Group Manager Youth Justice Integrated Adolescent Service

Lewisham Council; London; Hybrid; GBP 62,000 - 68,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking an inspirational leader for the Youth Justice Teams within their Integrated Adolescent Service. This role involves leading a dedicated team to prevent offending and safeguard children, utilizing innovative practices and a commitment to anti-racist and trauma-informed approaches. The successful candidate will have a strong background in Youth Justice and be passionate about improving outcomes for children and families. With a supportive management structure and a focus on professional development, this position offers an excellent opportunity to make a real difference in the community.

Benefits

Generous holiday allowance

Local Government Pension scheme

Flexible working policies

Season ticket and bicycle loans

Staff discounts for gym memberships

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Expert knowledge of Youth Justice practice and processes.
• Strong leadership skills to inspire and motivate teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead operational oversight of Youth Justice Teams.
• Ensure assessments and interventions achieve best outcomes.

Skills

Leadership

Youth Justice Knowledge

Innovative Practice

Communication

Team Management

Education

Relevant Social Work Qualification

Job description

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Job Description

Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to our vibrant and culturally diverse communities!

We have a rich history of welcoming people from all over the world and are proud to be recognised as the UK's first Borough of Sanctuary, for our work in championing the rights of refugees and migrants.

INTRODUCTION

We are looking for a special kind of inspirational leader to join a strong and vibrant management team within the Integrated Adolescent Service. The appointment will be for a Group Manager to lead the Youth Justice Teams. The Youth Justice strand of the service has recently been inspected by HMIP and is rated as being Good. The comments in the report reflect the positive and influential commitment of staff which includes tackling racism, disproportionality, and use of innovation to achieve best outcomes for children.

Staff, managers, and volunteers are passionate about and authentic about improving outcomes for children, families, and victims.

The service is well-respected and influential with its partners, and this has resulted in a range of services to support children, families, and victims.

What's the role?

The service is committed to prevent offending, reduce re-offending, and safeguard children from intra and extra familial harm. We have achieved this through innovative practice and delivery of several government funded initiatives such as Turnaround, Engage, Your Choice, the National Referral Mechanism pilot, and an in-service Health & Wellbeing Hub.

Lewisham was chosen to be a DFE Pathfinder authority to test the social care reforms. The Integrated Adolescent Service have led the testing of the Multi-agency Adolescent Protection & Adolescent Family Help Teams to establish improved pathways for children at risk of extra-familial harm or with other vulnerabilities typically experienced by adolescents. The Youth Justice Group Manager will work closely with the Group Manager in the other division of the Integrated Adolescent Service who is responsible for, the Adolescent Protection Team, Edge of Care, Missing and Housing Pathway Teams.

We are committed to using relational and strength-based approaches as we recognise that this works best for children affected by extra-familial harm, the criminal justice system and on the edge of care. We aim to be Trauma Informed, Anti-Racist and use Restorative, Contextual Safeguarding & Signs of Safety Approaches to deliver interventions to children and their families.

The ideal candidate should have expert technical knowledge of Youth Justice practice, processes, HMIP inspectorate framework, National Standards & YJB KPI's. They should possess strong leadership skills and, be able to inspire, motivate and support the teams to deliver a high-quality youth justice services within an Integrated Adolescent Service. They will lead on operational oversight of the day to day running of the teams ensuring that assessments, plans, and interventions are achieving best outcomes for children and their families in line with KPI's.

What's in it for you?

Our Vision - What Good Children's Social Work Looks Like in Lewisham

In Lewisham Children's Social Care, we know what good social work looks like and we are passionate about creating the right conditions and culture for good practice to thrive.

• Families are respected and supported to stay together, whenever there is safety.
• Families will tell us they understand why we are involved.
• Children will tell us their social worker has made a difference to their lives.
• Children who are in our care know we care, and we won't give up on them.
• Young people who have been in our care feel confident about their future.

We have taken a whole system approach to improving our services to children and young people in our borough using 'Signs of Safety' as our practice model. Ofsted recognised the progress we have made noting that:

• Staff talk positively about their manageable caseloads, regular supervision, team meetings and access to a range of training, including the social work model of practice.
• Senior leaders demonstrate a clear focus on hearing the voices of children to develop and improve services.
• Leaders know the service well. They have a clear understanding of areas for development that are being appropriately addressed.

In January 2024, Ofsted's report lauds significant improvements in our children's services. Praised areas include strong leadership, high-quality support for families and children, and positive outcomes across all criteria.

