Systemic Family Therapist

Bexley is an outer London Borough with the best of both worlds, located between the hustle and bustle of London and the Garden of England, Kent. Within the borough we have award winning parks, open spaces and listed heritage sites.

The core purpose of this role is to lead, embed and work intensively with vulnerable Looked After Children/ Young People, Care Leavers and their families who struggle with complex and challenging emotional, behavioural and mental health difficulties, ensuring placement stability where they live and promote and support all opportunities for reunification by using a Systemic Family therapy approach.

The role of the Systemic Family Therapist is a professionally qualified role and duel qualifications are not required (Qualified Social Worker and Therapist). The post holders will report directly to the Service Managers in the Looked After Children and Leaving Care service areas. In addition, they will receive clinical supervision from an externally sourced Clinical Supervisor.

Please refer to the Job Description attached for more information.

We will offer you in return a package that includes a competitive salary, an excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave plus bank holidays. For more information on the benefits package on offer please refer to the We will offer you in return a package that includes a competitive salary, an excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave plus bank holidays. For more information on the benefits package on offer please refer to the Candidate Information document attached.

We reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date.

Lead on embedding a Systemic Family therapy approach within the Looked After Children and Leaving Care Service and align with the Signs of Safety Practice Model for Children Social Care.

Lead on providing expert clinical consultations to Social Workers and Team Managers will support to inform effective care planning for all children, young people and young adults.

To deliver individual and group clinical interventions to children, young people, young adults and their families/ carers/ support network.

To maintain up to date and accurate record keeping that could be shared with Social Workers and Team Managers in the event of any significant safeguarding worries.

To keep under review and develop the structures, procedures and working methods for which the post holder is responsible to ensure an integrated, effective and efficient approach to the delivery of services.

To ensure that working practices and processes are developed that will maximise the use of new working tools and approaches that are efficient and effective for service delivery and best outcomes for children, young people and young adults.

To present timely and relevant advice and information to Social Workers Managers, Senior Leaders and Members as and when required
To respond promptly with all matters requiring the post holder’s personal attention.
To be fully conversant with relevant statutory provisions and the Council’s constitution, processes and procedures; to develop the full range of managerial and professional skills and knowledge to satisfy the requirements of the post.

To establish and develop effective working relationships and productive partnerships with all the relevant partners, including those in e.g. education, health, Social Services, Independent and voluntary sectors and attend professional and network meetings along side Social Work Team where required.

Be a lead contact for CAMHS and other professionals in relation to children and young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health worries and advocating these worries to secure the most appropriate support.

For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role then please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description attached.
Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Use the ‘Apply for vacancy’ button.

Please note that the system has a one-hour time limit. We would advise you to prepare your answers separately and then copy and paste into the online form once finalised and have your CV and/or Supporting statement ready to upload.

If any mandatory fields are missing, a pop-up box will appear at the top of the page advising which sections require completion. Please check your Junk email for any correspondence.

This post is considered by the authority to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. The council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the JD/Person Specification. These will be applied during the recruitment/selection and probationary stages.

As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on recruitment@bexley.gov.uk