Location: Barnardo's Scotland Fostering Edinburgh Salary: £35,360- £47,320 Plus £312 Office at Home Allowance Contract type: Permanent Hours: 37 Closing Date: 6 May 2024 Barnardo's Scotland Fostering Edinburgh have a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Supervising Social worker to join our busy team on a Full Time (37 hours) permanent basis.
Location: The successful candidate will work on a hybrid basis with their office base in Edinburgh, however some meetings and training occur Scotland Wide. As a Supervising Social Worker, you will work within a team of supervising social workers, children's workers, therapists, education liaison worker, managers, and admin staff responsible for the recruitment and support of foster carers who provide care to looked after children and young people who are referred to the service from the Local Authority. Some of the key responsibilities are:
Ideal Candidate's must haves:
Further details and application documents here Location: Lordshill, Southampton Salary: £30,126 - £38,272 Contract Type: Full time Specific Hours: 37.5 hours per week Closing Date: 30 April 2024 Who are Fair Ways and what do we stand for?
Fair Ways is a leading children’s services charity based in the Solent, delivering Fostering, Education, Residential, Mental Health and Family services and cares for over 400 children, families, young people and vulnerable adults each year. Fair Ways is a great place to work. We are a team. We care about each other and are all committed to making a change to the lives of everyone in our care. We will not apologise for calling our staff great, the best, or world-class. Our staff are at the core of our organisation and we celebrate them by shouting it from the rooftops! Where and when do we need you? We are looking for a Social Worker to support the growth and development of our Registered Family Centre in Southampton. The Family Centre is made up of 5 self-contained flats each with their own bathroom and kitchen facilities and a separate bungalow which can accommodate an additional 2 families. Families will be referred to the Family Centre if there have been concerns identified around the safety of the children within their existing family unit. Once with us, the families will be continuously encouraged, assessed and guided through a 12 week stay where they are monitored 24/7 to encourage sustainable positive parenting changes. As a Social Worker with Fair Ways you will deliver the highest standards of care and support to our children, families and vulnerable adults through:
Further details and application documents here The Social Worker of the Year Awards 2024 have opened for entries. Eighteen categories are up for grabs this year in the England-based scheme, alongside the overall social worker of the year prize. New this year is an award for practitioner-led research, which is open to social workers and managers who have carried out research or helped build a research culture within their organisations. Organising charity Social Work Awards Ltd has also replaced the previous digital transformation in social work category with one for technology-enabled lives and innovation in practice. This is for social workers, teams or local authorities who have sought to improve the lives of people with lived experience through the use of technology. Meanwhile, the charity has dropped the previous supporting children in education prize. Entries are open until 12pm on 3 June, after which entries will be shortlisted by the awards’ judging panel of social work experts, people with lived experience and former winners. You can enter the awards here and read the entry rules here. The full list of categories is below:
Source: www.communitycare.co.uk Location: Lincoln & Louth Salary: £23,400 - £28,600 Hours: 37 Contract type: Fixed term End date: 31 March 2025 Closing Date: 26 April 2024 Interview Date: 7 May 2024 Barnardo's work in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council to deliver its Leaving Care Service for care experience young people aged 16-25.
We support, encourage, and empower care experienced young people to live independent lives. Knowledge of the risks worries and safeguarding concerns when working with Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking young people is desirable. Initial Specific Responsibilities
Supplementary Information
Further details and application documents here. Location: Hybrid covering Stevenage and Essex Salary: £43,316 depending on experience Contract Type: Permanent Specific Hours: 37.5 Hours per week Closing Date: 26 April 2024 We have a fantastic opportunity to join our team and a growing fostering service in the Eastern Region where you will be able to contribute to achieving positive results for young people.
