Children's Rights Advocate (Grade 4 or 5 depending on experience)

The Service & Team:

The Children’s Rights and Safeguarding Standards Service (CRSSS) sits within Children and Family Services and is part of the Together for Families Directorate.

Within the CRSS Service, there are 3 service areas:
1.    The Children’s Rights Advocacy Service works to ensure that children’s rights are central to the development and review of Child Protection and Child in Care Plans, and that all professionals work together to improve their outcomes.
2.    The LADO Service supports and challenges agencies to work together effectively to safeguard children from the risk of neglect and abuse by professionals, volunteers and those in public office who have direct contact or responsibility for children and young people.
3.    Our Safeguarding Children Partnership is supported by the Service in its role of co-ordinating multi-agency work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and to ensure the effectiveness of what membership organisations do individually and together.
 

The Role:

The primary role of a Children’s Rights Advocate is to ensure that the child is central to the plans that are being made with them, that their wishes and feelings are paramount, and that their rights under the United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child are fully respected. They ensure that all options for family life are considered and actively explored, and that if the child is not able to live safely within their family, the plan for them reduces the risk of harm and secures emotional, physical and legal permanence. Children’s Rights Advocates have an oversight and challenge role in respect of multi-agency plans for children, which extend to the quality and impact of practice and the contribution of professionals in partner agencies across Our Safeguarding Children Partnership. They also have a quality assurance role in monitoring practice quality standards, providing feedback to practitioners and their managers/supervisors.

Under the leadership and management of the Principal/ Service Manager, Children’s Rights Advocates 
    Ensure that the focus of multi-disciplinary work to help and protect children is focused on the lived experience of the child and the progress they are making to the agreed outcomes
    Ensure the child’s wishes and feelings are at the centre of all involvement with them, and that they are given every opportunity to be heard, and be part of the decisions that affect them
    Ensure that family members and other people who know the child and those who are important to them are involved in the plans for children unless it is unsafe for them to be involved
    Support professionals and agencies to work together effectively to safeguard children and young people 
    Facilitate the meetings where important decisions are made about children such as child protection conferences, children in care/care leaver and adoption reviews. 
    Have an overview of how children and young people are doing between meetings to ensure progress is being made towards positive outcomes 
    Make sure there is not drift and delay in planning for children
    Have a quality assurance role over the quality and impact of social work and multi-agency practice in relation to the protection of children and progress in achieving good outcomes through stability and permanence.
In addition will lead on:
    Developing social work practice in a specific area of expertise by extending knowledge, skills and learning across the Service  
    Developing wider learning across the partnership by providing practice and/or professional leadership, through the development of research-informed practice, monitoring and quality assurance, and staff development through coaching and mentoring
    Developing their own and wider service knowledge with a view to influence and contribute to the development and review of strategies, policies and practice guidance within the Service and wider partnership 
    Provide consultation either directly or indirectly to staff working with children who are highly vulnerable and experiencing complex situations to provide better outcomes for children
    Developing clear specialisms which link to the overall service objectives.
    Providing coaching, mentoring, and supervision as required to colleague throughout the service.
 

This is a public/customer-facing role, where the statutory English language requirement for public sector workers applies.             

This position will be subject to a enhanced criminal record disclosure check. 

Working Pattern:

37 hours a week with an option for compressed hours i.e. 10 days worked over 9 days; work will be carried both in an office and at home depending on the needs of the service.  

What You’Ll Need To Succeed:

• Recognised social work qualification equivalent to a minimum of Diploma in Social Work
• Registered as a social work practitioner with the Social Work England 
• Applied knowledge of relevant legislation, regulations and statutory guidance and national standards relevant to children in need of protection and children in care. Applies in-depth understanding of the role of all agencies in keeping children safe in line with Working Together (2023), Care Act (2014) and the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010.
• Ability to critically analyse complex cases and appropriately challenge decisions at all levels 
• Provide constructive criticism, negotiate joint approaches to problems and resolve professional differencesContributes to the development of policy, procedure and practice guidance 
• Applied understanding of Ofsted judgement criteria in respect of all aspects of safeguardingApplied understanding of contemporary research and models of practice, evidenced through attending relevant and recent training.
• Excellent group facilitation and chairing skills, managing underlying tensions and overt conflict
• Experience of providing professional supervision and support and knowledge of the evidence about what makes for good quality practice in working with children and families 
• Significant working experience in frontline child protection social work services including significant practice in child and/or adult protection/safeguarding
• Collaboratively works with all disciplines and agencies to deliver child and outcome focused service
• A proven ability to communicate with children and young people and families
• Evidence of post qualification study/training within their relevant profession to evidence of commitment to continuing professional development
• Ability to provide mentoring and professional consultation to all disciplines within the multi-agency children’s workforce. 
• The normal duties of the role may involve travel on a regular or occasional basis. It is a condition of employment that the role holder can exercise satisfactory travel mobility in order to fulfil the obligations of the role. For those journeys where an alternative form of transport is unavailable or impracticable the role holder will be required to provide a suitable vehicle 

Please read the role profile for the full details of this role attached below in this advert

What You’Ll Get In Return:

Cornwall Council’s ambition is to be an employer of choice, a high performing Council and a learning organisation. We commit to providing a reward and benefits package to attract, motivate and reward our employees. We offer a range of flexible working options to our staff. This helps provide our employees with a greater work/life balance. Whilst still ensuring that service needs are met.

Our core employee rewards and benefits include:

• a competitive salary.
• a defined benefit pension scheme, based on your career average earnings. This includes the option for extra voluntary contributions
• a generous annual leave entitlement with the potential to purchase additional leave.
• A national award-winning employee health and wellbeing programme
• Employee benefits scheme giving employees access to a wide range of discounts to local and national goods and services.

Additional Information:

Cornwall Council is unable to offer visa sponsorship or transfer existing sponsorship for this role.

The full role profiles are attached here;

Role Profile (Grade 4 Children's Rights Advocate) here

Role Profile (Grade 5 Senior Children's Rights Advocate) here 

We recommend saving a copy of this to refer to if you are invited to an interview.

For more information or an informal chat about the role please contact  sarah.thayne@cornwall.gov.uk

Application Process

Please attach a supporting statement to your application, you can add your Education & Qualifications details manually using the application form timeline or you can upload your CV. Remember to demonstrate why you are suitable against each of the points marked as ‘Application’ on the Role Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had. Guidance on how to complete your application can be found here – The application process.

Please note that applications cannot be edited after they have been submitted, please contact careers@cornwall.gov.uk if you have any queries or require assistance with your application.

Existing employees must apply using their Cornwall Council email address through the Opportunity Marketplace on Oracle.