Ascent is a growing children’s business that is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people across our children services, including the fostering agency and residential home. This role is to support children and young people as appropriate to the needs of the organisation.
Ascent Children Services is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and engaging children and staff in policy and practice developments, expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment and proactively encourages feedback.
Skills and Knowledge
The post holder must possess:
- Astute assessment and report writing skills and be able to produce analytical and well evidenced reports for internal and external use as required.
- Good interpersonal skills, establishing effective working relationships with children, young people and foster carers
- Group work skills, facilitating support groups/activities
- Working knowledge of existing agency Policies and Procedures and their application.
- A good knowledge of the needs of children and young people, youth work experience or a track record in social care.
Purpose
To support the agency in carrying out its responsibilities towards looked-after children.
To carry out a range of tasks such as:
Offering support to foster carers through providing 1:1 support to their looked after children (ages 0-18) through mentoring sessions and independence work
Promoting, facilitating and supporting children attending contact with their birth families or significant people in their lives, where appropriate
Transporting looked after children to school or family time if required
Participating in activities with the looked after child and/or the fostering household e.g. Ascent events
Attending meetings to support foster carers, social workers, children
Write logs and reports following each mentoring sessions or as and when is required
To respond in crisis and emergency situations
To work in partnership with the Local authority social work teams and to fully enact and facilitate Care Plans for children in placement.
To support children and young people in foster homes or residential homes
Key Tasks
Tasks specific to this post:
The following tasks are indicative of those that may be expected from the post holder and are not a complete list of those that a post holder may undertake. Furthermore, if the demands of the agency require it, the post holder may be required to fulfil a range of agency-related tasks.
“This organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.”
General duties:
- To proactively support children in placement in respects to behaviour management, mentoring, play, learning, and additional care and support needs.
- To support children and young people reaching their full potential, areas that you may support a child or young person on are; supporting children to keep safe in the community, befriending role, developing self-care and independence skills, supporting children and young people to develop their talents or hobbies etc..
- To accurately record and keep up-to-date information using the appropriate IT and Information systems, in accordance with the agency's policy and Procedures.
- To support the placement activity of the agency
- To adhere to all relevant Policies & Procedures and fostering guidance.
Consultation, Support and Feedback
- When required to contribute to the planning and delivery of major agency children events i.e. summer programmes, trips
- Consult with children around their needs and agency input that may be required to support their full potential e.g. annual consultation
- Welcome new children into the agency and share the children's guide
- Arrange and facilitate child-friendly workshops discussing key, relevant topics
- Liaise with foster carers/residential staff as and when relevant in a professional manner
Service Quality, Audit, and Inspection:
- To contribute to and directly maintain and improve service quality, maintenance of all records to ensure that the National Minimum Standards and Fostering Regulations are complied with.
Conduct of Services
- Ensure that the welfare of children placed or to be is safeguarded and always promoted.
- With the support of management, act on complaints, as specified within the Complaints Procedures
- Develop workshops/programmes for children promoting youth engagement, independence, and well-being
- Contribute to advice, information, and support to foster carers/ residential, including support outside of office hours as appropriate.
- Willingness to work flexibly and OOH as appropriate in crisis.
- Produce monthly reports on work and engagement and report to Director on these areas.
- Develop the transition towards independence work for young people across Ascent children's services
- Ensure that any reports required by Ofsted or other organisations are completed to timescales.
- Ensure records are maintained appropriately within the Charms/Clear Care database system.
Decisions Making
The post holder will:
- Report any safeguarding issues immediately to their manager and work in partnership with the local authority as appropriate to ensure that safeguarding procedures are followed.
- Be responsible for their own decision-making in relation to the supervision, training, and provision of information to foster carers, and carers involved in alternative care arrangements.
Staff Supervision
The post holder will receive supervision and have an annual appraisal.
Responsible to
Registered Managers, Directors, Team Manager, Senior Team
Location
Office is at Ascent Fostering, Wallington, Surrey SM6 0LT, visits to children and young people will take place in the community or at their foster home/residential home
Pay: £30,000.00-£35,000.00 per year
Benefits:
Work Location: In person
