Safeguarding and Quality Assurance Service
The Safeguarding, Quality and Learning Service has a number of different statutory social work functions including:
- Independent Reviewing Officers who chair statutory reviews of arrangements for Looked After children and acts as a 'critical friend' bringing support and challenge to social work teams responsible for providing an outstanding service to Looked After children.
b) Child Protection Advisors chair initial and review Child Protection Conferences and acts as a 'critical friend' bringing support and challenge to social work teams responsible for providing support and intervention for children in need of protection.
c) Authority Designated Officer (LADO) – the LADO is responsible for managing allegations or concerns where any person who works with children, in connection with their employment or voluntary activity, has:
- Behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child
- Possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child
- Behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates they may pose a risk of harm to children
d) Quality Assurance including Auditing – Rotherham engages with a programme of 'deep dives' across all social work teams and the wider Children and Young People’s Service (CYPS). The auditing approach involves the Auditor sitting with the allocated social workers and team manager in real time to complete an audit and provide coaching as part of a reflective conversation to bring about immediate impact, learning and change to address identified practice issues. Across a year we complete according to an audit schedule and ensure any remedial actions are completed without delay, so key themes and issues are fed back to teams and services thus there is a culture of continual learning which can be evaluated in subsequent 'deep dives' to improve overall practice and identify learning for all staff.
e) Principal Social Worker holds a key role to champion the voice of frontline social work practitioners and managers to senior officers and political leaders as well as supporting and advising on the quality of practice.
f) Consultant Practitioners provide support to Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) in the Assessed & Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) as well as supporting the quality assurance of practice.
g) The Rotherham Learning Academy with its designed faculties supports all staff across CYPS with their continuing professional development and supports the Rotherham Family Approach our practice model that includes Signs of Safety as its framework and Restorative Approaches as our approach in all that we do. Our leaning offer is steeped in the 70:20:10 model and understands the needs of adults as learners.
h) The Rotherham Safeguarding Children Partnership (RSCP) Business Unit sits in this service and supports the Partnership in its Multi Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (MASA) and statutory functions. Its delivery groups ensure partners are equipped and able to deliver high quality safeguarding support and services to our most vulnerable children in Rotherham as well as offering a safeguarding learning offer across the Partnership.