Social Worker - Mash​/SPA

There’s never been a better time to join Achieving for Children (AfC), we are Ofsted Rated GOOD and are passionate about getting it right for children and their families. We are looking for staff who have the skills, passion and commitment that will enable us to continue to develop our practice and improve outcomes for children.

The Social worker will work as a key member of a MASH with the primary function of screening and responding to all new referrals into children’s social care. The Single Point of Access (SPA) Social Worker will be responsible for supporting management of SPA in screening and gathering further information on all referrals that come into the SPA as needed.

The Single Point of Access (SPA) is the gateway for all incoming contacts into children’s services. The SPA ensures that consistent and timely responses are provided to all enquiries so that children, their families and professionals working with them receive high quality information and, where necessary, support and protection from children’s services and other agencies or professionals.

The Multi
- Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) is the first point of contact for children, young people and families in need or in need of safeguarding within RBWM/AfC. The team assesses and responds in the short term to children in needs undertaking safeguarding assessments where required. Through the MASH, the SPA works in partnership with the police, health and mental health, probation, and adult services to share information so that we can together provide the most appropriate response to concerns about children.

With access to the electronic recording and case management systems used by Achieving for Children (AfC) social workers, early help services and youth offending services, the SPA collaborates with partners in the MASH to gather relevant locally held information.

For further information about this role, please contact Taz Makoni by email taziwa.makoni for an informal discussion.

To be a Social Worker for AfC, you will be passionate about making a positive difference to the lives of children and young people. We are looking for someone who can work flexibly, has excellent communication skills and can work collaboratively to achieve shared outcomes. It’s a genuine team effort in AfC. To be successful in the role you will need to demonstrate:

• You are able to use evidence and professional judgement to make decisions and determine the risk of future harm.
• Your experience of assessing the needs of children and their families in accordance with the Framework for the Assessment
• Your excellent written skills and experience writing comprehensive reports for the Courts.

In addition we expect all of our social workers to have:

• A full and valid driving licence and access to own transport
• A professional social work qualification, CQSW or Diploma in Social Work (DipSW), or other relevant qualification recognised by Social Work England.
• An active Social Work England registration.