Member Job Opportunity: Barnardo's - Assistant Director Children's Services (Responsible Individual)15/11/2021
Location: Viking House, Oxfordshire Contract type: Permanent Hours: 36.25 Salary: £43,096 - £55,371 Closing Date: 30 November 2021 Interview Date: 13/14 December A vacancy has arisen to join the senior management team within our South East region. If you are an inspirational and aspirational leader in Children's Services with a drive to ensure excellence for children, young people and their families then this opportunity may be for you.
The senior leadership team for the region, including our Assistant Directors Children's Services and School Principals provide a full coverage of oversight, support, challenge and presence for our teams and services. The post therefore requires the applicant to be able to travel across the regional South East area at times. This role will focus operational oversight across the areas of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. Please review the generic Assistant Director Children's Services job description and person profile. The successful post holder will be responsible for a varied portfolio of work in Children's Services. This particular Senior Manager portfolio currently includes oversight of residential services including a residential care home setting and two residential short breaks services therefore will require the post holder to register with Ofsted representing these Barnardo's services as Responsible Individual. The portfolio also includes the senior leadership oversight of a child exploitation service and a mental health service. The successful post holder will work with senior colleagues across the region to ensure we continue to develop services to best meet the needs of children, young people and their families in line with Barnardo's Corporate Strategy to achieve Safer Childhoods, Stronger Families and Positive Futures. When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document (if applicable). This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described About Barnardo's At Barnardo's we believe in children – no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through. Please read about our basis and values following the link below. You will be asked questions relating to them as part of the recruitment process for this role. Barnardo's is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce for staff and volunteers. We actively encourage applications from disabled, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic and male candidates as they are under-represented within Barnardo's. Full details and application documents here Location: Barnardo's Fostering & Adoption Wales Contract type: Permanent Hours: 37 Salary: £28,631 - £37,414 per annum Closing Date: 5 December 2021 Interview Date: 10 December 2021 Barnardo's Cymru Fostering Service has an exciting vacancy for a qualified and registered Social Worker (Social Care Wales) to join its Fostering Service. You will be joining a team who embraces working in a creative, open and transparent manner with foster parents to provide children with placements in which they can thrive.
As a Social Worker you have the chance to make a real difference in the lives of Children, Young People and Families by:
Along with a Social Work qualification, you will have a passion and drive to make a positive difference to children and foster parents. The applicant will need to be able to participate in a "helpline" rota Out of Office hours. There is additional remuneration for providing this service. The duties of this post require the applicant to have a full current driving license that enables them to drive in the UK and have use of a car and business use insurance. Barnardo's is, however, willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by other means. When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document (if applicable). This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described. Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work life balance we therefore offer flexible working arrangements as the role involves some evening/weekend working and travel with occasional overnight stays. This is a home-based position; however monthly visits across South and West Wales will be essential for this role to visit foster families and attendance at meetings/training. Please be aware that the JDPS covers both Fostering & Adoption, however this role will only involve working within our fostering team as a supervising social worker. For an informal discussion, please contact Hayley Driscoll, Fostering Practice Manager on 07548 139190. When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document (if applicable). This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described. About Barnardo's At Barnardo's we believe in children – no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through. Please read about our basis and values following the link below. You will be asked questions relating to them as part of the recruitment process for this role. Barnardo's is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce for staff and volunteers. We actively encourage applications from disabled, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic and male candidates as they are under-represented within Barnardo's. Full details and application documents here Circa: £35,000 + £700 p.a. on call allowance pro rata Location: Horfield Bristol ( Flexibility to work from home on occasion) Contract Type: Permanent Part Time Benefits – Holiday allowance minimum 29 days plus public/bank holidays, flexible maternity, adoption and paternity packages, pension scheme where we contribute up to 7%, an employee discount portal and much more!
