IFD Support Officer

West Sussex County Council; Horsham; On-site; GBP 31,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

West Sussex County Council is seeking an Integrated Front Door (IFD) Support Officer in Horsham to join a multi-disciplinary team including police, health, education and social workers. You will gather information to assess the level of need for children or young people and recommend appropriate outcomes, while ensuring safeguarding and statutory requirements are met.

The role involves liaison with diverse stakeholders, triage across channels, and accurate record-keeping.

Qualifications

• GCSE English and Maths (Grades 9-4 or A-C) or equivalent.
• Experience of providing advice and guidance to individuals.
• Ability to work under pressure and within strict timescales.
• Experience applying relevant legislation, policies, and procedures.
• Awareness of policies relevant to providing support to children and families in social care.
• Sound IT knowledge with experience maintaining databases and producing records.

Responsibilities

• Communicating effectively with people accessing the service, including children, families and professionals both internally and externally.
• Completing initial assessments to review the needs of the individuals and families you are working with.
• Triaging incoming requests for support across several mediums, including an email inbox.
• Maintenance of accurate records and reports to ensure highly accurate record keeping and data.
• Being a representative for the service by delivering services to those who access or need the service, with integrity and respect.

Skills

Communication skills

Multi-agency collaboration

Assessment & triage

Organisational skills

Resilience under pressure

Education

GCSE English & Maths

Tools

Databases

Job description

About The Job

Salary: £30,515 to £33,119 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full time – 37 hours per week

Office Location: County Hall North, Horsham

• Do you possess good communication skills?
• Are you resilient, adaptable, and organised?
• Have you worked in a multi-agency setting before?

Then this might be the role for you!

As an Integrated Front Door (IFD) Support Officer in the Integrated Front Door (IFD), you will be working as part of a multi-disciplinary team including police, health, education and social workers. The IFD team is the access point to Children’s Social Care in West Sussex.

In this role, you will be a member of a multi-agency team with the responsibility for gathering information to inform decisions about the level of need for a child or young person into Children’s social care. You will provide a recommendation for the appropriate outcomes, while ensuring that practice is compliant with statutory responsibilities and that the child or young person is not at immediate risk of harm.

The work will involve regular contact with people who access or need the service who may present challenging behaviours, and/or subject matter which may be distressing, for example, dealing with vulnerable individuals and families or those with complex problems.

Some of the day to day responsibilites you can expect from the role:

• Communicating effectively with people accessing the service, which could include children, families, general members of the public as well as other professionals both internally and externally.
• Completing initial assessments to review the needs of the individuals and families you are working with.
• Triaging incoming requests for support across several mediums, including an email inbox.
• Maintenance of accurate records and reports to ensure highly accurate record keeping and data.
• Being a representative for the service by delivering services to those people who access or need the service, acting with integrity, professionalism, and respect on behalf of the organisation. This ensures that the needs of individuals are paramount.

About You

• Analyse and interpret information to complete initial assessments of the level of need on a case-by-case basis. Also ensuring that if the level of risk for harm is high, that it is escalated accordingly.
• Work within a multi-agency setting to support the decision-making process within the function and respond sensitively and flexibly dependant on the audience of the communication.
• Be able to identify range of interventions and apply the most suitable or appropriate service for a child or family in line with their needs.
• Understand and reflect on the impact of your work and the effects it may have on the individuals you are working to support. Know when you need to escalade and seek help to ensure the needs are met.
• GCSE English and Maths (Grades 9-4 or A-C) or equivalent to demonstrate experience of operating at this level of literacy/numeracy.
• Experience of providing advice and guidance to individuals.
• Being able to work under pressure and within strict timescales.
• Experience of applying relevant legislation, policies, and procedures to individual pieces of work.
• An awareness of the policies, practices, and procedures relevant to providing support to children and families as well as the role of social care.
• Sound and accurate IT knowledge with experience of maintaining databases with clear, accurate records of all work undertaken and producing records, reports and correspondence for a variety of audiences.

Rewards and Benefits

Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where you can achieve your full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work you do. Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits such as:

For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.

About Us

The Integrated Front Door brings together Children’s Social Care, Early Help and a multi-disciplinary team to provide an effective way to manage referrals in West Sussex. As the first point of contact with children and families, the IFD can influence their entire journeys. As a fast-moving service everyone can make a difference and we build strong relationships with a wide range of partner agencies including police, health and housing professionals who are co-located and working together to ensure the best outcomes for children, young people and families.

You will be joining our service at an exciting time of recent change, bringing an opportunity to influence our ways of working, utilising and developing your skills in an evolving team.

For further information about us and about working in Children’s Social Care at West Sussex County Council, please visit Careers in children's social work in West Sussex.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is 405

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Hafiza Qureshi on [e-mail]

For issues or queries regarding your application please contact [e-mail]

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.