About Us Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future. St Christopher's is a leading charity for children and young people. We are proud of our history of providing fostering, children's homes and innovative leaving care services across the UK & Isle of Man. We have a passionate commitment to our young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do. We provide positive life experiences for young people who are unable to sustain a placement in their parental or foster home. We are an equal-opportunity employer keen to develop an inclusive workforce where people feel they belong. We hope to attract applications from under- represented groups, including people from different cultures, nationalities, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religions, faith, sex, orientation, childcare responsibilities, and gender-diverse identities. About the Role As a Supervising Social Worker, you will contribute to the growth and development of St Christopher’s fostering services by playing a key role in the recruitment, training and assessment of foster carers and by building positive relationships with referring authorities and other professionals. Further Details and application douments can be found here Location: Cambridge and Peterborough Salary: £12,451 per annum Contract Type: Permanent / Part Time Hours - 20 hours per week Closing Date: 12 April 2024 About Break
Nobody chooses the family or circumstances they are born into. At Break we firmly believe that with the right care, there is no limit to what can be achieved. We work across East Anglia with children and young people on the edge of care, in care and leaving care. Whether you’re interested in working in our residential homes and short breaks for children with disabilities, our pioneering Staying Close Staying Connected project or vital essentials like our family assessment centre and wraparound care offer, one thing is universal: you’ll be joining a team of passionate and dedicated individuals who want the very best for the young people they care for. Learn more about Break Why Break? At Break we invest in the future of our staff just as we do for the young people in our services. We strive to provide the highest quality of care, so whether you’re just starting your career in children’s social care or are already qualified, you’ll be supported, recognised and rewarded for your essential part in our vital work. This role will work in our Staying Close Staying Connected project, Staying Close Staying Connected, one of eight pilot models for leaving care being funded by the Department of Education. For children in care, turning 18 can mean finding themselves on a cliff-edge of support. This service is truly leading the way nationally in terms of leaving care provision. About the role: As a Break Transition Worker, you’ll be working closely with young people who have recently left their children’s residential care home and are taking their first steps into independence. Success in this role will very much hinge on the strong, trusting relationship you’ll build with the group of young people you’re working with. You’ll make regular visits to their home and support them to increase their independent living skills. Whether that means teaching them one of your signature dishes (talk to Transition Worker Matt in Cambridgeshire for his Weetabix burger recipe), helping them to pay bills, applying for benefits or filling in a job application the role you will play in young people’s lives will be fundamental in supporting mental health, wellbeing and their future. You will help them break down the barriers they might feel as a young person leaving care, and be the best possible version of themselves as they enter independence. You’ll work flexibly and have a can do attitude, be able to adapt your working to suit the individuals or professionals you’re working with, be calm under pressure and be resilient enough to cope with challenging emotions and behaviours. Further details and application documents here Location: Homebased- Northamptonshire, Leicester, Peterborough Salary for Supervising Social Worker: £35,292 p.a. + £1,500 Out of Hours Allowance p.a. + £750 Homeworking Allowance p.a. Salary for Senior Supervising Social Worker: £39,880 p.a. + £1,500 Out of Hours Allowance Closing Date: 17/04/2024 Interview Date: 30/04/2024 Hours - 35 Hours per Week
Contract - Permanent Location - Home-based in Northamptonshire, Leicester, Peterborough, Central Milton Keynes with travel required to visit foster families located across the TACT East Midlands area As a ‘not for profit’ organisation, TACT puts the needs of our children and carers first and looks to appoint individuals who are as passionate about fostering as we are. We are a homeworking organisation, and we pride ourselves on our flexible working opportunities, available from day one, an extensive well-being programme and our benefits package, all curated to nurture a healthy work-life balance for all our employees so they can give excellent service to our carers and the young people and children we care for. As a foster care charity, TACT invests all surplus income into services, staff, carers, and child development. This means that we have been able to invest in unique projects like TACT Connect, our unique and ground-breaking scheme for TACT care experienced young people and adults, as well as our expanding TACT Education Service and our new Health Service. All our activities are built on our commitment to becoming a fully trauma-informed organisation, in line with our key values and ethos. TACT achieved 16th place in the UK Best Companies Work For survey results in 2023, with 91% of employees acknowledging that the organisation is run on strong values and principles and 94% stating they feel proud to work for this organisation. The East Midlands Team, who have been rated as Outstanding in their Ofsted inspection in February 2024, have a unique opportunity for either a Supervising Social Worker who is ready to progress their career to a Senior Supervising Social Worker or a current Senior Social Worker who understands trauma and therapeutic parenting approaches. This role will give the successful Social Worker a chance to build on their skills and knowledge in providing support and supervision to our foster families based in the East Midlands area, to help them manage the complex needs of the children and young people in their care. If you want to be valued as a professional, be appreciated at work and contribute to better outcomes for the children and young people connected with TACT, apply now. The main requirements of the Social Worker role are:
Further details and application documents here Location: Barnardo's Fostering West Midlands Salary: £42,640 - £57,200 FTE plus £312 Office at Home Allowance Hours: 37 Closing Date: 13 April 2024 Interview Date: TBC Are you passionate about making a difference to Children's lives?
