Panel Vice Chair

**Panel Vice Chair**:
Impact Foster Care is a new Independent Fostering Agency based in the Bradford and the West Yorkshire area. We are committed to providing an outstanding fostering service to children and young people living in foster care. We value our foster carers and the contribution they can make to providing essential safety, nurture, care, support and stability to the children who live away from their birth families.

Foster carers offer a secure home base for many children and young people, and each child’s voice is important throughout their journey. The role of our Fostering Panel is essential to ensuring our commitment to listening to each child and young person via robust assessment and annual review procedures, as well as the scrutiny and accountability of the agency.

**You will be required to undertake an enhance DBS check.**

**Working cycle: one panel bi-monthly initially moving to monthly. Panels will be held virtually.**

**Re-numeration: £180 when sitting as a Panel Member/£350 when acting as Chair - to include all reading.**

**Job description**

1. To step into the role of Panel Chair in the Chairs absence, and taking on the below tasks:
2. To chair panel meetings, ensuring that all items of business are covered and that the panel operates in accordance with regulations and the policies and procedures of the agency.

3. To prepare for panel meetings, reading panel papers carefully, identifying key issues and alerting the agency adviser if necessary to ensure, as far as possible, that the case is adequate for submission to panel.

4. To facilitate the active participation of all panel members in contributing to the panel’s consideration of cases and to the making of clear and well-evidenced recommendations with the reasons for these.

5. To ensure that all those attending the panel are treated with respect and courtesy.

6. To address diversity issues and to promote anti-discriminatory practice at all times.

7. To liaise fully with the Panel Administrator and ensure that clear and accurate minutes are written, which record any serious reservations which panel members may have, and to be involved in checking and agreeing draft minutes with other panel members before they are sent to the decision-maker.

8. To liaise with the decision-maker and with other senior managers as required.

9. To ensure, along with the agency adviser, senior managers are aware of issues of concern, in relation both to individual cases and to more general matters.

10. To assist in developing, promoting, and monitoring policies and procedures and high standards of work in fostering services in the agency.

11. To safeguard the confidentiality of all panel papers and panel discussions.

12. To be involved in:

- deciding whether a case is adequate for submission to panel;
- deciding on the attendance of observers at panel;
- deciding on the participation of a panel member who declares an interest in a case;
13. To adhere to the agency’s panel member code of conduct.

**Person specification**

**Experience and qualifications**
- 2-3 years’ experience as a Fostering Panel Member
- Experience, either professionally or personally or both, of the placement of children in foster families or of children being cared for away from their birth family.
- Experience of chairing complex meetings.

**Knowledge**
- An appreciation of the effect of separation and loss on children.
- Awareness of the richness of different kinds of families and their potential for meeting children’s needs.
- An understanding of the purpose and function of the panel and of the agency which the panel is serving, or a willingness to learn.

**Abilities**
- The authority and competence to chair a panel, ensuring that the business is covered and that the panel operates in accordance with regulations and the policies and procedures of the agency.
- Excellent interpersonal and listening skills.
- The ability to communicate well and clearly both verbally and in writing.
- The ability to identify key issues and possible solutions and to communicate these clearly.
- The ability to facilitate the active participation of all panel members in contributing to the panel’s consideration of cases and recommendations.
- The ability to manage the expression of strongly held but possibly conflicting views by panel members and to help the panel to reach a recommendation which takes account of all these views.
- The ability to take up issues as required with the agency, liaising with the decision-maker and other senior managers.

**Attitudes**
- A commitment to keeping children within their own family or community where this is possible and to maintaining contact between children living in foster families and their birth families where this appears to be in the child’s best interests.
- A commitment to fostering as a way of meeting a child’s needs, where this appears to be in the child’s best interests.
- A commitment to safeguarding and promoting children’s welfa