SOCIAL WORKER OR SOCIAL CARE LEADER
(MINIMUM 3 YEARS RELEVANT EXPERIENCE)
JOB TYPE: Full-time
WORKING PATTERN: *.5 hours per week typically
from 9am-5pm on Monday to Friday.
SALARY: Commensurate with experience, in line with HSE March **Apply
on the website** payscales. *,**Apply on the
website**, *.
SPECIALISM: Children in Care, Fostering, Child Protection, Mental
Health, Challenging Behaviour
REPORTING TO: Service Manager
LOCATION: Cork City & County
Childhood Matters are recruiting a Therapeutic Social Worker and/or
Social Care Worker (minimum 3 years relevant experience) to work
across clinical services and strengthen our multidisciplinary team.
The successful candidate will be a member of Childhood Matters,
providing high quality, trauma informed child and family assessment
and support services while working on a multidisciplinary team. They
will be naturally curious about, and able to work within a therapeutic
framework, and be highly self-reflective and able to model this with
the children/parents/foster carers/staff they are working with.
Childhood Matters has a combination of site-based and home-based
services and the role may involve travel and some unsociable hours.
Interventions are attachment-focussed and incorporate dyadic and
systemic ways of working with the child, carers and team around them,
drawing on models such as Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP);
Theraplay; Mentalisation-Based Treatment (MBT) approaches, Sensory
Attachment Intervention (SAI), Therapeutic Life Story Work (TLSW),
among others. Our wider Multidisciplinary Team is currently comprised
of clinical psychologists, assistant psychologists, a play therapist,
child art psychotherapist and specialist occupational therapist and
social care staff.
Successful candidates will take a key role in contributing to MDT
discussions of each referred child’s needs as well as those of the
system around them, formulating the presenting difficulties and
considering appropriate intervention. Clinicians joining the team will
provide both direct and indirect therapeutic input. They will liaise
with partner agencies to endeavour to achieve positive outcomes for
children in care and their carers, working to build/restore placement
stability and enhance key relationships in the child’s
family/support network.
The role will include offering specialist training and consultation to
colleagues and the wider team/system around the child, such as social
workers, teachers, foster carers, and residential and support workers
supporting children in care. We are committed to embedding an
evidence-based culture of trauma-informed care and therapeutic
practice and therefore keen to continually assess the effectiveness of
our service. All clinicians are asked to complete routine outcome
measures and carefully consider the effect(s) of their interventions
in collaboration with the MDT.
Childhood Matters is a trauma-informed and equal-opportunity employer.
We offer competitive salary packages as well as benefits including
enhanced maternity leave; pension contribution scheme; health care
plans; flexible working hours; internal and externally provided
training opportunities, and competitive annual leave entitlement.
THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES WILL BE EXPECTED TO:
* Work as a member of the multi-disciplinary therapy team, providing
high quality therapeutic input to children in care and their
families/carers as well as offering support and guidance to the system
around the child via telephone or video conference, email,
consultation, professionals’ meetings, attending and participating
in statutory Child in Care Reviews etc.
* Support and promote empirically-based practice within the team
through engaging in consultation, supervision, formulation and
training /education
* Be responsible for holding and managing a clinical caseload and
exercise autonomous professional responsibility (where appropriate)
for the planning and prioritising of own workload and the assessment,
treatment and discharge of clients within the bounds of the
service’s operational policies
* Compile comprehensive assessment and treatment reports and any
other reports as required relating to the children and carers to whom
they are offering input
* Promote the team’s trauma-informed and trauma-responsive ethos,
supporting colleagues and other departments within the organisation as
well as referred children/carers/networks
* Contribute to developing and maintaining equality of opportunity
in working practices by complying with legislation and organisational
policies. Advise colleagues about equality, diversity and human rights
policies and procedures and ensure they are followed
* Facilitate support groups and learning opportunities for foster
carers
* Providing good quality, thorough and analytical recording and
reports.
* To maintain personal and professional development to meet the
changing demands of the job, work within their code of professional
ethics and participate in appropriate professional supervision and
training activities.
* Work as part of a team of family members, staff and service
providers to evaluate safety and identify interventions that can
reduce risks to children.