Barnardo's is a leading children's charity, and our Family Placement Service has a well-deserved reputation for providing high quality foster placements. We are looking for a dynamic and dedicated Operations Manager to join us on a full time, permanent contract at our busy fostering service in the Midlands. This is an exciting opportunity to join an experienced and well-established family placement team providing high quality support to foster carers, careful matching of children and placement stability. Would you like to be involved in driving the growth and expansion of this model? As an Operations Manager, you will work alongside the Midlands Fostering Families Service and Assistant Head of Business undertaking specific management duties associated with the running of a diverse family placement service, playing a key role in the success of our fostering services. In particular you will work hard to ensure that every child entrusted to our care is kept safe and is given every opportunity to blossom and achieve great outcomes in line with the promise. You will be an approachable, innovative, and creative individual, with sufficient experience at a senior management level. You will be passionate about change, evidence a strong value base in line with Barnardo's values and behaviours, and be confident in your own knowledge and the ability to give advice to others. You must hold a Social work qualification ( Diploma/ BA/ or equivalent) please. Some but not all of the key responsibilities of an Operations Manager include:
Care News: Sibling contact events ‘could help local authorities to improve long-term relationships8/4/2024
Events designed to allow children in care to reconnect with separated siblings could help local authorities to support future meaningful contact, according to an evaluation of an early pilot programme. Developed and delivered by the children’s charity Coram, the Sibling Time event was piloted in Leicestershire in early August 2023. The model is based on calls from children in care to stay in contact with siblings and on previous research by the Children’s Commissioner for England which found that good quality sibling contact is associated with positive wellbeing outcomes for children. The pilot event was attended by ten children and 11 parents and carers. The three-hour session, funded by the Hadley Trust, was facilitated by nine professionals including staff from Coram’s Activity Days team, social workers and play specialists. It focussed on child-led free play with supported activities. During the session, parents and carers were offered training around various topics such as supporting sibling contact and life story work. The evaluation of the project found that Sibling Time was “implemented successfully and that the service shows significant signs of promise”. Five of seven professionals interviewed about the project rated their experience as excellent and all felt that children were engaged and enjoyed the time with their sibling. One professional highlighted the potential of Sibling Time events to act as a “starting block” for relationships that could enable families “to feel confident to move it along to unsupervised in the community”. Children who took part in the event said that they would be keen to see their siblings again in the future. Max Stanford, head of impact and evaluation at Coram, said: “Sibling Time shows signs of significant promise in helping local authorities to support meaningful contact between separated siblings, offering them the opportunity to build strong relationships and emotional connections.” The evaluation also shared recommendations on how best to strengthen the scheme including providing training to staff about facilitating play to “ensure that there is a common approach for all professionals at the event”, as well as range of training courses tailored to parents/carers attending. It also highlighted the need to implement data collection at local level to improve monitoring and evaluation of the programme. There will be an online information session on Sibling Time on 19 April from 10.00 – 11.30. To register, please contact: adoption.activitydays@coram.org.uk Source: www.cypnow.co.uk/news Have you considered the possibility of fostering a sibling group? It can be a journey marked by both trials and triumphs. While it’s true that fostering siblings comes with its share of complexities, managing different personalities, addressing past traumas, and balancing individual needs, it’s also a profoundly rewarding experience. Witnessing the resilience and bond