Member Vacancy: St Christopher's - ​Fostering Panel Chair Vacancy

St Christopher’s has an exciting opportunity to join its West Midlands Fostering Panel. We are looking for a Panel Chair to help us provide an excellent foster care service.

Panel plays an integral role in ensuring that children and young people come first and are safe when they live with St Christopher’s foster carers. They examine assessments of prospective foster carers and ensure that high standards are maintained across the agency in line with Panel’s monitoring role.

We are open to applications from a range of backgrounds and expertise with the following skills, knowledge and experience: 

• Experience professionally, personally, or both of the placement of children in foster families and of children being cared for away from their birth families.
• Experience of chairing complex meetings, ensuring that all participants are able to contribute.
• Evidence of attendance at the BAAF Panel Chairs Training event, or a willingness to undertake this before appointment to the role.
• An understanding and appreciation of the effects of separation and loss on children.
• An awareness of the richness and diversity of families and their potential to meet the needs of vulnerable children.
• Knowledge of legislation relating to fostering and Working together to Safeguard Children  
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and listening skills.

You will need to commit to attendance at Panel as agreed with St Christopher’s and to contribute to the development of panel including review of panel members and panel member training.

Please note that paperwork is shared with Panel members electronically, so applicants should have secure access to a laptop or similar.

All applicants will be required to undertake a DBS check as part of the interview process. 

What we offer

As part of their role Panel Members receive:
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• Induction and practice development training.
• Membership to FN and CoramBAAF  
• Annual appraisal
• Payment for preparation and attendance
• Travel expenses

For more information or to express your interest, please contact Annette Richards on 07921 603 493/ annetterichards@stchris.org.uk, or Debbie Stone on 07894 386 365/ debbiestone@stchris.org.uk.

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