Job title: Rethink Practice Development Facilitator (temporary)
Hours: 37
Salary: PO4 £46,142 - £49,282
Contract: Fixed Term
Are you a skilled restorative and relational practitioner who can engage, inspire and support others to embed the Leeds Practice Model? If so, we would love to hear from you.
We are seeking an experienced practitioner to take on the role of Rethink Practice Development Facilitator for 12 months.
This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced restorative and relational practitioner to help shape and strengthen practice across Leeds through a wide range of practice development activities – as well as develop their own skill set.
As a Rethink Practice Development Facilitator you will contribute to supporting the delivery and development of Rethink and the Leeds Practice Model across and within services for Children and Families in Leeds. You will engage, inspire and support practitioners, teams and leaders to embed the Leeds Practice Model in practice. Through facilitation, coaching, group work and reflective learning you will play a key role in building confidence, skill and consistency across services.
This role offers a unique opportunity to influence how restorative and relational practice continues to evolve and be embedded across services, ensuring children and families receive the right support at the right time through strong relationships and meaningful collaboration. At a pivotal time for children and families services nationally, the Leeds Practice Model will be at the heart of social care reform and the development of Family Help in Leeds.
Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.
As a Rethink Practice Development Facilitator you will:
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Support implementation of the Leeds Practice Model across services for children and families
- Design, deliver and facilitate engaging and impactful practice development sessions, workshops and learning events for multi-agency colleagues
- Champion, promote and support restorative and relational practice approaches
- Build positive relationships with teams and services to support sustainable practice improvement and culture change
- Work alongside colleagues and partners to translate social care reforms into meaningful practice development activity
- Contribute to the development of Family Help by supporting integrated and relationship-based ways of working and embedding formulation and the Leeds Practice Principles
- Promote inclusion and the voice of children, young people and families in practice development activity
- Contribute to the ongoing evaluation and continuous improvement of learning and practice development
We are looking for someone who:
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Has practice experience from health, education or social care
- Is passionate about restorative and relational practice
- Is committed to improving outcomes for children, young people and families
- Has strong interpersonal skills and can build positive relationships with practitioners, managers and partners
- Has a working knowledge of complex case work, child and adolescent development, family work and safeguarding
- Has a strong understanding of the Leeds Practice Model and relationship-based approaches to working with families
- Can create engaging and inclusive learning environments that encourage participation, reflection and collaboration
- Can work creatively and flexibly in response to emerging practice and development needs
- Has excellent communication and facilitation skills, with the ability to adapt approaches for different audiences
- Is organised, motivated and able to manage a varied and dynamic workload
What we offer you
We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:
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a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
- membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
- flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
- a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
- a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further
A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check against the Children’s or Adults’ barred list as applicable will be carried out on preferred candidates. Read our recruitment of ex-offenders policy.
We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.
This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.
If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visaroute before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Ensure you are eligible before applying.
Job Purpose:
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To work as a part of a team in assuring high quality practice within and across Leeds Childrens Services.
- To work alongside colleagues in the development, delivery and implementation of an innovative restorative Multiagency Formulation and Networking Forum to support an integrated network across Leeds children’s services. This innovation model centres on the development of a series of regular multi-agency formulation and practice development events delivered in local areas.
- The post holder will be part of a small team of practice development facilitators who will actively support implementation of the Leeds Practice Model, using restorative principles and techniques and promoting evidence based approaches and the children’s service ambition of ‘One family, One worker, One plan’.
- Work alongside colleagues to deliver practice development activities and support within the Family Hub teams. The innovation model used in the Family Hubs uses the same formulation approach as identified above, within a multiagency team, alongside a rigorous analytical approach to active service delivery. The post holder will actively support the implementation of the team supervision aspect of the model.
- The post holder will continuously uphold and promote the Leeds Practice Principles.
Responsibilities:
Programme Development
In collaboration with associate practitioners, the post holder will:
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Contribute to the development, coordination and continual evaluation of local structures and systems that can sustain effective delivery of a series of weekly formulation forums across the city.
- Contribute to the development and maintenance of effective working relationships with partner agencies liaising on a regular basis to ensure effective partner agency engagement in the formulation forums and the implementation of the Leeds Practice Model.
- Contribute to the continual evaluation of the programme and work collaboratively alongside area colleagues and stakeholders to adapt and adjust and scale the programme to meet need.
- Support the Lead Rethink Practice Facilitator in providing evidence of the models impact (especially for targeted and vulnerable groups eg CLA) through use of effective quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis.
