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Children and Families Practice Manager (CFP) – South locality

Please Note: The application deadline for this job has now passed.

Job Introduction

We have a rare opportunity for a new Children and Families Practice Manager to join us. This role will cover the south of Milton Keynes.

Last year we celebrated ten years of our Children and Family Practices, coinciding with ten years of the national Supporting Families Programme.

In that time, we’ve set up three targeted early help teams to provide professional support to children and families who require a little extra help but who don’t meet the statutory threshold of Children’s Social Care.

Fast-forward to 2023 and our Children and Family Practices are fully embedded in our early help offer; they’re well known and respected by partners across Milton Keynes.

We’re now branching out, involving other early help professionals, in line with the findings from the 2022 national Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. Early Help Advisors have joined the Practice to work alongside managers, practitioners, partners at the Milton Keynes Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub and other partner agencies to try to provide help at an even earlier point.

Interviews will be held on 11 April for this role.

Main Responsibility

  • To lead and manage a team of professionals from a range of disciplines, ensuring that casework is allocated and monitored across the team’s area of responsibility.
  • With the assistance of a Senior Practitioner, you will manage a team of practitioners who are the lead professionals to vulnerable children and their families who have been assessed as requiring targeted early help services (Level of Need 3).
  • You will manage and ensure the delivery of a range of interventions to support children, young people and families in need and at risk to live safely within their family and communities wherever possible.
  • Ensure care plans for children and their families are robust and SMART. You will ensure that cases are progressing to aim towards closure or step down to other services by the 20th week.
  • Be responsible alongside the Senior Practitioner for providing supervision and support to ensure practitioners are able to provide the highest quality targeted support to families to prevent needs from escalating and cases from stepping up to statutory services.
  • As a Targeted Early Help Manager, you will work closely with the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) and other managers to be part of a rota system to ensure children who come to the attention of the MASH for early help assistance are signposted and supported with the assistance of an Early Help Advisor.
  • To ensure that assessments, planning and review are conducted in line with MKC policy and against agreed standards and performance targets.

The Ideal Candidate

  • Qualified Social Worker with a valid Social Work England registration.
  • Post qualification awards / specialist knowledge in subjects related to child or family work (e.g. social care, education welfare, youth justice, youth work, psychology, SEN, early years) in addition to experience of managing a team which includes significant supervisory experience.
  • Ability to develop and sustain partnership with other professionals and agencies through trust and credibility, and where required lead inter agency meetings and forums.
  • Able to analyse and evaluate complex information and make timely and considered decisions in a variety of situations and levels of risk.
  • Must be self-motivating, able to lead, motivate, encourage and support staff by sharing own expertise and knowledge and taking responsibility for the service delivered and the decisions made.
  • Excellent time management, IT skills, written and verbal communication skills and the ability to allocate work and ensure resources available are utilised to meet demand effectively without delay.

Package Description

​We are really proud of the benefits we are able to offer our staff here at Milton Keynes City Council, including:-

  • Local Government Pension Scheme, considered to be one of the best employer contribution rates of 18.8%.
  • 28 days annual leave per year in addition to statutory and public holidays, rising to 32 days after 5 years. 
  • Holiday Purchase Scheme.
  • Our Professional Development Centre provides access to courses such as in-house management development programmes endorsed by the Institute of Leadership, coaching and mentoring and access to our Smarter Learning portal
  • Cycle to Work Scheme.
  • Health Cashplan.
  • MK Advantage benefits package – a range of savings on a wide range of retail, leisure and entertainment products and services such as Pizza Express, M&S, B&Q, John Lewis and Arriva Travel.
  • Blue Light Card - Employees working within Social Care can qualify for a range of discounts from national retailers to local businesses in a wide range of categories including holidays, cars, days out, fashion, gifts, insurance, phones and much more!
  • SmartGo – Aimed at encouraging low-carbon transport and healthy lifestyle with discounted travel e.g. Halfords, Arriva, Europcar, National Railcards and Stagecoach.
  • Homebuy Scheme (for eligible roles).
  • Smarter working which provides the opportunity to work from various locations including from home for a proportion of your role (subject to business needs).
  • A full range of family friendly policies including enhanced Maternity, Adoption and Paternity entitlements.
  • Childcare Subsidy.

About The Organisation

Milton Keynes is a diverse, welcoming, and expanding place, built on smart ideas with even bigger plans for the future. We have world class attractions, beautiful open spaces, and a great standard of living.

Milton Keynes City Council is one of the largest employers in the region, making a difference every day for local people. We’re responsible for all local government services in MK including education, housing, highways, and social services - around 240 services in all.

Our values are to be dedicated, respectful, and collaborative. If this sounds like you, join us for a stimulating and fulfilling career measured on results, and a rewarding work-life balance.

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