their issues. Whilst normally risk assessment will take place before these encounters, they will occasionally be unpredictable.

Position in organisation:
Indicate how many staff the post is directly accountable for:
Are posts in more than one location?
Is this at the same site? Are the posts managed highly mobile?
Posts all have same contractual base but all are highly mobile.
Is the supervision/management shared with another post in the structure? Yes  No 

Principal Officer Case Management
/
Service ManagerReferral Management / ServiceManager Case Management / Service Manager Adoption and Fostering
/
2x Practice Supervisor
1x CSE Lead Officer / 6 x Practice Supervisors / 3333 / 3 x Practice Supervisors


The post is subject to:
Disclosure of convictions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exemption) Act 1974 Yes □
Political restriction No□
Employee:
(signed) / (print) / Date:
Manager: (signed) / (print) / Date:

Policy and Resources Cabinet Member – 19th September 2012, Implemented – 8th October 2012 Page 1 of 12