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.
The Role:
We are looking for Independent Reviewing Officers (IRO) to join our team. The job will be focused on Fostering Reviews. There are 2 full time posts.
As an IRO, you will be passionate about improving the lives of vulnerable children and their families and will set high expectations for all professionals working with children and promote children's rights.
You will be a creative practitioner who is passionate about children having a full loving, comfortable home to grow up in. You are passionate about children, and believe that fostering is about ‘love’, and lasting relationships for children.
You are skilled at chairing meetings, enabling children, young people and parents to participate in the review process so their voices can be heard. You will be skilled at writing meaningful letters to children and young people of varying ages to capture the minutes of the meeting in a child centred way and reports following reviews.
You will act as an Independent Chairperson in Fostering Reviews overseeing the progression of timely and high quality foster homes for children.
After a period of training, you will also be responsible for undertaking Regg 44 visits to 2 residential homes owned by Southwark.
We are seeking highly motivated individuals who are qualified social workers and registered with SW England.
You will have:
- A recognised social work qualification and be registered with Social Work England
- 5 years post-qualifying experience with Children and Families, ideally with management experience
- Knowledge of key legislation and guidance central to the implementation of a professional social work service, especially those in relation to Fostering Regulations and those in relation to looked after children, family court processes, communication with children and children's rights and the responsibilities of the local authority
- Experience of chairing multi agency meetings and managing disagreements
- Confidence and ability to work constructively with social workers, team managers, senior managers and other agencies, offering a critical perspective and appropriate challenge
Additional details
Additional salary details
Full-time & Part-time opportunity available.
This post requires a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) DBS check at Enhanced level.
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. For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit our Staff Benefits page.
Recruitment timetable
For an informal discussion about the post please contact Clare Ryan via email clare.ryan@southwark.gov.uk
Closing date: 23/09/2024
Interview date: W/C 07/10/2024
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
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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