Family Group Conference Co-ordinator - Stepping Stones

Human Resources & Development - Form 35 Version 15- Issued October 2022 JOB DESCRIPTION AND PARTICULARS OF APPOINTMENT ▪ Job Title: Stepping Stones Family Group Conference Co-ordinator ▪ Post Number: ▪ Grade and SCP: Grade 8 SCP 19 - 22 £31,067 - £32.654 ▪ Directorate: Peoples's Directorate Where your role fits at Shropshire Council As Shropshire Council we are rightly proud of our achievements and we have proven to be a resilient local authority in our response to the many challenges we overcome, particularly over recent years. We will be continuing this momentum with ambition and a focus on delivering our four key priorities outlined within the Shropshire Plan: Healthy People, Healthy Environment, Health Economy and Healthy Organisation. We are committed to achieving this by aligning everything we do to our vision 'Shropshire - living the best life'; to tell everyone that Shropshire Council is a great place to be. We will enable a skilled, happy, healthy, diverse, inclusive, empowered, and proud workforce that influences and leads change, addressing any inequalities. As a member of the stepping Stones Team within Children's safeguarding you will support the achievement of these key priorities, making a real difference to the lives of people in Shropshire. Stepping Stones will offer a service for children, young people and their families who are either in care, or on the edge of care or who have recently moved to supported or independent accommodation, using a holistic approach to provide individual wrap around support. The post will form part of the Family Group Conferencing Team within the Stepping Stones Project, providing Family Group Conferences and support the use of Family Group Meetings alongside teams within Children's Services. Overview of your role Family Group Conferencing (FGC) supports safeguarding by enabling families to prioritise and promote the welfare of children, young people, and families. FGC ensure the voice of the child and of the family members are heard in FGC's, thus ensuring that the service provided remains focused on the needs of the child/children and families concerned. The post holder will promote and develop Shropshire's Family Group Conference service within a framework of equality of opportunity that responds appropriately to the needs of individual families from diverse backgrounds. The post holder will support families to make safe decisions and plans for children within the context of a Family Group Conference, strengthening family involvement and relational ways of working to achieve best outcomes for children. Who will your manager be and what will you be responsible for? You will be: ▪ Reporting to the Team Manager who is in turn responsible for your health and safety, training and development. ▪ Expected to lead and/or contribute to a range of projects and build relations with both internal and external partners in order achieve specified outcomes but will not have direct authority over those involved. ▪ Will providing high quality Family Group Conferences by supporting families to make safe decisions, devise plans for children and young people and practice a Restorative Approach to achieve best outcomes for children. ▪ Responsible for completing within expected timescales all mandatory corporate and role specific training. Training requirements will be detailed in your corporate induction and Personal Development Plan (PDP). Courses are accessed via the council Learning Management System via the Intranet. What will you be doing? • To exercise independence and expertise in order to plan, organise, co-ordinate and facilitate initial and review FGC which bring together family networks and professionals to make and agree safe plans for children, young people and carers within their network. • To promote and deliver high quality FGC services within a framework of equality of opportunity that responds appropriately to the needs of families from diverse backgrounds. • To prepare children, young people, carers, and extended family networks for FGCs, ensuring safe risk management and well-being of all participants; coordinate venues suitable to the needs of the participants for effective functioning of the FGC. • To ensure that all family members participate fully in the FGC process through targeted pieces of direct work when required. • To support families to increase their understanding of FGC, Early Help, and statutory processes, particular those families working within the Public Law Outline (PLO). • To work as part of a team, supporting colleague Family Group Co-ordinators if required, to enable families to fully participate in FGC. • To ensure that adults with a range of needs and abilities are supported through the FGC process, by ensuring that the relevant support and supporting information is available and is appropriate to the person's specific needs. • To ensure that safeguarding procedures are adhered to and take action to safeguard children and young people when risks are identified. • To participate and contribute to professional meetings where there is a need to present or explain a family plan. • To contribute to promoting the development, monitoring, evaluation and effectiveness of Shropshire's FGC Service and related work, by ensuring timely and accurate records of all interventions are maintained and service delivery standards are met. The above duties are an illustrative outline and are not an exhaustive list. You will be expected to become involved in a range of work to enable the service to respond effectively to the changing requirements of the Council and changes affecting the workforce. What we expect of you You will: ▪ Adopt a customer focused approach when delivering your service, ensuring engagement with service users and maintenance of an appropriate personal profile, ▪ Act as an advocate for your service and work collaboratively with colleagues across the whole Council to meet the needs of the people of Shropshire, ▪ Meet individual, service and personal development targets agreed through the Personal Development Review Process, learn from experience and are committed to continuous improvement individually and as an employee of the Council, ▪ Work with colleagues to meet your team's key performance indicators, support a culture of team working and ensure the team functions successfully in support of the Council's corporate and service objectives. ▪ Meet the behaviours and competencies adopted by the Council in the way in which they achieve their objectives and carry out their work. What are your conditions of Service The conditions of service are those laid down by Shropshire Council, which have been adopted and amended as necessary from those laid down by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services. Your primary work base will be at Havenbrook with the requirement to regularly work from home. Your post is subject to the following: ▪ The post is 2 years Fixed Term ▪ Hours will vary between 08.00am to 20.00pm Monday to Friday and 8am - 1pm Saturday (within a 37-hour week) ▪ The post is subject to the Council's Annualised Hours Scheme. This post carries eligibility to join the Local Government Pension Scheme. Information about this will be sent with any formal offer of appointment. Annual leave entitlement is as follows: In accordance with the working time directive, you will accrue an entitlement to annual leave, in direct proportion to the hours you work, with effect from appointment. On a quarterly basis we will calculate the annual leave due and advise you accordingly. Smoking is not allowed in Council buildings, in Council vehicles or in any Council place of work. It is a condition of your appointment that you provide a suitable vehicle for the performance of your duties and that this is readily available for use during normal working hours. You are entitled to claim for reimbursement of the costs of travel on council business at the rate of 45 pence per mile. What pre-employment checks will we undertake? The appointment is subject to receipt of the following pre-employment checks; 1. Satisfactory employment references, 2. Medical report, 3. Evidence of the qualifications required for the post/listed on your application form, This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such all applicants who are appointed to this post will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service before the appointment is confirmed. This check will include details of cautions, reprimands or warnings as well as convictions and non- conviction information. Once appointed, the successful applicant(s) will also be required to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure at pre-determined intervals during the course of their employment whilst in this post.