Giving children and young people the foundations they need to thrive. The role Our three linked services, Fostering South West, Fostering South West Peninsula and Family Breaks Devon provide high quality foster families to vulnerable children and young people from our offices based in Bristol and Exeter. We also offer the highest standard of care-providing carers 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 the centre of our approach. We are looking for an outstanding Fostering Social Worker who can support placements in the South west. You will make a difference by:
You will need:
The way we work We work to make sure every child and young person has the love, support and opportunity they need to reach their potential. If you share the same vision, we want you to join our team. Have a look at our behaviours and values to understand more about the way we work here. Rewards We want our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, a comprehensive employer-matched pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts on our dedicated benefits portal. Find out more about our exclusive Action for Children benefits here. For safe and happy childhoods At Action for Children, we protect and support children and young people, providing practical and emotional care and support, ensuring their voices are heard, and campaigning to bring lasting improvements to their lives. Last year, we helped more than 387,000 children and families across the UK. For more information or if you have any questions please email anne-marie.wilson@actionforchildren.org.uk It's vital for our services to be able to recruit and support adopters / Foster carers from a diverse range of backgrounds to reflect the children who need families. We therefore actively seek to replicate that diversity in our staff, and we positively welcome the wide breadth of experience, knowledge and understanding that this will bring to our services. Action for Children is passionate about promoting equality, valuing diversity and working inclusively. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons particularly people with Disabilities and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic applicants, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. We are committed to safer recruitment practices to protect our service users; therefore, all applicants are expected to have an understanding of and commitment to safeguarding best-practice. Full details and application documents here The words of one young person inspired Nicki to volunteer at Action for Children and befriend children in care A range of life experiences lead people to volunteer at Action for Children. While attending a fundraising event, Nicki Bogle heard a care leaver share how Action for Children volunteers had helped them. The story inspired Nicki to want to do more. Soon after, Nicki learnt about the Here4Me Independent Visitor programme in Berkshire. She didn’t have any experience of the care system – she works in marketing – but her desire to help children in care was all she needed to sign up. As an independent visitor, Nicki is matched to befriend a young person in care. After 10 years, and three successful pairings, Nicki’s role has provided something many children in care go without – stability and support. So how can volunteers, like Nicki, change the lives of children in care? 1. Someone they can have fun with Each month, Nicki and the young person she’s matched with spend a day together, going out on fun trips and getting to know one another. The young person gets to decide what they do. It could be taking part in their hobbies or trying something completely new. “My first pairing was with a 17-year-old girl,” says Nicki. “She was quite shy and needed someone to go out with, so we did bowling and things like that.” “I was then paired with a 13-year-old girl,” she continues. “She was lovely and really liked all the things I liked doing, like going to the spa and getting our nails done, so we had lots of fun. At the moment, I’m matched with a 14-year-old boy, who I’ve been with for three years. I've become very good at gaming, going to Legoland and arcades!” 2. Helping their confidence grow As time goes on, Nicki notices improvements in the confidence and relationships of the young people she’s paired with. She tells us, “The nice thing about Action for Children’s service is that they match people up based on what they think you'll achieve with that person - whether that’s increased confidence or opening up. “The second match I had was very quiet and lacked confidence. But once she was with me for a few months, she opened up a lot and we used to sing in the car. As a result of that, she ended up joining the school choir. This is something she said she never would have done if I hadn’t felt comfortable singing with you.” “You can definitely see the changes in them.” Nicki “The boy I am currently with has some learning difficulties and talked about being bullied at school, so we talked about how to cope with that,” Nicki said. “He said that he took my advice, which helped him a lot. He's also been able to try other things, when before he always just wanted to do the same thing. Just having someone there to reassure him has helped him a lot.” 3. Being a constant presence in their lives Nicki's second match had a turbulent childhood. In the two years they were matched together, she moved foster homes five times. Nicki reflected on what their relationship meant for the young girl. “I was her only constant and was able to give her the support that she needed. I was able to support her foster