* Assess the risk of future abuse or neglect of children in the
family and make recommendations for future welfare and safety of
children and parents.
* To provide high quality appropriate assessments, formulations and
interventions, communicating in a skilled and sensitive manner with
the clients, clinical team and family support/residential workers at
Childhood Matters and referring agents.
* Write court ready reports and testify in family court and other
legal proceedings as necessary.
* To deliver a psychologically-informed service model to children
and families with complex emotional, social and psychological problems
and managing these within the context of multidisciplinary working.
* To carry out assessments and risk management of individual clients
presenting with a behavioural profile which may include substance
abuse, personality disorder, mental health related issues, self-harm
and/or risk of harm to others alongside multidisciplinary team
* To provide general advice and assist the management team in
identifying, developing and delivering training for the staff and
other professionals on aspects of risk assessment, management and
care.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
COMMUNICATION AND RELATIONSHIPS
* Provides and receives highly complex, sensitive or contentious
information in possible contexts of significant barriers to
acceptance.
* Highly emotive atmospheres may be encountered.
* Communicates highly complex assessment related information to
clients, who may be hostile or limited in their abilities to grasp
such concepts.
* Excellent English language skills both written and verbal.
KNOWLEDGE, TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE
* Professional qualification in related area.
* Has a high level of current theoretical & practical knowledge.
* Has a high level of professional knowledge through academic
studies, supplemented by specialist courses.
* Undertakes regular clinical supervision and further specialist
training and experience.
* Has a capacity to deliver training in the specialism
ANALYTICAL AND JUDGEMENT SKILLS
* Able to operate in an environment of complex facts or situations,
* Able to interpret complex situations and compare / choose from a
range of options
* High level of skills and compassion in assessing clients,
relatives / carers
* Interprets client, family situation & develops appropriate
formulation,
* Considers alternative expert opinions and research materials that
may differ or present alternative approaches
PLANNING AND ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS
* Plans and organises activities, potentially covering a range of
complex requirements
* Formulates, adjusts plans or strategies
* Plans & prioritise own job / case workload, co-ordinates with
other services as required
* day to day supervision/ professional/ clinical supervision of
other less experienced psychologists, assistant(s), trainees etc as
required
* Is open to working out of hours
RESPONSIBILITY FOR INFORMATION RESOURCES
* Responsibility to update and maintain records of personally
generated information
* Updates and maintains client records to the required standards
* Maintains data protection and confidentiality
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
* Responsibility to undertake R&D activities as required
* Develops and implements measures of impact of the service
* Develops new or modifies resources, training materials, tip
sheets, forms, records, policies, procedures etc.
EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE
* Able to cope with frequent highly distressing or emotional
circumstances
* Deals with family breakdown, serious mental illness, etc.
* Working conditions may comprise occasional unpleasant conditions,
some exposure to hazards such as verbal aggression, some risk of
physical aggression
* Able to cope with stressful situations e.g. as an expert witness
in a Court environment or meeting stringent timing
QUALIFICATIONS:
* CORU registered (Social Worker and Social Care Worker)
EXPERIENCE:
* Minimum three years’ experience in a social work/social care
role
* Experience of providing therapeutic input to children who have
experienced developmental trauma is essential
* Experience of working with children in a therapeutic context with
existing knowledge of care planning, behaviour management
psychoeducation and basic counselling skills
REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS
The successful candidate will work in close cooperation with the
various teams in Childhood Matters. Reporting is directly to the
Senior Psychologist/Clinical Lead while maintaining a professional
relationship with the Service Managers and CEO.
This job description indicates the main functions and responsibilities
of the post and is subject to review and amendment in the light of
service developments and changing circumstances and may include other
duties and responsibilities as may be determined from time to time by
Bessborough Centre Management in discussion with the post holder.
TO APPLY
Please submit a cover letter and CV to **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**
HR Department, Childhood Matters, Blackrock, Cork
Closing date is: **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**NOON MONDAY **APPLY ON THE
WEBSITE**TH NOVEMBER **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**
Interviews will be held Wednesday 4th December **Apply on the
website**
We need : English (Good)
Type: Permanent
Payment:
Category: Others
