Senior Practitioner

**Life-changing work.**
**Game changing support.**

As a Senior Practitioner at Staffordshire, you will be key in the support and coaching we provide to our Social Workers. You will encourage and ensure that there is a focus upon quality of practice but also on achieving positive and timely outcomes for children and families.

As a Senior Practitioner in the Children in Care and Care Leavers team you will:

- Be a role model for your team and lead by setting a positive example and promoting a positive culture.
- Have experience of working with children in care, Foster Carers, families, and other professionals linked to the child, young person and their family.
- Have extensive experience in managing children in our care and care leavers who present with complex and at times challenging needs. You must evidence a good understanding of attachment disorder and behaviours associated with what can be difficult to manage behaviours.
- Be able to navigate childcare proceedings, be considerate to reunification assessments, Placement with Parents, Special Guardianship Orders and discharge of Care Orders and a thorough understanding of permanency care planning.
- Have a sound knowledge and understanding of the different permanency options and processes to achieve good outcomes for children.
- Have good awareness of the key legislations, policies, guidance linked to care planning.
- Have skills in managing foster home breakdowns, alternative provisions, the LADO process and where possible be ABE trained.
- Be able to offer peer support, supervision and mentoring relevant to children in care and care leavers and an ability to develop others.
- Be familiar with Pathway Plans and care leaver processes ensuring skills in working with our children and young people.
- Work in partnership with the Team Manager to ensure the team works towards achieving key service delivery objectives and achieves to a high standard in terms of performance.

More generally, overall, our Senior Practitioners need to be a:

- Qualified Social Worker with a minimum of 2 years post qualifying experience
- Registered with Social Work England
- Have a current UK driving licence and vehicle

But above all, you will bring the desire to work with children and families to give them the right support, at the right time with the aim of keeping families together where it is safe to do so.

About Staffordshire County Council
**We are no ordinary county council**:
**Our Values**:
The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:
We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

**Our benefits**:
We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to a range of benefits.

**Our recruitment process**:
As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.