Home Finding Officer

The **Home Finding Team **required a forward thinking individual to join their and fast paced service.

Herefordshire’s Home Finding Team undertakes planned and emergency searches for a variety (short term and permanent) of home settings for all children looked after and in need of support. These home settings can range from Independent Fostering Agency carers/Internal Fostering Service, Residential Children Homes, Supported Accommodation and Parent and Child Assessment homes. As corporate parents, we share the goals for the children we look after as of every good parent; to see our young people flourish, to enjoy good health, to be safe and happy, to do well at school and to grow towards adulthood equipped to lead independent lives and to make their way as happy, healthy, adults.

As a **Home Finding Officer **your role is to find the best home environments, that are competently matched, cost effective and that will meet assessed needs to ensure each child or young person is supported to the highest level and able to fulfil their potential.

As well as being committed to the delivery of positive outcomes for children and their families, you will have experience in a local authority, Health and/or Social Care setting. With excellent communication and organisational skills, a robust understanding of the care landscape is required as well as knowing how to effectively work within this - working both to support and challenge across the system. You will need to work as part of a team and manage your own workload. Time management and prioritisation skills will be essential, as is the ability to work to deadlines.

You’ll be working in partnership with children’s social workers support the matching of children with carers who can meet their needs, including undertaking searches for permanence care settings, alerting senior managers to any risks or threats in relation to sufficiency.

You will play a significant role in the development, implementation and monitoring of contracts for the placement of children in the local authority's care, working closely with service providers and members of the IFA and Residential Homes Frameworks.

You will work to build capacity in the marketplace both in terms of volume and in terms of high-quality services that are designed to deliver good outcomes. You will develop care specifications that ensure placements meet children's identified needs, relevant contracts and support on tender processes.

As a result, you will develop and maintain good working relationships with providers, with Heads of Services who commission Services, with Social Workers and Managers.

You will be responsible for supporting the development and implementation of placement and provision contracts for services with external child care and health care providers and actively work to ensure that appropriate contracts are put in place and carefully monitored on time.

Ultimately you will be commitment to working towards achieving the best outcomes for the Children and Young people we look after. Herefordshire is on a journey and we would like you to be part of our next chapter. This is an exciting opportunity to have a genuine impact on the local authority and help improve and protect the children and young people within it.

We Offer
- A competitive salary, generous holiday entitlement, and access to our contributory pension and staff benefits scheme, which includes:

- **Basic Salary **of £25,000 - £30,000
- **Pension **Scheme Enrolment in the Local Government (LGPS)
- **Career progression**:clear pathways to progress
- **Generous Annual Leave**: 25 days’ annual leave (pro rata) plus bank holidays. After five years’ continuous service, this increases to 30 days (pro rata) plus bank holidays. You can also purchase an additional 10 days per annum
- **Flexible working**:flexi-time, job-share, part-time hours and, in some instances, home working
- **Employee Assistance Programme**:24/7 access to support and counselling
- Payment of **professional membership fees**
- **Pick your perks **- our benefits include access to a range of retail, leisure, holiday and health benefits. This includes savings, cash back and discounts.

About Us

Herefordshire is a beautiful, historic county located in the heart of the Marches on the border with Wales. We are one of the most rural and sparsely populated counties in England with a wealth of unspoilt countryside, distinctive heritage, and lively and attractive market towns.

Our priority in Herefordshire is to keep children safe and give them a great start in life. It’s the priority for the council, our partners and for all of us who work with Children & Young People.

How do we do this? By having dynamic, dedicated, passionate and professional staff who work in a culture that focuses on what we can achieve with children, what they can achieve themselves, and the relationship we build with families and partners to enable this. We have invested heavily in training