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 Location: Sheffield Salary: £15,474.41 - £17,881.54 per annum depending on experience (£25,790.69 - £29,802.57 per annum FTE) Hours: Full Time - 22.5 hours per week (Days and working pattern to be agreed but must include working on a Monday) Closing Date: 15 April 2024 Based at: Sheffield (Unit 3 & 4, Shepcote Village, Sheffield, S9 1TG)
(Please note we do not operate a performance related reward system or automatic incremental payments.) The main office base will be Sheffield with a requirement to travel occasionally to our East Midlands and North East office locations. We offer hybrid working which includes a blend of home and office working with a minimum of one day per week in our office. Team Fostering is an ethical (not for profit) independent fostering agency with a strong reputation for providing high quality, value for money foster care for looked after children. We pride ourselves on our values and behaviours and we expect our staff to commit to and demonstrate these in their everyday work. We are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic Training Co-ordinator to join our successful fostering agency. The post holder will support the Training Manager and contribute to the development, co-ordination and delivery of mandatory and non-mandatory training to Foster families across the Agency, promoting a high standard of care for children and young people. The successful candidate will have excellent inter-personal skills and relevant qualifications in administration/information technology. They will also need to be competent in the operational use of remote platforms TEAMS/ZOOM. Experience of working within a diverse adult group is essential, together with an ability to always maintain confidentiality. Experience of working for a fostering service would be desirable. The successful candidate must have a full driving licence and access to a car for work. A willingness to travel to other office locations and the ability to work flexibly, including occasional weekends is also essential. Further details and application documents can be found here Sarah & Levi* reached a HUGE 10 years of fostering with The Children’s Family Trust. In order to celebrate the milestone and their incredible longevity, we gave them the keys to the website and asked them to blog exactly how fostering has developed, and any words of encouragement for those experiencing difficulties or struggling to make the first steps. We have been with CFT for 10 years now, our journey has taken many twists and turns over the years. The Pandemic was especially crazy in our household like many other across the world. Myself and Levi looked into fostering because we just wanted to help, that was it. The more children we could help the better. We saw CFT along with many other fostering agencies at Birmingham Pride. What they stood for and the fact that CFT is a Charity really stood out to us both. Witnessing the Trust grow and change over the years has helped us as well as many other fostering families grow too. Currently, we have one child in a long term placement with us, and we’re currently going through the “staying put” process now. Our lives have totally changed since being with CFT. It has been challenging however it has also been extremely fulfilling and enjoyable. The fact we have an amazing young person with us to share our journey is a bonus. We would highly recommend CFT to anyone who wants to foster or even just looking into it at the moment. Our advice to those thinking about becoming foster carers: Training – Attend as many training course as you can. Even if you dont have a child/ren in your care at that point. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to ask questions and speak to other carers, this will prepare you for when you do have a child/ren in your care. Champion Individuality – All children are different, what works for one child won’t work for another. It sounds simple iI know but simplicity is key. Utilise Available Support – Ask for help if you need it, what ever form that takes. Your Supervising Social Worker is there for this exact reason (as well as everything else they do too). The Application Process – The Form F is a very detailed application form that everyone has to do. It was for us, very thought provoking. This process will probably make you question some of your up bringing and also what sort of parent or carer you what to be. It won’t be the last time you question things as every training course you do will also have this effect in some way. Embrace the ability to look at something and think differently about it or look for something that can be changed moving forward. Be an Effective Advocate – Finally, the most important piece of advise we can give anyone is to listen to the child/ren in your care. You are their voice in meetings of any sort when they don’t have a voice / haven’t found it yet or don’t think anyone will listen. You are the one constant in their life that no matter what will fight for them and will be there as their safety net if they fall. In a lot of cases you are also going to be the person that shows them what a family is and how it feels, embrace this as a whole. It is hard to begin with and can be energy draining, it is also the best and most fulfilling feeling in the world. *Names have been changed to protect our carers identities. Source: thecft.org.uk/case-studies Location: Barnardo's Fostering West Midlands Salary: £42,640 - £57,200 FTE plus £312 Office at Home Allowance Contract type: Permanent 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:
You will be a qualified and registered social worker and will be subject to a DBS check. Further details and application documents here Location: Homebased including travel to East, North and West London, Essex and Hertfordshire. Salary: £42,725 (£35,893 p.a. + £750 Home Working Allowance p.a. + £2,000 Out of Hours Allowance + £4082 p.a. London Weighting if eligible) Hours: 35 Hours Per Week Closing Date: 14/04/2024 Interview Date: 22/04/2024 As a ‘not for profit’ organisation, TACT puts the needs of our children and carers first and look 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 wellbeing programme and our benefits package, all curated to nurture a healthy work life balance for all our employees so they can give an 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 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. This is an exciting opportunity for a Senior Supervising Social Worker to join the passionate TACT East London Team. The successful candidate will be a homebased Senior Supervising Social Worker who will be required to travel to face-to-face meetings across the regional area and also attend in person team meetings at least once a month. Other opportunities for other in person events includes training, team wellbeing days, and children and foster carer focussed events. 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. Overall Duties of the Senior Supervising Social Worker will include:
