Salary – £40,000 per annum pro- rata (4 or 5 days considered)
Contract Type – Full Time & Permanent
Location – Glasgow
Hours – 28 or 35 (over 4 or 5 days & involves some weekend work)
Reports to – FM West Director
Line Manages – Lead Child Contact Practitioners & Contact Centre Practitioners
Background
Family Mediation West (FM West) Has been delivering a range of family conciliation services in the West of Scotland since 1987. FM West is part of a confederated network within Relationships Scotland (RS) but retains status as an independent SCIO. FM West has 2 Child Contact Centre’s: in Glasgow and Kilmarnock and seek an experienced manager to oversee both centers. The opportunity has arisen with our long-standing manager retiring.
Scottish Parliament has confirmed that Child Contact Centre regulation has been approved throughout Scotland. The Care Inspectorate has been commissioned to oversee the implementation of an appropriate framework with a deadline for implementation by April 2027.
Main Purpose
The Child Contact Centre Manager is responsible for the provision of all Child Contact Centre services provided by FM West. The key aim of the service is to enable children and families to meet and spend structured time in a safe and supported space; to whom they do not live with following separation of divorce; enabling them to establish and develop their relationships, in circumstances where they otherwise would not get to see each other.
Dimensions
The postholder will need to meet the standards of QA and compliance led by Relationships Scotland, and future Health and Social Care standards via the Care Inspectorate. This post is part of the Senior Management Team which includes the Director, Head of Mediation and the Child Protection Manager.
The post-holder will need to have a proven track record of management within a child centered environment, or within the Child Contact Centre environment. FM West will be looking for the postholder to oversee current operations, and to implement regulation change when frameworks have been established.
It is vital that candidates are genuinely committed to ensuring that the needs of children always come first. The majority of Supervised Child Contact is Court ordered with families undergoing high conflict within their family situation.
You will need excellent management and communication skills, and confidence to deal with a wide range of complex situations that can arise within our Child Contact Centres.
Principal Service-Related Responsibilities
- To work within the FM West (and RS) Quality Assurance Framework for the provision of Child Contact Centre Services.
- To observe the agreed standards, protocols, and practice approach of Relationships Scotland, working closely with their Head of Child Contact Services for the network.
- To participate fully in the development of Child Contact provisions across the RS member services network through its committee structure, consultations, and short life working
- Address the National Policies and Practice Procedures of the RS framework and ensure all staff follow the policies.
- To work towards a new regulation, devised by the Care Inspectorate and meet the Health and Social Care standards
- Be central to planning groups to transition to regulation under the Care
- To manage the annual training calendar for all contact center staff and ensure that all staff receive appropriate training levels to conduct their Includes storage of all staff certification and record keeping.
- To update local annual policies at FM West in conjunction with the Child Protection Manager and
- To manage and engage with a range of stakeholders across social services and statutory
- To support the Child Protection Manager with Child Protection led activities, and support bi-monthly
- Ensure the departments work aligns well with the principles and aspirations of ‘Getting it Right for Every Child’ (GIRFEC), ‘The Promise’, ‘The United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child’ (UNCRC) and the ‘Children (Scotland Act 2020’, along with all Scottish Government policies that protect and enhance the lives of children and their
- Adhere to and be committed to any anti-discriminatory
- Respond to any ethical dilemmas which might
- Be self-directive and autonomous, where
Operational and Administrative Responsibilities
- Maintain awareness of, and adherence to FM West’s GDPR policies and protocols, while ensuring similar awareness and adherence to the part of the Child Contact Centre staff.
- Maintain accurate statistical records on our CRM (training given) and compile feedback via evaluation
- Pass cases for open / closing to the admin
- Provide reports to the Director as and when
- Consult with the finance and admin teams to produce invoices for
- Manage the recruitment process for new staff within the
- To consult with solicitors and follow Court instructions for the
- Ensuring all Intake forms are correctly filled out and staff are compliant with identifying areas of concern within criminal activity, abuse, and other child protection
Line Management Responsibilities
- To host departmental management meetings, host annual employee appraisals, and monthly 1-2-1 supervision of Lead
- Offer senior management support to the Director in times of
- Support the work of frontline staff with clients via debriefing and continual
- Be responsible for induction training and staff sign off, CPD, and monitoring of Child Contact Centre
- Circulate new policies, training, and CPD opportunities for all
- Manage the department for safeguarding, health and safety, and GDPR
- To train all new practitioners within induction and on-the-job
Service User Related Responsibilities
- Meet with parents to undertake case risk assessments before an offer of service is made (shared with Lead Practitioners), referring to initial Intake
- Manage the full provision of departmental services provided by FM West; including Supervised, Supported and Pick-Up, Drop-Off services.
- Be responsible for the submission of final written reports to the Courts following Supervised Contact Qualified staff will draft reports and collate final reports.
- Be responsible for the training, compilation and sign off from Intake
- Maintain a caseload of clients and be responsible for ensuring case discussions, and case reviews are held
- Arrange and authorize any external observers (e.g., Care Inspectorate, RS and Child Welfare Reporters
- Refer and signpost families to other services within FM West where needs are identified. Manage staff within external signposting to third party organisations that can support
- To manage informal complaints, and support processes for formal complaints and in line with RS compliance
Qualifications & Experience
- Diploma in Child Care, Family Mediation, Community Education, Social Work, Health, Education or Play
- Experience of working intensively with children, young people, and families in a therapeutic
- An enthusiasm for working with children, young people, and their
- An understanding of the effects of parental and family conflict following separation or divorce, and its impact on the children and their
- An understanding of children’s ages and stages of development and needs when experiencing loss and or
- Experience of working with parents who have separated or divorced, and who have
- Ability to work well within a team and support the Director and Board of Trustees when
- Good assessment and analytical skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication
- Good IT skills, including Microsoft Office
- Have a good understanding of relevant GDPR compliance and
This job profile and list of duties is not exhaustive and highlights the main requirements. The Director may stipulate other reasonable requirements and projects within the departmental strategy, and forthcoming regulation.
Benefits for Employees
- 30 Days Annual Leave (pro rata)
- Company Sick Pay (after qualifying period)
- 1 x Duvet Day
- Daily Flextime
- Summer and Xmas Voucher
- Employee Assistance Program
- Employee Counselling
- Retail Discount Voucher Scheme