Teams and Roles

Intake Team

 

Our Intake Team incorporates the Division’s Duty function and receives all initial enquiries including child protection issues. Working effectively with partners with a focus on improving integrated working, the Team provide assessment and signposting to ensure families receive the right level of support at the right time.

Family Support Teams

 

Our two Family Support Teams work with children and families where their needs have identified the need for care and support. This includes children on the Child Protection Register and those in pre and care proceedings.

Children Looked After Team

 

Our Children Looked After Team provides a dedicated Team for children looked after. The Team supports children and young people voluntarily accommodated or subject of Care or Placement Orders.. The Team’s focus is on enabling children looked after to achieve their potential through stable placements, appropriate education and positive attachments. Where children require therapeutic support, this is readily available.

Fourteen Plus

 

Our Fourteen Plus Team support young people aged 14 and over who are looked after by the Local Authority, young people who are homeless aged between 16 and 18 years, and all care leavers up to the age of 25 years. The Team’s commitment to engagement is promoting the increasing involvement of young people not only in their own lives but in improving services for others.

Child Health and Disability Team

 

Our Child Health and Disability Team provide services to children and young people who have a severe or significant learning disability, physical disability, sensory impairment or profound communication impairment. They have strong multi-agency links, particularly with Health, and are currently engaged in regional working to the benefit of disabled children and their families.

 

Children with Additional Needs

Youth Offending Service

 

Our Youth Offending Service is a statutory multi-agency partnership responsible for preventing offending and further offending in the Vale of Glamorgan. Working closely with teams across Children and Young People Services and its partners, the service promotes preventative working that seeks to prevent offending where possible.

Placements Team

 

Our Placements Team assesses and approves foster placements for Vale of Glamorgan children in conjunction with our Fostering Panel. This includes an increasing number of kinship placements enabling children to remain within their wider family network. The team provide support to foster carers, with a commitment to promoting the recruitment and retention of local carers. Identifying and commissioning placements for children looked after, both within our internal resources and within the independent sector when an internal placement cannot be identified is a key part of the Team’s role. The Team includes a therapeutic service working with children and their carers to promote placement stability and prevent disruption.

 

Fostering

Regional Adoption Collaborative

 

The Regional Adoption Collaborative, hosted by the Vale of Glamorgan, operates across the Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil assessing and approving adopters, providing support, and family finding for children whose plan is adoption. The Collaborative is one of five regional adoption collaboratives across Wales that form part of the National Adoption Service.

 

Adoption

FACT

 

Families Achieving Change Together is a Families First early intervention and prevention service enabling families to make positive changes, reducing the number of families developing more complex and challenging needs. The ability of the service to work effectively at and before the front door of statutory children’s services is central to effective prevention.

 

FACT

Flying Start

 

Flying Start is Welsh Government funded and provides support to families to give children a better start in life. Its aim is to improve a child’s development, health and well-being in preparation for school in a way that promotes a child’s ability to fulfil their potential. Flying Start works in partnership with statutory children’s services where children involved with Children and Young People Services live in the Flying Start area and now across the wider authority area through it’s outreach programme.

 

Flying Start

Team Managers

As a Team Manager, and a member of the Departmental Management Team, you will provide operational and strategic leadership and management for a team or service area within Children and Young People's Services.

You will manage a team of Social Workers and Social Care Officers, which will include supervision, risk and performance management, and budget monitoring. You will lead the team in implementing organizational goals and targets in accordance with the team and service plan.

Working with the Executive Managers and your Team Manager colleagues, you will be involved in team and service development, working as a Division to promote best practice and to develop a motivated and skilled workforce.

As part of our Building on Strengths programme, you will take part in monthly practice supervisor development workshops, which are externally facilitated and enable our supervisors to reflect on the role, improve and build on their skills and their expertise in supporting others to offer excellent. support for children and families helping them achieve what they want to do. You will be supported by regular supervision and will also have opportunities to develop your own skills and experience in the Vale of Glamorgan and to continue your own career progression.

Practitioner Managers

As a Practitioner Manager, and member of the Divisional Management Team, you will support the day to day operational and strategic management of the team including working directly with children, young people and their families / carers holding casework responsibility, supervision, mentoring and development of staff, decision making and deputising for the Team Manager in their absence.

 

You will be involved in the line management of Social Workers and Social Care Officers, which will include supervision, caseworkload management, management of risk, performance management and supporting members of the team to develop and progress. You may also have responsibility for a small caseload of complex cases depending on the needs of the team, and would expect to take a lead role in a particular area of the teams business or a project.

 

You’ll work as part of a team with regular and supportive supervision arrangements in place. You will be involved in monthly practice supervisors development workshops, that are externally faciliated and enable our supervisiors to reflect on the role, and enhance and build on their skills and expertise in supporting others. You will also have opportunities to develop your own skills and experience within the Vale of Glamorgan and to continue your own career progression.

Social Workers

As part of one of our front line social work teams, you’ll hold a mixed and varied caseloadworkload, allocated according to your post-qualifying skills and experience. You can expect to be involved in:

• Undertaking assessments of children through direct work.

• Working with families and partnership organisations.

• Developing child centred plans, and implementing and reviewing these with the child, their family and other professionals involved.

Focused on the best interests of children, you’ll be supported to produce clear evidence based assessments that inform effective plans.  You’ll be expected to maintain high standards of professional practice in line with relevant legislation, guidance, regulations and national standards. 
 
You’ll work as part of a team with regular and supportive supervision arrangements in place.  When you being withjoin us, you will not only be issued with a computer and phone, but also a ‘Kit Bag’ which will help you talk and listen to children and families. You will also be given the opportunity to be involved in regular workshops that are externally faciliated to reflect on your own practice and support you to work in the way that you want to.  You will also have opportunities to develop your own skills and experience within the Vale of Glamorgan and to continue your own career progression.

Social Care Officers

Working within our front line social work teams, you will provide social work support to children, young people and their families / carers. You wil manage a workload consistent with our responsibilities and grade and provide high quality services. You wil undertake direct work with children, young people and their families / carers under the guidance and supervision of your line manager.

Support Workers

You will work within individual teams and as a collective resource as required supporting children, young people and their families / carers who have been identified as in need of care and support.

 

One of your primary roles will be to support children and young people who are at risk of becoming looked after and to maintain placement stability for those who are. You will be supported to work flexibly, sometimes out of hours, so support is mobilised quickly and as required.

 

Young Persons Advisor

In all of our roles, you will work as part of a team with regular and supportive supervision arrangements in place.

 

When you join us, you will not only be issued with a computer and phone, but also a ‘Kit Bag’ which will help you talk and listen to children and families. You will also be given the opportunity to be involved in regular workshops that are externally faciliated to reflect on your own practice and support you to work in the way that you want to. You will also have opportunities to develop your own skills and experience within the Vale of Glamorgan and to continue your own career progression.