Deputy Social Care Manager, Under 18's Residential Services

Deputy Social Care Manager, Under 18's Residential Services, Grange Lodge

Location: Dublin

Contract: Full-time, Permanent Contract

The purpose of this role is to work as part of a team within the u18s residential care services providing support and therapeutic care to young people aged 15-17 who are out of home in a short to medium term residential setting. To assist the Manager in providing effective leadership and supervision to the team.

What you will do:

1. Work within the framework of the overall objectives of Focus Ireland.
2. Lead a team in adhering to the National Standards for Children's Residential Centres.
3. Effectively respond to the changing needs and challenges of the client group.
4. Attend meetings and represent the team and the agency at external liaisons and to facilitate team meetings, team training and support sessions as required.
5. Lead the team in providing a safe welcoming environment for young people aged 15-17 who are out of home, including provision of basic care needs such as household duties.
6. Work in close co-operation with other teams in Focus Ireland, Community Care Social Work Services and other Statutory and Voluntary Agencies as deemed appropriate.
7. Oversee that daily logs, case notes and other information is recorded as required by the National Standards for Children's Residential Centres.
8. Participate in daily handovers and facilitate the smooth day-to-day running of the unit.
9. Share supervision of Social Care Leaders, Social Care Workers, Students and Graduates with the Manager.
10. Be responsible for conducting the performance reviews and for monitoring the performance of the staff being supervised by him/her. (Appraisals to also be signed off by the Manager and Head of Youth Services).
11. Participate in the administrative functions of the project, such as Softworks, the Rota, Petty Cash as required by the Manager.
12. Participate in the on-call system.
13. In the absence of the Manager, the Deputy Manager will take on the duties and responsibilities of the Manager to ensure the smooth running of the project.
14. Implement the policies and procedures of the centre and the agency in collaboration with the Manager and the Head of Youth Services.
15. Engage in supervision sessions on a regular basis with the Manager.
16. Participate in relevant training and development courses as agreed with your manager.
17. Undertake such other duties as might be reasonably assigned from time to time in consultation with the Manager.
18. Be vigilant to any Health, Safety and Welfare risks in the workplace and bring any concerns to the attention of your line manager or Health & Safety Representative.

What you will need:

1. A third level qualification at degree level in social care or related field.
2. A minimum of 3 years full-time work experience at social care grade with children/young persons.
3. A working knowledge of the impact of childhood adversity on adolescents.
4. A working knowledge and insight into the issues (e.g. substance misuse) that affect young people, in particular adolescents who have or are experiencing homelessness.
5. Ability to manage and support young people in crisis who present with challenging behaviours based upon Focus Ireland's values and principles of best practice.
6. Experience of working in partnership with multidisciplinary teams to holistically meet the needs of young people.
7. A working knowledge and understanding of the supervision and performance review process.
8. A working knowledge and understanding of Child Protection, and responses to concerns.
9. A high standard of written communication.
10. Teamwork and team support.
11. Flexible and reliable.
12. Supervisory experience.
13. A working knowledge and understanding of the National Standards for Children's Residential Centres (desirable).
14. A working knowledge and understanding of therapeutic crisis intervention model (desirable).

Focus Ireland is an equal opportunities employer

We are driven by the fundamental belief that homelessness is wrong. Wrong because it is a failure of society that creates victims out of ordinary people and robs them of their potential. Wrong because it can be prevented, it can be solved but is allowed to continue and in doing so, undermines society.

What we offer:

• Top up Maternity Benefit up to 22 weeks
• Top up Paternity leave up to 8 days
• Education Policy - provision of financial support for upskilling/qualifications
• Paid expenses
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Annual Leave – 25 days
• Defined Contribution – 5% employee contribution and 7% employer contribution
• EAP – Employee assistance programme –staff counselling
• Death in Service benefit – 3 times salary