Household Reviewing Officer

Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity and compassion; promoting the development and wellbeing of children, young people and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.

The role has responsibility for leading the delivery of timely Fostering Households Reviews in accordance with statutory regulation, fostering standards, guidance, and ECC procedure. The role also has responsibility for chairing reviews requiring early review following a significant change in circumstances, a standards of care investigation, complaint or Sec47 Child Protection Enquiry.

The role leads the review of ECC Foster Carers to make recommendations of future approval of Foster Carer(s) and present these to the Fostering Panel as well as making a recommendation as to the continued suitability (or not) of foster carers and their terms of approval.

Accountabilities

· Responsible for the management of multi-agency professional input to Household Reviews; giving detailed evaluation/analysis of foster care and practice to ensure the review is a quality assurance mechanism by which the foster carer’s central role is evaluated.

· Responsible for conducting a robust Household Review to support the delivery of strategic/corporate plans, ensuring effective implementation of actions relevant to looked after children to secure better outcomes and continuous service improvement.

· Responsible for ensuring statutory Household Reviews of Foster Carers are held within required timescales, and all relevant parties are identified, invited to attend, and/or consulted with fully; ensuring the reviews are child-centred; evaluating and appraising the foster care that has been undertaken during the review period.

· Responsible for ensuring that each Foster Carer’s Personal Development Plan is in place in order to track and identify training needs and confirm fostering standards are completed.

· Responsible for ensuring each Fostering Household has a Safer Caring agreement relevant to the children and young people currently in placement to ensure that they are up to date and specific in addressing any areas of concern.

· Work collaboratively with Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) for the child/young person; seeking feedback to help inform the household review and ensure the child’s views are included, alongside the IRO’s professional feedback on the quality of care being provided.

· Responsible for utilising the Dispute Resolution Procedure to challenge operational managers responsible for the child/foster carers when there are issues of concern arising from the household review that cannot be resolved informally.

· Act as a source of expert advice, consultation and mentoring for staff on professional and practice issues relating to children in foster care; keeping abreast of research findings and using these to make recommendations to support continuous service improvement.

· Responsible for communicating with the Functional Leadership Team when ECC fails to meet its statutory obligations to children in care, particularly where poor practice has contributed to, or increased, the risk to a child.

· Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

Skills and Knowledge

• A recognised social work qualification i.e. Diploma, degree or master’s in social work, CQSW, CSS or equivalent, with current registration with Social Work England as a registered social worker.
• A minimum of 4 years post qualifying experience in Children & Family Services
• Evidence of continuing professional development, aligned to any relevant Professional Competency/Capability frameworks or Knowledge & Skills Statements with a post qualifying award in subject related to child/family work.
• A comprehensive working knowledge and experience of working with children and families, including Children Looked After by the local authority, and be fully conversant with all related statutory obligations, codes of practice and significant research findings.
• Self-motivating and ability to work autonomously with evidence of ability to manage own workload to ensure effective performance.
• Confidence and ability to work constructively with senior managers, offering a critical perspective and appropriate challenge.
• A good working knowledge and experience of operational planning and service delivery, including leading and managing change, within children’s services in local government, with demonstrable and proven record of achievement in same.
• Proven experience of chairing meetings involving children, parents and/or carers and other professionals.
• Proven experience of developing and implementing planning and performance frameworks in a multi-disciplinary and partnership environment.

To read more about our business area, please visit: Children & Families

Please take a look at our ‘No Magic’ Children & Families video

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex . With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In February 2025 , Greater Essex was accepted onto the Government’s devolution priority programme, which will see local authorities in Essex work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority by May 2026. You can read more about devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR ) on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles , including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond. Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

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