Job Details

Job introduction

We are recruiting a Lead Practitioner for Anti-Racist Practice who will lead on embedding anti-racist social work practice with children and families. As a Lead Practitioner, the post-holder will be part of our Partners in Change hub, a multi-disciplinary service supporting excellence in social work.

Brighton & Hove City Council is committed to becoming an anti-racist organisation.  The Council has developed a Fair and Inclusive Action Plan and this is supported by a 'We need to talk about race' campaign, as well as the BME Workers' Forum. 

In Children's Services we have recognised the importance of improving the support offered by social workers to BME children and families and  engaging with the diverse communities in our city.  We know, from our quality assurance work and engaging with local communities, that we need to improve how we support families regarding their race, culture and ethnicity. Alongside this we recognise that BME staff are underrepresented in our workforce, especially in senior roles, and we are working to ensure all of our staff experience Brighton & Hove as a safe and supportive place to work.  In Children’s Services we have developed an Anti-Racist Project to improve the support offered to families and to help deliver Our People Promise commitment to be a fair and inclusive place to work.

We have created this new post to recruit a skilled practitioner with significant experience of anti-racist practice to lead improvements in the work we do with children, families and communities.

About the role

Brighton and Hove Children’s Services are improving outcomes for the children and families we support by embedding a model of relationship-based social work. Since 2015 we have seen a significant reduction in the number of: children in our care, child protection plans and applications for care proceedings.  At the same time there has been a significant improvement in staff satisfaction and our social work teams are fully staffed and do not use agency workers.  For example, in our social work health check 64% of practitioners said they felt safe and supported in 2016 and this had increased to 88% in 2020 (and this was despite completing the survey during Covid).

Lead Practitioners who work across our service have been instrumental in driving good practice to achieve these changes. Lead Practitioners work alongside social workers offering formulations, co-working and mentoring to social workers and facilitating Reflective Practice Groups. In addition, they provide training and learning opportunities for social workers.  We believe that a Lead Practitioner for Anti-Racist Practice will be able to work alongside social workers to help improve the support they offer to families as well as building links between social workers and communities in the city.

You must hold a Professional Social Work Qualification (e.g. CQSW, Dip(SW), MSW) and be registered as a social worker with Social Work England. In addition, you must have significant practice experience and be able to demonstrate specialist knowledge in, and experience of, anti-racist practice and the ability to improve the practice of others as well as the ability to engage with diverse communities. You should have some experience of supervising other practitioners and supporting group work. You will need to have excellent skills for engaging children and their families and completing assessments informed by evidence. You should also be able to drive change and work well within a multi-agency context.  

For an informal discussion, please contact Lore Riedel - Partners in Change Manager Lore.Riedel@brighton-hove.gov.uk or 07702 607095.

Closing Date: Midnight on the 20th September 2020

Interview Date: 29th September 2020

Useful links

Empathy, tenacity, & compassion: an evaluation of relationship-based practice in Brighton & Hove

Evaluation of Reflective Practice Groups in Brighton & Hove

Additional information

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is part-time or term-time only.

Work Permits: we may be able to obtain a Work Permit for this post but this is subject to meeting the requirements of the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) Points-based Immigration System.

From 6 April 2011 the Home Office has placed a permanent restriction on the number of migrant workers that all Tier 2 (General) Sponsors can recruit. Due to the restrictions we cannot guarantee that individuals that meet the requirements of the Points-based Immigration System will be issued with clearance to obtain work permits.

Company information

Please note that this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and is subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Check.

We welcome applications from all sections of the community but particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, LGB, male or trans as these groups are currently under-represented in our Directorate workforce.

As part of Brighton & Hove City Council's ongoing commitment to redeployment, please note that this vacancy may be withdrawn at any stage of the recruitment process, without prior notice if a suitable redeployee (internal employee at risk of redundancy) is identified.

Files

• Cover Letter
• Branching Questions Guidance
• Our Values
• Job Description & Person Specification