Fostering Hub Practice Team Manager

Blackburn with Darwen (Lead Authority), Blackpool, Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland and Furness Councils are launching a combined approach to Foster Carer recruitment and retention.

Fostering North West is a regional fostering recruitment and retention hub that will provide a warm, welcoming and positive approach to the start of the journey for prospective Foster Carers.

Foster North West is part of a Department for Education (DfE) funded programme, based on Stables Homes Built On Love, Social Work reform and includes:

• The launch of a responsive multi-skilled hub, which will offer meaningful support, that enables, and empowers prospective Foster Carers to begin their journey of ensuring children are healthy, safe, and happy in local and loving family homes.
• The hub will build on existing regional relationships across the local authorities to achieve our shared vision for foster care, and develop a strong single recruitment communications campaign.
• A foster carer retention programme that aims to provide support to individual foster carers tailored to their needs and develop the Mockingbird model. Which aims to improve placement stability, safety and permanence for children and young people, whilst also improving the support for foster carers.  

The hub will:

• act as the first point of contact for those interested in fostering.
• improve the journey from enquiry to application and approval.
• boost the number of quality enquiries and build evidence of effective marketing strategies.
• establish a pan-local authority approach to fostering recruitment.
• provide a central 'front door', deliver a regional communications campaign, and ensure high levels of satisfaction through the initial enquiry and application stages.

The Fostering Hub Practice Team Manager will:

• Work closely with the Service Leader providing effective leadership, management and support of high quality practice within the Foster North West Hub. Leading a team of Fostering Recruitment Coordinators, foster carers, and young people. Ensuring that an outcome focussed approach is maintained.
• Lead a forward facing and welcoming front-door team, modelling excellent practice, promoting fostering across the cluster and facilitating from the outset the positive recruitment journey for foster carers.
• Provide day to day management and leadership of the team in accordance with statutory guidance and policy, and support the Service Leader during periods of absence.

Secondment opportunities from employees within the cluster authorities will be offered and there is the potential for roles to be made permanent subject to funding.

The roles will be recruited to in a timely way to meet our aim of launching the hub April 2024.

For more information about the role and to arrange an informal discussion with a representative from the cluster of LAs please contact: 

Suzanne Kinder - suzanne.kinder@blackburn.gov.uk

Louise Helm – louise.helm@blackburn.gov.uk

Liz Curtis - Elizabeth.Curtis@Cumberland.gov.uk

Amanda Barbour - Amanda.Barbour@lancashire.gov.uk

Rachel Barnes - Rachel.Barnes@blackpool.gov.uk

Applicant Support.pdf

Key Requirements - Practice Manager - Regional Fostering Hub.pdf

BWD offer to you - As a Manager.pdf

To apply please click the Apply Now link below.