Think Ahead Consultant Social Worker application pack

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1 Background Think Ahead Consultant Social Worker application pack At Think Ahead, we believe that mental health is an urgent national priority, and that leadership from social work is vital to meet that challenge. We are building a movement of leaders committed to transforming mental health through the power of social interventions. We are a new charitable organisation, creating a fast-track scheme for exceptional graduates and career-changers to become mental health social workers. We aim to: Attract outstanding individuals into mental health social work, by recruiting exceptional people to our programme and raising the status of social work as a career choice. Promote excellence in training for mental health social work, by pioneering a new curriculum and with a focus on on-the-job training. Create a community of advocates in mental health services and across society, through our participants, alumni, Consultant Social Workers, and partner organisations. Think Ahead Consultant Social Workers Consultant Social Workers play a crucial role in preparing Think Ahead participants to become outstanding social workers. Each will share their caseload with a unit of four Think Ahead participants who are placed in a community mental health team and will provide an outstanding practice learning experience, acting as a role model for participants. This is an exciting opportunity for experienced social workers to stay in frontline practice whilst gaining management experience. As an inspirational practitioner, we d love you to become a Consultant Social Worker at the start of this project, to make your personal impact on a transformational initiative. Working with our first cohort of participants, you will pioneer a new approach to practice education in mental health social work. In return, we can offer you a unique career progression opportunity within your own organisation, an exceptional accredited training programme developed specifically for Consultant Social Workers, regular coaching and mentoring, and a salary enhancement. 1

2 Think Ahead programme Applications to join the Think Ahead programme as a participant open in September 2015, and applicants will be chosen through a rigorous and highly selective assessment process, which is currently being designed in partnership with our Service User and Carer Reference Group. Participants will begin Year One of the programme in July 2016 by undergoing an intensive residential learning programme at the Think Ahead Summer Institute for six weeks to ensure readiness for practice. This element of the programme will be delivered by leading social work academics from our academic partners. Participants study mental health social work at three levels working with individuals, working with families and groups and working with communities and also study the evidence-based social interventions which will become the foundation of their social work practice. Beginning in September 2016, participants will then undertake a year-long placement in a community mental health team in one of the host organisations (NHS Trusts and local authorities) partnering with Think Ahead. Four participants will work together as a unit, under the supervision of a Consultant Social Worker, acquiring an increasing level of autonomy and responsibility in their casework as their practice skills develop throughout the year. In addition to the time spent in their primary placement, they will undertake a short contrasting learning experience in another team or agency where they will gain experience working with children and families. At the end of Year One participants will be awarded a Post-Graduate Diploma in Social Work, which will enable them to apply to register as a social worker with the Health and Care Professions Council. In Year Two, Think Ahead participants will be employed by host organisations as newly qualified social workers in a community mental health team, where they will complete their Assessed and Supported Year in Employment. They will also complete additional academic modules resulting in their gaining a Masters qualification in Social Work Practice. The Consultant Social Worker will not take responsibility for supervising participants during Year Two of their programme as newly qualified social workers, they will be supervised via existing line management structures in the teams where they are working. 2

3 Consultant Social Worker role As leaders of a Think Ahead unit, Consultant Social Workers are at the heart of our innovative new route to social work qualification. By sharing your caseload, you will act as an educator and a role model for Think Ahead participants in the workplace in Year One of the Programme. You will deliver the Think Ahead curriculum to a unit of four participants during their placement in a community mental health team, to whom you will also provide practice education and supervision. Your caseload will be varied to reflect service users varying needs and diagnoses. You will work intensively with the participants throughout the year to provide practice education of outstanding quality, modelling best practice to enable them to take increasing responsibility for the unit caseload as they progress through the first year of the programme. The role is a full-time equivalent secondment post, although if you currently practice as an Approved Mental Health Professional, you will continue to carry out some statutory AMHP duties during the course of your secondment. Working with an Academic Tutor from one of the universities partnering with Think Ahead, you will assess participants ability to apply social work theories, interventions and legislation in practice, ensuring that as qualified social workers they are able to make an outstanding contribution to the lives of people affected by mental ill-health. You will also meet regularly with your allocated Think Ahead Practice Specialist, who will offer you bespoke coaching as well as acting as your link with Think Ahead Head Office. Consultant Social Worker training To equip you to provide the best possible learning experience to participants, Think Ahead offers a unique, accredited post-graduate training programme designed and delivered specifically for Think Ahead s Consultant Social Workers. This represents an exceptional fully funded CPD opportunity to consolidate and develop your expertise in evidence-based social interventions and advanced supervision and practice education skills. The training is compulsory. It will incorporate a Practice Educator Professional Standards Stage 2 qualification for practitioners who are not already qualified to PEPS2 level, as well as providing you with a Post-Graduate Certificate in Advanced Social Work. Reserves Host organisations will also identify through the same recruitment process additional members of staff to act as a reserve for the Consultant Social Worker role. Those identified for this role will benefit from the same outstanding training opportunity as their colleagues, but will only step into the role within the Think Ahead unit in the event that a Consultant Social Worker is unable to fulfil their duties. This represents an exceptional opportunity for more practitioners within each host organisation to develop their skills and knowledge in evidence-based social interventions, supervision and practice education through our bespoke Consultant Social Worker training programme. 3

