Charlotte, SSW, talks about her role with FCC
So what does a Senior Supervising Social Worker do
as part of an independent foster care agency?
The days vary in terms of duties and responsibilities. In general they include visits with foster carers, completing monthly supervisions and Annual Reviews. I also attend meetings with the Local Authorities, such as PEPs and reviews and I am involved in recruitment activities to help people who are interested in becoming foster carers with The Foster Care Charity.
What’s your background and experience?
Having worked for a few local Authorities over the years in Safeguarding and with Looked after Children, I made the decision to step out of my comfort zone. I joined The Foster Care Charity over 3 years ago. It has been the best decision for me on both a personal and a professional level.
The thing I love most is that we all celebrate the positives, whether this be colleagues, foster carers or a child’s achievements. Above all else, I have always felt supported, listened to, valued and respected.
What are the caseloads like?
The Foster Care Charity certainly delivered in terms of my expectations; caseloads are allocated to ensure that they remain manageable.
For me this has made a significant difference to my working life, it has allowed me the time to build strong positive relationships with foster carers and the children they care for.
Placements do sometimes naturally break down, but there is the time available to prioritise supporting our foster carers through those difficult times, whether this be to stabilise the placement or to provide support whilst the child moves on.
Tell us about a typical day for you
The days vary in terms of duties and responsibilities. For example, last Friday I completed a home visit to new foster carers who I had recently assessed and were newly approved. They have just welcomed their first placement. This is obviously a challenging time but also lovely to hear their buzz of excitement. I then travelled 30 minutes down the road to undertake another visit to long standing foster carers, who shared with me their recent adventures they had been on with the young boy they care for. On returning home, I caught up on emails, contacted a CSW, and then started to write up the Monthly Placement Reports. This week I am home based and my main focus is ensuring all my paperwork is up to date.
Senior Supervising Social Worker with FCC: This role is held by qualified social workers who have at least 4 year’s experience working within a Fostering Social Work field and experience of working with children and families. As an SSW they provide ongoing high-quality supervision and support to our foster carers through monthly supervision visits, support visits and telephone support as and when required. SSWs assist foster carers in identifying their training and development needs and ensuring that appropriate training is provided. SSWs also assist with the placement of children with foster carers in consultation with all relevant parties.
Find out more about working for FCC and our specialist staff roles