The role
Every child and young person deserves a good start in life, which means having parents or other carers who are able to love them, keep them safe, and help them thrive. But for some children, these formative years aren’t going as well as we’d hope – and that’s where Children’s Social Care comes in. We’re looking for UK registered therapists and mental health professionals such as systemic therapists, clinical psychologists or those with equivalent qualifications to try and get things back on track for children, young people and their families.
We have a number of Clinical Practitioner positions available - across Children’s Social Care, from our Assessment & Intervention Service, to our Youth Justice Service, to new opportunities to work with 18+ Careleavers.
About you:
As a Clinical Practitioner, you will be working within a systemic framework providing consultation, training and joint work to social work staff and YOS colleagues, as well as other professionals. You’ll provide clinical assessments and interventions to the most vulnerable children, parents and carers. Analysing complex clinical data, you will monitor the effectiveness of the interventions being offered to each child, and the reports you produce will be used to assist with making the right decisions for children in care proceedings or in the criminal justice system.
These roles have the scope to transform the lives of every child, adolescent, parent and carer you come into contact with. You will therefore need to have a solid grasp of a range of interventions and a proven record of working systemically to create change for children and families. We are particularly keen to meet applicants with skills in working with adults as well as with children, and who have skills in psychometric assessments.
We can offer you quality clinical supervision, resources, training and support to do the job well. Our approach engenders a shared sense of accountability, reflective space and support. Southwark as a borough is committed to actively anti-racist practice and we are particularly keen to attract applicants who will improve the extent to which our workforce represents the population we serve and who share our commitment to improving outcomes for all children and young people and tackling injustice, inequality and racism.
Subject to current staffing, we are sometimes able to offer preceptorships to candidates who do not have a required registration but are already enrolled on a course that leads to a required registration. These preceptorship posts are banded at Grade 10 but we provide support to candidates to complete their registration whilst in role and then move directly into the substantive Grade 11 role. Candidates interested in the preceptorship route should contact Prem Soobul for further information.
About Southwark:
We are the largest local authority social landlord in London, managing 55,000 homes lived in by 40% of Southwark’s residents. We are home to over 18,300 businesses including iconic London venues and social enterprises and we have a young, diverse and growing population.
At Southwark we are committed to making our borough just and fair and are taking positive action to tackle inequalities. Our residents and communities are our greatest asset and the passion we have for Southwark is shared by millions of Londoners who enjoy our outstanding cultural offer, use our hospitals and attend our universities. Our refreshed borough plan and focus on Southwark Stands Together, (which is our work with Southwark’s communities and the council’s staff to tackle racism, injustice and inequality) underpins all that we do.
Additional details
In addition to to the basic salary; Registered Mental Health Professional retention payment of 10% of the annual basic salary (pro-rata for part time staff), subject to annual review.
A satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at an enhanced level is required.
As a local authority we work in close partnership with various parts of the NHS to deliver better health outcomes for the people of Southwark. With the development of the Integrated Care Service (ICS) that partnership working will increase and deepen in the months and years ahead.
The Council therefore has decided to sign up to a charter that confirms we will recognise going forward the continuous service of people from the Health Service, when they directly join us here in Southwark as Council staff. This applies for consideration of annual leave entitlements and occupational sick pay. It will not be used in terms of issues such as length of service for redundancy payment.
For further information and to arrange an informal discussion for the post in Assessment and Intervention, please contact Prem Soobul - Clinical Service Manager for Assessment and Intervention and Family Early Help: premila.soobul@southwark.gov.uk. For the post in the Care Service, please contact Dr James Hanley - Clinical Service Manager for Care and Care Leavers: james.hanley@southwark.gov.uk. For the post in our Youth Justice Service, please contact Dr Aili Nidsjo - Clinical Service Manger for YJS: aili.nidsjo@southwark.gov.uk
Benefits and more information:
In your role, we want you to feel supported, challenged and rewarded. You will benefit from our family-friendly policies including flexible working, home working, and a local government pension scheme, plus many other staff benefits. You will join a motivated, driven and supportive team that strives for excellence and values its members. You will also be part of a successful and high-achieving development team that is making a real difference to the lives of residents in the borough. Our offer includes:
• A systemic framework of social work practice
• A vibrant place and Service to work with and a diverse community
• Strong commitment to partnership working with our Local Authority colleagues.
• Commitment to Personal Development
For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit our Staff Benefits page.
Guaranteed Interview Scheme:
As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:
• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition
Recruitment timetable
Closing Date: 11th April 2024
Interview date: Mid-end of April - TBC
SWCHTF
We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together programme. We particularly welcome applications from members of the Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.
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