Specialist Caseworker - Families

Safer London; City of Westminster; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

An organization supporting young individuals in London is seeking a Caseworker to provide personalized support to families affected by exploitation and violence. The role involves building trusting relationships with parents and delivering effective advocacy. The successful candidate will have a relevant qualification and experience in managing safeguarding issues. The position requires excellent communication skills and a commitment to safeguarding young people, ensuring that they receive the necessary support and resources.

Qualifications

• Experience managing complex safeguarding issues.
• Experience engaging children and young people in trusting relationships.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Cultivate trusting relationships with parents and carers.
• Deliver one-to-one support and advocacy focused on safeguarding.
• Conduct risk assessments and maintain essential records.

Skills

Communication skills

Relationship building

Safeguarding knowledge

Resilience management

IT literacy

Education

Relevant qualification in social care or related field

Job description

Safer London provides consistent, trauma-informed support to children and young people who've already experienced harm - helping them move from crisis to stability, and from harm to hope. We support young Londoners affected by a range of harms, including criminal exploitation, sexual exploitation and sexual violence, violence in the community and peer-to-peer harm. Our work happens in the community - wherever the young Londoner feels safe and comfortable. This could be a school, park, cafe, or another safe place. Each child or young person is matched with a caseworker based on their unique needs and circumstances. They meet with them weekly and support typically lasts between 6 months and 18 months, but support can last for as long as needed. Each intervention is tailored to the young Londoner's identity, experiences and needs, and may focus on safety planning, emotional wellbeing, healthy peer relationships and family dynamics. We also help young Londoners access education, training, employment opportunities, and safe, stable housing. The team includes: Specialist workers for girls and young women SEND and complex harm specialists, A dedicated families team who works one to one with parents and carers. Through our work, we are helping young Londoners heal, rebuild and move forward - so they can live safer lives and have the positive futures they deserve.

About the Role: In this impactful role, you will cultivate strong trusting relationships with parents and carers, offering personalised support on a one-to-one basis. Your responsibilities will encompass a diverse range of direct support and advocacy, with a focus on safeguarding and the wellbeing of parents and carers whose child/ren are affected by violence and exploitation.

Key Responsibilities

• Enhances overall effectiveness of safeguarding young Londoners and families.
• Intervention and prevention of potential risks.
• Provides a holistic understanding of a young Londoner's situation.
• Creates a coordinated effort, preventing duplication of work and ensures resources are used efficiently.
• Delivering effective one-to-one support to families in line with Safer London's Service models and in collaboration with them so that their voice is at the centre of all we do, and they receive the support they need.
• Carrying out robust risk assessments and strengths-based needs assessments, with safeguarding as the priority, to ensure the most appropriate intervention is offered and risks are managed and escalated appropriately.
• Accurately maintaining essential records, ensuring high-quality case recording, utilising our in-house bespoke case recording system.
• Completing reports (which may be shared with statutory bodies such as the police, courts, and children social care, and which can be shared with the family that accurately reflect the work undertaken in a professional manner).
• Maintaining effective communication, both written and verbal, whether this is virtual or face-to-face.
• Identifying and completing risk assessments for spaces, places and services where families and young Londoners feel safe enough to engage in meaningful interventions/ activities.
• Making appropriate onward referrals and signposting children, young people and their families to support services and positive activities as and when required. Where necessary, advocating for them to get the services they are entitled to.
• Working with partners, communities and other key stakeholders to deliver the service effectively.
• Acting in accordance with safeguarding legislation and guidance in addition to Safer London's practice guidelines and wider pan-London processes and protocols.
• Undertaking any other duties as required and commensurate with the level of this post.

Qualifications and Experience

• Relevant qualification in social care, health, youth/community work, criminal justice or demonstrable equivalent experience - e.g. Registered and Qualified Social Worker (Essential).
• Experience of managing complex safeguarding issues with children, young people, families and adults at risk, including being able to demonstrate effective partnerships working (Essential).
• Experience of working with and effectively engaging children and young people in trusting relationships (Essential).
• Extensive knowledge of the impact of context on children, young people and adults, with a clear understanding of the principles of contextual safeguarding (Essential).
• Experience of high-quality case recording (Essential).
• Recognition of the importance of resilience in coping with the emotional demands of the role and demonstrable experience of managing your own wellbeing (Essential).
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, in order to communicate and influence a wide range of internal and external colleagues on matters relation to the service, and produce reports for a variety of audiences (Essential).
• IT literate (Excel, Outlook, Word etc,) and experience of using databases (Essential).
• Knowledge of best practice around contextual safeguarding and those experiencing harm outside the home (Essential).
• Knowledge of trauma-informed practice and how trauma - including from their own lives - can impact on how practitioners manage cases (Essential).
• Knowledge of best practice in and understanding of the importance of good quality care (Essential).
• Knowledge of safeguarding legislation (Essential).
• Commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and experience of applying these principles in the workplace.
• Ability to demonstrate, with examples, your alignment to Safer London's values.
• Ability to prioritise own workload and work without close supervision.
• Ability to be flexible with work location.
• Ability to draw on a range of strategies to support your wellbeing, help you cope with pressure and ambiguity and continue to build resilience.

Additional Information

• We're committed to protecting and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and we expect anyone who works and volunteers with us to share this commitment. An enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is required for this role.
• The successful candidate will be required to travel to different locations around London.
• Safer London Caseworkers sometimes work extended hours to meet the needs of young Londoners/ parents/carers. Therefore, the successful candidate may occasionally be required to work evenings.
• Safer London is an agile working organisation. This means employees are able to work from different locations, e.g. from home, our office premises and community locations such as libraries/co-working spaces, where the work allows. Agile working arrangements will be agreed with the line-manager.
• Safer London understands that resilience is a skill that can be learnt over time and recognises and supports the role of self-care in developing resilience.
• Violence and exploitation
• Sexual violence
• Neurodiversity and SEND
• Harmful Sexual Behaviours
• Families (parents and carers)
• Education, training and employment