Senior Practitioner (Therapeutic Social Worker) - ATV Matching Hub

Job Introduction

About Us

Adopt Thames Valley is looking for an experienced, child-centered therapeutic Social Worker to cover one year's maternity cover in our Matching Hub (part-time 18.5 hours weekly).

This is a great opportunity to be part of a Team which, since it's inception, has built up a strong and influential reputation for best and innovative practice, both within ATV and within the wider adoption community.

Matching Hub is a multi-disciplinary team made up of Therapeutic Social Worker, Education Psychologist and Clinical Psychologist.
 Matching Hub plays a central role in the matching process for adoptive children, and particularly those children with additional needs and/or who wait the longest to find their adoptive family, promoting trauma and psychologically informed practice to better understand and support the needs of these children.

Matching Hub works with colleagues, carers and adoptive parents to understand children's immediate and longer-term needs, promoting therapeutic parenting and the early development of secure attachments both in the matching process and prior to, and in the weeks immediately following placement, leading to longer term family stability and best outcomes for children and families.

About the Role

Key aspects of the position:

• To offer a psychological, trauma informed and mental health perspective on the needs of adopted children in the matching process. 
   To bring trauma informed and therapeutic parenting expertise and experience within social care to multi-disciplinary formulations and interventions related to matching.
• To provide psychological assessment and formulation of need. 
• Attendance at Marvellous Matching Meetings with Adoption Teams to identify those children who may be best supported by Matching Hub.
• Review as part of the MDT new referrals, formulating initial support offer.
• To Chair or Co-Chairing Formulation meetings with ATV colleagues, children’s Social Workers, foster carers and other professionals to support a therapeutic, trauma and psychologically informed understanding of the needs of children with complex backgrounds.
• To provide high quality written reports with clear, SMART, child-focussed formulations and recommendations for professionals and families.
• To offer meetings with adopters prior to placement to consider the therapeutic parenting requirements of children with complex needs or specific issues
• To offer planned ‘check-in’ meetings with new adopters in the early week’s of placement to support and embed therapeutic parenting and to promote the early development of attachment relationships.
• To liaise with a range of colleagues and agencies to ensure best practice in the matching process for adoptive children.
• To work both on-line and face to face contexts.
• To develop and co-ordinate, in collaboration with team members, a contemporary multi-media resource library for parents/carers and other professionals. Resources should support understanding of the breadth of need for adoptive children.  
• To offer specialised advice and consultation to Social Workers and other staff in relation to the matching of adoptive children within ATV 
• To develop and implement training and learning programme for staff within the organisation, building skills and knowledge within the wider workforce.
• To deliver training to a range of staff with differing levels of qualification and professional background. To ensure all training provided is carried out in line with Equal Opportunities Policies
   

About you

Are you the right person for the job?

• Are you an experienced, therapeutic Social Worker with strong experience and knowledge of adoption and the adoption process?
• Are you committed to ongoing learning and innovative practice which places the needs and voices of children at the heart of good practice?
• Can you work independently and as part of a team, providing high quality, responsive work?
• Have you got strong communication skills and do you value partnership working?
• Can you contribute to Service development, incorporating up to date research, learning and feedback from children and adopters into day-to-day practice? 

Rewards and benefits

As part of our team, you’ll benefit from

• Vivup benefits platform
• Vivup highfive recognition platform
• Cyclescheme (for eco-conscious commuters)
• Electric vehicle lease scheme
• Discounts at local retailers
• Salary finance options
• Up to 33 days of annual leave (including bank holidays)
• A competitive 19.9% employer pension contribution rate

Our commitment to:
 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

At Oxfordshire County Council we are proud of our diverse workforce. Everyone is accepted for who they are, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital status, race, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or on maternity or family leave. We have a number of staff network groups which provide peer support, education and safe spaces for all.

Our commitment to:
Guaranteed Interview Schemes

As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job. We also guarantee interviews to care leavers who have completed further education and who meet the essential criteria for the job. For those leaving care without any further education, we guarantee an interview for our apprenticeships. We are also committed to helping and supporting those transitioning from HM Armed Forces to civilian life and guarantee an interview for those demonstrating the essential criteria for the role, within three years of leaving the service.

Our commitment to:
Safeguarding

Oxfordshire County Council are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect these commitments.

Our commitment to:
Flexible Working

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which can include flexi-time, part time working, job sharing, nine-day fortnights and annualised hours, depending on the requirements of the role and the service.

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If you encounter any technical issues with the application system, please contact us at: careers@oxfordshire.gov.uk