Role: Deputy Team Manager (Leaving Care Team)

Temp

Pay: £40p/h - £41.50p/h

Connect2Luton are excited to recruit a Deputy Team Manager on behalf of Luton Borough council.

Purpose of position:

The Leaving Care Team provides core services to young people leaving care and young people who have left care between the ages of 15.5 and 21 or 24. To work closely with the Team Manager in managing and directing a social care team, resources and budgets in order to assess the needs and provide services to support young people and their families, in accordance with the statutory powers and duties of the Local Authority. Enable young people to remain safely within their home and/or community environment, including staying put arrangements, and ensure they achieve good outcomes through effective social work intervention.

Principal Responsibilities:

• Work closely with the Team Manager in managing a Leaving care team responsible for providing assessment and care management services to care leavers, including young people in need of protection and children in care
• Ensures all young people are enabled to meet their full potential to ensure positive outcomes
• Ensures effective risk management, decision making and preventative working to safeguard children and young people effectively in accordance with statutory requirements and policies
• Determines the need for risk management meetings to be instigated where the risk of significant harm is great as to warrant additional measures including safety plan
• Maintains effective systems for prioritising, allocating and monitoring workloads and ensures that suitable systems of supervision and appraisal are in place to ensure young people's needs are met in accordance with legislation, departmental policies and procedures
• Contributes to borough wide services with professional knowledge of an area of specialism on an Operational and Strategic basis as required
• Recruit, motivate, train and develop staff within Council procedures
• Ensure the provision of an effective service to local people by maintaining high standards of professional practice and adopting a positive approach to the full involvement of service users and carers in assessment and care planning processes, at all times encouraging independence and choice
• To be aware of and act within the legal framework and statutory guidance that affects the service area including ensuring report writing and case recording is maintained at a high level in order to ensure quality service provision. Ensure the work of the team and performance are monitored according to Key Performance Indicators and Council priorities
• Maintain effective links and working relationships within the Department and with relevant statutory, voluntary and private agencies. Work in partnership with these agencies in order to provide a well co-ordinated quality service to individual service users making the most effective use of local resources. This will include engaging with borough wide forums and key stakeholders, including elected members, on operational issues as required
• Identify and implement service improvements to ensure quality service delivery. Participate in the development of strategic objectives and the production of departmental, service and team plans, policies and procedures and under the guidance of a Team Manager. Manage projects in specialised and complex areas in line with departmental objectives and service development needs
• Identify and arrange for services provided to service users by internal and external providers to be commissioned effectively and monitored in order to ensure that quality standards and service user needs are met
• Comply with the Council's Financial Procedures and purchase services for individuals to ensure services are provided within the limits of the devolved budgets allocated to the Team

Skills and Experiences:

• In depth experience in a social care field with a particular emphasis on Safeguarding and Child Protection
• Demonstrable experience of complex decision making in children's social care services
• Demonstrable experience of complex child protection and statutory case work
• Demonstrable experience of advising, coaching and supporting staff
• Able to assist in managing, motivating and developing a social services team, effectively achieving high levels of performance from staff and representing the service and department at a variety of internal/external meetings
• Able to develop and maintain effective administrative and organisational procedures
• Able to lead and chair multi-disciplinary meetings
• Able to negotiate and influence service users, staff at all levels, elected members and other professional both internal and external
• Able to make sound professional judgements including high risk issues about children, parents, families and carers.
• Commitment to the achievement of the highest possible standards of professional practice by all team members, through co-working, coaching/mentoring and the provision of advice, guidance and assistance.
• In depth literacy and numeracy skills including ability to write complex reports.
• Specialist knowledge of one or more key issues impacting on children and their families, such as Domestic Violence, Substance Misuse and Mental Health
• Dip SW, CQSW, or recognised equivalent professional social work qualification
• Registered by the Health and Care Professions Council
• Able to work in the evenings, including attending evening meetings as required (up to 3 times per week)

Because of the nature of this job, it will be necessary for the appropriate level of criminal record disclosure to be undertaken. Therefore, it is essential in making your application you disclose whether you have any pending charges, convictions, bind-overs or cautions and, if so, for which offences. This post will be exempt from the provisions of Section 4 (2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders 1974 (Exemptions) (Amendments) Order 1986. Therefore, applicants are not entitled to withhold information about convictions which for other purposes are 'spent' under the provision of the Act, and, in the event of the employment being taken up, any failure to disclose such convictions will result in dismissal or disciplinary action by the Authority. The fact that a bind-over or caution has been recorded against you will not necessarily debar you from consideration for this appointment.

About Us

Luton Borough Council have partnered with Kent County Council to create Connect2Luton, a recruitment managed service for all contingent temporary agency, contract, and interim roles at the Council.

Our heritage and being local government owned which means we have a wealth of knowledge and expertise within the public sector, with many of our employees having previously worked for the Council or have supplied previously into the Council, for several years.

We are an equal opportunities employment agency and business that positively encourages applications from all suitably qualified and eligible candidates.

Connect2Luton is a trading style of Luton & Kent Commercial Services LLP - A joint venture between Luton Borough Council & Commercial Services Kent Ltd. Connect2Luton is an equal opportunities Employment Agency & Business. It positively encourages applications from all suitably qualified and eligible candidates.