The role
Are you an ambitious, creative and innovative practitioner who is passionate about improving the lives of children and families involved with children’s social care, including reducing the number of children being removed into care by supporting families to bring about change in their lives?
SWift is an intensive therapeutic and practical support project for children, young people and their families, sat within the Safeguarding Clinical Service. The small team compromises of a Systemic Psychotherapist and a Clinical Support Practitioner (advertised post). Following the positive evaluation of the 18 month pilot, SWift will continue for a further period of 12 months providing intensive support to families who could enter into legal process.
SWift work intensively alongside families, the safeguarding social worker and the wider network of support, using an evidence-based framework to assess and provide multi-modal, whole family interventions to impact on children and young people at risk of entering care proceedings.
The Clinical Support Practitioner will be working within a systemic trauma-informed framework, embedded in the Clinical Service, providing a variety of practical, supportive and therapeutic individual and family orientated interventions to children and families. The work will be in the Southwark community, family homes and offices.
About You:
We are looking for an experienced practitioner who is skilled in building relationships with children, young people, families and the wider network to support, through collaboratively agreed targets, to enable necessary sustainable changes. You will need to have a solid grasp and understanding of child development, needs and parenting practice. We are particularly keen to meet systemically informed applicants with skills in working with adults, children and families. You will have an understanding of the issues faced by parents and carers in a diverse community and able to assess and respond to this need using bespoke evidence-based interventions.
The post is suitable for, practitioners and family support workers whom have experience working within health, social care or education settings and who have an interest in developing therapeutically informed approaches.
We can offer you quality clinical supervision, resources, training and support. Our approach engenders a shared sense of accountability, reflective space and support. Southwark as a borough is committed to actively anti-racist practice with children and families and creating an anti-racist working environment and we are particularly keen to attract applicants who will improve the extent to which our workforce represents the population we serve.
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
This post is being offered as a fixed term contract for 12 months. We encourage any internal staff to need to gain agreement from their substantive line manager before applying if considering this is as a secondment opportunity.
A satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at an enhanced level is required.
For further information and to arrange an informal discussion, please contact Pippa Beazley, Senior Clinical Practitioner – The SWift Project, 07926 074743 or email pippa.beazley@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: 14th April 2024 at 23:59
Interview dates: 30th April and 1st May 2024
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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