Social Worker (PO1 – PO3)

Job Title: Social Worker

Department: Adults and Health

Division: Adult Social Worker, Mental Health Hospital Discharge (CLaSS Team)

Grade: PO2- PO3

Reports to: Practitioner Manager or Team Manager

Responsible for: N/A

Job Purpose

To promote strength base practice and positive change in people�s lives by using social work methods, models and tools, with the aims of helping them to be as independent as possible and to manage risks of abuse and neglect.

To make professional judgements in the context of the relevant legal and policy frameworks.

To work with people to carry out assessments of their needs for care and support, to plan how those needs will be met, to support them with putting those plans in to action, and review those plans and reassess needs.

To carry out adult safeguarding enquiries, support the work of others involved in these enquiries, and to support people with care and support needs to develop and put in to action safeguarding plans appropriate to their wishes and circumstances.

Responsibilities

PO2 key responsibility areas:

To manage a caseload of people with care and support needs and carers with support needs.  This may include complex cases, for example those where there may be any one of the following:

the person with care and support needs avoids, withdraws from, or refuses contact or assistance

mounting concerns or escalating risk

constraints such as limited options or difficulties in accessing salient information

situations that involve managing trade-offs or knock-on effects

To carry out assessments of the care and support needs of people, and the support needs of carers of people with care and support needs, and for these to be done in line with the expectations of the Care Act 2014 and the regulations and statutory guidance that go with it.

To work with people to plan how their care and support needs or, in the case of carers, their support needs might be met. This will involve identifying eligible needs and needs that will be met by the local authority.

To carry out financial assessments relating to care and support services, or make sure these are done.

Giving people who may have care and support needs or who are carers information about any likely cost of services, welfare rights entitlements, and any other relevant information and advice.

Where working with a person whose care and support plan, or support plan for a carer, involves services provided or arranged by the local authority, to make the arrangements for these to be put in place.

Subject to having had the necessary training and obtained the certificate, to assess and arrange provision of simple equipment, items of assistive technology and minor adaptations for people with care and support needs. To advise on or oversee installation and use and to undertake reviews of these.

To carry out reviews of care and support plans and support plans for carers.

To reassess the needs of people with care and support needs and of carers of people with care and support needs.

To recognise and act on safeguarding concerns relating to children and to adults with care and support needs and contribute to the response to such concerns.

To undertake safeguarding adults� enquiries and develop safeguarding plans, ensuring that your work is in line with the relevant policy, procedure and guidance. To support others involved in safeguarding enquiry work, including the person experiencing or at risk of abuse and neglect, their family and friends, and colleagues both within the Council and in other organisations.

To apply the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to work done, where the situation requires it. This may include assessing capacity for decision making, making and contributing to best interest decisions, and making applications to and representations at the Court of Protection,

Attend court as a witness, as required.

Make recommendations to the Council to consider legal action, where appropriate.

To work with people with care and support needs, and their carers, in ways that help them be as involved as possible with that work. This will include making sure they get the advice, support and guidance they should have, and may include making sure they have access to translation, interpretation or advocacy services.

To arrange and participate in meetings and joint visits with other health, social service and voluntary sector professionals where relevant. To co-ordinate and provide relevant input into multi-agency liaison, planning and safeguarding meetings to ensure integrated, effective working and clear communication arrangements.

To meet the organisation�s requirements in regard to record keeping, including that required for the monitoring of performance and quality.

To identify where needs cannot be met due to unavailability of resources or because of inadequate financial provision, and to make your manager aware of this.

To be responsible for the collation of identified information required for the monitoring of performance and quality.

To contribute to the investigation and resolution of complaints, Member�s Enquiries or Local Government Ombudsman enquiries, and play a part as needed in identifying and acting on the lessons learned from these.

When serious incidents occur, to take actions to address the immediate situation, if appropriate, and to make your manager aware.

To prepare and present reports and assessments to meetings of colleagues, reviews and panels, as well as legal proceedings.

To keep your skills and knowledge up to date, in order to be able to meet the requirements of your role and to maintain requirements of professional registration. This will include keeping up to date with relevant law, regulations and guidance, and acting in line with it.

Develop some specialist knowledge and skills in an area of practice.

Support the professional development of other team members which may involve sharing knowledge and skills with less experienced staff with a view to developing their practice.

To work flexibly in undertaking the duties and responsibilities of this job, and participate as required in groups and task teams, some of which may involve working across disciplines, or with colleagues from across the Council and partner organisations.

To take responsibility, appropriate to the post for tackling racism and promoting good race, ethnic and community relations .

To carry out the duties and responsibilities of the post with full regard to the Council�s Equal Opportunities Policy and any other council policies and good practice and guidelines, and for all work to be carried out in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty.

To undertake other duties within the post�s scope of responsibilities that might be reasonably requested from time to time.

