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 Fostering Service is accountable for providing stable, enduring, and supportive fostering placements for children who are unable to live with their birth families. The Clinical Lead will be responsible for being part of an area-based social work team, supporting children in their placements and leading the development of a trauma-informed, therapeutic approach to practice.

Providing specialist advice and training to professionals and families/carers the Clinical Lead will take an active contribution to the strategic and operational development of the trauma-informed, therapeutic approach to care.

The role will implement changes and continually evaluating the service to improve the area of work, while maintaining continual delivery of the highest possible levels of service quality.

Accountabilities

Work alongside an extended team of social workers and mental health coordinators, as well as local providers of mental health services, to enhance the emotional and psychological wellbeing of children and young people who have suffered trauma, developing nurturing collaborative relationships.

Active contribution to the strategic and operational development of the trauma-informed, therapeutic approach to care.

Provide specialist advice and training to professionals and families/carers, which develops approaches to maintain children in their placements, resolving issues and supporting positive outcome.

Provide group clinical consultations to teams involved with children looked after or support mental health coordinators to provide this service.

Highly specialist assessments of therapeutic and placement needs where required.

Provide clinical supervision and workload management to a number of mental health coordinators.

Working with considerable autonomy, within professional guidelines and the overall framework of Children and Families Services’ policies and procedures, as well as within the guidelines of their professional body.

Working collaboratively across services and to support the delivery of the best possible outcomes for our children, young people, carers, and Social Care colleagues.

Implementing changes and continually evaluating the service to improve the area of work, while maintaining continual delivery of the highest possible levels of service quality.

Using effective utilisation of digital technologies and innovation across the function.

Celebrating Equality and Diversity and ensuring it is considered as part of all decisions taken.

The Experience You Will Bring

A qualified practitioner with significant experience of working within the field of children and young people mental health.

Clinical backgrounds and qualifications required;

Clinical or counselling psychologist; Doctorate in Clinical or Counselling Psychology

Systemic psychotherapist; MSc in Systemic Psychotherapy

Psychodynamic psychotherapist; Degree Masters Doctorate

Mental Health Nurse with clinical therapy training; MH nurse RNMH (+ clinical therapy training) will require NMC pre-registration programme of study.

Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. PTSD, personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities, ADHD, Autism spectrum, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, etc.).

Interest in trauma/attachment/strength-based and solution-focussed approaches and a keenness to promote stable and secure placements for children either in foster care or returning to their family networks.

Evidence of continuing professional development and registration with the relevant governing body.

Previous experience and/or interest in adoption/fostering/trauma/attachment/social care, including evidence of psychological assessment and treatment of service users across the full range of care settings.

Experience of delivering consultations, training and/or supervision.

Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.

Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to service users, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside of the Council and NHS.

Evidence of multi agencies/multi professional working.

The ability and drive to be proactive in developing effective working relationships with social care and other professional colleagues is essential to the success of this role.

To read more about us please visit: Children & Families

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

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.

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.

What you should do next

If you are interested in finding out more about this role, we would love to hear from you. Please apply via the Working for Essex website.

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 if you would like to see the full role profile, please email [email protected].

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