4 Job Description Contract: One-year full-time equivalent secondment opportunity, starting in August 2016 Key accountabilities: Management of the Think Ahead unit Responsible for all cases allocated to the Think Ahead unit - ensuring that effective social work support is provided in each case in accordance with relevant legislation and local and national policy Role model outstanding evidence-based social work practice to Think Ahead participants Evaluate the effectiveness of social work interventions using routine outcome measures Development of a high quality practice learning experience By sharing your caseload you have the responsibility to support participants on their challenging journey towards qualification as mental health social workers Allocate work to participants in line with their learning needs and developing practice skills Promote a growing degree of autonomy in participants practice to ensure practice readiness at the point of qualification, while retaining accountability for all cases held within the unit Work intensively with participants as they are exposed to varied and increasingly complex casework as their placements progresses Work with line manager to ensure a sufficiently varied caseload, so that Think Ahead participants are best placed to become practice-ready at the point of qualification Provision of supervision, weekly unit case discussion and ad hoc support to participants. Support participants to develop leadership qualities in practice Delivery of coaching and action learning with participants Assessment and performance management Formal assessment of written and practical work completed by Think Ahead participants on placement, including regular direct observations of practice Final sign-off for participants to successfully complete the practice learning experience Provision of feedback to participants, addressing performance issues where required in partnership with the Academic Tutor Learning and development activities Successful completion of the Consultant Social Worker training programme from April This will involve 12 days attendance at teaching days between April & November 2016, which may include overnight stays at the training location. Consultant Social Workers will also be required to complete assignments and other private study outside of teaching days Active engagement in coaching sessions with Think Ahead Practice Specialist Acting as an ambassador for Think Ahead within your organisation, raising awareness of the programme and of the models of intervention that comprise the Think Ahead curriculum 4

5 Person Specification Education social work qualification at degree level and current HCPC social work registration aptitude and intellectual curiosity for further study at post-graduate level Practice Educator Professional Standards Stage 2 qualification (desirable) post-qualification CPD in social work practice and/or training and leading others (desirable) Knowledge, experience and skills knowledge of relevant legislation and policy, with the ability to apply this knowledge to practice awareness of theories, models of intervention and research activity that underpin best practice in adult mental health social work significant social work experience in community mental health settings highly skilled in mental health social work with individuals, groups and communities excellent risk assessment and risk management skills ability to employ own knowledge, experience, practice skills, networks and values to create a rich and inspirational learning experience confidence in critically and constructively reflecting on others social work practice experience of supervising or mentoring other practitioners (desirable) excellent analytical, influencing and negotiation skills excellent written and verbal communication skills IT literacy DBS clearance full driving licence and access to a car for business use Personal qualities We expect Consultant Social Workers to role-model the personal qualities that we expect of our participants: Initiative: the ability to demonstrate initiative, engage others and enable them to achieve their goals. Adaptability: resilience and flexibility in changing circumstances with the ability to work under pressure and deal with uncertain or unexpected outcomes. Managing workplace stress, an organised work style and the ability to prioritise to meet deadlines are also important. Motivation: a personal commitment to improving people s lives through better mental health, with an understanding of the positive impact of social work and Think Ahead s mission. Relationship building: Empathy and respect for all individuals, with the ability to build relationships and understand people s motives and perspectives. Problem-solving: The ability to objectively analyse situations, using evidence and clear judgement to generate effective solutions. Self-awareness: The ability to understand, and reflect critically on, both your own personal development and how your actions affect others. Communication: The ability to collaborate with and influence a wide range of people, in person and through written communication. 5