Coventry Children’s Services is embarking on an exciting journey to deliver support to families and children differently. Coventry has secured a £4m grant from the Government’s Strengthening Families, Protecting Children (SFPC) programme which will allow a focus on working with families through building better relationships with families and children.
What is the Family Valued Programme?
Family Valued Strengthening Families is a Leeds City Council system change programme designed to spread restorative practice across children’s services. A key element is the focus on Strengthening Families through Relationship Based Practice. There is a desire to empower and enable families to find solutions, to build their own networks and for families to make changes, build resilience and most of all to remain together. The programme demonstrates through building of relationships with professionals who support and guide through this process, families can and do achieve this.
Family Valued Strengthening Families has a significant focus on Family Group Conferencing (FGC). FGC team will be expanded to ensure families at the earliest opportunity are able to consider family support and family plans to prevent the need for an escalation in Children’s Services. The Leeds Family Valued Strengthen Families approach reflects the One Coventry values, where children are at the centre of practice.
Why Coventry Children’s Services?
Coventry is passionate about creating something special, where families are valued, where risks are managed with the family, and where families are empowered and enabled to do it differently. We believe that families are the experts into their own lives, and we want to embrace this and create change through this; by taking the lead in their plans, in their support package and in decision making. Leaving children services having to only intervene where there are no other options.
Coventry Children’s Services is on a journey to do better and is committed to achieving this. Working with Leeds Local Authority will enhance the pace of change and further achieve the best possible outcomes for children, young people and families in the city. We want to pride ourselves on building relationships with families and partners and hold respectful, non-discriminatory, unbiased and non-judgemental practice at the centre of all we do.
Children’s services have acquired some excellent feedback and compliments from families about the services they receive, but we know we can do even better! Building a service based on relationship and restorative based practice in line with our Signs of Safety methodology and the family valued model enables children services to only intervene when it has to, enabling the opportunity for the family to have more control.
Where do I come in?
Due to the changing needs of children and families, and to further our flexible approach to them, a number of exciting opportunities within Children’s Services have been created to allow our vision to be fully achieved. If you would like to enquire about future opportunities, please contact the recruitment team on Resourcing@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:Resourcing@coventry.gov.uk?subject=Coventry's%20Family%20Valued%20Programme] and a member of the team will be in touch.
Working with Leeds City Council to deliver this transformation to the service and invest in resources to enable this to be achieved, we will deliver within sustainability of the programme and its principles, focusing on developing a reunification team, to support children to return home from local authority in a safe and supported manner. Increase our connected carer team, to increase our family group conferencing service and to develop relational practice leads, who will support cultural change, practice change and ensure teams have the support needed to rethink social work.
Who do we want?
We want people who really want to work and think ‘family’, we want people who will bring ideas and suggestions to continue to drive our challenge our journey of improvement, and put Coventry on the map for delivering more positive outcomes.
You’ll be joining a great team of people who are passionate about the city, its people and its exciting prospects. This is an exciting time to join us as we work to put children at the centre of everything we do. We are looking for experienced children’s social workers who are committed to achieving the best for our children, young people and families.
More information on Children's Services, our passionate teams and our great city [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/social-work-jobs].