• The Executive Director for Children and Young People and his team are credited for driving these improvements, with particular focus on enhancing workforce stability, early help services, and partnerships with stakeholders.
• Noteworthy practices include creative life-story work and culturally sensitive social work approaches, crucial in a diverse borough like Lewisham.
• The Council's anti-racist practice network and safe space platform also garnered praise for supporting staff from black and global majority backgrounds.
• Overall, the report highlights a commendable commitment to improving outcomes for vulnerable children and young people in Lewisham.

We are making progress but need passionate, creative and energetic social workers, managers and leaders to get us where we want to be. Could this be you?

Why choose Lewisham?

"Lewisham has so much to offer any social worker. I feel supported, respected and valued every step of the way" (Social Worker).

Our social workers benefit from working in small, supportive teams with caseloads on average between 15-20 children. Our 'Signs of Safety' practice framework means we are committed to working in a relationship-based way with children and families, focussing on strengths in the family network to effect change. A positive learning culture which promotes opportunities for reflection and relationship-based practice is important to us. We are committed to developing our practice using reflective practice spaces such as case mapping, thinking spaces and group supervision.

Our permanent and stable senior management team are visible and approachable. Our dedicated PSW and workforce team supports professional development across the service so that you will;

• be supported through our comprehensive learning and development offer, which includes subscriptions to 'Research in Practice' and 'Making Research Count'.
• receive regular supervision and appraisal.
• have 1-1 practice development coaching as a case holder, and professional development coaching as a manager.
• have access to regular 'Signs of Safety' training and the opportunity to become a practice leader through attending our bespoke practice leader course.
• have access to external leadership development opportunities such as the Black and Asian Leadership Initiative (BALI).
• have a clearly defined career progression pathway with opportunities for professional development at all levels.

We have a strong working relationship with Goldsmiths, University of London as part of the South East London Teaching Partnership so our practitioners have the opportunity to teach on social work courses as teaching consultants. We host both 'Step Up' and traditional route students and social workers have the opportunity to become practice educators.

Excellent training and development opportunities, plus a range of benefits including:

• Generous holiday allowance
• Local Government Pension scheme
• Flexible working and family friendly policies
• Season ticket and bicycle loans
• A range of staff discounts including local subsidised gym memberships
• Supportive staff networks

What we're looking for

Lewisham is the 2022 London Borough of Culture and if you want to work in a thriving borough and our social work vision connects with your professional values, then we are interested in hearing from you. We are looking for people to join our team who:

• value the importance of communication and seeking feedback
• can inspire and motivate those they work with, manage and lead
• are committed to developing their skills and expertise to deliver an excellent service
• are professionally curious and value thinking slowly and calmly in a balanced way
• work inclusively, collaboratively with others recognising their strengths
• take responsibility and make a positive contribution by focusing on solutions
• are transparent, are appreciative in enquiry, reflect and learn.

In return, we'll offer excellent development opportunities, plus a range of benefits that includes a career average pension scheme, paid parking on site for social workers and senior social workers, flexible working, a generous leave entitlement and the opportunity to make a real difference to our local community.

Location

The job is primarily based in Laurence House in Catford SE6. There are 2 local train stations 3-5 minutes' walk from the office, and the train journey from London Bridge is approximately 15 minutes. There are also numerous bus routes that stop right by the office.

We operate a hybrid approach where you will be required to work both in the office and from home on a regular basis.

Special conditions

• Relevant social work qualification is needed
• Social Work England registration is required for this job
• The job is subject to a DBS check (Enhanced)

The recruitment process is anonymous and we don't accept CV's.

Applicant handbook - please read the guidance in this handbook when applying. It is essential that you complete the application fully and that your supporting statement covers how you meet each of the person specification criteria listed.

For an informal discussion about this job, please contact : [e-mail]

Please click here to view the Job Description and Person Specification

Please click here to view the letter from the Director

Please click here to view Our Visions and Values

Salary

£62,922 - £67,500 per annum (SMG1)

N.B: All appointments will be offered at the minimum spinal column point (SCP) for the grade of the role. The only exception to this will be when matching current salary (up to the maximum of the scale), which is subject to evidential proof.

Diversity

Lewisham Council is a Disability Confident employer. We welcome and encourage job applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process. We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply

The Council has a dedicated employment support service, Lewisham Works, which offers Lewisham residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you want to join Lewisham Works, please email [e-mail] and an advisor will be in touch with you.

The Council reserves the right to close adverts early if there is a large response.

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