PO3 level key responsibility areas As per PO2 level, plus:

To be able to carry out effective work with highly complex and challenging cases, for example those with two or more of the following characteristics:

multi-agency input

complex family involving joint casework with Children�s services.

serious hostility and conflicts of interest

multiple problems or disadvantages

multiple and significant risk factors

the need to take into account the public interest

Effective work in such complex and challenging situations includes

Co-ordinating work across networks, communities and agencies

Being able to take the initiative, to form constructive alliances and to act as a change agent

Applying skills appropriately around management of self and professional identity

Working with appropriate independence, which will involve collaborating on equal terms with members of other professions

Work unsupervised and self-authorise your own written work

Contributing to the development of services, policies, practice and research

Those with the relevant qualification will undertake and continue to practice in one or more of the following roles as reasonably requested:

PERSON SPECIFICATION

It is essential that in you can meet the following requirements for the role and be able to give evidence or examples of your proven experience in each of the short-listing criteria marked Application (A).

You should expect that all areas listed below will be assessed as part of the interview and assessment process should you be shortlisted.

If you are applying under the Disability Confident scheme, you will need to give evidence or examples of your proven experience in the areas marked with �Ticks� ( �) on the person specification when you complete the application form.

Shortlisting Criteria

For link/career graded post, please mark knowledge, experience, and behaviours clearly for each grade .

Key Knowledge

K1 Knowledge of the Care Act 2014 and other statutory instruments, policies, procedures and issues relevant to adult social care.

K2 Knowledge of social work theories and values, and how to apply these in practice.

K3 Thorough understanding of issues relating to people with care and support needs and their carers �A

Relevant Experience

E1 Experience of undertaking assessments of adults with care and support needs, developing care and support plans, identifying risks, and monitoring outcomes �A

E2 Experience of undertaking safeguarding adults enquiries. �A

E3 Experience of assessing mental capacity and making best interests decisions, in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. �A

E4 Successful completion of the ASYE programme or sufficient social work experience in a statutory role as agreed bythe Principal Social Worker. A

 PO3 E5 PO3: Extensive experience of successfully managing the most complex and challenging cases.  A

Qualification   Professional qualification in social work and must be registered with Social Work England (or any successor body) �A

Core Values and Behaviours

Equity Listen to the views of others and ask for their opinions making sure that everyone in my team inputs into the things that matter. Ensure fairness and justice is at the heart of my decision making and support to my team and others. Take time to build trust, building the respect of our stakeholders and ensuring as a team we take accountability for doing what we agree to do. Develop others and ensure we work as one team for Lambeth , encouraging everyone to play their part Take positive action to ensure everyone in my team has opportunities to learn and grow  at work Encourage everyone to be themselves at work and value who they are I am inclusive and actively celebrate diversity,  recognising everyone in my team as individuals.

Kindness Treat each member of my team with respect and dignity  just as I would want for myself. Encourage each member of my team to do their very best work and am available to them to provide support and guidance. Personalise my support to each team members and look out for them, lending a hand wherever I can Encourage everyone to try and learn from mistakes and use integrity to take action with my team to put things right together Work with empathy seeking to understand each and every member of team, their unique perspective and circumstances and ensure everyone is heard Take the time to communicate, being honest, open and genuine and taking the time to get to know team members as individuals. Show compassion and patience recognising that everyone in the team has unique experience and celebrating the great work they do for Lambeth. Look after the health and wellbeing of my team members and encourage open and regular discussions about the issues that impact on them, working together to find solutions.

Accountability I encourage and support my team to do the right thing even when it�s tough and we communicate our decisions in a timely way I ensure my team and employees take individual and collective accountability for performance and delivery, making sure that they have clear plans and performance objectives. I ensure my team plan ahead, getting the basics right and take swift action when problems arise I encourage my team to be risk aware and ensuring that our decisions and actions are informed and understood and communicated to others. I provide regular, timely and constructive feedback to my team members on their performance and behaviours and act quickly when performance is not on track. I share my learning, knowledge and skills with others thorough coaching and mentoring and encourage others to do the same. I ensure that my team and I put residents, communities, customers and their needs at the centre of everything we do. I encourage my team to learn and grow and ask questions to find the information they need to do their jobs

Ambition Am proud of our borough and my team and encourage everyone in the team to aim for the highest possible standards of excellence in everything we do. Encourage my team to be flexible and try new things when it�s appropriate to do so and tell me what could be improved. Promote a one team for Lambeth approach reaching out to our stakeholders to face our challenges together Encourage and support my team to be courageous for our residents and communities and stop at nothing to ensure they have the best possible outcomes I make time for the team to Innovate and look for creative ways to do things better, being curious about possibilities. Positively challenge and encourage the team to collaborate and look for solutions together across service and team boundaries. Make time for my team to grow and develop taking advantage of opportunities to learn from each other and others. We plan our learning and career growth.