Proud to Care Children - Our Social Work Teams
In Doncaster, you can have the opportunity to work across an array of different teams in children's social care. All of our services work closely together and with partners to support children, young people and families and make a real difference in their lives.
Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
Our Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) brings key professionals together to facilitate quality information sharing, analysis and decision-making, to safeguard vulnerable children and young people more effectively. Staff from across health, social care, early intervention, police, and education are based in the MASH at any one time. Our MASH is the front door to statutory services and early intervention services, by applying consistent thresholds based on ‘Right Help, Right Time’
Emergency Duty Team (ESST)
The Emergency Duty team provides an out-of-hours emergency service between 5pm and 8.30am on weekdays and 24 hours over weekends and bank holidays. The team responds to safeguarding concerns relating to children, young people, and their families.
Assessments
We have four teams of social workers in the Assessment Service. Each team is linked to and works closely with the Help and Protection Teams in the localities. The teams work with all new referrals into the service, completing assessments and child protection enquires.
Help and Protection
Our Help and Protection teams work across four areas, each team consisting of a Team Manager/Advanced Practitioner and a mixture of experienced and newly qualified social workers. The social work teams work with children and families who are supported by Children in Need and Child Protection plans, those in Public Law Outline and all court work until a plan of permanence is achieved. The teams are fast-paced, with high support and manageable caseloads.
Children with Disabilities
Children with Disabilities Social Work team provides support to children with severe or profound learning and physical disabilities and children who are substantially or permanently affected by illness, injury or congenital conditions.
Children in Care
Our Children in Care service works with children who are 'Looked After', from birth to 12 years old. We take case responsibility from the child’s first looked after review or first court hearing from Social Work Teams. We work with children who are subject to care proceedings, long term Looked After, and those with an adoption plan.
Fostering
The team provide support to children who are living with foster families and to foster carers as well as anyone who is considering becoming a foster carer. We also have a specialist Kinship’ team supporting our growing Kinship Care community and growing numbers of Special Guardianship Orders (SGO’s). We continue to value fostering as a way of providing children and young people with a safe place to live and a positive start in life when they can no longer live at home with their family.
One Adoption South Yorkshire Regional Adoption Agency
We are part of One Adoption South Yorkshire, a regional partnership which brings together local authority adoption services from Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. The agency aims to achieve the best possible outcomes for adopted children and their families. We strive to ensure that our children are:
- Safe and secure in nurturing homes
- They remain healthy
- Achieve to the best of their abilities
- Become positive independent adults
Independent Reviewing Officers (IRO)
Our IROs independently oversee and track care planning for children in care in Doncaster and are responsible for providing challenge where appropriate and protecting the interests of children. IROs develop positive working relationships with the children they are responsible for and support their wishes and feelings in decision-making.
Child Protection Chairs
Child Protection Chairs independently chair Multi-Agency Child Protection Conferences for children who are considered at risk of significant harm. They focus on ensuring children are safeguarded first and foremost and their families receive the support they need in order to achieve the best possible outcomes to make a difference for the better in their lives.
Inspiring Futures Team (IFT)
The dedicated service for young people aged 16-25 who are either in care or have left the care of the Cityof Doncaster Council. Eligible young people can be referred as early as 15 years and 6 months to help transition to adulthood. We work with each young person to draw up a Pathway Plan which focuses on
- Personal and financial support
- Accommodation and independent living
- Education, Training and Employment (ETE)
- Physical Health and Emotional Well-being
- Family Contact
- Hobbies/Social/Leisure
- Young parent or carer
- Ethnicity/Culture/Identity
OUR OTHER CHILDREN’S SOCIAL CARE TEAMS
Our social work teams don’t work in isolation. We have a range of brilliant services who work together to provide the right support to children, young people and families at the right time.
| • Family Group Conferencing | • Special Guardianship Order Service |
| • Domestic Abuse Navigators | • Psychology |
| • Multi Systemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect (MST CAN) | • Participation and Advocacy |
| • Families Together | • EPIC - Encouraging Potential, Inspiring Change targeted youth support service |
| • Child exploitation | • Pause |
| • Parenting and Family Support Service | • Interventions |
| • Children’s Homes | • Youth Offending Service |
| • Housing and Independence Service | • LADO |
BUSINESS SUPPORT
Our business support colleagues work alongside frontline teams to provide high quality administrative support so that social care colleagues can focus on working with children and families.
Developing you
We have a Centre for Excellence which provides bespoke support and learning opportunities for our Social Work workforce. The team also support the provision of audit and quality assurance activity.
Find out more about how we can support you by visiting the following page Your Career
Talk to us about opportunities to work in Doncaster
If you share our commitment to delivering high quality services to achieve better outcomes for children, young people and families we would love to hear from you. Our team are ready to tell you more about working for in our social work teams and residential teams and what it is like to work here in Doncaster.
For more information or to arrange a chat with our team who will be happy to answer your questions email Proudtocarechildren@doncaster.gov.uk
Or call 01302 735 760 (Monday to Friday, 10am – 4pm).
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To report a safeguarding concern with regard to a child at risk of abuse, please see the following page Safeguarding concern - child at risk.
For Adult Social Care Roles please visit the following page: Proud to Care Doncaster
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