Job Req ID: 17339

Team Administrator - Supervised Contact Team

Permanent, Part Time

£25,743 to £30,286 per annum, pro rata

Location: Colchester

Working Style: Fixed-base worker

Closing Date: Tuesday 16th July 2024 at 11.59pm

Please note that this position is being offered as a Part Time role, working 18.5 hours per week, covering the following days and hours: Wednesday 13:00 to 17:30, Thursday 9:00 to 17:30, Friday 9:00 to 16:30. No changes to these days and hours can be considered. The position is predominately based at the mulberry tree family centre, with very limited remote working opportunities but some occasional need for travel to attend team meetings and events. 

Here in Essex, we continue to raise the bar about practice and our investment in our workforce is second to none. It’s an exciting time to join us. Not only have we been named Outstanding by Ofsted, we are delighted and at the same time humbled to have been crowned Social Work Employer of the Year for the second time in the last three years!

The Opportunity

Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity and compassion; promoting the development and wellbeing of children, young people and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.

The Team Administrator co-ordinates arrangements for supervised contact, translating referrals from Social Workers into meetings between family members, organised in a safe, logistically appropriate and cost effective manner.

The role requires the ability to plan meetings, arrange transport, identify the most appropriate venue and Supervised Contact Worker and overcome any issues that may prevent the achievement of meetings within timescales.

Accountabilities

• Responsible for allocating referrals within 5 working days, responding to the referral received to ensure timely intervention.
• Allocate referrals to team members, agency workers or an external agency, using professional expertise, depending on availability, location, cost and level of support needed.
• Responsible for sourcing a safe environment for the child to have contact i.e. booking a room that is age appropriate and suitable for contact and offers the best safeguarding for the child, using knowledge of the cases and experienced judgement.
• Collate and distribute referral data to Family Care Workers and Senior Practitioners and performance reporting data to Senior Leaders.
• Collate and distribute risk information on to the appropriate venue and person supervising the contact to ensure safeguarding.
• Represent the locality supervised contact team at various meetings, such as Social Worker team meetings, outlining referral procedures, identifying and overcoming referral issues, liaising with social workers to determine best logistical solutions.
• Monitor budget spend to provide the senior practitioner and the family centre manager with accurate management information and analysis of spending trends to mitigate any deviation in budget. Ensure all procured services represent best value.
• Liaise and negotiate with social workers, family care workers/supervised contact workers, parents, schools and venues to ensure the facilitation of the best quality supervised contact that is possible.
• Collect feedback from clients; parents, children and locality teams and use this to contribute to the development of service delivery.

The Experience You Will Bring 

Essential: 

• Educated to RQF Level 2 (GCSE) or equivalent by experience.
• A general understanding of the supervised contact service.
• Good telephone manner and ability to liaise with other professionals, children and families.
• Knowledge of financial procedures, systems and logistical co-ordination.

Desirable:

• Good IT skills with knowledge of MS Office suite of programmes and an understanding of data protection.
• Experience of building strong working relationships which are influential, with the ability to negotiate.
• Evidence of continuing professional development, with good knowledge of relevant professional area.
• A geographical knowledge of Essex is desirable.

To read more about us please visit: Children & Families

Please take a look at our ‘No Magic’ Children & Families video

Why Essex? 

Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read more about us.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process.

We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service.  The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate.  This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained.  For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email daniel.warner@essex.gov.uk

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