Dorset Council UK
Independent Reviewing Officer
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This role is an opportunity to make a positive difference to the lives of our Dorset children in care. You will be joining a stable, supportive and inclusive team who are passionate about improving the experience of our children in care. You will be joining an 'outstanding' Local Authority where continuous improvement, innovation and a learning culture is valued. As an IRO your independence will be respected, and work in resolving issues via dispute resolution encouraged and supported by a child focussed management team.
What You Can Expect To Be Doing
You will be fulfilling the role of the Independent Reviewing Officer as set out in the IRO handbook. As such you will be part of a team responsible for reviewing the quality of practice for Dorset's children in care. You will be driving improvement via reviews, recommendations, recognising good practice and providing robust challenge where support and plans for children needs to improve.
This role is primarily to work with our asylum seeking young people in care, living in and around the London area who are the responsibility of Dorset Council. You will have a manageable caseload of young people whom you will build a relationship with and hold regular child centred reviews for. You will build good working relationships with the adults around those children to ensure that their voices are heard, they are well cared for, and their plans are progressed in good time. You will make sure that children can participate in decisions about their care.
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A key part of this role will be writing professional reports (review minutes) to children using 'language that cares'. You will also be contributing to wider quality assurance work and partnership work to improve Dorset's service for children in care, and the wider system.
You will be taking part in our partnership with the Youth Voice children in care network co-producing improvements that better meet the needs of our children, through an established framework linked to our Corporate Parenting Board.
There is a significant travel element to this role, and you will need to work flexibly. Visits and meetings after school, and out of the area, will result in late finishes. Hybrid working is an accepted part of the role, however children must be seen in person, and most reviews will be in person. Applicants will need to visit Dorset for team meetings approximately once a month.
About You
The right person for our team will be unwaveringly child focused, collaborative, strengths based, and assertive. You will be a registered Social Worker with significant and varied post-qualifying experience, ideally including experience with children in care and asylum seeking young people. You will know the role as set out in the IRO handbook and all related legislation for safeguarding children and children in care. You will also have a good understanding of the rights, needs and challenges for asylum seeking young people in the UK.
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You will have a good understanding of related policies and law, including family law, care proceedings and asylum immigration for unaccompanied young people. Previous management and leadership experience will be a benefit but not essential. You will need to be organised and self-motivated. You will also have excellent communication skills that allow you to listen carefully, work effectively with interpreters and young people whose first language is not English. You will be good at communicating clear expectations to other professionals and able to challenge effectively whilst maintaining and expressing respect and compassion.
In this role you will work with a diverse range of young people with different identities, and we welcome applications from people who reflect that diversity, for example (but not only) sexual orientation, gender, disabilities, care-experience, ethnicity and religion or belief.
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