between siblings as they navigate life’s challenges together is nothing short of inspiring. One of our foster carers shared her experience of fostering two brothers for 3 years. “My journey as a foster carer for two brothers has been an eye-opening experience filled with highs and lows. Every day brings new lessons. From the very beginning, I knew fostering siblings would come with its unique set of hurdles. Helping them adjust to a new environment, addressing any past traumas, whilst managing their often-difficult relationship with each other, has been a delicate balancing act. Yet, seeing their resilience during what has been a difficult time, has been nothing short of inspiring. When they first arrived, the eldest had very little confidence in himself, he would hold his head low, often hiding himself with his hood up, and rarely removed his jacket. It almost felt that he was worn down, wanting to hide himself from everyone, avoiding them seeing him. Slowly but surely, his confidence grew. He went from not believing in himself, not even wanting to attempt to apply for Head Boy in school, to applying and being nominated. This was a proud moment for him, and for me. The youngest of the two struggled too. He had an insecure attachment, often seeking attachment wherever possible. This often resulted in unwanted behaviours, sometimes aimed at me, or his brother. With the support of Young People at Heart, I learnt more about therapeutic parenting approaches, in particular the PACE approach developed by Dan Hughes, and this enabled me to find ways to help him. I was able to find ways of connecting, before correcting, and providing lots of empathy and curiosity to every situation. I had to nurture him as if he was a toddler again to help fill the gaps he had missed in early life. Sure, there were times when disagreements arose, and moods flared, but it’s all part of the journey. Guiding them through these challenges and teaching them how to communicate and compromise has been both challenging and fulfilling. But amidst the tough times are countless moments of joy and connection. Whether it’s celebrating birthdays, cheering them on at sports events, or simply sharing stories around the dinner table, these moments remind me why I became a foster carer in the first place. Another challenge I faced was navigating family time with birth parents. Initially, I had attempted to gain a healthy, positive, and professional relationship with both birth parents, however, over time, it proved difficult. Often birth parents can understandably struggle with the care systems, they can feel decisions are unjust and struggle with the loss of the care of their children. At times, the frustration was unfortunately aimed at me. This was a difficult time; I wanted to maintain a good relationship as I knew this would be of most benefit to the boys. However, I eventually had to accept that this was not always going to be possible. Family time can often be a difficult time for the young people too. They are left with overwhelming feelings of guilt, and divided loyalties, not wanting to hurt their parent, nor their foster carer. It takes lots of reassurance and understanding to help them through. After 3 years, I have recently had the amazing experience of supporting and transitioning the boys back to their birth dad. Having been able to maintain a positive relationship with dad, and with the Local Authorities input, the decision was made for a careful transition plan for them to reunited. This was a special moment for everyone, me, the boys, and for dad. It makes my heart burst to know that the boys will live a life with their family. I have continued to keep in touch with the boys and their dad, offering him advice and support to ensure that reunification continues to be positive. I know caring for them can be challenging at times and recognise the importance of having invaluable support from people around you. Being there for these siblings through their ups and downs has been a privilege. Providing them with stability, love, and a sense of belonging has been my greatest reward. And as I watch them grow and flourish, I’m reminded that family isn’t just about blood, it’s about the bonds we create and the love we share. So, to anyone considering fostering siblings, know that while it may not always be easy, the impact you’ll make on their lives is immeasurable. Through the challenges and triumphs, you’ll be helping to shape and create a brighter future.” Source: www.youngpeopleatheart.org |
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