Social Worker

Human Resources & Development - Form 35 Version 15- Issued October 2022 JOB DESCRIPTION AND PARTICULARS OF APPOINTMENT ▪ Job Title: ▪ Post Number: ▪ Grade and SCP: 11 SCP 29-33 ▪ Contract: ▪ Directorate: Permanent 37 hours People Directorate Qualified Social Worker P11955 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 Central Community Adult Social Care Team within the People Directorate you will support the achievement of these key priorities, making a real difference to the lives of people in Shropshire. Overview of your role You will be working alongside colleagues from various teams including Social Workers, Social Care Practitioners, Occupational Therapists and Health Colleagues. You will be undertaking assessments and care act responsibilities within a rural geographical area of Central Shropshire working with adults with disabilities and older people. In addition, you will also contribute to the Multi-Agency Protection of Vulnerable Adults procedures and investigation process. Each member of staff will receive induction training to provide basic knowledge of their job and the organisation. On-going training will also be offered in the form of in-house training or attendance at external courses for skills, and personal development, as individual needs are identified Who will your manager be and what will you be responsible for? You will be: ▪ reporting to the Team Manager and Senior Practitioner 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. What will you be doing? ▪ With access to advice and within normal arrangements for departmental accountability, you will offer a social work service to vulnerable adults including people with a Disability, older adults and their carers taking account of the framework of relevant Acts of Parliament, Council policy and Partnership policies. This may take the form of: a) continuous support to people with serious and long-term physical disability, mental health needs and or with a learning disability, b) support users diagnosed as having a dementia type illness or psychiatric disorder. c) Specialist knowledge and experience of working with adults with learning disabilities. ▪ You will undertake training, as required. ▪ This post is in the community team where the emphasis is on maximising independence to enable people to remain in their own communities and homes. ▪ You will use a strength-based model in practice and performance. ▪ You will actively promote the engagement and development of customer interaction, encouraging and values contribution to practice. ▪ You will work in line legislation, council policies and procedures. ▪ In collaboration with other professionals, you will make an assessment of individual need and implement and monitor the agreed care plan, as appropriate. ▪ You will contribute to the development of all aspects of the services. ▪ As part of the requirement of your Social Work England registration you will be required to maintain evidence of continuing Professional Development in the agreed format. ▪ You will co-ordinate the use of all resources - fieldwork, residential and day care - towards the development of a preventative service. ▪ You will maintain records and statistics in accordance with departmental policies and procedures. ▪ You will attend meetings and act as a representative of the Department, as required. ▪ You will attend training sessions and contribute to team training sessions, as appropriate. ▪ You will take part in rota systems for same day responses or safeguarding referrals as required. ▪ You will liaise with other statutory and voluntary agencies, as appropriate. ▪ You will comply with safe systems of work in accordance with the Department's Health and Safety and Welfare policies and procedures. ▪ You will develop an understanding and awareness of issues related to equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practice and to demonstrate this in carrying out your duties. ▪ You will be responsible for promoting continuing personal and professional/vocational development of self through staff development processes. ▪ You may be required from time to time to undertake other duties, not specifically mentioned in this Job Description. 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 Shirehall, Shrewsbury with the requirement to regularly work from home. Your post is subject to the following: ▪ The post is permanent for 37 hours per week, ▪ Normal office hours are 08:45 - 17:00 Monday - Thursday and 08:45 - 16:00 Friday with a minimum lunch break of 30 minutes. Occasional evening/ weekend work may be required. ▪ The post is subject to the Council's annualised hours scheme as implemented within the specific work area. 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 a pro rata flat rate scheme of 207 hours (28 days) annual leave plus bank holidays, with five days extra awarded to those staff with five years local government service giving an entitlement of 244 hours (33 days). Two days of an employee's allowance (pro rota for part time staff) must be taken at Christmas for any potential Christmas closures. Employees who work in a building/service which is required to open over the Christmas period, the two days leave (pro rota) can be carried over into your next leave year but must be used by the end of March. The appointment is subject to two month's notice in writing on either side. The appointment is subject to six months' satisfactory probationary service during which time the notice period will be one week on either side. 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. Supplying false information or failing to disclose relevant information could be grounds for refusal and could amount to a criminal offence.