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Senior Children & Family Practice Worker

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

Job Introduction

We’re recruiting for a Senior Practitioner to join our Children’s and Families Practice team who play a pivotal role in the delivery of Early Help to children and young people in Milton Keynes.

This team aims to make sure children and their families receive the right level of support when they need it most. We work with families whose needs are at level 3 on our ‘Levels of Need Effective Support Windscreen’.

We also work with colleagues and external organisations to develop a Team Around the Family, delivering a plan of support to empower the family in making positive changes. This is in accordance with the statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2018.

You’ll be responsible for supervising children and family practitioners. You’ll use your expert knowledge and experience to ensure that effective intervention plans are implemented and delivered alongside robust safety plans to help families who’ve been identified as requiring targeted Early Help support.

In return we offer an excellent benefits package which includes flexible working including homeworking, and training and development opportunities.

An enhanced DBS check is required for this role.

This role is based in Central Milton Keynes and your field of work will be across the North of Milton Keynes.

Main Responsibility

  • Under the supervision of a Team Manager, 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 effective interventions to improve the safety, development and wellbeing of children referred to the Children and Family Practice.
  • Provide supervision and support to ensure practitioners can provide the highest quality targeted support to families, ensuring care plans for children and their families are robust and SMART to prevent needs from escalating and cases from stepping up to statutory services
  • Provide personal supervision to staff and supporting their continued professional development and monitoring the key performance indicators of their role.
  • According to professional background and expertise take lead responsibility for designated areas of practice and service development providing expert advice to managers, staff and partners
  • Actively model, promote and contribute to partnership working within and across Children and Family Practices and wider area delivery arrangements
  • Support the Children and Family Practice Manager in building an effective and cohesive team supporting quality assurance activity and deputising for the manager as required.

The Ideal Candidate

  • Level 5 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 supervisory experience.
  • Ability to analyse and evaluate complex information and make timely and considered decisions in a variety of situations and levels of risk.
  • A demonstrated ability to work autonomously - must be self-motivating, able to lead, motivate, encourage, and support staff by sharing own expertise and knowledge, facilitating timely and efficient use of resources.
  • 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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