- In collaboration with associate area teamspresent at local, regional and national events, as required by the Programme Board.
Programme delivery:
Multiagency Formulation and Networking Forums
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Support the Lead Practice Facilitator in the organisation, set up and facilitation of a number of city-wide forums across the city each week to deliver the Leeds Practice Model, working alongside team colleagues in actively coaching each group of multiagency practitioners to engage in the use an identified formulation model/tool.
- Utilise theory and working knowledge of group work and group dynamics to illicit effective experience and outcomes for participants in each group.
- Within forums, coach agencies in effective formulations of presenting experiences of children and families referred to the services based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including specialist theory and evidence, always promoting working collaboratively with children, adolescents, family members and others involved in Children’s services.
- Utilise high level communication skills to promote multiagency involvement and contribution within each forum. Provide support and corrective feedback as required, share and grow expertise and knowledge and develop professional network supports and relationships.
- Assure that all formulations are comprehensive, holistic, and provide adequate information to determine the causes and correlates of presenting issues to direct effective intervention within the ecological context.
- Coach agencies to evaluate formulations and make decisions about treatment/intervention and/or management options in line with restorative principles taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors regarding historical, systemic and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
- Coach agencies in communicating highly complex information concerning formulation and treatment plans to children and families and other agencies in an empathic and supportive way, using the highest levels of interpersonal skills in situations which could be highly emotive and sometimes antagonistic.
- Actively seek feedback from each forum attendee to inform the on-going development of the innovation.
Practice Development within Restorative Early Support
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Work alongside colleagues to facilitate implementation of the innovation model including regular team supervision within the Family Hubs.
- Work to continuously evaluate effectiveness of implementation process and supervision model within the teams.
Multiagency working
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Always work to promote perspectives from multiple agencies.
- Always work to promote the Leeds Practice Principles across all agencies.
- Maintain and actively promote relationship building and effective communication between all stakeholders to support multi-agency, partnership working across Leeds.
- Within forums and training events provide appropriate challenge and support that targets systemic barriers to treatment success and promote collaborative problem solving to any barriers across services and partnerships in Health, Education, YOS, Housing, Social Care, Mental Health Services etc to ensure the best outcomes for young people and families.
- Within forums identify and utilise any emerging skills, strengths and knowledge that the entire group could benefit from.
- Support the Lead Practice Facilitator in continually evaluate attendance and contribution to forums and thus any gaps in city wide involvement.
Training and development
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Contribute to identifying and responding to training and development needs emerging from each forum. Support the Lead Practice Facilitator in the development, facilitation and if appropriate deliver relevant training within and extra to the forums to support and so build capacity of front-line staff, in all involved agencies and settings.
- Support the Lead Practice Facilitator Provide and promote opportunities for agencies within each forum to share skills and expertise and knowledge both within and without the forum itself.
- Work alongside team colleagues to provide and facilitate guidance and support and signposting related to specific problem areas that might emerge from forum discussions (e.g. PTSD, self-harm).
Research and evaluation
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Remain informed of and critically evaluate current research and literature to support evidence-based practice interventions with children and families and promote this perspective in the forums and attending agencies.
- To work alongside associate area colleagues to support a practice based evidenced approach to this innovation model.
- Work alongside independent evaluation projects of the innovation and actively contribute wherever possible.
- Support Leads Practice Facilitator in undertaking internal audit and in depth service evaluation to help develop service provision.
Professional
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To continuously and actively contribute to the development and articulation of best practice across the Multiagency Formulation and Networking forums
- To develop and maintain awareness of current Safeguarding process and protocols within health and Social Care and follow corporate and local guidelines on all matters relating to Safeguarding
- To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to children and adolescents with mental health problems, particularly in relation to Children Act 1989 and the Mental Health Act 1983. To maintain up to date knowledge of psychological and mental health developments in children who have experienced or where there are ongoing child protection concerns.
- To maintain own professional development and gain additional highly specialist experience, skills and training relevant to the developing model (as agreed with the professional supervisor and project board) in line with own relevant professional guidelines on CDP.
- In common with all clinical staff, to receive regular clinical and professional supervision, according to good practice guidelines, from a senior professional and where appropriate clinical supervision from other senior professional colleagues in accordance with guidelines and policy.
Behavioural and other Characteristics required
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Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct.
- Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon
- Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council equality and diversity policies.
- Carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health and Safety Policies.
- Willingness to actively participate in training and development activities.
- Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
- Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities.
- Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
- Be aware of and support difference ensuring equality for all, working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding, equality & diversity.
- Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person.
- The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.