Further details and application documents here We are looking for two Supervising Social Workers to join our lively team! One in Essex which is a 4-day week post and the other in Kent which is a 3-day week post. Excellent package and support provided. The successful candidate will be a qualified Social Worker with a background in children's services/fostering. They will be passionate about making a difference to the lives of children and supporting foster families. The closing date for applications is 19th April 2024. For an informal chat please contact us and speak to our manager Rebecca Askew, or if you would like an application form, please email our Admin Manager - amyansell@kasperfostering.org or call us on 01227 275 985. Kasper Fostering follow safer recruitment practices and all applicants are subject to enhanced DBS and other safeguarding checks. All references are verified prior to engagement. The safeguarding of our children and families is our priority. Source: www.kasperfostering.org/ This month’s blog is a take-over by our Director of Operations on the Isle of Man Anne Seed. Anne also chairs the EDI focus group, made up of members of staff from across the charity and provides an overview of the work undertaken to date… At St Christopher`s we are aspiring to become an ever increasingly inclusive organisation where diversity in all its forms is recognised and celebrated, whilst discrimination and oppression is identified and tackled. Values drive behaviours, and behaviours drive culture. We are on a journey at the charity in relation to EDI and we are learning all the time. We want to ensure that equality is embedded in all of our activities and policies. We want to create a sense of belonging at St Christopher’s to attract and retain talented people. Crucially we want to hear everyone`s voice and respond to their needs. Our EDI strategy was approved by Trustees in November 2022 with a 3 year implementation plan and our EDI pledge was debuted to all staff members for sign up by Zero Discrimination Day on 1st March 2023. Our EDI Project Board has been established at a senior level in the organisation to lead on the strategy and our associated EDI Focus Group (made up of managers and staff members) takes responsibility for how the strategy can and will be implemented. The focus group and project board work alongside each other and there is a two way communication process. The EDI Focus Group meets every month for 2 hours (protected time) and advises the project board on aspects of the strategy. We are almost at the end of year 1 of the implementation plan and this year the group have been addressing communication and engagement in a variety of ways. They are committed to working with any staff members who identify with one or more of the protected characteristics within the Equality Act. The group have been instrumental in the production of a variety of great initiatives and actions. These include the pledge, a review of our paternity policy and implementation of a menopause policy. Similarly the group has shown commitment and sought out learning to support, working with transgender young people, celebrating black history month, the charity being accredited as a disability confident employer. We have also made inroads in creating support/network groups that are our people want, as well as feeding in to the charity’s inclusivity priority in the next 5 year strategic plan. Resources and information are shared on our intranet to enable any staff member to have access and utilise them. Our EDI focus group members also make themselves available for anyone wishing to share any issues, concerns or comments or to ask the group to have a discussion about a relevant EDI matter that is important. In year 2 starting in April, we will be continuing our work we have already started in year 1 as well as looking at the objectives in the implementation plan for year 2 around training and continuous learning. The group will be celebrating pride month and Black history month as well as raising awareness, with the assistance of our communications team, around other important EDI events happening throughout the year. We want to develop more focus on young people and how to involve them i.e. how we introduce EDI to children and young people when they move into a home or service, the language we use, the literature they are given. With this, we will be tackling the issue of how to support managers and staff members when young people make discriminatory remarks/comments and help make them more aware of the impact they are having and educate their views. We are encouraged by the organisation’s commitment to EDI and will continue to strive towards an inclusive and welcoming place to work, as well as a nurturing and supporting environment for the children and young people in our care. Source: www.stchris.org.uk/ Salary: £36000 per annum Location: Hybrid - Exeter Devon homebased with travel across the South West. Contract Type: Permanent Full Time Closing Date: 9 April 2024 Circa Salary: £36,400 per annum plus allowance for Out of Hours rota
Contract/Hours: Permanent Full-time 37 hours per week. Benefits:
Vulnerable children in the UK need your help. Wherever you work in the Action for Children family, you'll be helping to change the lives of the most vulnerable children in the UK. Last year, we helped more than 671,000 children and families across the UK. From direct work in communities to national campaigning, we are focused on making sure every child has a safe and happy childhood, and the foundations they need to thrive. Why Action for Children? Working here is more than a job. Everyone in the Action for Children family is passionate about protecting and supporting children. It's the sense of purpose that drives us every single day. Because we know that, when we work together, we can make a huge difference to bring lasting improvements to vulnerable children's lives. A bit about the role Action for Children Fostering Southwest Peninsula and Family Breaks Devon seek to meet the needs of the most vulnerable children and young people in society by the provision of safe, secure, and successful foster homes including short breaks for children with additional needs. We also offer the highest standard of care - providing foster families with excellent training, supervision, and support to achieve the best outcomes for the young people we look after. We strive to provide a good quality of care to young people, always ensuring they are at the centre of our approach. We offer a therapeutic framework. Carers and staff have access to skilled psychologists with specialist knowledge of the needs of looked-after children. We are looking for an outstanding Fostering Social Worker who can support carers from the Devon/Somerset borders to Cornwall - so flexibility to travel across this cluster as and when needed is imperative for this role. You will also have the opportunity to assess applicants to foster. Participation in an out-of-hours telephone support service for carers is an expectation of this role. How you'll help to create brighter futures.
Further details and application documents here |
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