carers in understanding her a bit better. It felt great because I could really see the value I was adding.” “It’s helpful for them to have someone around who they can trust and is there just for them. Sometimes you're the only constant relationship they might have over that difficult period of their lives.” Volunteering has changed Nicki’s life too The experience has taught Nicki several valuable lessons. She sees the difference made in the young people she’s supported and in herself too. “It's taught me patience and taken me outside of my comfort zone, and I’m always learning new things. “Every child is different and has different likes and dislikes. So, I’ve learnt to be patient and let them express themselves, but also give guidance without it being too overpowering. [Volunteering] makes you appreciate how lucky you are.” Volunteer with Action for Children Are you looking for a volunteer role that can change the lives of children and young people in the UK? Whether you want to support our fundraising events, mentor a young child or volunteer at a children’s centre we have lots of roles on offer. Source: www.actionforchildren.org.uk A continued lack of capacity in the foster care sector is leading to vulnerable children missing out on the care and support they need, Ofsted says. Despite numbers of fostering households and foster carers in England being at their highest levels ever, these increases are not keeping up with demand in the sector, according to Ofsted’s annual fostering statistics. The number of foster carers in England has only increased by 4% since 2014, while the number of children in foster care has increased some 11%. And while the number of fostering households and carers has gone up, Ofsted research suggests that the range of carers available aren’t always able to meet children’s increasingly complex needs. As the number of children in care continues to grow, matching them with the right carers becomes increasingly difficult. This makes it more likely that very vulnerable children will face placement breakdowns and further disruption to their lives. Meanwhile, the number of family and friends fostering households is at its highest level yet. These carers are a vital part of the system – but their impact on overall capacity is limited by the nature of their role. Although record levels of enquiries were received from prospective fostering households last year, statistics show these aren’t translating into applications. Of 160,000 initial enquiries from prospective fostering households, only around 10,000 resulted in applications – a decrease on previous years. Yvette Stanley, Ofsted’s National Director for Social Care, said: "Today’s statistics paint a bleak picture. Foster carers make such a difference to children’s lives. But year on year we see more children coming into foster care, and too few carers with the right skills to give them the support they deserve. How long can this go on before the care system reaches breaking point? We rarely see children coming into care who don’t need to be, but with the right help earlier, some may be able to remain with their families. We also need to urgently boost the number of foster carers, making sure they, and the children they care for, get the right support." Source: www.gov.uk Ofsted have today released their annual fostering in England statistics, highlighting that many vulnerable children are currently missing out on the care and support they need due to a lack of foster carers. We know that one of the biggest challenges facing the fostering sector currently is how to secure the future recruitment and retention of enough, high-quality foster carers. As we emerge from a global pandemic, ensuring there are sufficient numbers of skilled and knowledgeable foster carers is even more pressing. The Ofsted figures show that overall, there was a net increase of just 45 local authority carers and a net increase of 960 independent fostering agency carers across England from 1April 2020 – 31 March 2021. They also show that 18% of all foster carers are family and friends foster carers who are typically only approved to care for specific children. The Fostering Network identified a need for at least 7,300 new foster families in England this year, which means we are falling far short of being able to meet the needs of all children in care. All children and young people in need of foster care should be placed with a foster family who is able to understand what that child needs to thrive, build relationships, learn and develop while supporting them to navigate the challenges that often come from being in care. Kevin Williams, CEO of The Fostering Network, states: ‘We all know that creating stable and loving environments for children in care is vital. Ensuring there are sufficient foster families, through both recruitment and retention strategies, should also be vital as this is key to securing good matching and stability.’ The Fostering Network supports its fostering services members with their recruitment and retention activity through initiatives such as Foster Care Fortnight, but more needs to be done at a national level to help services attract and keep carers to ensure no child has to miss out on a stable, loving home. With the release of the State of the Nation report due next month, The Fostering Network will be highlighting in more detail the challenge the sector is facing around sufficiency and calling for change across a range of factors which feed into this. Source: www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk |
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